Building A New Computer - 128mb Vs 256 Mb

Ok call me dumb, but I am building a new computer on www.cyberpowersystems.com and I want to have a decent, but not too terribly expensive video card.

I am thinking of getting an athlo 64... anyone have good/bad experience with this?

My big question though is the video card. I will show you the options, and let me know what you think is the best.

ATI RADEON X300 SE 128MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD
ATI RADEON X600 XT 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD
NVIDIA Geforce 6200 Graphics with TurboCache supporting 256MB 16X PCI Express VIDEO CARD
NVIDIA Geforce 6200 Graphics with TurboCache supporting 128MB 16X PCI Express VIDEO CARD

Or are the 64 systems that bad right now? Should i go with a Celeron (I cant afford a P4 right now...)

ATI RADEON X600 XT 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD

And if you wanne choose between celeron and 64 you really dumb Just kidding mate, take the 64bit

Why I take these two?

I hate geforce and intel

HERE IS THE STATS FOR THE COMPLETED SYSTEM! (its in aphabetical order, so the video card is near bottom)

CAS: HOT NEW! Xplorer Mid-Tower Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display (Silver Case w/Silver Face [+0])

CPU: (939-pin) AMD ATHLON64 3000+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology

CDRW: CD-RW 52X32X52 (SILVER COLOR [+9])

FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (SILVER COLOR [+0])

FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS

FLOPPY: NONE

HDD: Seagate 80GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache [+5]

MOTHERBOARD: (939pin Sckt)MSI RS480M2IL ATI Radeon Xpress200 Chipset SATA PCIE w/Video,LAN,USB2.0,IEEE-1394,&Audio

MEMORY: 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY

NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD

OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY

POWERSUPPLY: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY

SOUND: NEW!!! Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1

SPEAKERS: (SILVER)JUSTER NEON LIGHT SUBWOOFER STEREO SPEAKERS

VIDEO: NVIDIA Geforce 6200 Graphics with TurboCache supporting 256MB 16X PCI Express VIDEO CARD

WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis [+19]

is that radeon really much better? its about 70 dollars more...

Also, why on the other configurators, non 64, are the 128 cards MORE expensive than the 256??? makes no sense to me....

Is 64 really good? What are the pros/cons... Will Guild Wars run?

Hey, check out some studies that compare the overall performance of these cards. I have a pretty accurate study done by the magazine Computer Games that analyzed the efficiency of AGP cards only. I am quite confident that there are extensive ones that test out the new PCIexpress cards.
Ati vs nVidia is pretty much whatever camp you prefer, they are essentially equivelant in performance, although the new highend Ati is off the charts, the nVidia highend is following suite.
You need to have a processing chip that is 64 is because the new OS from Microsoft under the code name Longhorn will require it. This is in layman's temrs and if anyone would like to elaborate further on it with the complete in depth story, feel free.

check out the price increase by getting the 6600GT card

according to all reviews it is the best value for the dollar and is far superior to the 6200

be sure it is the GT model and not le or plain

Price on 6600 GT is like 100 dollars more. OUCHIE!

Hmmm, this isn't a flame, just a constructive criticism...

Getting an Athlon64 3000+ and a Geforce 6200 is probably not the best idea. The Geforce 6200 isn't a fantastic card and would probably hold your processor back from reaching anywhere near its full potential.

Unless you're planning ahead for the long-term, you might as well save money by getting a cheaper processor.

The 6600GT isn't much more expensive than the 9800 Pro if I recall correctly, and the 9800 Pro is considered a budget card today.

Mods feel free to delete this. I need to learn to quote multiple messages in one message instead of spamming. Bah.

9800pro is a very good buy It makes me a happy camper whilest I happily camp enemy spawns in WWII shooters with my sniper rifle or tank

on newegg the 9800 pro is 127 bucks.

i have the 9800 non pro and im running gws on max setting w/ 2x al/2x af

worth the invest and lets you play other games on decent settings too.

Look,this extra 128MB memory on 256MB card is required IF you are playing on high resolutions. Elsewhere, you should be fine with 128MB.

Woh good lord, skip the X300 (especially SE) and 6200 altogether. You don't HAVE to get an X800 XT, you could shoot for an X800 XL, which, with the money you're willing to spend, is the best bang for your buck.

The X300 isn't really even a gaming card, and the 6200 is pretty much considered as such as well. If you're tight for money, go for the 6600 GT OC by BFG, if you have a little extra money to spare, go for the X800 XL by ATi. Both are great cards, the latter being the better one, however, $100 more expensive (about 3-400 USD).

