does it make sense to spend almost $300 on a video card?

[Cattlegod]

yes, D3 at 1280x1024, ultra high settings, 4xAA and 60fps = wow

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: OS
Oh also, a $30K G35 will get me pussy. SLI geforces 6s won't get me any pussy.

You don't need a nice car to get girls.

yeah but I live in LA. Everyone out there is hitting as hard as they can, so it never hurts.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: OS
Oh also, a $30K G35 will get me pussy. SLI geforces 6s won't get me any pussy.

You don't need a nice car to get girls.

yeah but I live in LA. Everyone out there is hitting as hard as they can, so it never hurts.

Gay men in LA are all a bunch of tens looking for an eleven.

 

[Gurck]

Originally posted by: OS
I just bought a pair of $100 sunglasses. But still, that's $100, not $300. And a good pair of sunglasses lasts many years. A $300 video card is cool for maybe a year and then it sucks.

The ti4600 I spent ~$200 on three years ago can push Far Cry and Doom3 in 10x7 at their highest detail settings. Pretty nice compared to 640x480 on low detail (what consoles are capable of). I hear this "o noes hav 2 upgraid 4 evry game!!11!111oneoneone" a lot in console vs. pc arguments and it couldn't be farther from the truth, people really have no clue sometimes.

Originally posted by: OS
For many generations, $150 or under would buy a very good video card, but that's not the case any more.

Yes it is. 9800pro.

 

[aplefka]

Depends on how long you'll have it for. If you're a casual gamer I'd say no, but if you're a true gamer 300 bucks is average for a video card. All new games are starting to really up things, and even with a good video card, if you only have an average processor you're screwed.

 

[0roo0roo]

not much makes sense. look at how much plasma tvs cost vid card is nothin compared to that kinda stuff.

 

[Mill]

Sure as hell doesn't.

 

[Kyle]

Originally posted by: Nebor
So I came home last night to find my computer was sitting with a black screen, orange light on the monitor. I won't bore you with the details, but after swapping the video card around with another PC, I figured out that the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer fan failed, and cooked my 9800 Pro. So today I went out and bought myself an Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT, with exactly 5 minutes of research on the performance\pricing.

The thing is, I'm not nearly into PCs as much as I was say, a year ago. And I really didn't need a new video card, my 9800 Pro played the occasional game of CS: Source just fine, and I figured it would do fine in HL:2.

I play games for maybe, maybe 2 hours a week. For instance, I've had this video card installed for like, 6 hours now, and I haven't played a game, or ran a benchmark. I've just done what I usually do, run around my different forums.

So yeah, it's crappy that the VGA Silencer failed and killed my card. I sent them an email, but I'm positive they don't give a damn.

I have about $1000 worth of performance suspension parts en route to me now, with at least another $500 going into installation of said parts, and another $1400 in wheels and tires, and another $1500 in engine mods in a project car I'm working on. Kinda sucks, when my hobbies shifted from computers to car, it's like the computer started hurting for attention, and detonated itself.

BTW, the 6800 GT is loud.

LOL...man we are in the EXACT same situation (cept I bought a 6800NU).
VGA silencer killed my 9800pro, did about 5 mins research, bought the 6800 =)
And I hardly game any more

 

[0roo0roo]

well just compare it to audio. what great speaker breakthroughs have come recently? yet loads of audiophile speakers go for absurd amounts of money. they are more like designer handbags then technology ... and headphones.. 300+ on headphones?

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: Kyle

Originally posted by: Nebor
So I came home last night to find my computer was sitting with a black screen, orange light on the monitor. I won't bore you with the details, but after swapping the video card around with another PC, I figured out that the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer fan failed, and cooked my 9800 Pro. So today I went out and bought myself an Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT, with exactly 5 minutes of research on the performance\pricing.

The thing is, I'm not nearly into PCs as much as I was say, a year ago. And I really didn't need a new video card, my 9800 Pro played the occasional game of CS: Source just fine, and I figured it would do fine in HL:2.

I play games for maybe, maybe 2 hours a week. For instance, I've had this video card installed for like, 6 hours now, and I haven't played a game, or ran a benchmark. I've just done what I usually do, run around my different forums.

