Making a custom build. Need some help choosing the Video Card.

Okay, its a dell dimension. So first of all i don't want anyone to say that dells overcharge and don't use that site, use another. I just want the answer to my question because i'm short on money and this computer is my best choice. Okay on to the question.

     When i get to the video card section it has 3 cards. The first isn't good so won't talk about it. The second is a 256MB NVIDIA Geforce 7300LE TurboCache. And the third is a 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro. So, which of these would be better for gaming. I know i won't be getting an amazing experience either way i just need some help from the experts(you) in advance before i order it. So i want to get games like Rome:total war, Spore, and possibly fear if its cheap. And i also already have some games like Star Wars Empire at War and guild wars. But with a better computer i will be able to play more. So what is the overall better video card out of the two? Thanks for any answers.

both are completely useless for games, dont bother, keep saving

Dont buy dells. You can save money by building it yourself.

how much are they charging ya?

With the x1300 pro is 579 US dollars with the 7300 LE its 529$ yea i know cheap...but i don't have much money and i really need a new computer. My current video card is only a NVIDIA Geforce 2 MX/MX 400:cry:

both are completely useless for games, dont bother, keep saving

Arch_Demonz

some people are happy with cheap cards.  You may think it's useless, but he will probably be happy with either one.

He didn't ask for your opinion. He asked what the better card was.

I would get the X1300. 

[QUOTE="Arch_Demonz"]

both are completely useless for games, dont bother, keep saving

doomsdaydave11

some people are happy with cheap cards. You may think it's useless, but he will probably be happy with either one.

He didn't ask for your opinion. He asked what the better card was.

I would get the X1300.

well he should know their useless for games, so no point in choosing either 

With the x1300 pro is 579 US dollars with the 7300 LE its 529$ yea i know cheap...but i don't have much money and i really need a new computer. My current video card is only a NVIDIA Geforce 2 MX/MX 400:cry:

ajr101

GeForce 2! Wow, thats insanity.  That's a big leap for you. It will do just fine for ya. 

[QUOTE="doomsdaydave11"][QUOTE="Arch_Demonz"]

both are completely useless for games, dont bother, keep saving

Arch_Demonz

some people are happy with cheap cards. You may think it's useless, but he will probably be happy with either one.

He didn't ask for your opinion. He asked what the better card was.

I would get the X1300.

well he should know their useless for games, so no point in choosing either 

Also the dell site is recommending the x1300. So would they be choosing the better one? And would flight sim run at least on medium settings? I don't want to turn this into a game discussion but i just wanna know. And yes i would be playing games like 2 years old. And games that are coming out not with high requirements.

Also the dell site is recommending the x1300. So would they be choosing the better one? And would flight sim run at least on medium settings? I don't want to turn this into a game discussion but i just wanna know. And yes i would be playing games like 2 years old. And games that are coming out not with high requirements.

ajr101

What exactly are the specs? I can put together a list of parts, and you can just build the damn thing yourself. Chances are, you will save money

[QUOTE="ajr101"]

Also the dell site is recommending the x1300. So would they be choosing the better one? And would flight sim run at least on medium settings? I don't want to turn this into a game discussion but i just wanna know. And yes i would be playing games like 2 years old. And games that are coming out not with high requirements.

353535355353535

What exactly are the specs? I can put together a list of parts, and you can just build the damn thing yourself. Chances are, you will save money

exactly. Don't ever listen to what companies say about vid cards. Don't ever buy a gaming card from a computer manufactuer.

Buy a 7600GT from Newegg.com. It is like $95 and will absolutley slaughter a 7300LE or X1300. 

well I used to have that 6150LE it ran BF2 on med and CoH on low its pretty decent so I guess a 7300LE would be nice? But yea if you have the money X1300 PRO or get a Ibuypower.com or AVADirect.com :PLouieV13

i understand where you guys are coming from but i don't have enough money to buy the computer and then get a new card soon after. I myswell buy the best possible card and then upgrade sometime down the line like a year or so when i get money. Also i dont think either of the cards will be horrible for gaming for me. If you read my other post you would know that i currently have a NVIDIA Geforce2 MX/MX 400. And as of right now i am leaning towards the X1300 so if anyone can enforce that or change my mind i will most likely get it. ajr101

Dude, I can understand your situation pretty well, I am 13. I have a micro budget with no allowance. I get paid $3.50 an hour. Buy this computer:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103052

Deal with onboard RAM for a while (I was maxing out pre-2003 games with specs worse then that at 1024x768 )

Then buy a 7600GT and a better power supply:

EVGA Nvidia Geforce 7600GT $90

Thermaltake 430w $30 (five star reviews and everything)

That adds up to $607. Just barely over your budget. That will be awesome with gaming.

EDIT: Holy cow, do not buy that Acer. I doesn't have a PCI-Express 16x slot. You won't be able to put a card in there. 