EDIT - I REALLY would recommend going for a card with 256 MB - it will be more future proof because of this. (The 6600 GT has 128, whereas the X800 XL has 256).

Well the problem is I have to KEEP this under 700 dollars! ROFL. (hey what can i say, the wife gives a limit...)

I went to www.cyberpowersystem.com and did the configuration... PERHAPS one of you could go there and build a better gaming machine than the one I just showed you for under 700 dollars. I dont need any monitor/keyboard/mouse/OS... SO, It's a CHALLENGE!

Let me know how it goes!

Oh and to let you know what I am running now... and the game looks great... here it is:

Celeron 1.8 ghz (dell dimension 2300)
382 MB RAM
20 Gig HD
128 PCI - Geforce 5200 card.

Well see it this way, radeon is officially a game card and geforce a video-editting card

You'd be wrong. Both ATI and Nvidia make different types of card for gaming (desktop, with the different "enthusiast" and "mainstream" sub-categories) and professional animation / video editing (workstation).

To all people reccommending the Radeon 9800 Pro; The Geforce 6600GT is in the same price range and a hell of a lot more powerful. I'm not an Nvidia cheerleader, I use both ATI and Nvidia cards, but anyone who reccommends the 9800 Pro instead of a 6600GT is kidding themselves.

I don't know about all that....
I bought a system from the original poster's mention, and it died in the box. literally.

You cannot go wrong with Vicious PC, or alienware. Simply cannot.

The best machine I have ever owned, and which I still use primarily for 3d rendering purposes, is the vicious pc. That thing is god in a box i tell ya!

Even if I can only afford the 128MB 6600? Would a less better card with 256 be better? I don't get it.

Someone that has a FEW minutes go to www.cyberpowerinc.com and use the Athlon 64 configurator and let me know what card they would do for around 700 dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I CAN do a 6600, but that means only 512 MBS ram - and It means only a base 80 gig HD... What's best for GAMING!?

Here I will make it easy. The base price here is around 500 dollars, so this is what I left to choose from. This is the ENTIRE list - so you can see the ones I can't afford. I could do like 180 dollars, but that would mean only 512MB and base HD...

NVIDIA Geforce-4 MX-4000 64MB AGP [+28]
NVIDIA Geforce-4 MX4000 128MB DDR AGP 8X EDITION w/ TV-OUT [+36]
NVIDIA Geforce-FX 5200 128MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI [+45]
NVIDIA Geforce-FX 5500 128MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI [+74]
NVIDIA Geforce-FX 5500 256MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI [+79]
NVIDIA Geforce 6200 256MB 8x AGP w/ TVO, & DVI [+111]
NVIDIA Geforce 6600 GT 128MB AGP8X w/TVO&DVI [+227]
Hot New!!! NVIDIA Geforce 6800 Ultra 256MB AGP8X w/TVO&DVI- Require Min. 480W Power [+544]
NVIDIA Geforce 6800 GT 256MB AGP8X w/TVO&DVI [+431]
Hot New!!! NVIDIA Geforce 6800 128MB AGP8X w/TVO&DVI [+287]
ATI RADEON 9250 8X AGP 128MB DDR W/ CRT & TV-OUT [+36]
Special ATI Radeon 9600 SE 128MB DDR AGP 8X w/ TV-Out & DVI [+64]
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 128MB DDR AGP 8X W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+151]
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 256MB DDR AGP 8X W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+107]
ATI RADEON 9800 SE 128MB DDR AGP 8X W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+135]
ATI RADEON 9550 256MB DDR AGP 8X W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+82]
ATI ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 9600XT 128MB DDR w/ TV Tuner [+208]
ATI ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB w/ TV Tuner & Remote [+277]
ATI ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON X800 XT 256MB w/ TV Tuner & Remote [+512]
Hot New!!! ATI Radeon X800 PRO 256MB DDR3 8x AGP W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+430]
Hot New!!! ATI Radeon X800 XT 256MB DDR 8x AGP W/ TV-OUT & DVI [+514]

Don't bother getting a ghetto card. Just use the onboard on that motherboard and see how that flys. You should be fine.

For those lacking in power video chipsets, don't bother with more than 128M ram.

The 6600GT is your best bet for a real video card right now. BTW that motherboard doesn't support AGP cards, so you can discount those suggestions.

The amount of RAM on a card has very little to do with it's performance. What matters is the (a) number of bits [64,128,256], (b) chipset, (c) ram/core speeds [difference between the base/ultra/xt cards]. The amount of RAM onboard really has very little to do with performance, especially with a game like GW.