I'm gonna do it....Buy new Video...So how about a little advice?

[Chief of the Boat]

Yup... I need advice. EXPERIENCED, cool, technically qualified...ADVICE.

After a fair amount of the afternoon with SH4, I have, indeed, found a graphics setting that is 'for me' acceptable. But...

This may well be the last computer I ever own, so I think I am going to use SH4 as an excuse to buy the BEST video upgrade board available... just this once.

According to the book the ones that will work are : ATI Radeon 9600 / 9700 / 9800... and some "X" models. NVIDIA GeForce 6200 / 6600 / 6800 / 7800.

Since my previous computering was wrapped around 3dfx Voodoo 5 video, I am WAY out of my league here, so... with all you Super-Duper-Up-To-Date Nerds... what should I buy?

I really want info, not a stream of testimonies based on 'you own it, therefore you are stuck with it, therefore it must be the best' ...

You're doing a Mature Feller a favor...be kind.

COB

[NefariousKoel]

The info we need is: What kind of video card slot does your system use?

AGP2x
AGP4x/x8
PCI-Express
None of the Above

?

[GT182]

Chief, what are your system specs so we all can give a hand?

I'm using a XFX GF 6800XTreme 256mb DDR3 AGP 8x, 256 bit card with DX9 Shader 3.0 and Open GL 1.5. I found it at ewiz.com for a very reasonable price and SHIII runs great. I imagine it should work well for SH4, but I don't have it yet to tell if it's true or not.

I also use an Intel P4 3.2E CPU and 2gigs of DDR400 RAM, which helps too.

Edit:
Remember too, if you go with duo core or Quad, SLI, PCI express and all that, the cost will be up there. I'm waiting a year for prices to drop before I take that big step. My system is only 19 months old and will have to do me for at least another year.

[NefariousKoel]

I can recommend an XFX 7900GS as XFX has different clock speeds for it on different models. I got the highest one - only drawback is an occasionally louder vid card fan. It's one of the best bangs for the buck I've seen recently. If you have PCI-E, anyway.

[Chief of the Boat]

Yeahhh... I shudda given more... sorry. This here is a Gen-You-Wine, off the shelf H/P machine... 3.4 Gc processor, 2 GB RAM, and the trusty ATI Radeon X1300... which I recall seeing is "PCI Express". Audio, etc... but I don't see that being related to video. I'll cross my fingers on power supply... I don't really see these 'war' games doing the video work...drawing instaneous power... like the fantasy zoom/boom ones...

COB

[mookiemookie]

It's hard to go wrong by trusting Tom's Hardware. They're a great site, and here's a good article that I'm using to determine my next video card:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/index.html

This page, specifically, will give you an idea of the video card hierarchy and what nvidia product is equivalent to what radeon product and vice versa: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/page7.html

[Hans Schultz]

Yeahhh... I shudda given more... sorry. This here is a Gen-You-Wine, off the shelf H/P machine... 3.4 Gc processor, 2 GB RAM, and the trusty ATI Radeon X1300... which I recall seeing is "PCI Express". Audio, etc... but I don't see that being related to video. I'll cross my fingers on power supply... I don't really see these 'war' games doing the video work...drawing instaneous power... like the fantasy zoom/boom ones...

COB

you really need to find out if it is PCI-E or AGP. I have a GeForce 6800GT and its a decent card, it seems to run stuff very well, but is starting to show its age.
I perfer Nvidia Cards right now and you would be very safe with anything GeForce 6800 or higher. I find toms hardware very biased and you need to look around. once you find out about the PCI-E or AGP and throw out a budget i will be better able to help!

[Chief of the Boat]

Oh.. I know it's not AGP.. No AGP slot in this grey box. It is just that I don't know how many kinds of 'PCI' video there may be...in this generation. According to the ATI page, the X1300 *is* PCI Express.

Is there a tangible reason for your NVIDIA preference?