Dude, I know just where you are coming from right now. The fact is though, you'd save alot of money if you built the thing yourself. Depending on where you live, there is a store that is basically giving a steal on deals for custom systems. It won't of course be cutting edge, same as mine, but you will be able to build it directly for gaming. I didn't know before, but you can save alot of money building your own.

 A great mother board and skeleton only set me up for $100, and I only got to spend about $200 more to make it into something that can handle those 2 year old games on high settings. What Dell is trying to give you is a load, take everyone elses advice and go custom.

Dude, I know just where you are coming from right now. The fact is though, you'd save alot of money if you built the thing yourself. Depending on where you live, there is a store that is basically giving a steal on deals for custom systems. It won't of course be cutting edge, same as mine, but you will be able to build it directly for gaming. I didn't know before, but you can save alot of money building your own.

A great mother board and skeleton only set me up for $100, and I only got to spend about $200 more to make it into something that can handle those 2 year old games on high settings. What Dell is trying to give you is a load, take everyone elses advice and go custom.

MDJ

agreed. Mine only cost like $700. If it was a dell, they would probably sell it for $1100. 

      What if i were to buy this comp with the worst video card they show. The NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU . Which would be about $480. Then i go online or to a store and buy a cheap  Nvidia Geforce 7600GT. Would that be a good idea? 

And if this isnt a good idea. Can you guys post some okay computers that i could upgrade with the video card like doomsday did? Thanks

      What if i were to buy this comp with the worst video card they show. The NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Integrated Graphics GPU . Which would be about $480. Then i go online or to a store and buy a cheap  Nvidia Geforce 7600GT. Would that be a good idea? 

 

And if this isnt a good idea. Can you guys post some okay computers that i could upgrade with the video card like doomsday did? Thanks

ajr101

do you need a monitor? If not, I'll put together a list of parts

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
RAM: 1GB DDR2 667 single channel
Motherboard: mATX mobo socket AM2
Case: standard ATX mid tower from Rosewill
Power supply: 400 Watt PSU from FSP group
Hard drive: 250 GB SATA HDD from Hitachi
Optical drive: Dual layer DVD burner from Lite on
Video card: Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT
Operating system: Windows vista home basic
Grand total: 550$

still cant believe that I payed 575 for the following rig:
CPU: 2.8 Ghz P4
RAM: 512MB DDR2400
Video card: Radeon X300SE
Hard drive: 80GB
Optical drive: CD/RW
Manufacturer: Dell computer

:x

wait, 3535353535 could i build that computer on cyberpowerpc.com or any other site. If so, my problems are solved.

OK..... i obviously must be doing something wrong. My grand total was $645. This is gonna take a while. Sorry about being so annoying guys, i just want a pretty good gaming pc and i have no idea how to custom build. Most likely because i dont know what way more than half the parts on there are.ajr101

OK, let's establish some things:

1. What stuff do you already have? (speakers, monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.)
2. What is your budget range?
3. How much HDD space will you need? (I don't listen to much music, or watch very many games, so I got a small 120GB HDD)
4. Where do you live (Some states can't buy from certain online stores.)

I have a mouse, keyboard, and speakers.

I want to spend 580-600 dollars

I want to play a lot of games so possibly around 250? not sure about this.

and i live in Ohio i dont think there are any problems here.

Custom building a PC isn't hard. I was 12 when I built mine. There is nothing better about a pre-built PC then a custom. It's a little over your budget. You can change some of the stuff if you want to make it cheaper. I you got that, you would have one heck of a PC.

Processor:AMD Athlon 64 4200+ AM2 $98

RAM:Kingston ValueRAM DDR2-533 1GB DIMM $41 (I use the exact same RAM and I love it)

Disk Drive:DVD/CD-ROM Combo $18

Hard Drive:Seagate Barracude 160GB $55

Monitor:Hanns-G 19" Widescreen 5ms DVI+VGA $170 (An absolutley amazing monitor, I am using it as i type)

Operating System:Windows XP Home $90

MotherBoard:GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard $80

Case+PSU: Case+350w $25

Video Card: EVGA Nvidia GeForce 7600GT  $90

Use tutorials online and/or ask advice here, or maybe some nerds at your school.

Also, 160GB will be plenty of space for your games. I never use more then 80GB on my hard drive, and I have like 35 games. 

case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811164040 $23

power supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023 $30 

processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103751 $120

mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128321 $80

graphics card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130056 $150

ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098 $90

dvd drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136083 $18

hard drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148103 $55

XP home http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056 $90 

Total= 653 which is a little over your budget but you'll get 20 bucks back after the video card rebate and this computer is way better than that one your going to get it has a better processor, double the ram, and a good video card all for just a little bit more than the one you were getting

ajr101, im 15, and the computer I have now, I built when I was 14. Learning to build a computer is very easy. Just make sure your parts are compatible. go to tomshardware.com. They have excellent guides on just about everything.

Trust me, you will save money in almost every situation, and not only that, but if you build the rig yourself, your PC will have UNLIMITED upgradeability if you activate your windows through a customer service represenative. If however you get a dell, you cannot upgrade the motherboard, CPU, Case, or the power supply.