Vid Card for WOW

[hector48]

I'm getting a Samsung 940b for X-Mas and I want to get a newer card so i can try to play my games at the native rez of 1280x1024. I mostly play wow and sometime doom3 or half-life 2. I need something agp and less than 300$ so what do you guys think I should get?

 

[arr4ws]

put 40 more and get a 7800gt

 

[Viper16]

7800gt isn't agp is it now?

 

[Solidus Snake]

A 6800GT or X800XL/X850 Pro would be a good choice.

 

[GFreeman9]

7800gt isn't agp is it now?

Nope not yet at least.

x800 or x850 series card or even perhaps a 6800gt.

 

[quadnad]

6800gt is smack dab in your price range. a used one should go for ~230, and it has more than enough graphical prowess to tackle wow.

 

[Johnnyscans]

also ( yes i know this is off topic), with wow, mark sure your have at least a gig of ram.

 

[Zallek]

a 6800GT would be overkill for only 1280x1024 in WoW with everything maxed.. That game is so not video intensive... But I guess again, it depends on if you have to have 120fps versus somewhere around 50ish with something like, say a 9800Pro or a 6600GT.. I'd just pick up a 6600GT because its cheaper, thus saving you money, and will get the job done just fine.

Ninja Edit

Just noticed you said HL2 and Doom3 as well.. 6800GT then.

 

[Phranq]

a 6800GT would be overkill for only 1280x1024 in WoW with everything maxed.. That game is so not video intensive... But I guess again, it depends on if you have to have 120fps versus somewhere around 50ish with something like, say a 9800Pro or a 6600GT.. I'd just pick up a 6600GT because its cheaper, thus saving you money, and will get the job done just fine.

WoW graphics intensiveness are very underrated. I have a 6600GT in here and play without everything maxed at 1024x768. FPS drops in high numbers of people are bad, so in order to get more stable FPS I play with closer to medium-high settings on 1024x768.


Edit: bottom line, a 6600GT or 9800Pro will not play WoW at 50+fps constantly on max settings 1280x1024, I doubt even on average depending on what zones you're in.

 

[prophetx2]

WoW graphics intensiveness are very underrated. I have a 6600GT in here and play without everything maxed at 1024x768. FPS drops in high numbers of people are bad, so in order to get more stable FPS I play with closer to medium-high settings on 1024x768.


Edit: bottom line, a 6600GT or 9800Pro will not play WoW at 50+fps constantly, I doubt even on average depending on what zones you're in.

I second that. I have a 6600GT on a 3200xp and I can not maintain 50fps constantly with everything turn down either. When I played at 1600x1080, I CAN get 50fps in open areas where there aren't that many non-npc chars. As soon as I hit a big town OR an instance with more than 5 none npcs, I start CRAWLING (read single digit frames). I'd imagine at 1280x1024 the card wouldn't be able to maintain a constant 30+ FPS inside a huge town or instance either. I will double check for you tonight if you wish.

With my new opteron 170 + 1800xl i still only am only barely able to get 30fps constant inside ogrimar at 1600x1800 with everything maxed out minus a few options (vertical sync for one).

The action may not be as fast as a FPS but, laggy frame rates in a middle of a huge battle sucks balls (i often wind up dead or the rest of my team dies b/c I didn't get to heal them fast enough).

My suggestion is to go with probably the x800 xt series vid cards (if you look they are holding up pretty good against the 1800 series cards up until higher resolutions). You shouldn't buy the cheapest vid card just for a game, you might as well buy something that is the best you can get within your budget so that once you stop playing WoW OR if the new expansion/updates become more demanding, you'd still have extra performance to spare.

 

[hector48]

Yeah i'm thinking twice about this since I plan on upgrading during tax return time. Really the problem is i'm not to informed on how the scaling works on the lcd although i won't change my mind about getting the screen either way.