I have looked through some of the specs for upper end video, and the rotten truth is that I get lost in the terms and values for them. That's why I am looking for somebody that USES one or another and can say 'why' they prefer...

Now... if this machine did have AGP, I still own a couple V5's... but for all they did on a '98SE machine with Falcon 4 and F/A-18, I bet they stink for SH4 !!

COB

[Hans Schultz]

Oh.. I know it's not AGP.. No AGP slot in this grey box. It is just that I don't know how many kinds of 'PCI' video there may be...in this generation. According to the ATI page, the X1300 *is* PCI Express.

Is there a tangible reason for your NVIDIA preference?

I have looked through some of the specs for upper end video, and the rotten truth is that I get lost in the terms and values for them. That's why I am looking for somebody that USES one or another and can say 'why' they prefer...

Now... if this machine did have AGP, I still own a couple V5's... but for all they did on a '98SE machine with Falcon 4 and F/A-18, I bet they stink for SH4 !!

COB

I did some research and based off of the X1300 I believe that you have a PCI-E x16 slot.
I perfer Nvidia (and this is my personal preference) because
#1 there chipsets have been performing a littel better than their ATi counterpart.
#2 you cannot beat Nvidias drivers and driver supports they simply take the cake
#3 My favorite Nvidia chipset maker is BFG because they have very good tech support and some cards have lifetime warranties.

here is the card I suggest for you.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143049

[stabiz]

I can recommend an XFX 7900GS as XFX has different clock speeds for it on different models. I got the highest one - only drawback is an occasionally louder vid card fan. It's one of the best bangs for the buck I've seen recently. If you have PCI-E, anyway.

Very good card, often referred to as "best bang for buck".

[NefariousKoel]

I can recommend an XFX 7900GS as XFX has different clock speeds for it on different models. I got the highest one - only drawback is an occasionally louder vid card fan. It's one of the best bangs for the buck I've seen recently. If you have PCI-E, anyway.
Very good card, often referred to as "best bang for buck".

Yep, it's in the top 3 levels at Tom's it seems. Plus, it'll save you a few $$.

Chief, if you have a premade HP, then let me know the exact model number. We can look up the specs and make sure you have PCI-Ex16 which it definitely sounds like you do. Also, are you using WinVista? You'll likely need to add more RAM if that's the case.

[Boris]

The good thing about having a PCI-E slot is that you will be able to go all the way in terms of performance, as long as you want to spend the cash.

[NefariousKoel]

The good thing about having a PCI-E slot is that you will be able to go all the way in terms of performance, as long as you want to spend the cash.
Actually, PCI-E is much cheaper in terms of similar performance. If you have AGP, you'll be paying extra for native PCI-E cards which have to be modified to run on AGP. It's been like that for about a year.

[Chief of the Boat]

Good Stuff, Fellows....

My machine is exactly " a 1350 y " [Hewlett-Packard] . *NO* on VISTA, and I am not planning to ever change. [That is, I'll change when Steve Gibson at GRC changes...] . Should I be blessed with years enough to need a replacement for this machine, it will obviously be VISTA equipped.

Not really worried about the cost.. I don't see any that approach the sound barrier. I just want *for once* to go First Cabin ! I had expected SH4 to run similar to SH3 here, but it doesn't, and I expect to run SH4 until the wheels fall off...

I wonder if that XFX 7900 GS will RUN SH4? It isn't in the Holy List.

"These chipsets are the only ones that will run this game." Sounds kinda 'firm'....

COB

[2002-MOE]

I had posted this on another thread but if you still have AGP here are some recomndations for good cheap AGP upgrades as well as a couple of reviews (Feb. 2007) from Tom's Hardware on the currently available AGP video cards.


