my brother's pc video card is about to blow, so it's mandatory to take another one... what are your suggestions? i'm searching for something with the best ratio in price/performance. thank you, karsten
AGP or PCIe? Hardcore Gamer? Casual Gamer? Video Affictionato? Casual PC User? Any Preference in chip brand (nVidia or ATi)?
A month or so ago I went with a Nvidia 7900GT. This has since been replaced with the 7950GT (always the way, I buy something and the newer one comes out 2 weeks later!). I'm very impressed with the performance, and while the price was quite high (£180 for a slightly overclocked 256mb model) I think its worth it. I went with Nvidia since if I ever decide to go to linux full or part time, they have the drivers. Plus I prefer nvidias windows drivers EDIT: just remembered an article I read this morning, might help you out: http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/09/26/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money_uk/ also the toms hardware VGA charts are invaluable.
pci express. my brother like mmorpgs like ragnarok online and such and when he have the chance playis it up to 12 hours per day usually he keeps the pc running 24h a day (this is why he blowed the card i guess) so i think he'll need a card with good heat dissipation. also he likes to keep 2 or 3 game vindows open with different characters in... obviously he would like to have everything running smootly no brand preference at all. just the best performance for the less money wins
nVidia 7600GS will do your brother just fine for those games and then some. They have gone down in price since the release of the 7900GS which costs around $200usd. The 7600Gs are very cheap: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143054 Here's an article that will also be of help. http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/09/26/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/
The best price/perfomance ratio belongs to the nVidia GeForche 7950GX2. You get 2 videocards for almost the price of a single one! If you dont like it (or is still too pricey) then I'll rather wait a little more now that DX10 cards are just around the corner. I already made a big mistake buying a DX8 card only 2 months before DX9 came along and believe me, you wont like that shit...
How dare you tempt me. I've been wanting to build a new system for the past 3 months since core duo came out. Oh well guess I'll still pimp the socket A for another few months till I get some money together.
If you're going to do some heavy-duty gaming then get at least the 7900GS rather than the 7600 line of cards.
