ATI Technologies ATI RADEON 9250 Video Card

Great card through the test of time.

By Gears  Nov 10, 2007

Pros: Plays most current MMO's perfect on default settings. A solid card for its price.

Cons: Not compatable with Windows Vista.

This was my first card for my PC when I bought it early 2005. Radeon 9250 256mb PCI. Good thing I decided to hang on to it. My ATI x1300 512mb AGP blew out and I went back to this card. I didn't want to shove out $200. dollars for a new 512mb. card. After owning this card for over 3 years, I am happy to see it works well with most games I play. The Radeon 9250 256mb PCI card is a great card for around $80. - $115. dollar price range (I paid around $160. for it 3 years ago. Compared to $199. For the AGP version of this card). Out of all the graphic cards I've owned, the Radeon 9250 256mb PCI runs the coolest. I never had any overheating problems associated with it. The Radeon 9250 256mb PCI is DirectX 8.1 with Pixelshader 1 and 1.4. The 9250 256mb PCI is compatatable with most DirectX 9.0 games. Check the game's website and see if the this card is supported or not if you wish to play games with this card. I recommend this card if you are: 1.) Low on funds and want a decent graphics card. Since AGP cards run a lot more in price. 2.) If you don't have a AGP slot on your motherboard and want to experience 3-d gaming with out all the lace and foo-foo effects associated with higher end cards. 3.) Want something better than built-in motherboard graphics. If you decide to use it as your main graphics card,remember to update to the latest drivers at the ATI website. Note: This card is not supported with the use of Windows Vista operating system. My Games: (According to my cpu with 1024mb of ram) *FFXI Online runs great on defaults. Smooth game play. If you turn up the graphics, it tends to get a bit choppy. *Secondlife plays well on defaults. *World of Warcraft plays well on defaults with smoothness, no lag, or choppiness. If you turn up the graphics, it tends to get a bit choppy. *EverQuest 2 works great on default settings. Smooth and no choppiness. If you turn up the graphics it will chop up on you. *RF Online works great with defalut settings (High) but make sure you turn off the Glow effect. For some reason Glow effect freezes up ATI cards. *Phantasy Star Universe is a bit choppy on this card. The opening movie and offline mode mini movie clips chop up a bit. But the game is still playable and works well at normal default settings. PSU runs a lot smoother in low res mode with the card. The in-game videos are choppy period. There is no fixing it with this card.