AGP Platform Analysis, Part 1: New Cards, Old System (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/10/agp-platform-analysis/)
We see what the new generation of AGP cards can do for an Athlon XP 2500+
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/...form-analysis/ (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/10/agp-platform-analysis/)


AGP Platform Analysis, Part 2: New Cards, Single-Core System (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/01/agp-platform-analysis/)
We see what the new generation of AGP cards can do for an Athlon 64 3400+.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/...form-analysis/ (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/02/01/agp-platform-analysis/)

And here are some nice offers taht I found online:

The XFX GeForce 7600GT AGP 256MB GDDR $159.99 (will outperform a 6800 Ultra AGP)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321108

The SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP $224.99 (best AGP option at the moment)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102071 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102071)

[Chief of the Boat]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but here's what the UBI current FAQ for SH4 says...

*Supported Video Cards:
ATI RADEON 9600 / 9700 / 9800, X300 - X850, X1300 - X1800
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 / 6600 / 6800 / 7800

Now, knowing that, would YOU put out a few hundred smackers for something NOT on the list ?

COB

[Hans Schultz]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but here's what the UBI current FAQ for SH4 says...

*Supported Video Cards:
ATI RADEON 9600 / 9700 / 9800, X300 - X850, X1300 - X1800
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 / 6600 / 6800 / 7800

Now, knowing that, would YOU put out a few hundred smackers for something NOT on the list ?

COB
yes.

[StandingCow]

It's hard to go wrong by trusting Tom's Hardware. They're a great site, and here's a good article that I'm using to determine my next video card:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/index.html

This page, specifically, will give you an idea of the video card hierarchy and what nvidia product is equivalent to what radeon product and vice versa: http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/page7.html

Beat me to it :) Tomshardware.com is the best site for this sort of research.

So far my 7950 GTKO from evga has done well with this game, full graphics with post processing and it runs smooth, and I haven't had any of these graphical issues I keep hearing about.

[theluckyone17]

I'll pipe up, simply 'cause I'm looking at grabbing a new video card myself.

I do most of my purchasing through newegg.com, simply 'cause I've yet to have a problem with them and they seem to have reasonable (or more than reasonable) prices.

Originally I was going to grab a GeForce 7950GT that was running around $220 off their site... until I noticed the 8800GTS (320MB) card they had from eVGA listed for $280 w/ a $20 mail in rebate.

The $60/$40 difference in price more than makes up for the difference in performance, from the reviews I've read. I couldn't stand to go with something cheaper, since I played that "well, if I only spend a little bit more, then I get a faster card", until I reached the level of the 8800GTS.

Seeing as all of the reviews out there stated that the 320MB version beat everything except the 640MB (and higher) versions, and the price jumps an incredible amount for the higher RAM cards, I figured the 8800GTS 320MB card was about my limit. It should handle anything I throw at it right now (Oblivion, SH4, X3 Reunion).

I gave ATI a thought, but I've had issues with their drivers in the past. Not that it affects most of us, but I run Linux, too. ATI's track record on Linux has been less than stellar. No ATI for me.

Just my two cents.

[Onkel Neal]

Chief, if it helps, I grabbed a Radeon X1650 Pro with 512MB ram, pixel shader 3.0. Got it for $120 at Circuit City. Mine is AGP, so I am a step behind you, but it runs SH4 well.

[StandingCow]

Keep in mind, the 8800 cards.. while awesome (or will be) may still have some issues with the drivers, since they are so new.

However, if I were going to spend more than 200 bucks, those are exactly what I would go for nowadays.

[XanderF]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but here's what the UBI current FAQ for SH4 says...

*Supported Video Cards:
ATI RADEON 9600 / 9700 / 9800, X300 - X850, X1300 - X1800
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 / 6600 / 6800 / 7800

Now, knowing that, would YOU put out a few hundred smackers for something NOT on the list ?

COB

I think we can guarantee the GeForce 7900GS or Radeon X1900 or X1950 will work fine for the game. It's just that these cards were released within the past year, and (apparently, somehow) after the box art with hardware specs was finalized for the game.

