A New Graphics Card

[BaronAsh]

As you may or may not know a new Total War game "Empire: Total War" (http://www.sega.com/empire/gameinfo/news.php?n=2741) is predicted to come out in march.

Now I would love for once to be a able to view a game in all its graphical glory. (when it first comes out) I have an excellent processor and 3 gigs of ram, but I only have an invidia 7100 graphics card.

So to get to the real question, what is a good descent respectable graphics card? (Money won't be an issue until you get above 350$.)

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

Just about any gaming machine in the last year has used the nVidia (or is that nVidea) 8800 GTX.

Although, I believe the current top-of-the-line for them is the GTX 260 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398], and it has a pretty healthy amount of good reviews.

Although, I'd wait to hear from Eggo or RAKtheUndead, as they know their stuff much better than I.

 

[BaronAsh]

Just about any gaming machine in the last year has used the nVidia (or is that nVidea) 8800 GTX.

Although, I believe the current top-of-the-line for them is the GTX 260 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398], and it has a pretty healthy amount of good reviews.

Although, I'd wait to hear from Eggo or RAKtheUndead, as they know their stuff much better than I.

New Classic, They know about computers you ARE a computer. XD

 

[searanox]

What's your budget? At the moment the AMD Radeon HD4870 is probably the best card available in its price range at around $250-300 and will handle just about anything with ease (unless you want to play your games at ridiculously high resolutions). However, if you like NVIDIA, the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 (fun name, that) is in some cases a better performer and will cost about the same price these days. If you want to go more or less expensive, a Radeon HD4850 is still a good choice in the lower bracket. NVIDIA also have the GTX 280, which is faster than the GTX 260 Core 216 but arguably isn't a smart purchase due to its higher price. In January, NVIDIA will come out with the GeForce GTX 295, which is actually a dual-GPU card similar to the Radeon HD4870 X2. Preliminary benchmarks show that it is generally a bit more powerful than AMD's fastest, and without turning to SLI/Crossfire you won't get better performance. It's likely to run you around $500 at launch, but for the enthusiast it might be worth it.

Just make sure you can keep these cards fed with your current power supply. Video cards these days are very large and power-hungry, so be sure you have enough space in your case and that you have enough juice to keep them going.

Just about any gaming machine in the last year has used the nVidia (or is that nVidea) 8800 GTX.

Although, I believe the current top-of-the-line for them is the GTX 260 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398], and it has a pretty healthy amount of good reviews.

Wrongo! On both counts.

 

[Zeke109]

Just about any gaming machine in the last year has used the nVidia (or is that nVidea) 8800 GTX.

Although, I believe the current top-of-the-line for them is the GTX 260 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130398], and it has a pretty healthy amount of good reviews.

Although, I'd wait to hear from Eggo or RAKtheUndead, as they know their stuff much better than I.

What aboot MEEeeeEEeee?!

 

[spuddyt]

As you may or may not know a new Total War game "Empire: Total War" (http://www.sega.com/empire/gameinfo/news.php?n=2741) is predicted to come out in march.

Now I would love for once to be a able to view a game in all its graphical glory. (when it first comes out) I have an excellent processor and 3 gigs of ram, but I only have an invidia 7100 graphics card.

So to get to the real question, what is a good descent respectable graphics card? (Money won't be an issue until you get above 350$.)

Firstly, what power supply is in your computer at the moment? because if it is some generic cheapo 50watt with 1 amp on 17 different rails then you can forget it. I ask because the 7100 is integrated and therfore requrires less energy to run for a day than my kettle for 3 minutes.

however, presuming your power supply can handle it, I would reccomend the radeon HD4850 or 4870 - both extremely well performing at a great price. Although empire sounds like it will be a graphics munching machine, I think either of these cards would serve admirably. If you have a slightly lower budget, a nvidia 8800gt or 9800gt, or ATI radeon 4830 are still good buys and will most likely weather even the mighty storms of the newest games around.
I find it hard to reccomend either the 4870x2 or the gtx 280, as they will be outdated before you know it, produce enough heat to double as a radiator and produce god knows how many bugs with different drivers from cros and all the rest

 

[Laughing Man]

We need more details, specifically weather or not you are running a Mobo with AGP or PCI-E. We then need to know weather or not you have a decent enough PSU to run the thing.

 

[karn3]

I'm a bit of a computer nut and I'd say the best buy at the moment is probably the nvidia 9800 GT. good powerful card and you can pick it up quite cheaply

 

[searanox]

I'll bet he's got a Compaq or something. God dammit.

 

[BaronAsh]

We need more details, specifically weather or not you are running a Mobo with AGP or PCI-E. We then need to know weather or not you have a decent enough PSU to run the thing.

When I open comp up to put a new processor in, it looked like an AGP to me, but is there a way to check with EVEREST.

 

[searanox]

When I open comp up to put a new processor in, it looked like an AGP to me, but is there a way to check with EVEREST.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

 

[Laughing Man]

When I open comp up to put a new processor in, it looked like an AGP to me, but is there a way to check with EVEREST.

Dunno, don;t use Everest, but CPUz will tell you as will the system scanner on www.crucial.com

If it is AGP though I thik the best you're looking at is the ATI 1950pros though.

 

[curlycrouton]

Buy this if you're loaded.

Buy this if you're not.

 

[searanox]

Buy this if you're not.

The 8800 GT is a good card, but it's also a slower version of a high-end card from over two years ago. It's decent right now, but won't last past the next six months.