I'm back in the states, I watch some reality TV, and have even put on a pound or two. To fit in even more, it's time to play some PC games... something I've not done since Decent 3. What's the deal w/ the graphics cards? I assume I'll play HL2 when it comes out, and PSO: Blue Burst until then. I'd rather not spend $400, but would like to still have a nice picture. Graphics cards are just an aspect of technology I've ignored for about 5 years.
What do you mean "whats the deal"? You know what they do I'm perfectly happy with my 32mb TNT2 in one of my computers from 1999, then again, I haven't played any PC games since 2000. If you get back into PC gaming, get a Radeon 9800 or better. Halo 2 will not need Doom 3 specs so you should be set with a $150 card. I'm a Nvidia guy myself though so my next computer I plan to have a Geforce 6800. I'm looking forward to dual DVI for two LCD monitors. I only buy videocards for well, desktop preformance, so I don't look for gaming specs. Generally most diehard FPSers look to ATI for preformance but I think Nvidia are the innovators.
I'm an Nvidia man as well, as installing them on linux is so much more hassle free (not that I've tried any of the other ones). I did a little google search and found this: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/19971109/index.html Got to the part where he said "the most commonly used graphics card today is the Voodoo 3DFX" HJuh?! Then looked at the URL and noticed it was from 1997. Looks like ATI and Radeon just put out two new down-sized yet powerful cards in the $200 range. Might try them out. Just realized though that Roadrunner won't have my cable installed for 3 more weeks. Lazy asses.
Get a 9800 Pro for less than $200. Or if you want more features, get a 9800 Pro All in Wonder which lets you watch TV and play your console games on your PC cuz of A/V in. It also records.
Ati all the way rayer: Get yourself a 9800 pro or better but if your going to be using a lot of linux your better off with a nvidia card because ati driver support for linux is still in the stone age. Nvidia cards are a bit les power full but they are much better suited for linux systems.
I didn't know so many people on here liked the 9800! I love my ATi Radeon 9800 and would recommend one to anyone :smt023
Don't get an ATI. Technically they are good cards, but a lot of games have compatibility issues with them. Do you have a PCI Express port on your motherboard? 'Cause if you do, go for the 128 MB Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT. That puppy is only $200, and can run Doom 3 (and thus, presumably HL2) quite well.
If you want to play Half-Life 2, you'd better get yourself a ATI card. At the moment Nvidia and ATI are equal in terms of speed. It's said that the Geforce cards have a better performance on Doom 3 than ATI cards, but that's because the game is based on the Nvidia technology. The same goes for HL, the ATI cards are expected to deliver the best performance here. I've got a 9800 pro 128 myself, and I'm very happy with it! The performance and price (approx. $200 or 220 euro in the Netherlands :angry ) are both nice.
Actually, Nvidia cards, at the moment, are better than ATI's. I'm not some Nvidia fanboy, though I do have one of their cards, but benchmarks are benchmarks. Nvidia's best card is a beast. Honestly, if you have a PCI Express port, get the card I mentioned in my last post. Otherwise you'd probably be good with a 9800 Pro, as others were stating.
Ah, but benchmarks aren't benchmarks anymore, API's exist in both sets of drivers to produce artificially higher results compare to real world useage. That's why benchmarking software has all but been abandoned in favour of rounding up framerates in games.
Or. Get a Nvidia 6800GT and soft mod it to make it into a 6800 Ultra. The GT costs $250 I think and the Ultra costs $400. Huge price difference and you end up with a $400 card after modding it.
I've heard of a few people doing this, but if anyone actually tries it (I sure as hell wouldn't), be sure you have adequate cooling.
I personally like NVidia, and would highly recommend some variety of the 6800 if you can afford it. Plus, it's still fairly bleeding-edge, so it should last you for a little while at least. Though with developers creating games made to only run full-spec on hardware that hasn't been created yet (I hate you, id), it might be obsolete in a matter of months. :angry
I bought a refurbished Radeon 9600 256 yesterday but it doesn't work... I have an A7V333 mobo which "talks" during bootup, and when I boot the system with the card inserted the PC speaker mumbles some garbled gibberish that sounds like "System failed VGA test" (nothing comes on screen) and then "System completed Power On Self Test" and then proceeds to boot as normal, but without the screen ever coming on... I have no clue what is the matter, the card should've been tested, and the system works fine with a GF4MX440 inserted :smt009
Second the 6600gt If you have a PCI Express board get the 6600gt since it beats out the 9800 pro in most things and can be found for less in many cases. Even if you don't have PCI Express the AGP 8x version is due out anytime now.
You know i myself am an nvida person, problem is half life 2 is said to only really support ati cards, is there any chane that the nvida 6800 that is mentioned can run half life 2 at all?
