Recommend me a good cheap 256 MB graphics card

been lookin at this one any good? GAINWARD GeForce FX5200, 256MB DDR

Also would it be worth bumping my ram up from 700 to 1000 MB? woud I actually notice any difference doing that?

cheers

I would be happy to tell you some of my experience but I should to know what else you got. You see a computer is an integrated hard ware sys so there is no point to put money at one point where some where else is a bottle neck. (fx-5200- can you find something stronger?)

Ive got a pentium 4 2GHZ with 768MB RAM running windows xp pro, antyhing else u need to know?

I aint got a clue about cards i just want sumthin fairly cheap!

256mb cards are quite new on the market and they aren't cheap. Most will run about $400 or more.
With a 2gig and the memory you have I would suggest getting the best 128mb that you can get if you are looking to save $.
If you are willing to pay the 256mb price then you will see a huge improvement over whatever you are running now.
Memory for an older machine such as your is fairly cheap right now so bumping it up as much as possible would benefit you in the redraw of textures and the speed of loading.

that card i mentioned above is only about £60 which made me think its pretty poo but its got loads of good reviews. heres the link if your interested:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52249

Has anyone had any experience with this card?

I don't know that much bout Nvidia cards (I buy ATI) but it seems that is built on the old 5200 which wasn't a very effective card.
I would wait for someone (TTT) to come by and offer you an Nvidia informed opinion on it. He just purchased a 256mb card.
You'll notice he bought the card built on the 5900 not the 5200.

http://flyawaysimulation.com/forum/topic/1692/gainward-fx5900-ultra-1300xt-256mb-golden-sample/

them numbers mean nothing to me mate!!!

Also ive just noticed that cards agp im not sure if ive got agp, think i mite only ave pci

Oh ya. What card you have today? What frame rate you have today at the default flight (Seattle Tacoma)
If you have not an old hard drive. Your question is a very common question in the forum and so far most of the time RadarMen is the "answer men". I only can quoit him on that matter in link:
http://flyawaysimulation.com/forum/topic/2226/video-cards-for-sim-2004/
I don't think if there will be somebody in the forum who will give a direct recommendation what to buy (maybe what not) but some directions how to get the right answer. Personally if I would be you instead of upgrading to 1G I would invest in a better card than fx5200 and even a better card with 126m instead of a lower card with 256m

AGP is the brown socket usually at the end of the white (PCI) sockets.
If you don't have a AGP socket then you are going to have to buy a PCI card and the only ones (256mb) that are out now are very expensive if you can find one for sale, in stock.


Run this utility and it should tell you all about your machine if you can't identify sockets on the MOBO yourself.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

The odds of you finding a cheap 256 card are slim to none, what I would recommend is anyting other than a FX5200, thats what i HAD, and i detested it!

RadarMen
Will you stop to amaze me finding all those links day by day?
The last one belarc.kom solve me some real problem
(nothing to do with FS).What are you doing for you living
(and when)?

Rafi,
Thank you,
I'm glad to help.
By the way, if you want to run a good test on your computer, find all the facts go to http://www.pcpitstop.com very reputable site.

ok then in that case someone recommend me a good 256 mb card and an online shop that does finance on it!!!

Here's test and prices on the two leading companies card.
Choose which you want and check the street price below.
They can be found cheaper on the net if you hunt for it. I'll help if you like after you choose which it will be.
Financing? Don't understand what you mean.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040816/opengl-pcie-20.html

Allways buy the best that you can afford

I the other day that Nvida cards are better at OpenGL games and ATI better at Direct X .Fs9 uses Direct X

I use a FX5900GS which is very,very good but do'es not fall into the cheap range

Use the link from Radarman and read up on as many cards as you can,and then decide

@radarman finance = monthly payments

Find the card you want, there are places that give you a list of site that sell it for different prices. pick one and see if they have financing, if not move on to the next.
I think you're going to have a difficult time finding a low price and financing.
If they are going to finance they are going to want top $.
Try http://www.cnet.com for the card and a list of sites that have it.
Put it on a credit card and take care of that yourself.

I picked up a second hand Radeon 9600 Pro 256Mb on EBay for £70.
I'm happy with it.
If you only have PCI, I think the best you could hope for is a 64Mb GeForce MX440, as PCI slots can't handle as much "traffic" as a fast AGP slot, though I may be mistaken.