I am newbie in gaming and I have a P4 2.66 with PCI-E motherboard and 512mb RAM. I do only have a onboard graphics card which cannot run the games in its glory. I want to play the semi-latest and latest games in at least 45 fps in 800*600 or 1024*768 with a bit AA or without AA. Which card will do good for me. I was planning to get a XFX GeForce 6600 GT with 256mb VRAM. Will it do good. At least I want play Quake 4 and NFS:Carbon well. Please help. If my choice is not good then what you do suggest?
2006-11-19 16:57:21 · 4 answers · asked by rivalslayer 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
For gaming, the most important component in your system will be the video card, so that's where you'll want to bust the budget. You'll get a greater performance boost by spending an extra $150 on the video card instead of processor in most cases. However, I would recommend at least another 512mb of RAM (preferably add 1 gb) since the newest fps games and online mmorpgs are quite ram-hungy. Half-life:2 / Lost coast required 1gb to play, and that's about a year old now...
The 6600 is ok, but far from great. On the Nvidia side, upgrading to a 7600- or even better a 7900GT, will make you MUCH happier. If you prefer ATI cards, get at least an X1800 series... I upgraded from a 6800 to a 7900GT and it's light-years better.
If money is no object, then something like a 7950GTX or the brand-new 8800 series is absolutely amazing, but I personally can't afford $500 video cards, I need something closer to half that price :)
You can compare any two video cards at www.gpureview.com, I suggest you take a look there. Here's a comparison of your 6600GT to the 7800GT (an older card)
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=187&card2=313
Finally, check out this video card thread; it was started before the introduction of some newer cards, but gives you a great breakdown of which cards fall into which categories, and if you scroll through to the later entries on pages 13-15, there is discussion of the newest stuff, too.
2006-11-19 21:40:28 · answer #1 · answered by C-Man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am no more into gaming nvidia geforce cards are used to be next to complete, I can give u a tip, check whether ur card clear pixel shader test or not, google card name and in some 2nd-5th link u should get this info. Games u mentioned will run at best only then when they'll find pixel shader enabled card... Happy gaming :)
2006-11-20 02:49:18 · answer #2 · answered by utsav v 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try a 7600 gt you can pick them up for around £100 in the uk and they'll be fast enough for your needs for a year or two. i'd suggest getting some more ram tho as you might struggle with 512mb on some of the newer games.
review including comparisons to 6600 gt and other cards here:http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_7600_gt_performance/default.asp
look at prices here:
uk: http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?q=nvidia+%227600+gt%22
us: http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=nvidia+%227600+gt%22
the 7600 gs is also worth a look. you can a silent version with 512mb of vram
2006-11-20 05:13:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My philosophy. The more ram the bigger (in all comp. hardware that has memory) it can't hurt at all. When I upgrade my computers (providing they are worth it) I try to get the best hardware I can afford. The memory you have installed on your mobo and the more you have on your installed video card, the more efficient your system will run, video won't have to borrow other memory- it will use it's own.
2006-11-20 04:08:20 · answer #4 · answered by Mt ~^^~~^^~ 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