Card recommendation

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sparksterz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 1, 2008
Messages
188
I'll be looking to pick a new video card up sometime soon and I was wondering what I should be looking for to play games at my native resolution of 1920 x 1080. I currently have a 8600 GT XXX. As you can imagine it is a little painful at times but seeing as I only really play audio surf and TF2 I can usually find settings that make it comfortable at that resolution.

I know in a year or so Project Origin (FEAR 2) Will be out and I'd like to pick that up and run that natively. I'm not too picky about my graphics, I won't want any AA I think it's a waste of processing, I would like to have 2x-4x AF if possible though. I will have to pick up a new power supply whatever way I go so cards on the less expensive side would be nice. Of course it will take me until mid - late august to get enough money for both, I just wondered what you guys would recommend.
 
the market is quite uncertain right now, sure you could go for the 4870x2 and find it great and then nvidias next one a month or two later will have to blow that out of the water and they'll most certaintly do that because they always have an ace up there sleeves, personally they never go out guns blazing and only ever release what they need too, and then at the other end of the spectrum you could find nvidia going the way of 3dfx

you need something to tide you over, an 88gt/gts would do fine, if i recall someone here found a 88gts for 130 which is a steal provided it works :p
 
I had wondered if I should just get an intermediate card. I was thinking that ATi has probably about tapped it's potential in the 4000 series, but with nVidia releasing this brand new beast of a GPU I'm sure that optimizations and shrinkage may make them perform even better.

Do you think jumping from an 8600gt to a 8800gt/gts would be that much more beneficial to me? Or should I just wait for the market to mature?
 
sounds to me like you should hold off until you need a card (when the game you are wanting to play actually comes out). putting it off until then will stretch your $ a little further, either allowing you to buy a better performing card or to spend less on one. it really doesn't make sense to buy a card that you don't need at the moment. especially if it's for a game coming out in a year.
 
So it might be a good idea to buy a nice power supply now and sit on my card until I need a new one?
 
Due to the volatile nature of the market, prices will likely shift a lot by the time you decide to buy, I'd wait till then and make the decision.
 
Even for a high end power supply? I'd like to pick up a nice one that has a single 60amp 12v rail I would think that would last me for many years, am I mistaken in that thought?
 
when the time comes, unless you're actually thinking of getting a "beast not yet released", I think it would be a great idea to get a similar psu to the one you mentioned beforehand, I may be wrong and someone will point it out, but a 4870 (which could be the price of a 4850 by then, around $150-$200) would also probably let you play just about any game you wanted to and would only need a single 6 pin PCI-E connector...

things to consider while selecting your video card...

1. the number of PCI-E connectors on the psu you plan on buying, if you want one of the beasts, get one with at least one 6 pin PCI-E connector and a 6+2 pin PCI-E connector...

if you're not gonna get one of the beasts, something like this should suffice...something like this Antec

2. space issues...is it gonna be a dual slot or single slot cooler...? will it fit in your rig...? will it cover up an essential PCI or PCI-E slot...?

3. also, be careful if you get a 48xx series card, just to be safe get one with a picture of a hot girl on it, there have been reports on Newegg from customer reviews that the 48xx series cards touch you in your sleep...
 
Hmm, that touch you in your sleep thing is a cool feature!

Single slot or dual slot won't be an issue in terms of space, I may need to double check that no heatsinks or capacitors get in the way of the card otherwise it shouldn't matter. The only thing I want to put in at a later point is a nicer sound card, I don't have any other cards in it currently.
 
actually the sound card is the best thing to buy now. things are unlikely to be majorly changed in the sound arena over the next year. the psu's may get more efficient, more modular models, etc....
 
wadec22 said:
actually the sound card is the best thing to buy now. things are unlikely to be majorly changed in the sound arena over the next year. the psu's may get more efficient, more modular models, etc....
Click to expand...

really...? I was actually thinking the opposite, with the possible impact of the Creative X-Fi "scam" I figured it would be a perfect time for an up and coming company to strike while the iron is hot and not only get their foot in the door, but kick it wide open...

again though, someone would have to step up to the plate in order for this to happen...
 
lol I wouldn't even be looking at Creative X-FI cards. I was actually looking at the Razer AC-1 Because it has a nice headphone set up if I ever wanted to use it, and I only need the optical out, I can't even use all the analog inputs that come out of the Creative cards on my receiver. Not to mention I'm not a fan of the "Sound enhancing" That creative pushes. I've heard that they have a pretty good set up on the Razer's
 
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