Graphics Card Help

[looqas]

if it's only 10 bucks more then go for the 512MB. Then you will have enough at one department and that won't unnecessarily slow down the card.

[Vreki]

Tigerdirect seems a bit on the expensive side, but if you need to use them to return your card then I guess they cant be avoided..

Regarding performance in BF: I am using a 7900 GS which is rated a bit higher than the 8600, and I am very satisfied with the performance.
So if you intend to stay with the BF series until you get a 8800 or better, then I think you will be happy enough with the 8600.

The Source games from the Orange Box also runs very nice.

[Sam1990]

Alright, thanks for your help everyone, really appreciate it.

[jesus]

As long as you don't play on a resolution higher than 1280x1024 (19" monitor) than the 8600GT is great.

[Sam1990]

Right now I'm playing on 1024 x 768, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem. But, I'll see how I ran BF2 on High with AA all the way up with the 8600GT, if I have no lag and good FPS then I'll start putting the resolution up.

[Sniper1432]

Right now I'm playing on 1024 x 768, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem. But, I'll see how I ran BF2 on High with AA all the way up with the 8600GT, if I have no lag and good FPS then I'll start putting the resolution up.

I think BF2 will play nicely since it's an older game, but you may have trouble with newer games.

[jesus]

Right now I'm playing on 1024 x 768, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem. But, I'll see how I ran BF2 on High with AA all the way up with the 8600GT, if I have no lag and good FPS then I'll start putting the resolution up.

well just so you know, I have an 8600GT 256mb and I play BF2 at all high, AAx16, AFx16 at 1280x1024 and get about 40+FPS

[Sam1990]

Well, went to Tigerdirect and found out they don't have the XFX 8600GT 512MB, so I went and got the Sparkle 8600GT 512MB. It's the same thing, but the only disappointment is the driver CD doesn't even work, so I have to go and download drivers, but that's alright.

Well Tomeis, that's great. I guess I'll be satisfied with BF2 because I have the same specs as you except you have 1GB more of RAM than me.

Once again, thanks for your help and suggestions everyone.

[jesus]

Well, went to Tigerdirect and found out they don't have the XFX 8600GT 512MB, so I went and got the Sparkle 8600GT 512MB. It's the same thing, but the only disappointment is the driver CD doesn't even work, so I have to go and download drivers, but that's alright.

Well Tomeis, that's great. I guess I'll be satisfied with BF2 because I have the same specs as you except you have 1GB more of RAM than me.

Once again, thanks for your help and suggestions everyone.

how much did you pay?

[Sam1990]

$109.99, but since I returned the 8400GS I only had to add about $55.

[aristotlewilde]

Before you buy a 8500, you should take a look at this chart:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

This is great info. I actually popped on here for graphics card advice today and came across this.

Slawek, how do you like the 8600gt?

I have a 7800GT-OC right now and need a new card for either my XP box (the one with the 7800 in it) or my Linux box. This info has been helpful.

From the looks of the Tom's Hardware chart, if I want to stay under $150, my best bet is to just get a new card for my Linux box since I'll be hard pressed to beat the performance of the 7800GT-OC at that price point.

The solution is to go WAY under $100 and pick up an 8400gs for the Linux box (it's replacing a 6600gt)

[Sam1990]

It's nice, better than my 8400GS, but I'm still a bit disappointed. I still can't run BF2 on the highest resolution with AA all the way up. Right now, I'm playing at the 1182 or something resolution with AA off. Though, I might've just lagged at 1280 resolution with AA all the way up because the maps had to load everything because I've never played them?

Don't know, but I'll try bumping up the resolution to 1280 and turning AA all the way up when I get my AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition 3.20GHz processor, possibly tomorrow :). Let you guys know how that runs, hehe.

First though, I need to ask a question. Will the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition 3.20GHz run fine with my MSI K9N6GM NVIDIA GeForce MCP61 + nForce 410 Chipset Based Socket AM2 1000MHz FSB motherboard and I think 480W power supply?

[solofowaffles]

if your looking for a bargain high performing gaming card,the 3850 is the way to go.

[jesus]

It's nice, better than my 8400GS, but I'm still a bit disappointed. I still can't run BF2 on the highest resolution with AA all the way up. Right now, I'm playing at the 1182 or something resolution with AA off. Though, I might've just lagged at 1280 resolution with AA all the way up because the maps had to load everything because I've never played them?

Don't know, but I'll try bumping up the resolution to 1280 and turning AA all the way up when I get my AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition 3.20GHz processor, possibly tomorrow :). Let you guys know how that runs, hehe.

First though, I need to ask a question. Will the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition 3.20GHz run fine with my MSI K9N6GM NVIDIA GeForce MCP61 + nForce 410 Chipset Based Socket AM2 1000MHz FSB motherboard and I think 480W power supply?

lol are you serious? you're probably lacking ram, that's why you can't play with everything maxed. You need atleast 2gb of ram to run bf2 at all high settings with AA maxed.

btw, what's your native res?

[Sam1990]

I have 2GB DDR2 RAM. And, what do you mean native resolution? My desktop is at 1280 x 1024 and I'm running BF2 with 1152 x 864 I think.