As to your motherboard - I just looked up your case on HP's support site (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c00379422&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=1829045&lang=en), and it looks like you are golden. Indeed, a PCI-E 16x slot. You can put in it basically anything you want....with one caveat.

You DO only have a 300W power supply. That's going to be...very limiting.

I'll also second (?third?) the recommendation to buy from Newegg. Their customer service is great (indeed, better than most Best Buy's (http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=131461 35), according to the Better Business Bureau), and return policy is no-hassle (if it comes to that). It's just that we are 'between generations' with video cards, and so the slower-to-adjust "brick and mortar" retail prices are OUTRAGEOUS compared to reputable online dealers. I've seen cards in Best Buy easily TWICE as expensive as Newegg sells them for (to the order of hundreds of dollars).

[NefariousKoel]

Yes, I can heartily recommend Newegg too.

And you will definitely need a new power supply for a high-end video card. Preferably one with a PCI-E power plug. Of course, Newegg has all the tech specs such as that for power supplies too. :up:

Do not get a Power supply with two separate 12 volt rails. Get a single one with high amp output.

[nhall70]

Some good advice has been posted here already but I'll weigh in as well.

If money is no object, the 8800GTX boards are simply the fastest graphics boards on the market at this time. These boards are not "bang for your buck"...they're just "bang". :D

I've not yet run SH4 on mine because I don't have the game but at least one user on this forum has already reported running SH4 on an 8800GTX without any problem. I can say that I have yet to throw a game at this board that it can't handle, all settings maxed with performance to spare.

A couple of caveats...as already pointed out in this thread, you will definately need a better power supply and this can be a tricky thing to pick out. Another issue not already mentioned is that the 8800GTX has a longer form factor than most video boards and clearance can be a problem inside a tight chassis like the ones from HP.

[XanderF]

FWIW, Sh4's limitations may well serve you alright. No FSAA option, and limited to 1024x768 means that it's just not going to be THAT hard on a video card.

Look into the GeForce 7600GT. No external PCI-E power connector needed, should run on that PSU just fine (they are REALLY low power), and shouldn't have a problem with anything Sh4 *can* throw at it.

[Spectre-63]

Chief -

The suggestions to examine Tom's Hardware's list of "Best Videocards for the Money" are great advice. I just picked up a Sapphire X1950XT 256MB PCI-E card to go into my latest system build and I've been very impressed with it's performance so far. It was $219 from NewEgg with a $20 rebate. If this is the last one you plan on buying, I'd strongly recommend it. Of course, the real deciding factor is your budget.

Since I live in the area, feel free to contact me via PM if you'd like some more help.

Best of luck

[Chief of the Boat]

Good Morning, All.. [0630-Local]... Been reading as the coffee grows. Thank you all for such good stuff. I was sorta afraid the power supply would be a weak link. I had a few ATX jobs around, but nothing that has SATA capability...and...it is always good to have a spare. The stock one with the stock ATI video would make 'it work again' if anything makes the Blue Flash, down the line.

I will be ordering such a purchase from somebody that doesn't charge Washington Socialist State Sales Tax...[8%+].

I'm going to cool my heels and do my shopping as a little time goes by and some of you gain more knowledge of how SH4 works for you. One of you commented on the game only running in 1024 x 768; on my gear it also runs 1152 x 864 and 1280 x 786...the latter which looks pretty nice, given no Four or Two Sample A-A.

It may sound silly to so taylor a computer to play ONE GAME. And I don't play anything else, other than Falcon 4 and F/A-18...when the Spirit moves me. But, in The Big Blackout Bingo Game of Life it would be nice to have "ONE super computer owned" filled in !

I truly appreciate the efforts you made; it is not lost.

