Looking to Upgrade...so...

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?

FYI: I'm in SE Asia. I can't access the latest stuff and online delivery sucks. I'm stuck at the retail level, and usually we're fairly behind. For a reference mark, as of today a 6800 Ultra costs about 450$ and is the fastest card available. I believe its ATi equivalent is also of similar pricing.

As an aside, I'm pretty much an "end-user" when it comes to additional functions, like TV-out and the like (though a TV-in function, if possible, would be nice), for various reasons. What matters to me is overall performance with high-spec games, and thus longevity over several generations of gaming engines.

>>5

I don't think it was "bargain-bin" at any rate. It was pretty expensive, though of course, price doesn't mean quality. I think it was either kingston or samsung.

I asked at my computer supplier today, and I've begun considering the 6800 series, since it's likely to be the only top-line card available by the time it's time to upgrade.

Are there considerable differences between the GT and Ultra versions of the 6800, performance-wise? I've got a couple side-by-side on Gamespot Hardware, but I don't see anything that seems very important. How "current" is a 6800 anyway? 8 months is a long time in technology, so I'm sure you understand why I'm asking.

As an additional question, how likely is a gamer to need PCI-Express in the future? Are new cards transferring to it or something?

My board's an Intel 82801EB, which predates PCI-E, and will thus need replacement if some kind of transfer occurs. I"m asking because the nature of my issue is improving the life of my rig as a hardcore gaming platform, and if that happens it might be best to just assemble new rig, send the oldest rig to the relatives, and thus have a soon-to-be-mid-range box available on the network.

>>2

I'm on a CRT, MAG-innovision, which I run at 85hertz on a desktop of 1152x864.