{___Good Non-Gamer Video Card for Windows Vista____}

[newkid]

hi, i'm currently looking for a new video card...

im a non-gamer...but want something that'll run all of the aero effects and crap from vista...for when i eventually make the permanent switch...and by run i don't mean run on the bare minimum...but at least run all vista stuff well...

or is a lower end (~$50-60 geForce's) card good enough...my old card got a low score from the vista system evaluation thing...but was good enough to run aero...did i get a low score cuz its not a gaming card? thats what im thinking

so whats reasonable for me to spend? and what model?


thanks techies!

[Kwirky]

I have to admit I'm a little confused. You say that your current card is good enough to run Aero, but you want a card that is good enough to run Aero?

I think a little more info on your current setup would be useful in determining what you're after here :)

[newkid]

sorry for the confusion i kind of rambled...haha

anyways...bottom line...what video card for a non-gamer would be reccomended for vista to take full advantage of the graphical features?
i had my current vid card (an ASUS 9250 geForce 5200(?) 64MB AGP) burn out on me...so im looking for something that'll last me through the vista years...

would that suffice since it worked with all the aero features? or do i need something beefier?

my current PC is a celeron 2.93 ghz with 1 gb ram...vista isn't so great on it...but i'll be upgrading in the near future...

[Impossibles]

What's your budget?

7600GT and x1650 Pro are very good cards, and you can find them for under $125 easily.

[Amourek]

On a budget? This is perfect:
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14080BD6699&vpn=11029-05&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

[Kwirky]

On a budget? This is perfect:
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14080BD6699&vpn=11029-05&manufacture=SAPPHIRE

Agreed. This would be a perfect card to tide the OP over until he decides to do a complete overhaul.

Some other ideas:
Cheaper, not great performance-per-dollar though: http://shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=3130798

Same card as Amourek suggested but with TV tuner + other multimedia goodness:
http://shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=3266889

[jvangilst]

A Geforce 6300 Should run aero too.

Also note that Vista Basic does not have aero. You will need at minimum the next version up. Home Pro I think?

[wonton1017]

This one is great too:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22581&vpn=BFGR6200OCI&manufacture=BFG%20Technologies&promoid=1066

I have that on one of my working computers, that uses Vista.

[akito925]

a card that would last you.. get something around $150, those are low end gaming cards what people say.

[Amourek]

A
Some other ideas:
Cheaper, not great performance-per-dollar though:
http://shopati.ca/product.asp?sku=3130798


Not advisable. AMD/ATI doesn't even offer Vista drivers for the 9200.

[Keas]

i personally would look for a place that has some stock of ati 800xl or 850xx , when i last looked which was about 6 months ago they were selling for about 150+. reason i suggest them over a 1600 is they were close to to the top of thier lines and didnt have less pipelines than the highest model or slower memory.

my friend bought a 1600 with 500mgs of ddr and honestly his 9700 pro looked and ran better playing games like world of warcraft. the 1600 and i would imagine the 1650 is a low-mid end card of the top range of that line and will be crippled.

also they dont have the power to really use any new tech that might have been added since the x800 series which has plenty of power still.

now if you wanted a gaming card i would go for the new 1950 agp cards if you had a higher system and didnt want to jink it all and buy new mb,cpu,ddr2 memory and whatever else. i have a 4400x2 and cant afford make a whole new system so those cards are looking pretty ;)

edit:
incase wondering i have seen the 1950 agp models at ncix around 300$ . just incase anyone else reading this never heard of this card being agp like i didnt til 2 days ago.

[newkid]

thanks all...im gonna go over ur suggestions and find one in my price range i'd say $100-125 is good...

:D :D

[SuPaFleXx]

An excellent Video Card would be the XFX GeForce 6200
http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=15857

are you looking for AGP or PCI-E?

[board123]

Geforce 7300 or Radeon X1300.