COB

[RedHammer]

If you want, as you said in first post, the best card, I dont want to make some bragging here so I`d just recommend 2 cards which I have no experience in, but of which I have heard has Tremendous performance, The Ati Radeon X1950XT Pro, which is said to be working very good at XP gaming, and the GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB XXX from XfX which, will work for Vista (Direct X10 support.) and as far as I know, SH4 will support Vista eventually :D

Ur friend in the pacific

S!

Red Hammer

[DaMaGe007]

I went looking for this thread but couldnt find it...so i made another..but this is a better spot...

I have a new system on the horizon but Im thinking of getting a new card for my current machine, just to prolong its life for a bit.

Its an Agp slot so Im kinda limited

The machine is a 2.8g P4, with 1 gig of ram, and about the best card I can find at my supplier here in Australia is a

Nvidia 7600GS 512 MB DDR2 AGP Video Card

Its a resonable price at $228 dollars AUD

What do you guys think of this card and should I be able to run the game ok on this machine with this card ?

also is it worth the extra ram the 256 version is even cheaper...at $169...

[Immacolata]

Good Morning, All.. [0630-Local]... Been reading as the coffee grows. Thank you all for such good stuff. I was sorta afraid the power supply would be a weak link. I had a few ATX jobs around, but nothing that has SATA capability...and...it is always good to have a spare. The stock one with the stock ATI video would make 'it work again' if anything makes the Blue Flash, down the line.

I will be ordering such a purchase from somebody that doesn't charge Washington Socialist State Sales Tax...[8%+].

Pff. You call THAT socialist?

/drops 25% danish VAT on table.

NOW how was your sales tax again? 8% sounds virtually free to me!

I'm going to cool my heels and do my shopping as a little time goes by and some of you gain more knowledge of how SH4 works for you. One of you commented on the game only running in 1024 x 768; on my gear it also runs 1152 x 864 and 1280 x 786...the latter which looks pretty nice, given no Four or Two Sample A-A.

It may sound silly to so taylor a computer to play ONE GAME. And I don't play anything else, other than Falcon 4 and F/A-18...when the Spirit moves me. But, in The Big Blackout Bingo Game of Life it would be nice to have "ONE super computer owned" filled in !

Forget it :) Just go for whatever will make SHIV tick nicely. Stevens advice was good, the x16xx pro card is nice, you dont need 512 MB really, but if it is at no extra cost, knock yourself out. Do be careful of the power supply demands however. I had to get a 450watter to run my X1900XT, but I think the X1600 ones are much more moderate in their power consumption.

Good luck.

[Meerkat154]

Not sure if most folks have heard...ATI/AMD R600 (see below) new video cards should launch at the end of the month. The specs look very impressive - on paper at least. Will be curious how it stacks up against NVIDIA's 8800 series cards.

Regardless of which camp you prefer the R600 launch would hopefully result in faster performance and the lowering of prices on the competitions side :rock:

Recomendation would be purchase a mid range DX9 video card if you were to buy one today and then eventualy upgrade to a midrage DX10 video card.

Unfortunately DX10 (as stated many times) is Vista only and MS has no plans to release a DX10 core for Windows XP. For gamers the future will have to be Vista if you plan to purchase and take full advantage of titles being shipped late 2007 and onwards - as painful as it sounds. For the Vista nay-sayers - I've been using it since November 06 and very pleased with the new OS. Of course there are some compatibility issues (hardware) with Vista mainly around sound cards due to the rewrite of major core components in the new OS.

-Meerkat.

AMD is touting the R600 will feature 700 million transistors (compared to the Radeon X1900 series' 384 million) and a full 512-bit memory interface with support for GDDR3 and GDDR4. On March 30, 2007, AMD will initially debut the R600 as the ATI Radeon X2900 XTX in two separate configurations: one for OEMs (12" layout) and another for retail (9.5" layout). ATI guidance claims the X2900 XTX retail card will come as a two-slot design with a vapor chamber cooler while the OEM (http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=38193#) version features a quiet fan cooler. 1GB of GDDR4 memory (supplied by Samsung) is the reference configuration for Radeon X2900 XTX.

