Cheap Graphics Card

[Neil]

Hello folks. I'm looking to buy a cheap graphics card for a secondary computer I have. I'm thinking of getting it off eBay or somewhere similar. The computer has an AGP x8 slot currently occupied by a 5700LE. I'm selling this to a friend and looking to replace it with something a bit more snazzy, maybe a 5700 Ultra. But I was wondering if anybody has other suggestions, for example would a 6200 be better? The main problem is I don't know the power supply as I got this computer second hand, so I'm wary of getting anything too far above my current card. If anyone has any suggestions on a new card, or if they know how much more power is required by the 6200, it would be appreciated. As you can gather I am just looking for a cheap card that will play games "well enough".

I have included an Everest report. Also I am planning on increasing the RAM amount as well.

Thanks.

Edit: Ok it didn't like a htm file so I'm zipping it...

[Calum]

Glancing through your report, you need more free space on your HDD.
The 6200 will be less powerful than the 5700 you already have.
I'm not too sure of AGP cards available nowadays, but you'd really need the PSU specs before upgrading as many new cards demand a lot of power.
Something like a 6600 would be good, or the 5700 Ultra you mentioned.
A 5900 series might be OK too.

[Neil]

Harddrive space is irrelevant

Remember I have a 5700LE only.. I'm pretty sure the 6200 is faster than that, if only marginally. I don't have enough money to upgrade the PSU which is why I was wondering if the 5-series consumed less power?

The 6600 is completely out of my budget

[Calum]

I don't think the 6200 would be faster, it's very low end.
Isn't the 5700 sort of middle-upper side of the 5000 series?

[Neil]

I did a google search and some guy on a forum said this

The 5700 (425 mhz core clock) is still faster than the 6200 (300 mhz core clock) all around.  Don't go for the 5700LE, however, as it is considerably slower than both.

 

Remember: LE = light edition = underclocked budget card.

[Calum]

Fine, prove me wrong.
I figured the fact that it was an LE wouldn't matter as much as the 6200 is a low end card.
If you go for the 6200, make sure it's not the LE or TC versions as they will be slower than the 5700LE.
I'm sure.
Well, reasonably.

[Neil]

Don't worry, one LE card is enough punishment for me
Although to be fair, it's been a good card...
Unless anyone can give more information about power usage, I think I will just stick to my plan of getting a 5700 Ultra. Does anyone know its ATI equivilant? I'm an ATI virgin really...

[Calum]

The ATi equivalent of the 5700 Ultra would be something like a 9600XT, maybe a low end 9800 like the SE also.
I've always used ATi.
However, I'm not sure of the power usage for either card, but I can check on that and get back to you soon.

[street1 (RIP)]

Power Supply Calculator---->Here