Graphic Cards Help

I need some advice folks:

Right now, I have an AMD AThlon XP process 1500+, 1.33 GHZ, 224 MB of Ram with a Sis 730 32 MB graphics Card. I'm trying to update my computer, I bought Unreal Tournament and I can only get about 15 FPS max (this really sux). I'm a Matrix fan and I want to buy Enter the Matrix when it comes out but I'm afraid I won't have enough power to play the game since I barely can play Unreal Tournament. Any suggestions on how I can boost up my gaming speed and the quality of my visual gaming? I'm not an avid gamer but I do like to play a few qualitiy games here and there.

I'm on a really tight budget, and probably can't spend anymore than $80 (not including the games). Advice would be appreciated. Thanks

For $80 I would suggest a Radeon 8500 LE . It's probably the best card for that price... however you amount of RAM might also be holding you back. A 256MB stick of whatever stuff you got in there can be very cheap... it would benefit you in every possible aspect.

Or for $80 you can even try to find some Geforce4 64MB... they're getting pretty cheap.

Just don't buy a Geforce MX card... ever.

ive got a grforce 64meg , there gd

GeForce cards dont have very good support with games. They run best using OpenGL, which most games have 3rd party developers that patch the OpenGL support that came with the game. They are good cards though, but not for games.

I've never ever heard GeForce isn't good for games. That was "the" card to have before the Radeon 9700 came out. It was on the top of every "ultimate gaming rig" list I've ever seen, how can you say it isn't good for games?

because D3d support for those cards hasnt been that great. Every game I have used had someone create a patch at some point to 'fix' the openGL dll that came with the game. i think the GeForce2, and the Riva models work great with games, from my experience, but when I started going to newer models they started sucking, comparable to what i was upgrading to.... I bought a GeForce 4 that was on tech notes more than 2x's as fast as my Geforce2, but it ran just a little bit better. And I am talking specifically about UT and U1. Some other forum I frequent, the general consensus has went away from NVidia cards, esp, since the 9700 has come out (but there have been a lot of complaints about GeForce cards). If I use OpenGL on UT it goes to crap. If I use D3D it runs "ok". There is a UT patch that fixes some of the bugs in the OpenGL to make NVidia cards run better on UT, but again, someone besides Epic made that driver.

I think NVidia starting losing ground when they put out the ti4600. That is a great card, but more people bought the 4200 and again, people (from other forums) haven't been very happy with their frame rate with that series of cards.

Now when they put out the MX, they shot themselves in the ass because that card is lame. IMo.

i have a gforce and my games run perfect i have 8 full games on my system at the moment , they run like a dream

haha.. i got a Gforce 64meg. i love it, and opengl is MUCH better than 3D in Cs atleast, and all other games, i like my card, and i am a gamer ;)

i have have geforce 4 mx 440 there great for playing games. btw i have no problems with unreal tournament when using open gl

Originally posted by Marble
because D3d support for those cards hasnt been that great. Every game I have used had someone create a patch at some point to 'fix' the openGL dll that came with the game. i think the GeForce2, and the Riva models work great with games, from my experience, but when I started going to newer models they started sucking, comparable to what i was upgrading to.... I bought a GeForce 4 that was on tech notes more than 2x's as fast as my Geforce2, but it ran just a little bit better. And I am talking specifically about UT and U1. Some other forum I frequent, the general consensus has went away from NVidia cards, esp, since the 9700 has come out (but there have been a lot of complaints about GeForce cards). If I use OpenGL on UT it goes to crap. If I use D3D it runs "ok". There is a UT patch that fixes some of the bugs in the OpenGL to make NVidia cards run better on UT, but again, someone besides Epic made that driver.

I think NVidia starting losing ground when they put out the ti4600. That is a great card, but more people bought the 4200 and again, people (from other forums) haven't been very happy with their frame rate with that series of cards.

Now when they put out the MX, they shot themselves in the ass because that card is lame. IMo.

haha. i got a MX. and i love it. much better and less error than ma friend ti 4200...fps is all good, 100 in CS with is normal for a ti4200 also. other games i haven't tested, but no lag at all at me.