Help! I got money to burn

[angelyne]

Hi all,

I have a shiny new 250$ CDN  gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket and one week to pick a video card and take advantage of the boxing week sale.

Which among the following do you think would rock for playing TS2: (or which one would suck

ATI Radeon 9200 128MB AGP Video Card
ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 Edition Video Card
ATI Radeon 256MB AGP Video Card (X850XT)
ATI Radeon 9600SE 128MB Video Card
ATI Radeon X700 Pro ViVo AGP 256MB Video Card
BFG GeForce FX 5500OC 256MB AGP Video Card
BFG GeForce OC 128MB AGP Video Card (6600GT)
BFG GeForce OC 128MB PCI Express Video Card (6600GT)
Diamond Radeon X300SE Stealth H-M PCI Express

[gali]

I think that ATI Radeon x800 costs only 170$, and is the best for now.

[IgnorantBliss]

You have both PCI and AGP cards on your list, could you use either?

I'm not very knowledgeable on the technical side, but from personal experience and what other people have said, I'd recommend 256mb instead of 128mb when it comes to playing TS2. Also, I'd steer clear of the "SE" versions and such and rather go for the "XT" or "Pro" versions when it comes to ATI Radeon cards. Radeon 9600 XT 128mb was OK, but not perfect, for The Sims 2, the graphics would blur on a regular basis on busy lots. My current one, Geforce 6800 Ultra 256mb is very good, but probably overkill, and I think the cheaper 6600 GT will do just as well, and the 256mb AGP (of the 6600 GT) version seems to be only a bit over $200 on Amazon.com, so it should fit into your budget. My brother has that one. The problem with Geforce cards and TS2 is that not all the drivers for the cards are compatible with the game, and a lot of us have to use older versions of the drivers to avoid some weird graphics glitches in the game.

[bloodstainedkisses]

I just got an ATI Raedon 9250 (256). ^^


Couldn't tell you how much it cost, as Dad got it for me for Christmas... the RAM upgrade I got is wonderful, no more lagging... <33

Yes.

I'm happy. =DDDD

Enjoy spending your gift card!

[Liss]

pssst....angelyne, did you get my pm?  hehe...totally off topic but I thought I'd get your attention in your thread :p

[wishy-washy]

I think that ATI Radeon x800 costs only 170$, and is the best for now.

Is that American Dollars?

I got an ATI Radeon 9600SE not too long ago and I'm very happy with it. Runs with highest settings and whatnot. Mind you that was the highest card I could go with my horrible, old computer. Cost me $96 CAN, I believe. I can't remember exactly because I got a RAM upgrade at the same time. If you don't have much RAM I would highly recommend upgrading. I don't know much about computers, but I do know that my gameplay was much more enjoyable after I upgraded to 1 GB from 256MB. Didn't have to wait long for stupid loading times. Pretty graphics are very nice too, though.

[IgnorantBliss]

I'm sorry, I didn't notice the "CDN" at first. In that case, the 6600 GT might be too expensive, since the Amazon.com price is in US dollars.

[Ivy]

If you currently have a graphics card, do yourself a favor, save yourself the headache and stick within that family of cards..i.e. if you have a nVidia currently, go with the latest nVidia that you can afford.

Upgrading nVidia to nVidia is a whole heck of a lot simpler than upgrading from nVidia to ATI.  Unless you truly enjoy torture or are smarter than the average gamer (myself included...lol) I don't recommend crossing over.  In addition, some motherboards are better suited for one brand or another, and occasionally you will find that odd one that it won't work period without its chosen brand. 

That being said, I currently have the ATI x700pro (256mb) card.  It's a very nice card.  Not ultimately-uber, for smaller lots you can play with everything on high no worries.  For larger lots and to reduce lag in general when there are tons of folks on the lot, I would suggest at least turning off reflections with it.  YMMV.

