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crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:07 AM Last edited by crisblue13 : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:01 AM. Reason: additional content
Default *****video Card Help*****
Hey everyone-
Im in search of a new video card and I'm checking around for the cheapest prices.... first all where do you all recomend for buying it ( i have a custom built computer) and second... I looked on Sims site for the exact video card requirements, and they recomend in the 9000 series for these models:
9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800. Well my question is-- does this mean I cant use a 9250?? I found a 9250 pretty cheap but thats not on their site... whats up with that? Anyone know?

I was also wondering peoples recomendations on the Ati brands, like GigaByte and Saphire.?????

Thanks
Crystal :bump:
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fantus
Test Subject
#2 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:24 AM
hmm, with a 9250 you will miss some feature like bumpmappings. Better you try to get a cheap 9600
Zoltan
Field Researcher
#3 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:26 AM
I suggest getting 9800Pro, if yer gunna spend the dough, at least get something the next EP will work with
crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:33 AM
ok another question- what do u all recomend? AGP vs PCI... I do not have PCIE
fantus
Test Subject
#5 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:39 AM
not PCI, thats slow, AGP or PCIE if your board support it
katgyrl
Lab Assistant
#6 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:40 AM
Zoltan, does maxis make each subsequent EP more graphically heavy than the one before it, so that each new one requires hardware upgrades...? i have the radeon 9700 and my game runs perfectly on it... am i going to see differently if i install the uni ep...? there's no way i'm going to buy new hardware each time this game upgrades, holy freaking kittens... :confused:
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning
Zoltan
Field Researcher
#7 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:49 AM
actually I was referring more to the game specs, as it says the requirement is "ATI Radeon 7200 or greater"
meaning the higher & newer the card the better; with 9000 series, its well within the 'good card' range and what I meant was if its only a difference of a cupla bucks, go with a higher card...but otherwise yer in great shape
crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#8 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 9:52 AM
ok well where I'm looking the difference between a 9250 and a 9800 pro is like 100 bucks-- I seriously cant spend that kind of money on it. So would a 9250 be ok? and is the Radeon Saphire and Gigabyte brands ok?
katgyrl
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 10:01 AM
Quote:
but otherwise yer in great shape

ohhh, ok *phew*
crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#10 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 10:29 AM Last edited by crisblue13 : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:02 AM. Reason: additional content
Default Im looking to BUY!
The main questions I need to know is if Sims will support the Radeon 9250? and what you all think of the brands for ATI Radeon's (Saphire, Gigabyte, Abit) I'm actually looking to buy within the next 30 minutes. I really dont wanna get screwed on a vid card... I know how picky Maxis makes their games, and I'm a Sim Freak :nana:
THanks


SOME BODY? ANY BODY?
semloh
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:09 AM Last edited by semloh : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:15 AM.
crisblue13,

If you can afford a little more then don't get a 9250 but look for a 9600 or better. A 9250 is really a pretty low end card and cannot display all the graphics features that Sims2 has to offer, plus it is not a particularly 'fast' card.

Edit: Sorry, I realise I didn't answer your question properly...

A 9250 WILL work in Sims2 so you won't have any worries there, it just can't do everything that is possible. As for brands, in my experience the brand really doesn't matter very much. Just go for the cheapest one, as long as the supplier provides some sort of warranty you should not be too concerned about the brand.
crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#12 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:13 AM Last edited by crisblue13 : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:14 AM. Reason: mispell
thank you so much for your input- I've been waiting forever for somone to answer... now what do you know bout the brands like stated above? What do u mean by fast card? You're gonna laugh but right now I'm using a Nvidia Geforce 4 MMx 440 64MB! hehe! It takes about aminute each to load every welcome screen and family screen etc right now. Takes me about 3 minutes after the neighborhood and then family to get in.
semloh
Lab Assistant
#13 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:21 AM
Ok, by 'fast' I mean the speed at which the card can 'draw' images on your screen. This is usually measured as Frames per Second (FPS).
The load times you are experiencing will have very little to do with your graphics card, they are related more to other aspects of your system such as RAM, CPU and hard disk speed (and also depend on how many downloads you have ).

I don't think you will find the 9250 to be very much faster than your GF4 MX440. when it comes to FPS.
KKai
Forum Resident
#14 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:34 AM Last edited by KKai : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:40 AM.
How is your budget?

Added:
ATI 9250 may not be faster than the one that you currently use.

Thus, maybe you should begin to save upto US$200 in order to buy one video card that can have noticeable differences in term of performance and image quality.
crisblue13
Test Subject
Original Poster
#15 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:36 AM
lol
wellllll I have a small child, sooooo like no more than 60
KKai
Forum Resident
#16 Old 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:41 AM Last edited by KKai : 2nd Mar 2005 at 11:48 AM.
Opps ... I just editted my previous message

If you really, really, really have to buy one video card, then ATI 9550 128MB should be a good choice at that price.
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