FataLFlaw Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 I am ordering all new components, hopefully tomorrow if I'm done researching. I'm wondering how high I have to go up the video card hierarchy if I want to play the current games at the maximum settings while still getting a constant frame rate. I'm planning on getting an opteron 165, dfi board, 2gb ddr500 ram, and I'm on a LG 19" 4ms LCD so it will be @1280x1024. I could really care less about how many 3d marks I score with my system. I just want to play games and have it look great. Do I need to get into the 7950GX2 cards or would I be fine with a 512mb 7900gt? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
old_geekster Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 Welcome to the "Street"! It sounds like you are going to build a great rig! I believe that you could easily get by with a 7900GT or X1900XT, but the GTX or XTX would assure maximum graphics settings. From what I have read, I would highly recommend the GT cards. The nVidia drivers are better than ATI's. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FataLFlaw Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 A very buggy ATI card I owned a while back has turned me into an nvidia fanboy so I wasn't even thinking about ATI as an option. Another thing to note, I'm not too worried about up and coming games. I just want to play the current games at max settings. In a year or so when new games are out I will upgrade if necessary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanDude05 Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 A 7900GT would run nicely at 1280x1024. Plus down the line newer games will use SLI more efficiently, so you could upgrade to a 2nd 7900GT. 7950GX2 would be overkill. Also, please make a sig including the parts you PLAN on buying, so the powers that be don't hound you for it. It's a 7 day "vacation" from the boards if you do not have a signature. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grunt_Style Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 my rig i put every game i own max settings and 1024x with all the AA and Anisotropic blah blah set to max. the only game i ever had trouble with was oblivion. that creeped down to 28-40 FPS in heavy populated areas. but mostly the game ran at 50FPS. Ironicly wheni went from single 7800GT to dual.....i really noticed pretty much no improvement whatsoever. smooth is smooth. wether its 80fps or 110. and dual cards isnt double the performance. but i still got them just incase. however i dont think ill get dual cards in my next rig.....accaully ya, i will, i dont mind blowing the money. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmniStrata Posted August 18, 2006 Posted August 18, 2006 My dual Silent Pipe II beast runs anything I normally use at max settings with the exception of F.E.A.R. [bless you Soft-Shadows] and Oblivion, but hey, those games will bring ANY config I don't care how much money you spend to it's knees in any case if you're going max... I get 100 fps in pretty much all the games I normally play at maximum everything [allowed by the game at least] Guild Wars Battlefield 2 Counter Strike (non-source) Warcraft III World of Warcraft Pretty much most of the popular stuff. Saved me a chunk too. The best part: it's dead silent sexy ninja quiet... Getting my wife the 7600 GS version from Gigabyte also using the Silent Pipe. What ever that thing is or does, I like it, a LOT... I'm running 610 Mhz on the gpu and 1600 Mhz on the memory. That's 50 mhz and 100 mhz [200 considering ddr] FASTER than stock. Yay for overclocking! AND, it only hits the 56C mark after 2-3 hours of BF2 fun... Having fan controllers and then turning them down in your case is a good idea. In fact Gigabyte's Aurora case which only has 2 fans needed is what makes this thing run its coldest. Very odd I say but for barely $300 after rebates, I think I got my money's worth easy. [did I mention dead quiet comp with fans turned down? ] Before I forget, I get about 7400 in 3dMark06 with my current config everything overclocked and 8 hour prime95 ready. Maybe not 10k, sure, but as far as gaming goes, stable, fast, [100 Hz is my monitor limit at 1024x768], and above all very nice for silence... Noisiest things in my case now are probably either my rear case fan or my Tempest... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
boo_masters Posted August 19, 2006 Posted August 19, 2006 I have heard a lot about people having problems with ATI cards, but I seem to be the exception. I had nothing but problems with both eVGA and BFG 7900-series cards. Since so many hassles I have sence gone with the ATI x1900xtx and after driver updates it works like a dream. The way to go is if you can buy your high-RMA proned items such as GFX cards at local places so a return is less costly (if not free, should be heh). Newegg is GREAT on service but you gotta pay that shipping back. boo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry_Games Posted August 19, 2006 Posted August 19, 2006 A very buggy ATI card I owned a while back has turned me into an nvidia fanboy so I wasn't even thinking about ATI as an option. Another thing to note, I'm not too worried about up and coming games. I just want to play the current games at max settings. In a year or so when new games are out I will upgrade if necessary. don't be a constant hater give ATI a chance I only use ATI X1900XT cards these days as they max out my 1440x900 widescreen with a single card, full AA/AF, all options maxed completely out, and it overclocks (on water) like a banshee. I still love Nvidia cards, but right now I'm all about my X1900XT's and for $300-$375 they really cannot be beat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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