I need a new Graphics Card

[Ghost]

The card i have (GeForce 6600 GT) is working ok but not great. I was planing to keep it for another year or so but I currently have a chance to get a much better computer then what i have but without only an integrated Graphics card. The new computer has a PCI-express slot for the card while my current card is AGP.

So i decided that I will buy a PCI-express graphics card and use the better computer but I have no idea what graphics cards are good and i have no idea where to even start looking. I was hopin that somebody here would help me find a decent card or at lease point me in the right direction.

I need a card with PCI-express that can run the latest games. Now here comes the tricky part. I only have about $200 +/- $50 to spend on the card.

If anyone has any good sugestions about cards or will point me to another good place to look or ask then please do so.

Thanks.

 

[MarineCorps]

My suggestion would be the 7600GT. I have one my self. Works great for games.

 

[Ghost]

I forgot to mention... I need this card to be able to run Vista when it comes out and preferable the newest games that are coming out right now in at least 900 x 1440 resolution (widescreen).

the 7600GT looks good but its only $150 (which I dont really mind if it'll do the job.) BUt i am willing to spend $200 or even maybe $250 non a card so if there is a much better card for this money then maybe I should buy it instead.

Its just im hoping that this card will last another 2 years before im forced to upgrade.

 

[Comraddict]

no card will last 2 yrs. If you want to spend $250, then get 7900GT.

7600GT is roughtly same speed as 6800GT.

 

[Ghost]

im staring to look more and more into the Geforce 7600 gt and so far i like it bu tmy question is: will it be alb eto support vista and vista games in half a year or will i need ot buy a new one then?

 

[MarineCorps]

im staring to look more and more into the Geforce 7600 gt and so far i like it bu tmy question is: will it be alb eto support vista and vista games in half a year or will i need ot buy a new one then?

It was built with windows vista in mind. So yes it will support vista

 

[Strider]

My old GeForce 5200 is still capable of running all of the new games with no problems. Although, it is 256 MB of RAM.

 

[Comraddict]

My old GeForce 5200 is still capable of running all of the new games with no problems. Although, it is 256 MB of RAM.

Sorry, but that was worst graphic card nvidia have ever released. Running new games means being able to run them on 1024x768 or 1280x1024 and not watch the slideshow. i doubt that 5200FX can make more than 3fps with mentioned settings under Oblivion or FEAR.

 

[Ghost]

Im staring to think that maybe i want to wait a bit untill another card is released to the 7900 gets a price drop. Does anyone know when ATI or Nvidia are planing to relese their next cards?

 

[MarineCorps]

Im staring to think that maybe i want to wait a bit untill another card is released to the 7900 gets a price drop. Does anyone know when ATI or Nvidia are planing to relese their next cards?

oct or Nov of this year is supposed to see the release of GeForce 8. The 7900 might get a price drop then. The 8800 is supposed to retail between $299-$699.

 

[Ghost]

Great! then ill wait untill then. will the Geforce 8 series only include the 8800 for now or will there be more cards? like maybe a Geforce 8600 for $200?

 

[MarineCorps]

Great! then ill wait untill then. will the Geforce 8 series only include the 8800 for now or will there be more cards? like maybe a Geforce 8600 for $200?

That would be my guess.

 

[Ghost]

HeyI've been looking at7900 cards and founda 7900 GS in for about $200 - $250 range. What do the GT, GTX, and GS after the card name mean?

 

[MarineCorps]

HeyI've been looking at7900 cards and founda 7900 GS in for about $200 - $250 range. What do the GT, GTX, and GS after the card name mean?

GTX- Starting block for the 7900 series
GT- lighter cheaper version of the GTX
GS- Lighter cheaper version of the GT, meant to fill the gap between the 7900GT and the 7600GT

 

[Solver]

Sorry, but that was worst graphic card nvidia have ever released. Running new games means being able to run them on 1024x768 or 1280x1024 and not watch the slideshow. i doubt that 5200FX can make more than 3fps with mentioned settings under Oblivion or FEAR.

The 5200 sucks, but believe me, it runs every game currently on the market. Certainly, the newer ones look like crap. FEAR, in fact, can look okay-ish on the card, but Oblivion looks like completely crap, yet it runs. So for those who only want to have the gameplay, and ignore the graphics, the FX 5200 is so far sufficient to run games.

But again, I certainly won't argue about it being a flop. Heck, the 2.0 shader support is a royal mess on most FX series cards, not just the 5200.