You pick my video card and PC and I will buy..(See post 22 for possible PC-1/5/05 )

CAMAROBOY69

CAMAROBOY69

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CAMAROBOY69
Ok I am tired of screwing around with our other video card. It has been really really good up until I bought FEAR. I am going to spend the next month or so doing research on Video cards. If I get a video card I want something that will last me a while. At least 2-3 years. When I get my income taxes back I am getting another PC so my GF and I can play PC games online together. (dang we have too many gaming platforms and 2 of each)
I have several questions that I would appreciate honest answers.
1. Will my old PC be good enough for now if I buy a really good video card? Then when I get the new pc I can put the good video card into the new PC.
2. What reasonable PC do you recommend??
3. What really good video card do you recommend??
Here is a screenshot of my current PC specs. Please make sure to read this entire post before answering.
Our current video card is the ATI Radeon 9550 256mb and runs everything besides FEAR in full quality.


Video card suggestions:
1. Nvidid 6800GT
2. Nvidid 7800GT
3. ATI X1800XT
4. GeForce 7800 GTX
5. ATI X800 XL
6. GeForce 6800 Ultra
 
2-3 years, that's a long time; I would think nothing less than a 7800GTX 512mb or one of the X1800s would work. From what I can see, I'm guessing you have an AGP slot and these need PCI-E.
 
i just ordered an x800gto... it should be here today or tomorrow. :) i got it and a 430watt psu for a total price including tax and shipping and everything of $251 :). i'll tell you how well it runs F.E.A.R when i get it along with the rest of my system specs
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
2-3 years, that's a long time; I would think nothing less than a 7800GTX 512mb or one of the X1800s would work. From what I can see, I'm guessing you have an AGP slot and these need PCI-E.
Click to expand...
One of the tech guys told me I needed to know something about PCI express or AGP???? What is that. :dunce:
Could you also answer the top 3 questions I had? :)
 
a new ati videocard that has 48 pipelines is gonna come out... you might want to wait for that :P. or you could go with an 850 or a 7800. Your gonna have to buy a new motherboard if you want to use a PCI-E card. The latest ASUS and DFI ones are good.
 
CAMAROBOY69
One of the tech guys told me I needed to know something about PCI express or AGP???? What is that. :dunce:
Could you also answer the top 3 questions I had? :)
Click to expand...

1. Yes, it would, but you would need an AGP graphics card. Your new PC, if you want to be up to date, however will have a motherboard that supports PCI-E. That would mean you would have to buy a new video card.

2. Don't really know much about that... Are you looking to buy online?

3. Already said my recommendations, those are for PCI-E

PCI-E and AGP are the slots the video cards go into. Basically, all the newer video cards are mostly for PCI-E. 99.9% of motherboards support either one of them. So you have a couple choices:

1. Get a new AGP card now, then get a new PCI-E card with the new PC
2. Get an AGP card, and stick with AGP for your new system (highly unrecommended)
3. Wait for your new computer
 
When it comes to buying a PC I will probably but it from a local dealer like Best buy or Circuit city. If it doesnt come with a good enough video card then I can replace it or buy a local PC with it already in there.
I dont mind waiting to buy a video card for the new pc. Fear does play in mine right now just not on the highest settings.
SOunds like I will go with your 3rd choice. "Wait for the new PC before I buy a video card" 👍
We will keep the old PC so my GF and I can play online with some of her games like Age of Empires 3, Red alert 2, Yuris revenge and other games we have.
I just want my PC crazy so we can play the more advanced games on it. More than likely the new PC will come with a DVD burner which will be perfect for burning I mean *cough* backing up games and movies. :)
 
To answer your questions directly....

CAMAROBOY69
.
1. Will my old PC be good enough for now if I buy a really good video card? Then when I get the new pc I can put the good video card into the new PC.
Click to expand...

Your PC is okay for RIGHT NOW. In 8-12 months you will probably not be happy using it to play the more demanding titles at higher video settings.

Simply upgrading the GPU will yeild some results, but won't help you if you want to play a title that is CPU intensive.

I'd say shell out the bucks for a new system.


CAMAROBOY69
.
2. What reasonable PC do you recommend??
Click to expand...

I would go with THIS configuration, swapping out parts here and there.

CAMAROBOY69
.
3. What really good video card do you recommend??
Click to expand...

ATI X1800XT or GeForce 7800 GTX are about the most stout cards you can get today.

