Name: unangbangkay 2005-08-15 7:35
Anyway, FEAR's almost out, and I want to play it at mad-hot quality.
Unfortunately, my rig can't handle all this newfangled DX9 shenanigans, and I can barely get acceptable performance on FEAR at medium detail.
So I've judged that it's about time to upgrade.
Current specs:
P4 3.0 with HT
1024MB Dual-Channel DDR on PC-400 RAM
2 HDDs with roughly 200GBs between them
GeForce FX 5900 128MB (Inno3D Tornado)
Thanks to what is apparently the FX series' strength, I've been able to get away with running a lot of games on High with decent resolution (1024x768).
Unfortunately, now that I'm about 2 generations behind, new games have finally caught up to me.
I'm confident that the rest of my baby is far from obsolesence, but, as we all know, the Video Card is usually the first portion of a computer to become old.
And thus, taking advantage of my parent's continued subsidies (probably the last ones before I hit the workforce), I implore you:
What video card can I choose within this year that will virtually guarantee me at least 2 more years of above-average performance from the latest games, preferably for under 599$ (though I'm not above shelling out if necessary)?
Historically, I've preferred Nvidia, but really, it doesn't make that much difference anymore. Both companies turn out superlative hardware, and to be perfectly honest, I won't notice unless the frames are bad.
My general priorities when it comes to graphics are Quality, Frames very close second (first in MP shooters), and resolution last. I've played every game the last 7 years at 1024x768 or 1152x864, and if I want less jaggies, I usually just turn on FSAA and Anisotropic filtering.
I've made a vow not to early-adopt new Video card technology anymore, not since the Geforce 3, but I'm also willing to break that vow if it seems safe enough. I may consider SLI to improve longevity.
I'm currently eyeing the Geforce 7800GTX, but also it's little brother the 7800GT.
Suggestions?
Unfortunately, my rig can't handle all this newfangled DX9 shenanigans, and I can barely get acceptable performance on FEAR at medium detail.
So I've judged that it's about time to upgrade.
Current specs:
P4 3.0 with HT
1024MB Dual-Channel DDR on PC-400 RAM
2 HDDs with roughly 200GBs between them
GeForce FX 5900 128MB (Inno3D Tornado)
Thanks to what is apparently the FX series' strength, I've been able to get away with running a lot of games on High with decent resolution (1024x768).
Unfortunately, now that I'm about 2 generations behind, new games have finally caught up to me.
I'm confident that the rest of my baby is far from obsolesence, but, as we all know, the Video Card is usually the first portion of a computer to become old.
And thus, taking advantage of my parent's continued subsidies (probably the last ones before I hit the workforce), I implore you:
What video card can I choose within this year that will virtually guarantee me at least 2 more years of above-average performance from the latest games, preferably for under 599$ (though I'm not above shelling out if necessary)?
Historically, I've preferred Nvidia, but really, it doesn't make that much difference anymore. Both companies turn out superlative hardware, and to be perfectly honest, I won't notice unless the frames are bad.
My general priorities when it comes to graphics are Quality, Frames very close second (first in MP shooters), and resolution last. I've played every game the last 7 years at 1024x768 or 1152x864, and if I want less jaggies, I usually just turn on FSAA and Anisotropic filtering.
I've made a vow not to early-adopt new Video card technology anymore, not since the Geforce 3, but I'm also willing to break that vow if it seems safe enough. I may consider SLI to improve longevity.
I'm currently eyeing the Geforce 7800GTX, but also it's little brother the 7800GT.
Suggestions?