Will this graphics card do?

[BottlesOf]

I need to improve my graphics card to get the most out of Half Life 2. This seems like a good deal, will the card give me enough power? I doubt this is top of the line, but is it close enough?

http://www.woot.com

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
I need to improve my graphics card to get the most out of Half Life 2. This seems like a good deal, will the card give me enough power? I doubt this is top of the line, but is it close enough?

http://www.woot.com

[/ QUOTE ]

that card doesn't have DVI, does it? you probably want that

[MyMindIsGoing]

I would say no, that seems to be a very low end budget card that doesn't even have dvi out. To get some "blast" in new games like HL2 you will need atleast a mid range card. Stay away from anything called LE or SE or similar (=budget card).

[BottlesOf]

I was informed that I need dvi out and i need dual out so this card is OUT!!! thanks guys...

[Neuge]

[ QUOTE ]
I would say no, that seems to be a very low end budget card that doesn't even have dvi out. To get some "blast" in new games like HL2 you will need atleast a mid range card. Stay away from anything called LE or SE or similar (=budget card).

[/ QUOTE ]It's not only a low end budget card, it's a low end budget card based on an antiquated chipset. That's not even a good deal and it's certainly not better than the X300 he has now.

Seriously, if you want the most out of HL2 look for good deals on these chipset (from weakest to most powerful):

Geforce- 6600GT, 6800, 6800GT, 7800, 7800GT.
Radeon- X700, X700PRO, X800, X800PRO, X800XT

Keep in mind that these are just chipsets and can have many different manufacturers, outputs, and RAM sizes. The last two are users dependent where obviously dual DVI and 256MB RAM are better, but any configuration of those chipsets will let you run HL2 pretty much maxed. Also make sure you get AGP or PCI-X, whichever one your motherboard supports.

I suppose if those are more than you're looking to spend, a Radeon 9800PRO or 9800XT will suffice with a slight hit in performance. Also, HL2 performs slightly better on Radeon chipsets than on GeForce ones.

[llamaoo7]

I'm just curious as how a 9800 pro (256mb) stands up now a days. I haven't looked at video cards or read reveiws in quite a while.

[MyMindIsGoing]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm just curious as how a 9800 pro (256mb) stands up now a days. I haven't looked at video cards or read reveiws in quite a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can compare here: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...s-pcie-05.html

As you see the 9800 pro does real well.

My card is not even on the chart (9600 128mb, not even pro), and it is playable although if I were a gamer (witch I am not) I would like a faster one, but for occational gaming it is fine for me.