Video Card Bargain?

[Mick_Berg]

Currently Fry's Electronics has a EVGA Geforce 8500GT 1GB video card for $99 with a $50 mail-in rebate. That's $49. It won't work for me because it uses a PCI-e slot and I only have AGP. But it seems like a really good deal if anyone's interested. Whether it would work well with Trainz I don't know.
Mick Berg.

 

[collinsl]

i had an 8500GT fro a while, and as long as you keep the graphics options set to default, then it is good enough. However, I had the 256MB version, so this may be a little better.

 

[kostas22]

Can you get that shipped do UK and can you give me a URL for it? £25 (which is roughly $50) is a bargain for a Video Card. But is it laptop compatible?

 

[Wessex_Electric_Nutter]

Can you get that shipped do UK and can you give me a URL for it? £25 (which is roughly $50) is a bargain for a Video Card. But is it laptop compatible?

It wont be and to make things even more difficult, the card on your laptop is soldered directly onto the motherboard of the laptop, meaning, you cannot upgrade it at all.

New vid card = buy a new laptop.

 

[Mick_Berg]

Can you get that shipped do UK and can you give me a URL for it? £25 (which is roughly $50) is a bargain for a Video Card. But is it laptop compatible?

Fry's only keeps bargains like that for a short time, so it's probably over by now, but if you want to look the website is Fry's.com.
However, more importantly, the card uses a PCI-E slot and therefore won't go into a laptop. Laptop video cards don't plug in, they are soldered, I believe.

 

[collinsl]

The point of a laptop is: that everything is crammed into as small a space as possible, and that the power consumption, and thus heat production is kept down. Therefore, video cards are made as part of the motherboard, expansion slots and all other components are a lot smaller, and very little can be upgraded.

Also, laptop monitors are generally not designed for gaming, and as such they may have poor response rates, and they are always on the equivalent of a VGA connection.

 

[jjqburch]

I've been using two 8600gt 1GB cards for a while now and sort of impressed. It sounds like good specifications for the price, each card is less that £100 in the UK now. There's something fishy about them though. Some 256mb cards are more expensive and I bet they kick out better graphics, especially in SLI. I suppose it's not all about the onboard memory.

Jonny.

 

[collinsl]

I've been using two 8600gt 1GB cards for a while now and sort of impressed. It sounds like good specifications for the price, each card is less that £100 in the UK now. There's something fishy about them though. Some 256mb cards are more expensive and I bet they kick out better graphics, especially in SLI. I suppose it's not all about the onboard memory.

Jonny.

Buying the 8600GT in 1GB form is a waste of money, as the core is not fast enough to process all of the information in the memory, so your texture files end up sitting around in GRAM waiting for the GPU to catch up. 256MB is a much better idea.

 

[kostas22]

Heat kept down?!??!?!

And that the power consumption, and thus heat production is kept down.

:hehe: yeah right! I dont quite understand how, but the inside of the speakers have partially melted, so I have to use headphones on my laptop now! I really should get a new one, i just dont have enough money just now!

Also, is a Dell XPS any good? I hear they are good gaming laptops (well, i take that assumption because they are in The Big Bang Theory!*), but does anyone have one?
.
*For those of you who dont know, The Big Bang Theory is a comedy TV programme

 

[bernhart_lossiemouth]

A general rule in the computer world. Don't by Dell.

The rational side of Ernie Bernie.

 

[saintjimmy]

The 8500GT is about so-so when it comes to Trainz. If you have the money, go for the 8800GT, or for better performance vs. price, at least a 8600GT should be enough. But if the 8500 suits you, then use it!

@ kostas22: The Dell laptops are pretty cool. I would say go for the M1730 if you have the money, or the M1530 if you want something good under $2000