Approximately one month later, the company will launch the GDDR3 version, dubbed the Radeon X2900 XT. This card features 512MB of GDDR3, lower clock frequencies than the X2900 XTX and is one of the first Radeons to feature heatpipes on the reference design. AMD anticipates the target driver for X2900 XT to be Catalyst 8.36, WHQL expected around March. Radeon X2900 will feature native CrossFire support via an internal bridge interface (no longer a need for the external cable). There is no Master card needed althought any Radeon X2900 can act as the Master card. All three versions of Radeon X2900 are expected to include native HDMI and one 6-pin and one 8-pin (2x4) VGA power connector (both connectors are also backwards compatible with 6-pin power supply cables).

Source: http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=38193

[XanderF]

I'm going to cool my heels and do my shopping as a little time goes by and some of you gain more knowledge of how SH4 works for you. One of you commented on the game only running in 1024 x 768; on my gear it also runs 1152 x 864 and 1280 x 786...the latter which looks pretty nice, given no Four or Two Sample A-A.

(Actually, it doesn't. See all the threads here on 'the resolution issue'. The 2d stuff - gauges, map, interface, etc does scale up to higher resolutions. However, the "3d world" - that which takes graphics horsepower to render - is locked at 1024x768. Can't be changed so far.)

[geetrue]

If you want, as you said in first post, the best card, I dont want to make some bragging here so I`d just recommend 2 cards which I have no experience in, but of which I have heard has Tremendous performance, The Ati Radeon X1950XT Pro, which is said to be working very good at XP gaming, and the GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB XXX from XfX which, will work for Vista (Direct X10 support.) and as far as I know, SH4 will support Vista eventually :D

Ur friend in the pacific

S!

Red Hammer


Take it from a non-expert :lol: Red Hammer has given you the best advice.

Except I would go for the ATI card, because you already have one in the X1400 range anyway and the Radeon X1950XT Pro is a great card for DX9c ...

Go to Pricewatch.com and type in his two choices for video cards (one at a time) in the search engine ... go down the list they give you and pick the retail version of the card ... not the oem. Click on order and it will be there in three or four days.

I agree New Egg is the best on the west coast and you don't have to pay state tax, because you live in Washington (not California).

You don't sound to savy on how to install it ... so find a local in the yellow pages to install it for you ... while he is installing the video cars have your computer cleaned up (fans, cards, interior) get the latest drivers scan for spyware, defrag ... etc.

Come home a happy man ... :p

Don't forget to ask him how to stay up to date on drivers, etc. :know:

Stop talking about croaking ... I'll see you back here when SH5 comes out ... isn't this a blast watching everyone jump around like a bunch of indians on the war path ... Oh yeah I've been through three of these come out parties now and I can't wait for the next one.

Your alright chief I don't care what your wife said about you :lol:

[Chief of the Boat]

O....K..... Been a busy morning, 'sleuthing' . There *are* a lot of power supplies. I'm thinking that if the instantaneous video load is 'light'... as in fairly constant scenery and few vessels...the demands on a power supply would be lighter in those periods? In other words, as in the flight game world, the F/R was great until more planes and explosions were there...then the Rate dropped pretty much, until the contents of each frame was more stable. If that is true, I should be able to get a High End Video Board that would perform with this Stock Supply...until 'action' made demands, right ? I don't know how I'll trim down the selection list for P/S as well as you Kind Gents have done for the Video, itself..... Brrr...

COB

[NefariousKoel]

Most video cards will have a minimum recommended amount of amperage required on a power supply's 12 volt rail. A lost say a minimum of 15A, though I recommend at least 20A or more depending on the exact model of vid card you're getting.

Most of the higher end video cards require a PCI-E power hookup, but they generally come with an adapter to go from a plain Jane 4 pin molex (like the ones that hook up to your optical drives) into a 5 pin PCIE power molex. No biggie, just make sure that adapter will come with your video card purchase if your power supply doesn't have one.