So yeah, it's crappy that the VGA Silencer failed and killed my card. I sent them an email, but I'm positive they don't give a damn.

I have about $1000 worth of performance suspension parts en route to me now, with at least another $500 going into installation of said parts, and another $1400 in wheels and tires, and another $1500 in engine mods in a project car I'm working on. Kinda sucks, when my hobbies shifted from computers to car, it's like the computer started hurting for attention, and detonated itself.

BTW, the 6800 GT is loud.

LOL...man we are in the EXACT same situation (cept I bought a 6800NU).
VGA silencer killed my 9800pro, did about 5 mins research, bought the 6800 =)
And I hardly game any more

I just played CS: Source for an hour. It's exactly the same as when I had my 9800 Pro. Fvck Arctic Cooling is what I have to say.

 

[0roo0roo]

u turn on fsaa? 16xaa?

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u turn on fsaa? 16xaa?

It was already on. I play everything with 4xAA and 16xAF.

 

[macwinlin]

I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense either. Especially if someone is upgrading their card for a specific game, why not wait a few months so that the price for both the card and the game goes down to an affordable level?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u turn on fsaa? 16xaa?

It was already on. I play everything with 4xAA and 16xAF.

at 1600x1200? highest settings all?

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u turn on fsaa? 16xaa?

It was already on. I play everything with 4xAA and 16xAF.

at 1600x1200? highest settings all?

Monitor only goes up to 1280x1024.

 

[bockchow]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
They sell expensive vid cards b/c people will buy them.

My Radeon 9700 Pro still handles any game out there just fine; even Doom3 runs well under slightly more modest settings. Sure, newer cards give you the preformance you pay for, but its not like everything else has gone obsolete.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Nebor

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
u turn on fsaa? 16xaa?

It was already on. I play everything with 4xAA and 16xAF.

at 1600x1200? highest settings all?

Monitor only goes up to 1280x1024.

aww u didn't spend enough..heh

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
They sell expensive vid cards b/c people will buy them.

My Radeon 9700 Pro still handles any game out there just fine; even Doom3 runs well under slightly more modest settings. Sure, newer cards give you the preformance you pay for, but its not like everything else has gone obsolete.

very true about the 9700/9800 which you can get for 150-175.

But it all depends on your expectations - for example about a year and half ago I spent $150 to get a 9600 pro, which according to most reviews back then was proclaimed to have decent performance for all games of that time, and I specifically remember a couple of reviews saying that it provides good performance well into the forseeable future. Initially, I was happy that finally I could finally play modern games (previously I had a very old geforce 2), but I did notice that at 1024x768 things tended to feel a little heavy, during warcraft 3 for example, and sometimes would slow down to a crawl. Then I started reading reviews of the top of the line cards like 9800 or 5950 and noticed that my card had about 1/3 the performance of these cards. I didn't realize this before buying, and I assumed that a card which was described as having good performance was within 25% of the top of the line cards. Then I got far cry, and to make the story short, it's just painful to try to play that on the 9600. I mean you could go nuts with all the small freezes and delays. So I recommend to you to get at least a 9800 pro, or better go for the 6800, which you can find for close to $250.

 

[user1234]

Originally posted by: Nebor
So I came home last night to find my computer was sitting with a black screen, orange light on the monitor. I won't bore you with the details, but after swapping the video card around with another PC, I figured out that the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer fan failed, and cooked my 9800 Pro. So today I went out and bought myself an Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT, with exactly 5 minutes of research on the performance\pricing.

The thing is, I'm not nearly into PCs as much as I was say, a year ago. And I really didn't need a new video card, my 9800 Pro played the occasional game of CS: Source just fine, and I figured it would do fine in HL:2.

I play games for maybe, maybe 2 hours a week. For instance, I've had this video card installed for like, 6 hours now, and I haven't played a game, or ran a benchmark. I've just done what I usually do, run around my different forums.

So yeah, it's crappy that the VGA Silencer failed and killed my card. I sent them an email, but I'm positive they don't give a damn.