Good luck with replacing your card!
Happy Simming,

Ivy

[angelyne]

Thank you all for your suggestions. It's always reassuring to know someone's personal experience with a graphic card, as it relates to sims.

I'm still pondering the choice of cards.  I don't want to make a mistake.

I read a hardware review on gamespot that tells you what hardware and what setting has the most impact on the game.  I posted the link.  I thought it was awesome and am surprised it generated zero interest, but then that must be the geek in me talking lol.

Turns out that a video is NOT the single most important element in running the sims.   You just need a modern middle-of-the-range card.  You also need a decent amount of memory, but 512 is actually enough.  No wonder you are satisfied Wishy-washy.  The reviewer said " With the game set at high quality on a 256MB machine, it'd be an overstatement to call the result a slide show". I got a laugh out of that.  I have 512 + 256, so I should be ok.

So it turns out a huge factor, and the actual bottleneck in my system is CPU.  I only have a 1.6 MHZ and that is slowing the game. 

Also, getting a faster hard disk can improve performance, if you have a slow 54000 RPM.  They recommended a defrag as well. (wow something free)

Not to worry Ivy, technical headaches are my bread and butter, since that's what I do for a living.  I'm tech support.  So anything, including gutting my computer and putting it back together does not scare me. Just the price tag lol.

[simmiecal]

I read a hardware review on gamespot that tells you what hardware and what setting has the most impact on the game.  I posted the link.  I thought it was awesome and am surprised it generated zero interest, but then that must be the geek in me talking lol.

Hey, I missed that post. Do you still have the link?
  You must have posted it before I got my new shiny graphics card. Suddenly  I'm very interested in threads about graphics cards.

[angelyne]

Here you go.  A really must read for anyone considering upgrading their system.  And still interesting if you are not.

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6133243/?type=tech

One note however regarding their methodology.  They tested the game by doing the same thing over and over again under different hardware conditions.  That's valuable, but not the entire story I believe.  We all know how performances will drop when with an overstuff lot, or on a large residential or community lot.  That doesn't seem to have been accounted for in their article

[AllenABQ]

I'd narrow the list by eliminating all cards with less than 256 MB of on-board memory.

As with all things dealing with computers and speed, more memory increases performance.  Graphics-heavy games like the Sims 2 benefit enormously in frame rates by having more video memory.

In fact, I'm surprised no cards are out yet with 512 MB, but then maybe they are running out of room on the cards.

[nectere]

I bought a xfx geforce 6600 (AGP) 256, supports 3.0 shading etc

Still I am pretty damned happy with it, considering it cost 128 usd and I had a geforce2 mx400 before, with the left over cash you can buy some other stuff, like a usb drive!


Now I want a new processor! Or, to figure out what kind of motherboard I have...

[Diala]

I just got a GeForce FX 5500 card, and it works great with the Sims 2; mine only has 128 MB of memory on it, too. However, I haven't used it extensively yet, but all the graphics settings are on high, so...

It also helped A LOT that I just got a 1 GB stick of memory to add to my 256 MB.

[Ivy]

Not to worry Ivy, technical headaches are my bread and butter, since that's what I do for a living.  I'm tech support.  So anything, including gutting my computer and putting it back together does not scare me. Just the price tag lol.

Cool enough then   Would you care to come over and do one of those cross-over installs for me then? *laughs manically* I'm about to lose it with the one I'm fighting with now.  (nVidia to ATI x800GT 256mb on hubby's computer)

That's what I get for thinking he'd like a new graphics card for xmas.  He does the hardware part, and I get the lovely chore of making sure the software runs it right!

Obviously I can't make any recommendations on the x800GT 256mb cause I don't have it working correctly yet.  I think I've got some old nVidia stuff lying around that's conflicting.  (And yes, I have used Driver Cleaner Pro...)  Think tis down to uninstalling Winfox/Winfast on it now...hopefully that will be the end of the nVidia stuff then!

Let us know what you get and how it works!

Ivy