[RedHammer]

If you want, as you said in first post, the best card, I dont want to make some bragging here so I`d just recommend 2 cards which I have no experience in, but of which I have heard has Tremendous performance, The Ati Radeon X1950XT Pro, which is said to be working very good at XP gaming, and the GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB XXX from XfX which, will work for Vista (Direct X10 support.) and as far as I know, SH4 will support Vista eventually :D

Ur friend in the pacific

S!

Red Hammer

Take it from a non-expert :lol: Red Hammer has given you the best advice.

Except I would go for the ATI card, because you already have one in the X1400 range anyway and the Radeon X1950XT Pro is a great card for DX9c ...

Go to Pricewatch.com and type in his two choices for video cards (one at a time) in the search engine ... go down the list they give you and pick the retail version of the card ... not the oem. Click on order and it will be there in three or four days.

I agree New Egg is the best on the west coast and you don't have to pay state tax, because you live in Washington (not California).

You don't sound to savy on how to install it ... so find a local in the yellow pages to install it for you ... while he is installing the video cars have your computer cleaned up (fans, cards, interior) get the latest drivers scan for spyware, defrag ... etc.

Come home a happy man ... :p

Don't forget to ask him how to stay up to date on drivers, etc. :know:

Stop talking about croaking ... I'll see you back here when SH5 comes out ... isn't this a blast watching everyone jump around like a bunch of indians on the war path ... Oh yeah I've been through three of these come out parties now and I can't wait for the next one.

Your alright chief I don't care what your wife said about you :lol:
Also got me thinking, here in norway, the X1950 PRO costs only 200 american dollars, 1600 Norwegian Krones. and this is the card that`s almost as good as the 7800 GTX. I think it has to do with the R series release by next month. So I agree, get the ATI one. It`s really really really cheap. And hence u can save your Money for a Vista computer sometime later. 2 flies in one smack.

Edit: And also, with the low cost of the X1950 Pro, you can afford a good 500 W Power Supply Unit!

S!

RvH

[Deep-Six]

Now I have a question, I have the BFG 7600GS OC and it is not on the supported list. But it should run the game fine, correct?

BTW, I dont have the game yet.:cry:

[DaMaGe007]

yes anyting above and including the 6600 should work

[Chief of the Boat]

Well.. This thread has brought me more good info than I thought possible! And not one Wise-Crack.... THANK YOU !!

I'll make a decision soon, but I am pretty solid about going Video THEN Power Supply, if necessary...

Somebody suggested I have a 'local' do it. I know how..I built a few '98 machines, and I know The Locals !

So...again... many, many thanks to you all for the scoop. I hope you all have a lot of fun in the 14th District (Pacific). Watch out for the Brown Eyed, Bronze-skinned Beauties that Bathe upon the Balmy Beaches...

COB

[bookworm_020]

I went looking for this thread but couldnt find it...so i made another..but this is a better spot...

I have a new system on the horizon but Im thinking of getting a new card for my current machine, just to prolong its life for a bit.

Its an Agp slot so Im kinda limited

The machine is a 2.8g P4, with 1 gig of ram, and about the best card I can find at my supplier here in Australia is a

Nvidia 7600GS 512 MB DDR2 AGP Video Card

Its a resonable price at $228 dollars AUD

What do you guys think of this card and should I be able to run the game ok on this machine with this card ?

also is it worth the extra ram the 256 version is even cheaper...at $169...

Have a look on Ebay, you might be able to get a better deal. Extra ram on the card never hurts, You just have to realize that other parts of the machine may cause bottle necks to appear. An extra gig in RAM maybe a good idea.

I have heard rumors that Nvidia is going to release their 8xxx card in AGP. This will enable older machines to run DX10 and Vista. If this is true, it would take the mantle of most powerful AGP card out there.