I recommend, at minimum you get an ATI X800 XL or GeForce 6800 Ultra.

As for whether or not to go PCI-Express: there's no reason not to. Current cards may not fully take advantage of the available bandwidth, but getting a Mobo with PCI-E will allow you to upgrade your GPU in the future. The PCI-E versions of the cards are not priced much different than the APG ones. AGP has some lifespan left in it, but there's no strong reason to stay with it.

I'm a big fan of setting real life performance goals whenever I do a PC build. Don't ask "what's a good video card". Rather, ask "what kind of system to I need to build if I want to run X game at Y frames per second".

When I upgraded my box over the summer, my target goal was being able to run BF2, Half-Life2 and Doom3 at 1028x768 with all the options at MAX and still get 70+ FPS. I then built the box accordingly; picking the least expensive parts that still met my performance goals.

You mentioned FEAR. If you want to use performance in the game as a benchmark of what to get, check out :

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page16.html

With this game, it looks like the GeForce 7800 series cards are the way to go.


M
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far. You guys sure know how to spend my money. :lol: 👍
I have to admit. So far everything I have bought, I have been more than happy with. Especially the latest purchase, my HDTV. It was damn expensive but after seeing movies and games on the 360 it was well worth the price. With that said I know once I buy a great PC I will be more than happy. 👍
EDIT: I will add the suggested video cards to the first post.
 
sometimes if you buy a whole computer they are sold with a motherboard that is not very good. either its a mobo that just runs current technology and wont be upgradable in the future or it could have a crappy untweakable BIOS.

So... if you buy a whole PC, do some research on the motherboard it comes with first.
 
Very good point. I am also looking into having someone build one for me. I have a couple tech friends that build comps just for games, on the side. :sly:
 
CAMAROBOY69
Very good point. I am also looking into having someone build one for me. I have a couple tech friends that build comps just for games, on the side. :sly:
Click to expand...

That would be a very good idea.
 
You might have missed all of the posts in this thread TVR. Please read them again top to bottom. I am buying another PC so my GF and I can play online together. I am probably going to have someone build one for me strictly for games. I am keeping my old HP pc for my GF to play on. ;)
 
Ok how is this PC set up??? This is what my tech friend suggested.

- Hard Drive-Maxtor MaXLine Plus III 7L250S0 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150
- Video Card-7800GTeVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
- Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface
- Memory Ram-CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
- Motherboard-GIGABYTE GA-8I915ME-GL Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915GL Micro ATX Intel
- Processor-Intel Pentium 4 531 Prescott 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T
- DVD drive-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache
 
CAMAROBOY69
Ok how is this PC set up??? This is what my tech friend suggested.

- Hard Drive-Maxtor MaXLine Plus III 7L250S0 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150
- Video Card-7800GTeVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
- Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface
- Memory Ram-CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
- Motherboard-GIGABYTE GA-8I915ME-GL Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915GL Micro ATX Intel
- Processor-Intel Pentium 4 531 Prescott 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T
- DVD drive-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache
Click to expand...

Why not go with the 630? or since it seems like you have money to burn an 820 wait... gaming. Scratch that.
 
I don't know where the parts are coming from, but depending on how good your speakers are, you might want an Audigy 4 or an X-Fi. Since this will mainly be a gaming PC, why not go the AMD route?

PS: This thread is better suited for the "computers & web design" forum.
 
CAMAROBOY69
Ok how is this PC set up??? This is what my tech friend suggested.

- Hard Drive-Maxtor MaXLine Plus III 7L250S0 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA150
- Video Card-7800GTeVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
- Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface
- Memory Ram-CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
- Motherboard-GIGABYTE GA-8I915ME-GL Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915GL Micro ATX Intel
- Processor-Intel Pentium 4 531 Prescott 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T
- DVD drive-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache
Click to expand...
You should do two things with this computer:
1. Get an X-Fi XtremeMusic sound card, it's much better than the ZS.
2. If you're going Intel, get a 6xx CPU, so you'll be 64 bit when Vista arrives. Buying a 5xx is pointless.
 
