Best dx10 midrange graphics card

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fowen

Gawd
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Dec 28, 2004
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I am running Vista Ultimate with a 4400 X2 and 2GB of RAM. I don't do much gaming but I do play the occasional game. Right now I am playing DOOM 3. I also need Dual DVI.

What is the best choice for a graphics card for this system/my needs?
 
imho an 8600gts is a waste of money as it will more than likely not be able to play any dx10 game coming out very well.

get an 8800gts or get a high end dx9 card.
 
desrin said:
imho an 8600gts is a waste of money as it will more than likely not be able to play any dx10 game coming out very well.

get an 8800gts or get a high end dx9 card.
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I am not sure if you wrote this post out right, but you say the card is crap then you say to get it? :p
 
8500/8600 series cards likely will not be able to handle DX10 games at reasonable resolutions and settings. They simply are not powerful enough, if 8800-series performance is indicative of how current hardware will actually perform The 8500/8600 cards are just severely crippled versions of the 8800 or G80 architecture, with less memory bandwith and /far/ fewer stream processors -- 32 on the 8600 GTS as opposed to 96 on the 8800 GTS and 128 on the 8800 GTX and Ultra.. If you want to play DX10 games right now, the 320MB 8800 GTS is pretty much your lowest end option, and that's only true at resolutions below 1650x1050.
 
To answer the OP's ACTUAL question,

the "best" mid-range DX10 card right now is the 8600GTS, depending on how one defines "mid-range." This card will easily handle Vista and will play Doom III at maximum settings. There is no game - other than STALKER - that this card cannot at least run decently at the moment.

I'd personally wait and see if ATi will deliver with the 2600.
 
Yep best mid range DX10 card is indeed currently 8600gts. Bear in mind that 2600 cards are supposedly come out any day now (no joke), but seeing how 2900 did, I would not get my hopes up.

After that you must consider that 8600 cards are basicly DX10 card only in paper. We have seen some DX10 demos and even the highend cards are strugling in some cases. So in my mind the 8600 DX10 is just a PR hype without any real value. Get atleast the 8800gts if you want to enjoy anything DX10 has to offer.
 
sam0t said:
Yep best mid range DX10 card is indeed currently 8600gts. Bear in mind that 2600 cards are supposedly come out any day now (no joke), but seeing how 2900 did, I would not get my hopes up.

After that you must consider that 8600 cards are basicly DX10 card only in paper. We have seen some DX10 demos and even the highend cards are strugling in some cases. So in my mind the 8600 DX10 is just a PR hype without any real value. Get atleast the 8800gts if you want to enjoy anything DX10 has to offer.
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Bingo. 8600 really isn't going to be enough for more advanced games, but you'll be O.K if your just a casual gamer and you don't care a whole lot about eye candy.
 
FIDDYOWNZ said:
Bingo. 8600 really isn't going to be enough for more advanced games, but you'll be O.K if your just a casual gamer and you don't care a whole lot about eye candy.
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Eye candy?.......hell, you can forget about even playing some newer DX10 games. Call of Juarez and Lost Planet both averaged single digits fps at 1024x768, with no AA, mix med/low settings. So no you wont be OK in most upcoming games.
 
trek554 said:
Eye candy?.......hell, you can forget about even playing some newer DX10 games. Call of Juarez and Lost Planet both averaged single digits fps at 1024x768, with no AA, mix med/low settings. So no you wont be OK in most upcoming games.
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1280x720 is yes, not a huge res, but for those enthusiasts who play for recreation, can stand resses like 800x600. That, and the textures can be turned down.

I'm sure you've read this, but I'll state it anyways. Lost Planet is a demo, in no way representative of the actual game play or performance of the finished product. And an early demo, at that. Its not optimized for PC (Evident from the ''Press Start to continue'' message at the beginning).

I don't think the Lost Planet demo is a fair benchmark at this time. But to all his own. :rolleyes:
 
trek554 said:
Eye candy?.......hell, you can forget about even playing some newer DX10 games. Call of Juarez and Lost Planet both averaged single digits fps at 1024x768, with no AA, mix med/low settings. So no you wont be OK in most upcoming games.
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That's true, although you could always run it in DX9 mode.

...But if you do that, then you would be better of with an x1950pro, which is more powerful and cheaper than the 8600 GTS.
 