I have about $1000 worth of performance suspension parts en route to me now, with at least another $500 going into installation of said parts, and another $1400 in wheels and tires, and another $1500 in engine mods in a project car I'm working on. Kinda sucks, when my hobbies shifted from computers to car, it's like the computer started hurting for attention, and detonated itself.

BTW, the 6800 GT is loud.

how is this relevant to the question on hand ?

 

[TwiceOver]

$200 is my cutoff for purchasing a new video card. Currently running a 9700 Pro.

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: user1234

Originally posted by: Nebor
So I came home last night to find my computer was sitting with a black screen, orange light on the monitor. I won't bore you with the details, but after swapping the video card around with another PC, I figured out that the Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer fan failed, and cooked my 9800 Pro. So today I went out and bought myself an Nvidia GeForce 6800 GT, with exactly 5 minutes of research on the performance\pricing.

The thing is, I'm not nearly into PCs as much as I was say, a year ago. And I really didn't need a new video card, my 9800 Pro played the occasional game of CS: Source just fine, and I figured it would do fine in HL:2.

I play games for maybe, maybe 2 hours a week. For instance, I've had this video card installed for like, 6 hours now, and I haven't played a game, or ran a benchmark. I've just done what I usually do, run around my different forums.

So yeah, it's crappy that the VGA Silencer failed and killed my card. I sent them an email, but I'm positive they don't give a damn.

I have about $1000 worth of performance suspension parts en route to me now, with at least another $500 going into installation of said parts, and another $1400 in wheels and tires, and another $1500 in engine mods in a project car I'm working on. Kinda sucks, when my hobbies shifted from computers to car, it's like the computer started hurting for attention, and detonated itself.

BTW, the 6800 GT is loud.

how is this relevant to the question on hand ?

How are you relevant to the question at hand, sh!t-tard?

 

[Kelemvor]

Go ahead and buy it but I'm sure ou know that within 6 oths to a year you'll again be in the market to be able to play the next great game. That's why lots of people are moving to the console market instead. Never need to upgrade anythign until the next system comes along. And the whole new system is less than that video card.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: OS
I play games casually and I would like a new video card, but anything decent costs around $250, and when you include tax and/or shipping it's getting to $300.

I'm not in a shortage of money, but it seems kind of ridiculous to pay $300 for a modern video card. But from what I read in the deal/video/general hardware forums, it seems like people are tripping over each other to buy these things.

For many generations, $150 or under would buy a very good video card, but that's not the case any more. :

I did. Depends on your financial situation to. College student = NO,

 

[Mermaidman]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
How many hours of work is $300 for you? That's how I think of big purchases.

about 10 hrs before tax?

Now that you put it that way, it's so not worth it.

My video cards have cost me around 5 hrs of pay each time--Weird!! Hadn't thought of it that way before.

I'm still questioning myself for buying a 6800. I figured I deserve something nice after years of being a tech "lagger." Sure, I could've bought a 9800pro for $200, but that's yesterday's technology

Over the past 8+ years, I've gone from no 3D to Riva128 to TNT1 to GF2 Pro to Ti4200. No, I'm not an nVidiot, but it seems like whenever I'm in the market for a video card, nVidia hits my price sweetspot.

 

[MailBoxHead]

Originally posted by: Mermaidman

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
How many hours of work is $300 for you? That's how I think of big purchases.

about 10 hrs before tax?

Now that you put it that way, it's so not worth it.

My video cards have cost me around 5 hrs of pay each time--Weird!! Hadn't thought of it that way before.

I'm still questioning myself for buying a 6800. I figured I deserve something nice after years of being a tech "lagger." Sure, I could've bought a 9800pro for $200, but that's yesterday's technology

Over the past 8+ years, I've gone from no 3D to Riva128 to TNT1 to GF2 Pro to Ti4200. No, I'm not an nVidiot, but it seems like whenever I'm in the market for a video card, nVidia hits my price sweetspot.

I have one and love it. However I only find myself playing UT2k4 so it's kinda overkill although it does look much nicer with 4x AA and 8X Anti. I'm thinking of selling it and putting my 4200 back in.

Doom 3 sucks. I have only so much time for gaming as well with having an XBOX.

Bah I dunno. I'm thinking I could get 350 for it easy and that's 7 games at least on XBOX. Ho hum what to do.