Graphics Cards

[Duckjake]

My son plays a lot of PC games like World of Warcraft and Rise Of Legends and I'm getting ready to buy a new desktop for his room and would like recommendations on a fairly good graphics card.

We currently are using NVidia GEForce 6150LE on the old computer.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

What type of motherboard do you have?

What type of video slot does it use? (PCI, PCI Express, AGP)

How much memory do you need on the card?

I have a 128MB PCIExpress Card that I wouldn't mind letting go. Brand new and never used.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

If you buy a new desktop, make sure the motherboard has a PCI Express slot, as PCI and AGP slots are going extinct.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

If you buy a new desktop, make sure the motherboard has a PCI Express slot, as PCI and AGP slots are going extinct.

AGP is going extinct, but PCI slots will be around for years to come. Video cards are shying away from using that slot though.

 

[asudevil83]

7600GS - lower end $100-$120
7600GT - mid/lower - $125-$150
7900GS - middle end - $150-$175

These are newegg.com prices.

Nvidia also just came out with their 8000 series cards which support DX10. they are pretty expensive right now, but the cards that are supposed to replace the ones above should be coming out by the end of April i believe for about the same amount, and give better performance.

 

[Duckjake]

7600GS - lower end $100-$120
7600GT - mid/lower - $125-$150
7900GS - middle end - $150-$175

These are newegg.com prices.

Nvidia also just came out with their 8000 series cards which support DX10. they are pretty expensive right now, but the cards that are supposed to replace the ones above should be coming out by the end of April i believe for about the same amount, and give better performance.

Thanks, maybe I'll wait until the end of the month.

What type of motherboard do you have?

What type of video slot does it use? (PCI, PCI Express, AGP)

How much memory do you need on the card?

None, I haven't bought the new computer yet. I wanted to wait until I got some info on video cards before buying.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Yeah, if you can wait a couple of months for a DirectX 10 video card to be reasonable in price then I would definitely suggest you do so if your son plays video games with it.

 

[Ryanwb]

Get him an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX and wait for the father of the year awards to start rolling in

 

[Ryanwb]

I have a 128MB PCIExpress Card that I wouldn't mind letting go. Brand new and never used.

The on board RAM on a video card is the most deceptive selling point. The most important components on a video card is the pixel pipelines and the memory interface. There are cards with 128 MB of onboard GDDR that blow away cards with 256 or 512 mb

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Yeah, if you can wait a couple of months for a DirectX 10 video card to be reasonable in price then I would definitely suggest you do so if your son plays video games with it.

Not necessarily recommended. There are a lot of games that are not yet compatitible with DX10.

 

[asudevil83]

Not necessarily recommended. There are a lot of games that are not yet compatitible with DX10.

you can still run any game with a DX10 card. you wont get the DX10 features, but it'll play just as well as it would with a DX9 card.

DX10 is DX9 backwards compatible.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

you can still run any game with a DX10 card. you wont get the DX10 features, but it'll play just as well as it would with a DX9 card.

DX10 is DX9 backwards compatible.

It should be, but it is not. I have a DX10 card, and it is having problems running games that use the Half-Life engine. I had to install DX 9 instead.

 

[Duckjake]

It should be, but it is not. I have a DX10 card, and it is having problems running games that use the Half-Life engine. I had to install DX 9 instead.

I was just reading that was a problem with the DX10.

Is the GeF 8800 a directX10 card?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I was just reading that was a problem with the DX10.

Is the GeF 8800 a directX10 card?

I'm not exactly sure if it is, but I think so. You can always uninstall DX9 and install DX10 in its place, until the compatibility issues are resolved. Having a capable DX10 card can't hurt.

 

[asudevil83]

I'm not exactly sure if it is, but I think so. You can always uninstall DX9 and install DX10 in its place, until the compatibility issues are resolved. Having a capable DX10 card can't hurt.

8000 series cards are all DX10

and this is the first time i've heard of capatibility issues between DX9 games and DX10 hardware. weird. are your drivers and such all up to date?

 

[Covert Rain]

My son plays a lot of PC games like World of Warcraft and Rise Of Legends and I'm getting ready to buy a new desktop for his room and would like recommendations on a fairly good graphics card.

We currently are using NVidia GEForce 6150LE on the old computer.

There are some really good AGP cards still out there. The ATI line is pretty good. If you want something that is beefy enough to run the lastest I would recomend the ATI x1950 AGP cards. If you don't want to spend that much you could get one in the ATI x850 line up of cards or something between the two that can run any game on the market right now.

If your going to upgrade the entire PC then I echo what some of the others have said. DX10 cards are too pricey and not worth the cost at this time. The software to take advantage of it won't be mainstream for some time.