Video card advice?

Question

I'm looking to replace my current PC, and one of the sticking points is what video card to get. I plan on upgrading to Vista at some point, and while I don't run any super video intensive games, I notice that my current PC with its 64 MB video card is at or below the minimum for most new games, and I'm not talking FPS type games...

I haven't paid much attention to video cards for the last few years, and notice that many video cards now share the PC's primary memory as opposed to using their own?

It seems that "NVIDIA GeForce 6150" is the default option for a lot of the systems I am looking at.

So, is that a good card? Should I be looking at only a video card with onboard memory?

I am primarily looking for a laptop, but I haven't ruled out a desktop either if need be. I have a desktop now that is verging on obsolete.

I've been looking at Staples, Dell and HP systems, and it does not appear that video cards with their own memory are common on laptop systems.

The better video cards available are 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 and 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200.

I'm looking to spend as little as necessary to get a decent system that I'll be able to use for a few years both as a desktop replacement and as a laptop - I guess my price range is $1,000 to $1,500 for the whole system (I already have a monitor I am happy with, so fortunately that saves alot of cash).

Answer 1

GeForce 6150 is a terrible video card for gaming, as it is very low-end, and takes the system's RAM as it doesn't have its own memory.

Yes, you should be looking for a video card with its own memory.


You haven't mentioned how much money you will be spending.
Alright, here's what I recommend. If you want the cheapest (but decent) video card for gaming, I'd recommend the 256MB nVidia Geforce 6600GT, or the 256MB ATi Radeon X1300.

If you want a graphics card that could actually play any graphic-intensive game, though not exactly at the highest settings, I'd recommend getting either a 256MB Geforce 7600GT, or the 256MB 7900GS.

If you're a deep-pocketed gamer, and would want a video card that would last VERY long, due to its DirectX 10 capabilities, I'd recommend getting the GeForce 8800GTX (or 8800GT if there's a reasonable price decrease).


Keep in mind, that the 8xxx series are the only cards that support DirectX 10. All the new games will be utilizing DirectX 10, like Halo 3. Vista will be the only OS that will support DirectX 10 (at least for a very long time).

Answer 2

The 6150LE is probably the chipset you're looking at which includes integrated PCI-E GPU support (nForce 430/410 NorthBridge). If you are looking to actually have an add-on - based on your description of needs, I'd go with a low-end 6200 or so. For mid-range a 6600 (if you are planning on using NVidia). Of course, Vista takes full advantage of DX10, so an 8800 would be optimal, but unnecessary.

*Response to Additional Details

If you are primarily looking for a laptop, the integrated solution is probably all you will find, though there are very rare occassions that the GPU is dedicated. However, the GeForce Go series of integrated GPUs is decent, but the support is limited. Driver support is dropped the minute the next Go series of cards is released, and in order to update you must download the latest ForceWare for it's desktop counterpart with a hacked .inf file for compatibility.

Answer 3

NVIDIA GeForce 6150 isn't a card, it's a low end onboard graphics solution. It's integrated into motherboard. It is Vista ready, but don't expect it to run most pc games.

It would be best to use a pc with a motherboard with a pci express x16 video card interface. I'd recommend a mid-range card without shared memory. 256MB is good, but you can get 128MB or 512MB and higher cards.

Answer 4

Yes you need a better card. The card should have it's own memory. Cards that share system memory are too slow, and should only be used for 2D in my book.

The NVIDIA GeForce 6150, is very BAD.

To get a decent card buy a GeForce 7600GT.

If you want more power get a GeForce 7950 GT.

Answer 5

Onboard is not something you want. Shared is another word. You want dedicated, because it dedicates its life only to process your graphics (aww, how sweet). 6150 is not that great, and I'd recommend either the 6600GT or 7600GT, as those have good Price:Performance ratios, they are quite cheap, and in general they are the "workhorses" of graphics. Pay attention to your interface (on your motherboard), which should be either PCIe-x16, AGP, or a few other obscure ones. I'd honestly take my PC to a shop where someone can physically look into your system and tell you what the best match would be.

Answer 6

Update: If you're looking at a laptop, then that changes the whole equation. With laptops you're pretty much stuck with what they offer and none of the usual brands have dedicated video memory. Short of upgrading the RAM and hard drive, they aren't quite as flexible as desktops in the customization department. You are right, unlike desktops, you cannot add-in a new graphics card since it is all built-in to the mainboard so there is no other option but integrated video. That's one of the trade-offs with a laptop and desktop is it limits your upgradability but gives you more portability so the desktop still is a good choice if you like to upgrade your own hardware and get better performance for the price. However, since you are not hardcore into games then a GeForce 6150 should be enough for your needs. Some manufacturers do produce customized higher end "gaming" laptops that actually have integrated performance class video boards with their own dedicated "discreet" memory such as the GeForce Go 7950GTX (which has 2 graphics chips running together and rivals the best desktop graphic cards short of the GeForce 8 series) but they can sell for as much as $3000+. The drawback is they are not quite as portable, but they come with large monitors and beefy hardware specs. They are also heavier since they have to add extras such as built-in cooling fan units, etc.

Examples of gaming class laptops:

http://www.vigorgaming.com/product/notebook.html

If you pretty much do only casual gaming and don't need bleeding edge 3D (ie: you're fine with World of Warcraft on medium-high settings and don't need to run Battlefield 2142 and Oblivion at 60 frames per second) then go with traditional consumer offerings from Dell, HP, etc. The standard GeForce 7300 Go and Radeon X1400 Mobility series should be enough to run most new games with lower settings, but nowhere near as good as a gaming laptop in terms of speed.
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If you don't play games then you might want to look into the low-end add-in GeForce cards in the 6200 or 7300 range. Sharing onboard memory uses your system RAM for video (example: If you have a total of 512MB of RAM and the onboard video "card" uses 64MB that leaves you with only 448MB your system can actually use for other things besides video) so it's better to get an add-in video card regardless. For your needs, you don't need to spend extra for anything higher, just something cheap ($50-$70) but doesn't take away from your system memory which can be used for other tasks besides video processing. With an add-in graphics card with it's own dedicated video memory, it can take some of the processing load off your CPU and you'll have far better performance for even non-gaming tasks such as Google Earth or other 3D applications that are becoming commonly used by mainstream PC users.

The reason a lot of new PCs have onboard video now is because it's cheaper for OEMs to build them this way, not because of any performance gain. It is adequate for web surfing and e-mail today, but may not be in the near future.

Answer 7

it is not large. The reminiscence interface is barely 128bit, you ought to objective enjoying cards with 256bit, 128bit is dying. pick the Nvidea 1500M in case you are able to manage to pay for it, that's going to likely be extra suitable than two times extra advantageous than the 570M, and it will provide help to play each and all of the present video games at an extraordinarily good velocity. by way of the way reminiscence Interface isn't the comparable as reminiscence "256MB GDDR" component of the cardboard.

Answer 8

For vista and today's high end games nothing less then a nvidia 7 series.

Answer 9

You are going to need at least 128MB video for any of todays games.

Most video cards come with on board memory.

Answer 10

Get the HIGHEST end Nvidia card possible, if the 6150 is it, then get, but if higher is possible, go for that