Will be buying a new Graphic Card next week and thought of asking which one would be the best for my system however, I remembered that there was once a Poll on Graphic Cards back in February by Dan which concluded that the Nvidia 7600 GT 256mb, AGP came out as the best polling 75%.
Only problem with that poll was.................only 8 members cast their votes!!
By comments given, I have decided to go for this one or does any-one have any other advice? Presently have Nvidia G-Force fx5200 Card.
System.
P4 3Ghz
1Gb Ram
Micro Star PM8M3-V (MS-7211 v4.x) Micro ATX mainboard (whatever all that means).
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.
I'm using a 6800GT (256mb) at the mo which is quick enough so I can't see you being disappointed with a 7600GT.
Thing to remember no matter what card you buy.. don't expect it to be a zillion times faster than your old one (regardless of what it says on the box) cause that won't happen. Expect an increase in speed but look more for an increase in quality
Recent experience has shown that Nvidia drivers are not what they used to be.. Nvidia cards will be sharper and have more latitude with AA over ATI but ATI have less finicky drivers and will hustle along nicely. Generally, the equivallents of each brand will be close and score points in different areas so in the end, it all boils down to what you like to see in front of you and what you're prepared to put up with (eg.. not seeing the spinning aircraft in the select aircraft window though you may not be devilled by this.. sadly, I am).
I'm using an ATI X1950Pro, 512MB version. Exceedingly fast (well, as fast as the CPU will allow it to be anyhow - I've got a P4 3GHz same as you). I'm sure the nVidia card will be fine too, and simpler in terms of driver issues. Try for a 512MB card if you can.
Definitely add another GB of RAM (if possible, I've a feeling we've been through this before) before doing anything else.
Many thanks for your tip Dave as was not really sure what to expect from an upgraded Graphic Card in terms of speed, at least now that you have told me I won't be thinking something is not quite right with it!
James and Andy, many thanks for your suggestion regarding more RAM but unfortunately it has taken me some time to persuade the good wife of the benefits of having a new graphic card, should I now say an extra 1Gb of RAM would boost it up further I only know too well what her reply would be!!!
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.
With nVidia it's the second number that is most important not the first. The first number is the Series (a bit like the Year) the second number is the POKE! eg a 7300 is actually not as good as 6800
eg the 6800 has
bandwidth of 14.4GB/sec, 4 billion pixels/sec and 375 million vertices/sec
whilst the 7600 has
bandwidth of 22.4 GB/sec, 6.7 pixels/sec, 700 million vertices/sec
but the 7300 has
bandwidth 10.7 GB/sec, 2.8 billion pixels/sec, 350 million vertices per sec
In my opinion the best AGP card available is the 7800 (GS, GT or GTX)... its at least twice as fast as the 7600 and faster than the ATI X1950.
7800
54.4 GB/sec, 13.3 billion pixels/sec, 1100 million vertices/sec
X1950
ATI don't publish their performance specs in the same way as nVidia
What's your budget? ... a 7600 or X1950 will be very good but a 7800 will be better
Nigel H-J wrote:Should I now say an extra 1Gb of RAM would boost it up further I only know too well what her reply would be!!!
The good thing is that RAM is easy! Order it from Crucial, catch the postman, and stick it in quickly while the soaps are on. Nobody's any the wiser...
(Actually, it worked for me with the graphics card too... )
I think I need to buy a new graphics card soon.... I've been playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl for the past few days and although my cpu meets the recommended spec's, my poor old 6800GT just doesn't cut it even when overclocked past Ultra speeds. I will just have to pickup a PCI-E 939 mobo and a 7900 or something because I'm reluctant to get another AGP card.
Great game btw and there are parts that IMO are more scary then Doom3 or FEAR! :shock:
Error 482: Somebody shot the server with a 12 gauge.
Having read your account of Graphic Cards I had thought of the 7600GT which has a purchase price of £82.00 however, if as you say the 7800GS is the best one to go for then I will take your advice and buy it.
Many thanks also for every-one else who has responded to my post, your comments and advice has been extremely helpful.
Nigel.
I used to be an optimist but with age I am now a grumpy old pessimist.
