I really need help with this one. I have just recently gained a sudden appetite for pc games like COD4 and Hellgate:London. I have not attempted to play these games on my pc yet. I think ther would be a problem with my video card, i think it might not be capable of running such games smoothly. Currently I have an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro. So, i need suggestions as to what video card i should get. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Currently: ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro, AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 6000+, Asus Crosshair 590 SLI, 2 x 1GB Corsair DDR2 RAM
You're correct in your assumption, your CPU and RAM are plenty good enough, but you'll need a decent graphics card. If you can afford a Radeon HD3870, I'd strongly advise you to get one.
The problem with the HD 3870 is that it is $250-$280!!! Anything cheaper thats still pretty good? Thanks
The 3850 which is below $200 I believe. It performs a tab bit less than the 2870 as it only has 256mb of vram.
Is the GeForce 8600GT good, because the reviews that were left would sugget so, but i am a little skeptical because i have heard that they usually dont last long? Go here for gt8600: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
Is the GeForce 8600GT good, because the reviews that were left would sugget so, but i am a little skeptical because i have heard that they usually dont last long? Go here for gt8600:
I've not heard of any reliability issues with the 8600GT, but it's still a slow card. Go for the Radeon HD3850, seriously. If you play modern PC games you really should pay close attention to the graphics card. Also worth asking, what power supply are you currently using? Adding high powered graphics cards to PCs greatly increases how much power they draw, and cheap power supplies, no matter how many watts they say they are, often have issues. Potentially very bad issues.
my evga 8600GT ddr2 512 is playing counter strike: condition zero with no problems. but i don't think it can handle newer games well. if only the 8800GT came out sooner at fry's, i would've gotten it just to keep up with the latest stuff. it's pushing 600/438 in nVidia nTune overclock; just pushing it just before it reaches yellow in NVMonitor. it's been like this for two weeks, and still running strong.
Counter strike condition zero? Dude, people disregard Counterstrike:Source as a useless benchmark because it's not demanding, and it uses 5x the resources of Condition zero. People may CZ on integrated graphics, for crying out loud.
something new learned. the beauty of aD and the members. because i don't play the newer games on the comp, i can only give the details on the games that i do play. also, i prefer the original valve over the steam engine. back on topic. to get the games running smoothly, you should get a high end card. slight overkill is better with computer components.
I'm using an Eagle Tech Panther X GM670SC 670W. So basically your saying that the best way for me to go is the Radeon HD 3850.
We are suggesting that. However, it doesn't look like you have a high quality power supply, so I STRONGLY recommend you upgrade your power supply BEFORE you even consider upgrading your graphics card. 670W it may claim to be, but poorly made PSUs can fall way short of the mark on many occasions, often with catastrophic consequences.
sammorris is right...listen to him and you won't have trouble... @everyone Guys its 2007 and starting 2008...its not 2004...all the games require good powerful gpu's...so please consider getting latest cards...ok not the best but good mid-range cards...
I think that's taking it somewhat to extremes. There's no point having the latest and greatest graphics card for most games. If anything, for most users there are very few games that demand having a high end graphics card. Of course, I am perpetually put in the awkward spot with regard to upgrades because I run the highest resolution windows supports. However, for users who have standard resolution 1280x1024 or 1680x1050 screens, the vast majority of brand new games would run fine on moderately powerful hardware. My X1900XT for example, is half the speed of an 8800GTX, and yet can run COD4 at 1920x1200 and HL2:Episode Two (and the rest of the Orange Box) at 2560x1600, even with AA and AF. Taking that logically, you could probably run most of the orange box fine on an 8600GT, and save yourself the money. The main reason people buy expensive graphics cards (apart from Crysis, which I think is hideously over-rated and I'm glad I didn't upgrade just to play it) is for future-proofing. Sure, a £75 card can run the vast majority of PC games well now, but come 18 months down the line and you're going to be looking at things like 800x600, or medium-low detail. It's ironic really, unless you have a powerful PC, newer games often cause worse graphics, simply because you can't run them at the resolution all your old games run at. Most of my PC games look better than Crysis does for me, simply because I have to use lower settings (notably on the shadows and shaders front). In any case, I don't much care for Crysis, the game seems ridden with so many bugs and horrific programming choices, it just doesn't live up to the hype for me.
