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I just
upgraded the video card for one of my oldest clients about two weeks ago with
this decent eVGA GeForce FX-5500 (256MB) video card. This card is
basically an overclocked version FX-5200 that is a bit faster. This card is
simple, cheap, and you will be able to play some of the good games that are
available today at low settings; it also has a lot of standard nVidia features
like dual monitor support, and great media playback. My client paid about $60.00
for this card with shipping and handling included. This card is definitely not
made for gaming, but instead mostly for normal day to day desktop usage.
WHY WOULD YOU BUY THIS CARD?
If you are like my client (who does not play games that much), then you probably
need a video card like this one for your computer. This car will give you great
performance and quality for a great low price; it also has a lot of features
that you would get in a high-end card from nVidia. If you upgrade from the older
FX-5200 card, you would notice boosts in quality, performance, and overall
speed. Best of all, it is made by nVidia so you can only expect great quality
and performance, and also the flexibility to overclock it a little bit.
ABOUT THE VIDEO CARD :
This particular video card is for an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) interface;
AGP is faster than PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) which means faster
graphic performance as well. There is a newer much faster interface available
now called the PCI-E (PCI Express) which is twice as fast as AGP; but there are
no games or systems available yet that can take full advantage of the increased
speed of the PCI-E, so you might as well stick with the AGP for now. I am not
saying that you should not buy PCI-E because it is clearly the future of video
cards; as technology advances, future games and systems will eventually be able
to take full advantage of the PCI-E technology. I would stick with AGP for now
though.
The eVGA GeForce FX-5500 has three connections (VGA - 15 pin D-Sub x 1, DVI x 1,
and S-Video x 1) which will allow you to connect most display devices. DVI can
also be used to connect the huge and bulky CRT displays (with adapter) or the
newer light weight and space saving LCD monitors. The S-Video can be used to
connect your TV monitor, but some of the newest TV's have DVI connections
available.
The card itself is not as big (lengthwise) as the newer 6600,
6800, and
7800 series cards and it is thin enough to only
use up one slot in the back of your computer. The heatsink is small enough also
since the card does not generate that much heat; it keeps the GPU (Graphic
Processing Unit) cool at all times (even after some overclocking).
WARRANTY AND REGISTRATION :
eVGA provides a one year standard warranty. Just visit
www.evga.com
or call them at (888) 881-3842 to find out more about the
warranty. When you register you card with eVGA they will generously extend it to
two years for free. You can visit
www.evga.com/register to register you card.
THE PACKAGE :
1. GeForce FX 5500 256MB AGP Graphics Card
2. S-Video Cable
3. DVI to VGA Adapter
4. User Guide
5. Low Profile Bracket
6. Driver Installation CD
THE INSTALLATION :
The installation was a breeze as it only took me about 5 minutes maximum. There
is nothing new that requires extra attention when installing this card. It is
not like the newer once that require an additional power source. I did not use
the drivers that were provided in the installation CD because I wanted to have
the latest up-to-date drivers; I went to
www.nvidia.com and downloaded the latest available driver package and
installed that. The up-to-date drivers provide better performance and stability,
so it is always best to get the latest versions.
THE DRIVERS :
Once you install the drivers, you will notice an additional tab in "Display
Properties->Advanced Settings" window; this tab will have the name of the video
card (in this case GeForce FX-5500
or something similar). This tab has all of the settings that can be controlled
by the drivers available. You can change the display settings, performance and
quality settings, color, refresh rates, multiple or single display options, and
some other helpful settings.
There is a utility available at
www.guru3d.com that will allow you to overclock
and some other advanced features like the card temperature monitor. I like this
because I do not have to download an additional utility that will do this for me
and take up hard disk space and system resources. So if you are an overclocker
like me, go to the website and download it for yourself.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE :
I had a little more than a week of personal experience with this video card and
I would say that it is a very nice card for the price. My client seems to like
the increased performance and speed from the older FX-5200. I also noticed that
movie playback and video output is much better when compared to the 5200. I did
perform some benchmarks and they were obviously better than those from the older
5200 scores. My client says that his game performances have increased a lot. I
performed benchmarks with 3DMark 2001 and 2003 at stock speed and overclocked
speed. Here are the results:
Stock Speed :
3DMark 01 @ 1280 x 768 = 8302
3DMark 03 @ 800 x 600 = 2456
Overclocked Speed :
3DMark 01 @ 1280 x 768 = 8654
3DMark 03 @ 800 x 600 = 2699
By looking at these results, I can proudly say that the eVGA GeForce FX-5500
256MB video card is one of the best low-end ones available nowadays. Even at
full load and with overclocked speeds, the temperature stay well below 65
degrees Celsius (with the stock heatsink). Compared to the noise of the heatsink
fan of my processor the heatsink fan of this video card is almost mute; you will
not be able to hear the fan ever.
FINAL THOUGHTS :
I can happily say that I was very happy with this video card and my client says
he was surprised with the performance and quality boost for the price he paid.
It also has the ability to overclock to gain more power do deliver better
performance and stability without any major disadvantages. The two year warranty
is another advantage that my client and I liked; I mean everyone likes to be
protected in case a defect should appear after a year or so of use. The drivers
are easy to install and tweak to your specific needs. My client says that it was
worth every penny because he is just astounded by the overall performance. I
would highly recommend this video card to everyone in need of a great video card
for a fraction of the price. |
