new graphixs cards

binary visions · Dec 19, 2006

The 7600GT is a good card and it's at a great price point right now.

Buy it, load it up, and only worry about tweaking your games after you've played them a bit and feel that your frame rates are too slow.

I have a 6600GT and it runs everything fast. For the most graphic intensive games (like Oblivion), I turn off a couple of the superfluous effects or knock the textures down one level or whatever until I am happy with performance.

After using integrated video, there's a good chance you'll be so blown away by the improvement that you won't give two craps about spending a few hours of your life tweaking the game configuration

SkaredShtles · Dec 19, 2006

Do those fancy video cards just improve gaming/video performance? Would they help at all with my wife's photo editing?

binary visions · Dec 19, 2006

Not measurably. A high end video card is mostly to crunch 3d numbers.

If you want to improve photo editing, a faster processor (and, more to the point, a dual core processor) will speed things up more than a new video card.

Or more RAM.

Transcend · Dec 19, 2006

binary visions said:
Not measurably. A high end video card is mostly to crunch 3d numbers.

If you want to improve photo editing, a faster processor (and, more to the point, a dual core processor) will speed things up more than a new video card.

Or more RAM.

Unless you get a mac. Core image is confusing. :twitch:

For photo editing, the biggest improvement you can make is RAM. Get lots of RAM. Get lots of fast RAM. Second biggest improvement will be to get a fast harddrive. Next biggest will be a dual core (or more ) system. Of course, the dual core system will only make a real difference in a few applications (photoshop being one of them).

SkaredShtles · Dec 19, 2006

binary visions said:
Not measurably. A high end video card is mostly to crunch 3d numbers.

If you want to improve photo editing, a faster processor (and, more to the point, a dual core processor) will speed things up more than a new video card.

Or more RAM.

Yeah. That's kinda what I figured. She'll just have to suck it up. Not getting rid of the 900Mhz any time soon.

syadasti · Dec 19, 2006

binary visions said:
Not measurably. A high end video card is mostly to crunch 3d numbers.

If you want to improve photo editing, a faster processor (and, more to the point, a dual core processor) will speed things up more than a new video card.

Or more RAM.

The big players are starting to change that though.

Stream computing will have processing power many times greater than the CPU in optimized tasks. The current Folding@Home client on the ATI X1900 GPU can do around 100 gigaflop in its BETA form. Stream computing sounds pretty cool - the line between GPU and CPU will blur in upcoming OS and applications.

You can get a Visiontek X1950 Pro AGP soon if you want a mid-end videocard for AGP vs. the lower end 7600 - only more important if you are playing at higher resolution or new games with all the eye candy turned on. It is one of the first AGP GPUs on the market to support stream computing too...

Vista and other upcoming photo editing programs will probably have GPU acceleration:

Speaking of important partners, Microsoft sent a rep to the event, as well. Chas Boyd, an Architect in Microsoft's Graphics Platform Unit, spoke briefly about Microsoft's support for non-traditional uses of GPUs in Windows. Boyd showed off a Windows Vista image editor that handles image processing operations on the GPU rather than the CPU, making photo editing a much quicker task. He also talked about using GPUs to handle graphical problems in a non-graphical way.

binary visions · Dec 19, 2006

Yes, while all of that is true... it relates in no way to the question asked since none of this is particularly mainstream yet.

It is cool that they're starting to fully utilize the GPU though, since so much of the time it's just wasted processing power. Vista, of course, uses a lot of GPU processing by itself.

Hopefully the card manufacturers do what CPU mfrs did and realize that there's a big market for efficient chips, too - and that we don't all want dedicated 100+ watt power supplies just to run our graphics cards :dead:

syadasti · Dec 19, 2006

x1950 Pro isn't that power hungry and it does come in AGP form now and does stream computing so it is related to this thread. Its a mid-level gamers card vs. entry level gamers like the nvidia AGP models mentioned.

Its also one of the most quiet videocards w/its stock cooling (at least in its reference form)

syadasti · Dec 19, 2006

bcd said:
yeah, the x1950 pro was one i was looking at.

does the brands of the same x1950 pro really make any diff?

alex

With ATI or nVidia chipset cards sometimes the circuitboard and/or cooling design differs, software bundle, or warranty (and who provides it).

It looks like Visiontek varies by model from 1, 3, or lifetime warranty.

I don't have any experience with that brand, maybe check out newegg review and google...

binary visions · Dec 19, 2006

I've always had bad luck with ATI's drivers. I keep thinking that one of these days, they'll start writing decent drivers and will do really well. Until then, I stick with NVIDIA cards.

