What video card for WoW and Dungeons and Dragons Online?

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Limp Gawd
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Nov 30, 2005
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I have a friend that plays WoW and Dungeons and Dragons Online. He'll prolly plays other games of the like. He currently has a GeForce 5600 and a 800MHz CPU, but he says he still manages to run those game. He says he meets the minimum requirements, lol.

So now he's upgrading to a Dell Dimension E510. Here are the specs for the power supply, I don't quite know what it means other than 305W is maximum.


Input Voltage: 100 to 120 V at 60Hz, 200 to 240V at 50Hz
Output Wattage: 305W maximum continuous
Heat Dissipation: 560.5 BTU/hour
Backup Battery: 3.0 V CR2032 coin cell


So like he wants a new video card (PCI-E) and I have found a few options but am not sure what to get.

I have a 6600GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150133
a 6800XT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150130
a 6800XT (cheap price): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130261
a 7600GS (silent cooling): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130004
a 7600GS (cheap price): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130011

All are within the same price range so its really hard to choose. I'm leaning towards the XFX 256-bit 256MB GDDR3 6800XT or either one of the 7600GS, although I like the silent one. Tell me what you guys think. Thanks!
 
the 7600gs wouild be the best of the bunch but i would spend the extra cash and get a new 7600gt or a nice used 7800gt

he might need a new psu if hes gonna run a 7800gt
 
yeah, i don't think we can replace the PSU cuz its a Dell and stuff like that. I noticed that the 7600GS has more pipelines than the 6800XT, but the XFX 6800XT has a 256-bit memory while the 7600GS has the 128-bit. I guess it all balances out and the 7600GS prolly runs cooler. Also, I have like a GeForce 6200 LE TC. Would that work for him or is it like totally out of the question?
 
pc p&c makes dell psu's, also most name brand comps are going non proprietary (my xclio fit fine in my gateway, but dell may still use proprietary casing) as to the 6800xt vs 7600gs, the gs will win, but if they make gs's with fans on the cooler i would get those could passive cards usually run HOTTTTT, but i seeriously would recommend getting ATLEAST a 7600gt, its a BIG increase (sometimes over 2x)

the 6200 would work ok, but if he plays other games... no
 
Yeah, I understand those passive coolers run hot, but I hear the 7 series is on like a smaller nano thing and they run cooler compared to the 6 series. Also, silence is always good and its going to be in a BTX case, so the air flow should be good. Um, so a 6200 is around $50, the 7600GS is around $130, and the 7600GT is around $170. Hmm ok. I'm not sure if the performance is like x2, it just seems like the clock speeds are faster. Reminds me of the 6600 vs. the 6600GT. Maybe I'll be cheap and just get a 6600. Damn that's cheap...lol might as well get the 7600GS..or the other stuff. damn.
 
look at some benchies of a 7600gs vs 7600gt, trust me ull want the gt

but seriously if he only plays those 2 games a 7600gs would be perfect, but a 7600gt is a BIG step in performance

aha found this review, just look at the difference
 
I have a thread bouncing around in the nVidia forums that is damn near just like this one. My computer is basically the same as your friends, and I too play WoW. I only have an 800mhz also.

And, I was asking the same question, which was better, the 6800xt or the 7600gs. I had ONE reply when I looked last night b4 bed :( maybe I should have posted on this side of the v.card forum.....

Anyways, If you look at that link that guy gave a few posts ago (also happens to be a link I gave in my thread) You see that the XFX 7600gs falls just under the mid range of the other cards they tested. For some reason, the eVGA 7600gs took LAST place on all the tests. I always thought the eVGA was like,,,DA SHIT....but after reading that review, it made me think twice about getting eVGA products.

This is what I was going to do. I was going to get the 7900gt, but because of money problems and the NEED to upgrade NOW, I decided im going to get the XFX 6800xt. As you said, it has 256mem. Its DDR3 and PCIexpress. Only thing about this card thats discouraging (if you want to call it that) is the lower number of pipes and core settings.

However...Its ONLY $99 bucks after rebate. In my eyes, thats BADASS!!!! After I get this first one, I plan to get another just like it and run it in SLI. 2 of these cards together beat the shit outta a single 7900gt and, to have BOTH, you still come out $100 cheaper than a single 7900gt.

So, thats what Im going to do....IMHO, I think it would be a good thing for your buddy too. Ive been told, this card will really make some eye candy for WoW. The lava inside of Iron Forge im told, looks extremely AWESOME with a decent card and the guy who told me that, just got himself a 6800nu, which, according to another review I read, those 2 cards are matched right at eachother. Some games the 6800nu would have, say 56FPS while the 6800xt would be at like 54 FPS. Other games, the 6800xt beat the 6800nu by a few FPS. All in all, Id say its a VERY good card, esp for only having 8 pipes while the 6800nu has 12. For them to be so closely matched in the benchmarks, Id say get the xt version. Its cheaper and does practically the same work output.

