quick advice on video card update? (NVidia GeForce 8800GT --> MSI Radeon 4350 512MB)

[tvccfc]

<p>Currently have a NVidia GeForce 8800GT video card. Have got hold of a MSI R4350-MD512H (Radeon 4350 512MB) graphics card.</p><p>Have no idea if this is better, other than the new card is referred to as a "non-gaming card suitable only for older games". Was cheap and chearful to buy and just want my machine back up and running really.</p><p><strong>Can anyone tell me how much worse EQ2's performance might be</strong> - i.e. is the new card MUCH MUCH worse than the old one? (<a href="http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=544&card2=585" target="_blank">Exact comparison stats here</a>) <strong>What kind of FPS</strong> are we talking about? I run the game on Extreme Performance settings and no custom UI at 1900x1200 res these days anyway  - not sure if I'll even notice a difference with the new card once it's slotted in and loaded with drivers?</p><p>Can anyone give me some insight into the above situation?</p><p>And, if it is terrible to the point I cannot play the game - <strong>can you advise on a budget video card (<$50) which would be more suited to playing EQ2</strong>? that's all I do really on that PC, apart from needing access to the net/browsers/email.</p>

[TalisX1]

<p>At that high of a resolution the 4350 will get half or less of the fps of the 8800.</p><p>Silat</p>

[tvccfc]

<p>Thanks for the indication. That's worrying. I may just try it out, confirm what you've said (since it's already in the post anyway) and return it at my own cost to the store then.</p><p>If I can manage to scrimp some more cash from somewhere, what would you do then? Replace the 8800GT with the identical thing, or go for some better Radeon thing (Radeon 4650 or Radeon 4670?) - or something else entirely? Say, max of $100 value? Power unit not a problem, my machine comes with 750watts PSU.</p><p>For an idea of other system specs, my machine is a Dell XPS 630 (<a href="http://www.euro.dell.com/uk/en/dfh/Desktops/xpsdt_630/pd.aspx?refid=xpsdt_630&cs=ukdfh1&s=dfh" target="_blank">more info</a>) that is 3 years old.</p><p>I've been looking at online reviews, but i'm hesitant to pay too much attention to them since I really just want this as my EQ2 and net surfing machine. I don't really care to get confused by fancy sounding features that, say, EQ2 won't even take advantage of... if you can see my dilemma <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" /></p>

[Wingrider01]

<p>if you switch chipset brands make sure that you completely uinstall the old drivers before switching the cards. est bet if to do the uninstall  of the driver, then obtain a drive cleaner and run it to remove any remenants, then swap hardware.</p>

[tvccfc]

<p><span >Wingrider01, thanks - it's good to have a reminder about these things, but my PC died on me with massive tearing and funny chars onscreen a few days ago - it wouldn't even load into Windows properly (and the BIOs screen was corrupted). I'm just following the manufacturer's forum techie advice to replace video card first as a likely suspect... but that means I can't even DO anything on the computer until I get the card to try out.. so your advice is sort of "chicken or egg" - I have no idea what to do now other than slot it in and see what happens...<strong></strong></span></p>

[TalisX1]

<p>The nVidia GTS250 1GB card should be about $100 depending on vendor/brand and would be a marginal improvement over the 8800. The nVidia GTS450 1GB card would be around $120 but would provide more of an improvement over the 250.</p><p>As for the chicken and the egg. If you do switch to an ATI card...just make sure after you boot you remove the nvidia drivers and then install the ati drivers.</p><p>Silat</p>