Different brands of the same card make a marginal difference in performance, but I wouldn't stress too much about it. Buy one with a good warranty and you'll be all set. Or the best software bundle, if you find something good - sometimes cards will come with a few free, full version games. My 6600GT came with three games.

syadasti · Dec 19, 2006

Looks like in January Diamond MM will offer 256 and 512MB X1950 Pro AGP cards too:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search.php?form_keyword=X1950PRO+AGP&topcat_id=

syadasti · Dec 19, 2006

I've personally used x1900 (4 months) and 7900 (2.5 months) series GPU and can vouch that both currently have decent drivers that do have bugs and frequent updates depending on the application - each company releases new drivers every month or so. Neither are bug free in absolutely every application but both are good cards that work well for most user needs.

The difference in cards [with the same GPU] isn't usually too significant as BV says, buy the one with a decent warranty first and second look for a good bundle or extra feature(s)...

blue · Dec 20, 2006

Your CPU won't be able to adequately handle a card like the 7600GT. I'd keep it cheap and get a 6600GT. Bottleneck issues=not fun.

To sensationalize what you might run into, think of it like mating an XTR rear mech with a Deore shifter.

blue · Dec 20, 2006

I'm not familiar at all with the ATi line. What's it comparable to nVidia-wise?

Just looked...it gets compared to a 7900GS? Yeah. You'd run into the same problem.

Here. 100$...6800XT. Nice card that won't be like shoving a garbage can into a mouse anus.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141038

binary visions · Dec 20, 2006

blue said:
Your CPU won't be able to adequately handle a card like the 7600GT. I'd keep it cheap and get a 6600GT. Bottleneck issues=not fun.

I completely disagree. Yes, it's an inexpensive processor, but the combo will work fine. He's not putting the latest and greatest in there. You pay a premium for the AGP version (ironic since they're slower) but the PCI-e versions are only running $125-150. It's not going to bottleneck in any kind of significant way.

A 7600GT isn't some kind of uber-card, it's just the next generation of the 6600GT.

Also, the Semprons really aren't all that bad. They're made to a pretty high spec and word is that a significant number of them are just Athlons that didn't quite make the cut. I had a very similar setup for a while except with the 6600GT and could have easily benefited from the 7600GT.

syadasti · Dec 20, 2006

Well that might not be too bad of an idea. Instead of the AGP card he could buy a decent entry level AM2 motherboard and X2 CPU for about $200. A 7900GS or 1900GT could then be had for about $150 or if he wanted something slightly better X1950 Pro or 7950GT for around $200.

$350-400 and you've got a pretty significant upgrade as long as his PSU isn't too crappy he could probably swing it. If upgrades his memory to 2GB, he'd be able to run Vista pretty well in the future too.

binary visions · Dec 20, 2006

AM2 motherboard is going to require DDR2 memory, which adds at least another $100 into the equation. Again, that's assuming his PSU can handle it. Plus, you then have a major disassembly of the computer and re-installation. Windows may or may not take kindly to such a massive overhaul depending on how nicely the drivers play. Always the possibility of DOA equipment.

Seems like a headache when $150 worth of 7600GT or whatever (6600GT, 6800XT, etc.) will significantly improve the gaming. If you're going to upgrade the motherboard, CPU, video card and memory, you may as well buy a new computer... Just a thought.

syadasti · Dec 20, 2006

Thats right, I forgot. Socket 939 boards would fit the bill though and are cheaper and AMD offers higher clock single core CPUs in that form factor (more important now than dual core due to lack of dual core optimized games/applications). 7900 GS and GT series GPUs have similar load power to 7600, so if his PSU powers the 7600, it will work fine with the those.

The older 6600 GT series GPU draws more power than any of the X19XX, 76XX, or 79XX GPUs (except the higher end X19XX XT/XTX and 7950 GX2).

You'd have to remove drivers before doing a major upgrade like that, but formatting would be a better option. Still he could get a MB, much faster CPU (A64 4000+), 7900GS PCIe videocard, and another gig of memory for less than $400 and he'd have a major performance boost compared to simply swapping the videocard.

syadasti · Dec 20, 2006

bcd said:
y so concerned with system what loads?

Cheap powersupplies can't handle some high-end cards or old 6000 series GPU under load - your system might not run/run stable.

syadasti · Dec 20, 2006

Ah well then its not as much of concern with current fab process low-mid end GPU videocards then. If its a decent PSU (read actually meets its 400w rating), you could probably even run some of the high-end cards.

syadasti · Dec 20, 2006

Here is a good upgrade assortment (you can substitute the OEM CPU below for 3700 or 3800+ retail boxed 939 at a similar price if you need a new heatsink/fan and favor a 3 year warranty vs. 90 days)

Newegg - $399.96 said:
-ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard -$72.99
-CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model VS1GB400C3 - $96.99
-AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz Socket 939 Processor Model ADA4000DAA5BN - OEM - $79.99
-SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 VIVO HDCP Video Card - Retail $149.99

new graphixs cards

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