Budget please? (And what currency it's in of course)

Your price range will determine what's available for you. A display card in at least the mid-price range is recommended for playing modern PC games.

get a geforce FX5200. It runs really well, I have seen it for a reasonable amount of money as well. It plays doom 3 really well, the graphics are smooth and there is relatively no graphic lag.
On newegg.com, I see the price is about $52 - 149 (the higher the price, usually is a better brand)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...roperty&DEPA=1

errr.... uummm......

No, don't do that please. FX5200 is a poor choice, and is a card I'd recommend only for machines intended for desktop applications use, not gaming.

Well I was assuming that his budget was not big and he just wanted something basic. It runs really well, its no GeForce 6800 though if that is what your saying.

If Junior89 wants to play Doom 3 with an acceptable level of image quality and a decent framerate, then a FX5200 is not the card to buy!

If you have roughly 200 to spend, i would DEFINATELY go with a geforce 6600gt. If you have enough money to get a decent geforce 6800gt that would be the optimal choice (somewhere in the neighborhood of 400, but you can probably find a decent one for 350).
Of course if yuou have the money, go with a geforce 6800ultra, or x800xt platinum edition.

Except for the top end ( the x800xt pe [platinum edition]), steer clear of ATI cards. They are not comparible in performance for the price, except for ATI's top end card, as I said. THe only exception to this rule is if your primary game is going to be half-life 2.

Also, if you are in a lower range than around 200. I would go for a Radeon 9800 pro, which you can get very reasonably these days. You wont have the newest shaders or the hottest performance, but it will definately run. I tested my friends 9800 pro 128mb in my machine, worked quite well. However, it did not come within leauges of my geforce 6800gt.

Bottom line: get the BFG 6800gt oc if you can afford to spend ~400.

Hey, I just upgraded my Nvidia Geforce MX 420 (32mb) card with a (budget) Geforce FX 5200. You both are right about this card. I have played Need for speed: underground 2, Half-Life 2, Counterstrike: Source, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City...I was not very happy with how this card played NFS: underground (Low settings), but it plays all the othergames very well. Of course you can't max out the settings, and if you are a hard-core gamer (I'm not) than you should listen to JonnyBlazeXX and get a more expensive card. But if you just want to play these games, with what I would consider very good quality, the Geforce 5200 FX is decent card for good price.

Not to take away by any means from what cdt1983 said. He makes a valid point. With a upper range system such as what he has, games are playable on a fx5200. However, I have a gainward fx5200 that i have trtied on my rig ( a tough higher in specs... so the video card is 100% guaranteed to be the bottleneck for everything) I tested the fx5200 because when I built my computer this summer, it was harder than hell to get ahold of a geforce6800gt for less than 450 dollars, and I didnt want a stuipd pny card.

But back to the fx5200. Yes, it is playable (tested doom3, farcry, unreal tournament 2004 etc. The game could definately run things fairly smooth, and because it is still in the fx series (even though the bottom of the line) it still had the shading technology as well as everything else offered int he fx line over the geforce 4 line. When cdt1983 says I just have to question what he considers to be good quality? The games do look ok, and are very playable... but there is much to be desired. Especially once you know what is out there. Upgrading to my friends 9800 pro trumped the fx5200 severely not only in being able to have higher resolution, a few more graphic settings, but also the nice ability to hvae anti-aliasing enabled to a small degree. As I jumped up to my geforce 6800gt, as I said, it is leagues ahead. I went from being able to run at 1024x768 at decent settings (other than in doom 3, which could not handle as too high of settings and still keep smooothness to it) to the 9800pro which would do things in the 1280x1024 range with similiar settings, but having antialiasing enabled. Then with the advance to the 6800gt, I was able to run farcry with settings maxed out in everyway, other than antialiasing (which i leave at 4x, to keep the game running smoothly), in doom 3 high graphic settings with everything enabled with max settings on the high setting with an antialiasing of 4 or 8 times.

There is truly a difference in video quality to be considered, but cdt1983 makes valid points in saying that the gaming is very playable and looks decent (ok he said pretty good but it is merely ok). If you can be happy with this.. then definately find a good geforce fx5200 in the 50-80 dollar range (although i highly recommend splurging to the 9800pro for 100 dollars!!)

-JonnyBlazexx

if your have $350 go Nvidia 6800GT no questions asked. It can VERY EASILY be overcloked to an Ultra for $200 cheaper.

it is the best card for the buck period.