Considering you are posting in this topic on this forum .. i would bet your gaming habit is alittle more than "normal barely a computer gamer casual" so i would likely get a 8800gts 320 meg .. best deal overall and will last a long time for a "casual" gamer.
 
applebook said:
One review is in for the 2600XT, but keep in mind that the drivers are early, and this is only one review: javascript:if(confirm('This link may not be safe and has not been confirmed. Are you sure you want to view:

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/powercolor/hd2600xt/g1.htm

It doesn't look too impressive, and this is the XT version too. :mad:
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Yep it looks like another useless midrange card from a gaming perspective. Forget about playing DX10 games on that. Its strange that both ATI and Nvidia have decent high end cards but cant produce a REAL midrange card. Our only choice is hot running power hungry cards OR weak ass cards that arent much better then last generation cards they are replacing.
 
fowen said:
I am running Vista Ultimate with a 4400 X2 and 2GB of RAM. I don't do much gaming but I do play the occasional game. Right now I am playing DOOM 3. I also need Dual DVI.

What is the best choice for a graphics card for this system/my needs?
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Best mid-range DX10 card is the 8600 GTS. In what Doom 3 is concerned, you'll get very good framerates with it, even with all eye candy options on, but in newer games, you'll need to make some compromises in either resolution or in-game settings. A 8600 GTS is ideal for resolutions <= 1280x1024. In short, if you don't play that much and you will not be playing at resolutions > 1280x1024, then a 8600 GTS is more than enough for you.
However, you would be better served with a 8800 GTS 320, which is, as I like to call it, "the high-end for the poor". For about $250, you'll get a very powerful card, that will handle everything you throw at it, at resolutions <= 1600x1200, without many (if any) compromises, in what in-game settings are concerned.
IMHO, I would go with the 8800 GTS 320. It's not very expensive and yet it's an amazing performer. It's actually the definition of "best bang for your buck" card.
 
Tricky one, most of the medium range DX10 cards are very good DX9 performers but are likely to choke with all upcoming DX10 games. So it really depends on what you mean when you specifically ask for DX10.

If you're hoping to enjoy DX10 effects in upcoming games like crysis you're going to have to aim for a high end DX10 part, at least a 8800GTS 320.
 
trek554 said:
Eye candy?.......hell, you can forget about even playing some newer DX10 games. Call of Juarez and Lost Planet both averaged single digits fps at 1024x768, with no AA, mix med/low settings. So no you wont be OK in most upcoming games.
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Hell, Call of Juarez puts a nice beatdown on my system at 1680 x 1050, everything maxed. 35-55 FPS. I was hoping the 8800gts 640 would be a superstar, but looks like the new games are pushing the DX9 envelope as far as it can go?

Btw, CoJ has no AA setting in options (greyed out, IIRC), but it sure looks AA'd when playing. Automatic?

If you can wait, be patient and see how the 2600 and dual 2600 cards affect the market. There's not much out there for DX10 anyway, so no hurry.
 
Id recommend the 8800GTS 320MB, unless your playing at very high resolutions.
 
You can stop waiting. Here's Anandtech's take on the 2600/2400:

Usually it's easier to review hardware that is clearly better or worse than it's competitor under the tests we ran, but this case is difficult. We want to paint an accurate picture here, but it has become nearly impossible to speak negatively enough about the AMD Radeon HD 2000 Series without sounding comically absurd.
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So as has been said, the 8800GTS 320 is the only "mid-range" option right now that offers a prayer of decent long-term performance. We desperately need an "8700" with one more shader/TMU cluster at a sub-$200 price.
 
My 2 cents,

As a mid range card for the casual gamer the 8600GTS would be an excellent choice. On a decent system it will play almost any game out with maxed settings or near it at medium resolutions and below. In games like F.E.A.R. and Oblivion and a handful of other very graphically intensive games some options will need to be turned down.

It's important to mention that the casual gamer does not usually expect everything to be turned up to high. The casual gamer doesn't play games all the time and doesn't mind lowering AA/AF or dropping the resolution a little to save money on a GPU that will most of the time not be pushed to its limits. Most casual gamers generally play older games or a single game they like, or download demos to try out and don't buy a whole lot of new games. Many of the recommendations made here are made by hardcore gamers who expect to play games at 1080p resolution with every graphical option and vsync on at high FPS ... this is not the way a great many people expect to be able to play games on their PCs that are used for other tasks.

