What good mid-range video card works best for Thief 3?

Tintin on 10/1/2006 at 00:54

I've had Thief 3 for awhile now (several months since it was released) and whilst it is a good game it wasn't optimised all that well by the makers.
Currently I have a Geforce 4MX and Thief 3 doesn't run the best on it (it runs, just not well). I'm going to upgrade my videocard soon and was wondering what mid-range video card to get for the best performance for Thief 3 (and some other more recent games). (The computer is a 1.8Ghz).
I don't want a piece of crap video card, but I also can't afford a 'monster' one.
Anyone got any suggestions?

Thanks!

SD on 10/1/2006 at 01:06

It's a bit difficult without knowing what your budget is. Also, are you AGP or PCI-Express?

Something in the Radeon 9-series should be cheap and cheerful, like a 9800 pro.

Tintin on 10/1/2006 at 01:24

Sorry, I don't know what AGP or PCI-Express is but my budget is probably no higher than $500 Australian if can be helped. I hope that's possible. I was thinking of something in the Radeaon 9-series.

Thankyou

SD on 10/1/2006 at 01:34

AGP and PCI-Express are the two most common graphics ports on motherboards, although I guess it's not beyond the realms of possibility you have a bog-standard PCI port. In any case, it's pretty important you buy the right one :p.

I guess the port does matter too in that it's pointless buying a really newish card if you're AGP, as everyone's going PCI-E, and an AGP card will be useless when you come to upgrade. I wouldn't spend more than A$200 personally, and you should have no problem finding a Radeon 9 series card for less than that.

Tintin on 10/1/2006 at 02:42

$200 Australian? I like the sound of that! I assumed (the Raedon 9-series) were much more.
I'll get back to you about the AGP and PCI-Express. My brother is pretty good with that. I'll ask him.

Thanks for your help.

Gingerbread Man on 10/1/2006 at 02:49

You'll only be able to use a PCIe card if your motherboard supports them. It's a physical difference in the slot configuration, first and foremost. You simply can't put a PCIe card in a PCI slot.

Biohazard on 10/1/2006 at 05:47

The Radeon 9800 Pro is an excellent card and is now at an affordable price. You should look into what interface you need and shop around for good prices on the net.

aldous on 10/1/2006 at 18:16

I bought recently Galaxy GeForce 6600GT (AGP) for ~150$. Thief3 runs great in 1280x1024/full details. Card is 10-20% better performing than Radeon9800 in most titles, but newer technology (shaders etc.) should make bigger difference in some of the upcoming games.

Tintin on 11/1/2006 at 07:52

Thanks aldous! I was actually considering that one too! I just hoped Thief 3 worked with it. Cheers.

psyco88 on 2/2/2006 at 04:05

Quote Posted by Tintin

well in responce to this, i recently bought a mid/lowend graphics card for about $150ish US ATi Radeon X700Pro and it works perfectly fine so if your cheep and need somthing that will get the job done with out giving minor glitches this is somthing i would recomend