The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

what should i use?

im thinking of trying world of warcraft. looks like a cool game.

i have my res on my monitor set at high right now my max is 1440x900

 

3dmark06 is the most well known version at the moment. As for World of Warcraft, it's a very popular game, but I warn you, everyone I know who played it got hooked!

 

is it a hard game to learn?

so 3dmark06 is what i need to run? should i do it at a lower res or keep my current res?

 

Hmm. The difficulty with 1440x900 is you can't actually run it at default res, 1280x1024. However, your score will be similar enough for it not to matter.
As for WoW, I don't play it myself, so not sure.

 

i dont have a 1280x1040 setting.
i have
1280x800
1280x768
1280x720

im actually running the 1280x800 right now. it looks odd compaired to the 1440x900 ive been running it at.
i also have a 1360x800 just under the 1440 setting

 

You won't see 1280x1024 because your monitor doesn't have enough pixels to display it...
The reason why 1280x800 looks odd is because it's a non-native resolution - as such all the pixels have to be approximated, so the picture will loom blurry and naff compared to the native, or correct resolution.

 

thats why i set it back to 1440x900. much better.

 

Indeed. By the way, loving the fly signature. I know someone else who has it as a forum avatar, I really like little tricks like that!

 

Well just use the resolution closest to the 3DMark06 default resolution, because I think it affects the score.

 

All right, was just thinking about getting a new video card, but before I even ask a question here, is a video card different than a graphics card or are they one and the same?

 

Same thing. Post the specs of your PC and we can recommend a video card.

 

Agreed, tell us your specs, most importantly what card slots you have and what kind/power of PSU you have.

 

Abuzar: It does. Fortunately at 1.296 vs 1.311 Megapixels, 1440x900 is close enough not to be too much of a problem.
Fredbun: What sort of games will you be playing? If you have a not so nice PSU, but plenty of games you need to play, you may want to consider upgrading both.

 

Hi Guys, actually I still do not know what kind of card I have, and no I am not a gamer, I have been getting blue screen errors with messages, after I re-boot always get the your system has recoverd from a serious error blah blah, and always says mostly caused by driver error and for some reason it might be my video card I'm thinking even though I know it might be a hundred other things.

And the way it explains about finding out which driver it can be it was a nightmare just reading about it, after talking to one friend he also said maybe my video card is going, either way sooner or later I;m gonna get a card and also a decent sound card, my pc is a hp media center m7330n, its not hot rod like you guys mostly use or build but I like it, never had this problem since I had it 3 years, so to fix it I would like to insert much better parts than the standard ones if need be.

 

hey fred, your son back yet so you can make your build?

look inside you computer, do you have acard or a onboard?

if its a card, clean the fan becuase it maybe overheating due to dust, also check your CPU heatsink for that aswell.

BTW do you remember when me and russ were discussing nvidia partners makign their own boards, which i said they do not. i can back it up

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8327&Itemid=1

and sam, this is the 4850x2 (although it maybe called a 4870X2 with GDDR3)

 

That's not really backing it up, it's backing it up for the GTX200 series, I already knew they were only reference designs, most cards are at launch, the 4800s have been no exception so far either. However, when you see clear giveaways like the HD3870 and 8800GTs made by Asus and XFX, the evidence is indisputable that both companies have cards that are assembled by the partners, not just boxed and sold.

I'm interested in the HD4850X2 though, hook me up with two of those! lol

 

let me get this in before my banishment.

in a forest gump voice.
i didnt mean to ruin your graphics card party.....

take a look at this GPU and tell me if its worth the $60 40 after mir.
http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0283105

and is it a big improvement fropm what i have now. the EVGA geforce 7600gt?????

 

Not really. It's not much faster than a 7600GT, the HD2600 Pro wasn't considered a very good card, none of the 8 series midrange cards were much good to be honest. Stick with your 7600GT for now, it's fine.
The only reason you'd want an HD card is to use it for HDTV purposes. The 2600 pro is no worse than your 7600GT, so if you want to use it for that then great, but for a performance upgrade, look elsewhere.

 

cool thanks sam. im wanting to get a better GPU but im not wanting to spend a couple hundred bucks to get one right now. figured if i could swing one for less than a hundred i might go that route if not than i will wait till next year when i do my quad build...

 

If you've no need to desperately get a new GPU, wait for a while. Something worth buying will be under 100 dollars before you know it.