How is this video card for a lower end pc?

[AndrewD83]

I am in the market for a cheaper video card. I was looking in Best Buy today for some ideas and found an  eVGA Geforce FX5200 128 mb card for $80 bucks after rebate. Is that a good choice for playing games like Sims 2, Thief 3, Splinter Cell, Neverwinter Nights, Farcray, KoToR, Generals, RCT 3, Doom 3 (on low settings). (and maybe Half Life 2....but not until it drops in price in late 2005 if not later)

Obviously graphics aren't important to me but I would like to play this generations games even if it is on the lowest setting possible.

My current specs are:

P 4 1.6
256 DDR Ram (planning to update this to 512)
Geforce 2 MX 400 64MB
Windows XP

Here is a link to the video card I was looking at in Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&dept=0&WLBS=FSWEB56&sku_id=0926INGFS10039728&catid=20397&newdeptid=20374

 

[Bert]

For this class of CPU and FSB, the card you've chosen is a good one. 

Likely price is a concern, but the ATI Radeon 9800 may be the better performing card
in this class of card for "around the same price".  If you increase the graphics settings
of the games, your CPU may be the limiting factor.

If you get a better graphics card, you may be able to find a P4 2.4GHz suitable for your
motherboard at a good price.  A better video card and a CPU may improve the gaming
experience and keep the current system going longer.

Another thing to consider (assuming gaming is the main factor) is an AMD based system
performs better than a Pentium system.  If you look at system prices from you local
neigbhorhood computer store, the price for an AMD Athalon (AMD 64 3000 and above)
based system isn't bad and it may come with the memory, GFX, and CPU that may last
you a while longer than step-by-step upgrades and be on-par with most mid-to-high end
Pentium systems.  If you're a video editor and perform alot of format conversions as an
example, a Pentium based system is better.

The FX5200 card is a good upgrade from your current configuration in my opinion.