There are other things to consider ... 8800s/2900s use a lot of power while gaming plus they draw more when you aren't. Plus a card like the 8600GTS has the mature implementation of PurevideoHD which is important to those of us who render/encode video and do other stuff on our computers other than just games. Also most people don't have a power supply adequate for an 8800 or 2900 series card. The average user who doesn't game much is running a low amperage power supply with a single 12v rail. For most casual gamers you are looking at the cost difference between the cards themselves in addition to the cost of a power supply upgrade. You can get an 8600GTS for $150 now, and the cheapest 8800GTS is $260 now. Add in a power supply for at best $75 for a decent one and you are looking at almost $200 more to step up from an 8600GTS to an 8800GTS for the average person.

My vote for a casual gamer --> 8600GTS. Those who play games a lot and/or expect all the eye candy at high resolutions do need to look at the 8800 series, or if so inclined the 2900 series.
 
hunter33 said:
My 2 cents,

As a mid range card for the casual gamer the 8600GTS would be an excellent choice. On a decent system it will play almost any game out with maxed settings or near it at medium resolutions and below. In games like F.E.A.R. and Oblivion and a handful of other very graphically intensive games some options will need to be turned down.

It's important to mention that the casual gamer does not usually expect everything to be turned up to high. The casual gamer doesn't play games all the time and doesn't mind lowering AA/AF or dropping the resolution a little to save money on a GPU that will most of the time not be pushed to its limits. Most casual gamers generally play older games or a single game they like, or download demos to try out and don't buy a whole lot of new games. Many of the recommendations made here are made by hardcore gamers who expect to play games at 1080p resolution with every graphical option and vsync on at high FPS ... this is not the way a great many people expect to be able to play games on their PCs that are used for other tasks.

There are other things to consider ... 8800s/2900s use a lot of power while gaming plus they draw more when you aren't. Plus a card like the 8600GTS has the mature implementation of PurevideoHD which is important to those of us who render/encode video and do other stuff on our computers other than just games. Also most people don't have a power supply adequate for an 8800 or 2900 series card. The average user who doesn't game much is running a low amperage power supply with a single 12v rail. For most casual gamers you are looking at the cost difference between the cards themselves in addition to the cost of a power supply upgrade. You can get an 8600GTS for $150 now, and the cheapest 8800GTS is $260 now. Add in a power supply for at best $75 for a decent one and you are looking at almost $200 more to step up from an 8600GTS to an 8800GTS for the average person.

My vote for a casual gamer --> 8600GTS. Those who play games a lot and/or expect all the eye candy at high resolutions do need to look at the 8800 series, or if so inclined the 2900 series.
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Yes, thats the point I was trying to get across earlier. When I was a ''Casual'' gamer I played with my 5200LE, which - trust me - at that time sucked. But I ran my few games O.K. My vote is also with the 8600GTS.

Good Post :)
 
I'd agree he makes a good case for gfx card sanity. Especially in light of how [H]'s review showed the card coming into its own with shader-intensive games.
 
Then again in Extremetechs review, the 2600 completely destroys 8600 cards in DX10. Quite a mixed bag, better to wait more reviews to hit the street.

And before you kill me, the OP did ask for best midrange card. But if it was up to me, 8800GTS 320MB is the minimum for any DX10 gaming, I think said that before in this thread. Then again, one must arque, how good is DX10 gaming when you get avg 9FPS ?
 
sam0t said:
And before you kill me, the OP did ask for best midrange card. But if it was up to me, 8800GTS 320MB is the minimum for any DX10 gaming, I think said that before in this thread. Then again, one must arque, how good is DX10 gaming when you get avg 9FPS ?
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It's not gaming, it's a pretty Powerpoint presentation, and sometimes you get to click on something. Sometimes, it dies. Just not often.
 
with the recent price drop, the 8600gts has become extremely attractive. You can get the evga 8600gts from newegg for $165 plus a $15 rebate makes it $150. Doom3 is actually quite an old game, now; it was made to run well on the 9x00 series back in the day.
 
well what res r u playing on?
i recommend the 8800GTS for high res but u say yr a casual gamer so prob get the 8600GTS
 
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