One other thing.....I dont know much about DELLs,,,,I always called them DULLs. Anyways, I dont understand why he cant change out the PSU, but, 305watts, really is at the bare assed LEAST amount you should have. That being said, I would seriously consider him getting a better PSU. Thats not to say it wont run his new card, but there will definately be some heat going on there.

I have to get another PSU too...Was going to get the Antec TruePower II for about $99 bucks. Its a 550watter.....But, again, due to low funds atm, Im instead going to get a 400-450 watter for around 50 bucks.

If he does plan to SLI (dont know if his DELL can do that or not), he will DEFINATELY need a better PSU.

:D
 
just fyi,

I got 2 compies running WOW right now.

one is an amd 3200+ venice/ x850xtpe (pci-e)/2gb pc4000 on dell 2001fp
other is a p4 3.4 pressy/ 6800Uoc (agp)/ 1gb pc4000 on dell2001fp

hands down Nvidia chips render wow more cleanly. I have both computers running @ 1600x1200 max everyting. Both run really smooth, but side by side the nvidia just looks better.

enough of that.

If you're just playing WoW, even the 6800U is overkill for the game... however bang for your buck now-a-days I'd reccomend the 7900GT. ($300 ish?) if you're super cheap, and need a pci-e half decent for gaming, I recall seeing some X850XT pci-e cards for $160 @ newegg a while back. this x850xtpe runs like a champ on my sli- mobo.

re:
coolxboxgamer said:
why a 6800gt? a 7600gt outperforms a 6800ultra, i would say a 7600gt by far
Click to expand...
lol that sounds like flamebait, link up some apples to apples comparisons on that.
 
If he is thinking about upgrading his power supply, remember that Dell motherboards are propriatary and will not accept any Pcu. Damn Dell.
 
fore1337 said:
no mention of a 6800Ultra in that article.
Click to expand...
The ultra isn't 15-20FPS better than the GT.


To tell you the truth, why WOULD you get a 6800U over a 7600GT? More features and smaller cost oin the 7600 series.
 
My friends and I play Dungeons and Dragons a lot, and all have various video cards. The game is actually very tough on a card, and the graphics can be amazing depending. I have a 7800GT and it runs perfect w/ everything maxed out. My friend has a 6600GT and can only run w/ everything a medium/low, and another friend has an X700 and can run it the same. Interestingly, the X700 looks better than w/ the 6600GT, but can't quite match the FPS.

Hope this helps for comparison.
 
bLaCktIGErs91 said:
The ultra isn't 15-20FPS better than the GT.


To tell you the truth, why WOULD you get a 6800U over a 7600GT? More features and smaller cost oin the 7600 series.
Click to expand...

its hard as hell to find a new 6800ultra for under $400, unless u buy 1 used off fs/ft, anyways a 7600gt is faster by a little bit, when its oc'ed its a lot faster than an ultra, even when the ultra is oced
 
I have not seen any benches for D&D although the beta ran just fine at 1680x1050 on my 6800nu. WoW is even less demanding.

Your 6600GT should run WoW just fine, and with some changes in the video settings D&D.

If those are the only 2 games of concern get whatever is cheaper.
 
ya but i would still get a nicer card so he can play new games if he wants to buy em

(7600gt, or x1800gto or above)
 
I don't know about D&D, but WoW plays just fine on integrated graphics.

No seriously, anything runs WoW. I think a 6800 ultra class (7600GT) will be frame rate capped at max resolution and settings in the game.
 
MelchiorZ said:
I don't know about D&D, but WoW plays just fine on integrated graphics.

No seriously, anything runs WoW. I think a 6800 ultra class (7600GT) will be frame rate capped at max resolution and settings in the game.
Click to expand...

Yea anything runs WoW, but not everything runs WoW good. I have a 7800GT as well as a friend has a 7800GT. Same motherboard, I just went with a dual core processor (3800) where he went with a 3700. 2 gb of ram

We get around 20-30 frames a second in Org and Ironforge. In the Molten Core it averages around 35-40. Questing on our own it is around 60. However I would hardly say espically with the new weather effects that WoW isnt a demanding game.
 
WoW isnt that demanding as lets say fear or graw, heck its not as damanding as halo from 2001, still its a decent looking game, but they ment to make it playable to most people, not just a select few, so the requirements are not very steep at all, still most new machines run WoW fantastically, hopefully in burning crusade they can add some new graphical features, also the poster that posted that weather is a problem, well first off it barely happens at all (where i play) also it doesnt impact my performance much.
 
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