How does this update look?
Update 1/5/05
- Monitor-Acer AL1914 AB Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 500:1 0.294mm Pixel
- Hard Drive-Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L200M0 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150
- Video Card- XFX PVT70GUDE7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
- Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface
- Memory Ram-Crucial 1GB (2 x 512MB) THIS WILL BE (1) GIG stick instead
- Motherboard-Gigabyte GA-8I915P Duo(REV 1.1) Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915P ATX Intel
- Processor-Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T
- DVD burner-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE
- CD Burner- SONY Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE
- Power Supply- COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Active PFC Power Supply 100 - 240V
 
If you don't really need a good DVD burner or a CD burner for that matter drop one or degrade them and get 1 x 1GB mem. It's better than 2 x 512MB mem. Other than that it looks ok. :D
 
I have most everything picked out that I want. I am going to go with a single 1gig stick for now the later install another one if necessary.
Now I need to decide if I really want a 19" monitor or just get a 17".
 
My 19" monitor just got delivered. I will hook it to the old PC for now until I piece together the new PC. Cant wait to check it out when I get home. :)
SAMSUNG 940b-Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 0.294mm Pixel Pitch
I also bought a DVI cable for it.
 
CAMAROBOY69
My 19" monitor just got delivered. I will hook it to the old PC for now until I piece together the new PC. Cant wait to check it out when I get home. :)
SAMSUNG 940b-Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 0.294mm Pixel Pitch
I also bought a DVI cable for it.
Click to expand...
It should come with a DVI cable... Mine came with DVI and VGA cables.
 
Here is the new 19" monitor. My current pc doesnt have the output for DVI cable so I have it hooked to the old school cable. Also, the new monitor did not come with the DVI cable so its a good thing I bought one. I wont be able to use it until I get my new PC.
FACT: 19" monitor is not as big as a 19" tv
15"

19" tv next to 19"monitor next to 15" monitor

19" on

19" off

19" with HL2 Lost Coast
 
CAMAROBOY69
How does this update look?
Update 1/5/05
- Monitor-Acer AL1914 AB Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 500:1 0.294mm Pixel
- Hard Drive-Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6L200M0 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150
- Video Card- XFX PVT70GUDE7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
- Sound Card-Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 8 (7.1) Channels 24-bit 192KHz PCI Interface
- Memory Ram-Crucial 1GB (2 x 512MB) THIS WILL BE (1) GIG stick instead
- Motherboard-Gigabyte GA-8I915P Duo(REV 1.1) Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915P ATX Intel
- Processor-Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T
- DVD burner-SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE
- CD Burner- SONY Black 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE
- Power Supply- COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Active PFC Power Supply 100 - 240V
Click to expand...

Do you really need 200gb of space? Would 74gb be enough? I would get a Raptor 10,000rpm cd drive, that will help you alot with loading times and windows boot up. If you need more space, think of something you can do. Like get a 120gb HD as your primary drive, and you secondary can be the 10,00rpm 74gb HD for just games and so on.

If you want to play BF2 online, with 64 people, 1.5gigs will be enough, but im not sure if you want to play it online, with that many people.

I honestly am a ATi guy, so if i were you, i would get the X1800 256mb, or 512mb.

Another good idea is to wait 2-3 months. The 7900GTX should be out, and the X1900xt should be out too. If you cant afford these, the price on the 7800GT will drop. (im not 100% sure when these cards are coming)

Just some advice.
 
RobcioPL
I honestly am a ATi guy, so if i were you, i would get the X1800 256mb, or 512mb.
Click to expand...

Is this because the graphics are better for non-gaming stuff?

RobcioPL
Another good idea is to wait 2-3 months. The 7900GTX should be out, and the X1900xt should be out too. If you cant afford these, the price on the 7800GT will drop. (im not 100% sure when these cards are coming)
Click to expand...

So, will the old cards like the X1800xt be really cheap like $250 cheap then? :dopey: I know it won't... :rolleyes::grumpy:

Gabkicks
i just ordered an x800gto... it should be here today or tomorrow. :) i got it and a 430watt psu for a total price including tax and shipping and everything of $251 :). i'll tell you how well it runs F.E.A.R when i get it along with the rest of my system specs
Click to expand...

How did your card do for FEAR???
 
it runs fear on medium-high settings 1280x1024 and FarCry with everything at very high settings ( i dont use AA or AF because they dont make any difference with my monitor). after the unlock and oc i score around 5000 on 3dmark 2005. but i want to complete Far Cry 1st before i play F.E.A.R. I dunno... i really like CQB and the graphics and ai are great for fear, but i feel like Rambo when im playing FarCry. I wish the game had a some bow and arrow or crossbows in it. Maybe a flamethrower :D. the graphics are amazing for both games. AI seemed a bit more skilled in fear. but i am amazed that a game made over a year ago can impress me this much :D.
 

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