Upgrading graphics card....
 

Ok, I found a good deal on a PNY Geforce 7300 GS (256 mb). I currently have a Geforce FX5500.

Will I notice a big difference in performance and quality of graphics? I know some of you are real experts on this stuff.

Thanks.

Re: Upgrading graphics card....
 

The 7300 GS isn't even worth rating fps wise - you can't even find it online at a place like Toms Hardware. Do yourself a favor and find an and ATI x800 GTO AGP version if you want to squeeze some additional life out your older sys. One guy out here just got one and it play Oblivion just fine at 1024x768. Expect about $150 with a 256 MB version if you look around enough. The guy that just got one out here bought his for $140.

-S

You'll surely have a whole new experience, there is a huge gap between these card. For example: I got from a FX5200 to a 6600 256 MB: wow! The difference is very noticeable.

-I'm playing Oblivion now. Great game, great graphics, great GPU cost.

Here is an article to read on the subject:

Don't Throw Out Your ATI Radeon X800 Yet

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/28/don/

-S

What kind of FPS does your 6600 get? Just kind of curious as to how that thing is performing.

-S

Well, in 800x600 with AA2x, AAA2x, and most effects on (medium quality), I get from 20 to 30 fps depending on the place I am. (In large open areas with lots of foliage, it drops).
What about your fps?

Thanks all...no, but I don't have an older system. My computer specs are pretty good, only prob is...it came with a mediocre graphics card. That's the only thing holding my system back..that and the onboard sound. :roll:

My sys specs are P4 3.2 gig (800mhz), 1gig of fast RAM...so as you can see, my system can handle pretty much any card out there. Though I don't want to spend too much money at the mo...got too much on my plate.

So was wondering...will I notice a difference if I buy the card tomorrow?

Ive never heard of a Geforce 7300 :o

Geforce 6800GT :rock:

Oh come on guys...you're putting me off here :nope:

Here's the 7300:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...7300_gs/1.html

Either I buy this and be content with it, or wait until I can change my system in a couple of years and plonder on with my 5500 :cry: ...so it's this or nothing. Should I get it?...I'm really temped

Oh...wow...I just found out the 7300 is a PCI-Express card. What does that mean??!! :o Can I slot it into a normal AGP or the other normal slot on my mobo?

Please help guys....I'm bad at this stuff!!

Sounds to me the 7300 is the series of crap cards eg

GF 5200
GF 6200
GF 7300

Can you go higher and purchase a 7800. Anyways if not the 7300 will play SH3 with good detail no problem.

Just my point of view, but i would ask gizzmoe for the final answer.

NO! You need to find a AGP card.

NO!!!!!! Then...then....that means...I can't buy it. :nope:

GeCube Radeon X1300 256MB DDR2 (AGP)

http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.php?prod_id=49921

Mine is kind of not fair to compare with. My current board runs 1280x1024 with all details on including HDR and I usually get in the 50 FPS (x1900 XTX).

My old board that just died however (which is what forced me to do the computer upgrade) was an ATI 9800 AIW (bascially a Pro model with TV tuner, etc.). I used to get about 30 FPS outdoors at 1024x768, except over by the western edges of the map where I could drop to like 20 FPS with brief bouts worse than that, but I was running with all detail on except shadows was dropped to about 1/3rd max, and character shadows were off.

The way I was able to run the 9800 with max grass on was by editing the .ini file in your My Documents folder. Go there and drill down to My games/Oblivion. In there you will find the ini file in question. Search for grass thickness in the ini and you will find it defaulted to 80. Change that to 120 instead and your FPS will go way up with max grass on. 120 is about the limit I find since if you go beyond 120, you will start to notice the grass thin out. At 120, the grass is still thick and it looks like you never made a change.

The x1900 XTX I leave defaulted at 80 however. It looks slightly better, but if you really look at it, it really isn't noticeably better. The x1900 however doesn't really care how thick the grass is, so might as well make it look good!

-S

PS. I just found out my 9800 AIW is still under warrant for another couple months! Hopefully I can get it replaced because I'd hate to loose this board. It is still worth something and would do nicely in a secondary system. I have an Abit MB with an AMD XP3200+ and 1 GB of PC3200 RAM running at 400 Mhz! I even have my old Seasonic 400 WATT Tornado PSU to go along with it - so you can see why I want it replaced!