confused about video cards

[jytte]

I've been reading as many posts as I could find about computer setups and especially getting a suitable video card. Seems the more I read the more confused I get.

I need to get a new PC for running Trainz solely. I asked in an earlier thread bout PC, got some good answers.

In the meantime I've been trying it out on a PC that we use only for flight simming. It's a Dell (305Watt), 2.3Ghz/1066fsb, 2GB Ram, on XP, has a 256 MB 7300 LE nvidia card in it (although my computer says it's a 512MB?) It's stripped of all other programs, no internet or anything. Trainz runs smooth as can be on this PC, so I'm wanting to get another just like it. (on XP again!!)

Here comes the tricky part: the 7300LE card is not available, my only option seems to be a 256 MB Radeon HD 2600 XT.

I've tried to search here and on the net to compare these cards, but just get so many numbers that I get more confused, and no wiser.

I seem to remember reading a post here about someone getting a Dell 2.33Ghz/1333fsb, 2GB ram, on XP, with the 2600 XT card, and stating to be happy with it, but I cannot find that thread again. That's exactly the machine I'm looking at.

As far as I can figure, reason for offering these cards are that the PCs available for XP configurations have only 300Watt, and I do NOT want Vista.

Anyone out there who can offer me some advice in simple terms???
Anyone with experience with the 2600 XT card??

 

[fran1]

by 300 watt do you mean the PSU?. If so it's easy enough to put a higher output one in. I've got the X1950 pro 512mb which (on the box) needs 450 watts. I've put a 700 watt PSU in to give enough power plus when I upgrade again it will do for the next system.
450 watts is for the card and all other computer needs.
just been looking at the power the 2600xt uses, 25 watts is what I've found. the 2900 version uses 225 watt.

 

[john259]

Trying to compare nVidia boards with ATI boards is difficult. Even if you can find any terms in the specs which match, there's no guarantee they were measured in the same way.

Tom's Hardware Guide at http://www.tomshardware.com or http://www.tomshardware.co.uk is a good source of information. They usually have a fairly up-to-date review of video boards.

Just checking, you probably know this: the system boards in older computers usually have AGP video board interface sockets, whereas all modern computers have PCI-E sockets. The two systems are completely incompatible. To add to the confusion, there are various versions of each. I believe the latest incarnation of PCI-E is 16x so on a new computer it's best to opt for that if there's a choice. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org has useful articles on AGP and PCI-E (and just about any other subject you care to mention).

As well as checking the web sites of the manufacturers for specs, online retailers' sites often include comments from purchasers which can be useful but these need to be read with a pinch of salt.

I think the sequence of nVidia suffixes from least powerful to most powerful version of each model number is SE, LE, (no suffix), GS, GT, GTO, GTS, GTX, GX2, Ultra.

For ATI the sequence appears to be SE, LE, GT, RX, (no suffix), GTO, PRO, XL, XT, XT PE, XTX but that might not be 100% correct.

Confused? I was already!

BTW, check the ventilations (fans) as well as the power supply. These beasts give off a lot of heat.

HTH, John

 

[psycho_aussie]

The HD 2xxx series from ATi only seem to use two suffixes, those being Pro and XT, with Pro being a lower spec version and XT being the upper spec. The HD 3xxx series murks the waters a little more as they have no suffixes, but the last two digits change for the variants with the 3x50 being the 'Pro' version, and the 3x70 being the XT.

I have a 512Mb Hightech Radeon HD2600 XT, and it runs Trainz really well under Vista, and probably better under XP. Haven't tried running it under XP yet. IMHO, I would recommend the HD2600 XT, but some of the newer nVidia cards are also worth a look.

Chris

 

[jytte]

That was very helpful, thank you!