[redsniper]

...I'm planning to get more RAM and a video card in the summer...

So I've been working all summer and now have some money. What's a good video card to replace my aging X1900? Something in the $250 dollar range. I could probably be talked up to $300, but let's not get carried away here.

Also, RAM. I have 2GB and I'd like to go to 4, but I run XP right now. I'll probably upgrade to Win 7 in a little while here. Should I just get the RAM now and only use 3GB of it or wait until Win 7 comes out?

[Colonol Dekker]

Do you plan to stick with ATI or would you consider going towards Nvidia?

[Ghostavo]

First, what display resolutions do you use?

Second, how long do you estimate you'll keep your current system (motherboard to be more specific) until your next upgrade?

[Mr. Vega]

I'm mad at ATI to the point of defecting because of their extremely ****ty OpenGL drivers.

[Nuke]

nvidia cards also support physx

[redsniper]

I've been using ATI for years, but I have no loyalties. I've been running at 1280 x 960, but I wouldn't mind going higher on games. I'm using a CRT so native res isn't an issue. I just got this mobo/CPU combo a few months ago, I'm hoping it'll last me 1.5-2 years.

[Ghostavo]

At those resolutions any mid-range card should be fine.

If you want to follow ATI, a HD 4770 is a nice card mid-range card, although you have the HD 4870 and HD 4890 if you want something more. I'd recommend the HD 4890, it's within the price range ($200) and it will last for quite a while if nothing drastic happens. An alternative is two HD 4770 in crossfire, which cost slightly less and have similar performance, with the caveat of being a two card solution.

I'm afraid I don't know much of nVidia's current options, but with the specified price range you have the GTX 275 ($215) which is performance wise similar to the HD 4890 and has PhysX support like all current nVidia cards.

But again, with resolutions below 1680x1050, any mid-range card (way below your price range) should be fine.

As for RAM, if you want to wait until Win 7 comes out, you might as well buy it now if you really want to. It comes out in about 2 months so I suspect there won't be much of a price change.


Finally, I'd wait for CP5670 as he's the resident expert. 

[redsniper]

4870 and 4890 were what I was being recommended back when I was asking for advice about mobos and CPUs, I'll probably end up going with one of those. Still, I'll wait and see what any resident nVidia experts say.

[CP5670]

The 4890 is probably still the best choice. The GTX 275 is comparable although slightly more expensive. They can differ a lot in some specific games though, as seen here, so make your choice based on the games you play.

You should definitely get 4GB given the memory prices today. From what I hear, you can find an occasional game now that actually benefits from more than 2GB, especially if you're like me and leave other programs open in the background, but there is currently nothing that needs anywhere close to 3GB apart from various professional programs.

[BlackDove]

Nothing is good right now.

Wait till end of the year for the Shader Model 6.0 and DX11 cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_300_Series#Future

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_R800

Whichever brand you choose to go with really. Anything you buy now will be terminally obsolete in about 2-3 months. Well. Not obsolete. But it won't be "new", and a part of the calculation when it comes game time on the higher end of the spectrum.

[CP5670]

The Nvidia cards are very unlikely to be released this year, and it's not clear how much faster the ATI ones will be than the current lineup. If they're much faster than current cards, they will also come at the $500-600 high end price point.

Something else to keep in mind is that game graphics are no longer advancing like they used to, and a decent card today will have a longer useful life than it did in the past. Graphics have started to top out now in general (after two years, Crysis is still the best looking game out there), with any further improvements requiring inordinate tradeoffs in performance. There is also the fact that the consoles drive game development these days and we have reached the limits of what current generation consoles can achieve.

I have had a GTX 280 for over a year now and it's still working very well on games today, except for Crysis. All my other cards in the past started to struggle after a year and prompted an upgrade.

[Bob-san]

To some extent you're correct, CP. From the rumors about ATI's next gen, they'll be 50% faster but will reenter the market at "default" pricepoints. RV870 Pro at $180, RV870 XT at $280, R800 at $530. IF the rumored specs are true, then expect 50% faster (but at twice the price, for now). ATI's been dead-accurate with recent products; Phenom II and Radeon R700 have hit price and performance points. Even R600 did quite well, though that was much more a budget line when compared to G80/G92.

[redsniper]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150359
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102830

These two are looking pretty good, but the descriptions say they recommend a 500W power supply. I've got an old 430W Antec Truepower, should I just play it safe and get a new PSU while I'm at it? If so, what are the good brands nowadays?

EDIT: How 'bout this?  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139004

[Fury]

I'm mad at ATI to the point of defecting because of their extremely ****ty OpenGL drivers.

What exactly is wrong with their OpenGL drivers compared to nvidia's?

[Kosh]

My laptops video card is an integrated Radeon 7000, it's so obsolete it can't handle the latest FSOpen releases at all (and this was only with the core mv media pack, not the extra stuff). I feel intensely jealous of redsniper's current video card........

[Bob-san]

My laptops video card is an integrated Radeon 7000, it's so obsolete it can't handle the latest FSOpen releases at all (and this was only with the core mv media pack, not the extra stuff). I feel intensely jealous of redsniper's current video card........

You probably don't have enough RAM or a good enough processor either, so don't just blame your graphics chipset.

[Kosh]

My previous laptop had half as much memory and a comparible processor, but the video card was a full on radeon 7500 with 16mb of independant memory and FSO worked just fine (granted that was 2 years ago). That does make a huge difference.

[Bob-san]

Just a random question: where do you live? Because both scenarios have the graphics chipset being ~5 years out of date (with the chips themselves being 8-9 years old).

[redsniper]

Hey, guys. Power supplies?

[Ghostavo]

I'd recommend PC Power and Cooling.

Top notch quality. The only downside I see is if you don't like non-modular PSUs.