Help choosing a video card

[dipdeol]

As many others, I will be building a new machine this month with a Q6600. I am having a little trouble deciding on a video card and consequently motherboard to go along with it. I have a dual 24" monitor setup running at 1920x1200 each. I would like to play at least some games at native resolution with something like 4x AA. I play mostly FPS including CS:Source. I will be getting crysis and the new HL when they come out.

I was thinking of getting an 8800GTS with an sli mobo (maybe 680i) so that i can throw a second one in when they get cheaper, but now I'm reading that ati has much better drivers out for the 2900xt which help performance a lot. My budget is 400-450 canadian (which is more or less the same as the US dollar these days). Any suggestions?

thanks

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Whether the HD 2900 becomes a good buy will depend on how interested you are in Dx10, since it is with that version of Direct3D that it challenges the nVidia dominance. For Dx9 games, such as CS: S, the 8800 apparently has the edge.

 

[Sinn707]

If you are ready to spend that much on a video card, you might as well save (or add) a little and get a 8800 GTX.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/appl...ails.asp?EdpNo=2597917

 

[MarcVenice]

At those resolutions you'll be wanting a 2900xt or a 8800gtx. For CS: Source both cards will do just fine, for Crysis a 8800gts 640 might not cut it at those resolutions hehe

 

[powerMarkymark]

I agree, get a 8800GTX.

M@rc

 

[dipdeol]

I just cant justify ~600 + tax = $700 for a video card since im not a hardcore gamer.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
At those resolutions you'll be wanting a 2900xt or a 8800gtx. For CS: Source both cards will do just fine, for Crysis a 8800gts 640 might not cut it at those resolutions hehe

GTX or Ultra won't even be able to play Crysis at the resolution with 4x FSAA and all details on high.

 

[dipdeol]

i dont need to be able to play all games at that res, but it would be nice to play some.

 

[pcslookout]

Originally posted by: dipdeol
i dont need to be able to play all games at that res, but it would be nice to play some.

Ok well this is where you and me disagree. I would love to be able to have a video card, right now, that would play all games at 1680x1050, all settings on maximum, 4x FSAA and 16x AF on DX9 and DX10 with minimum fps dropping no lower than 30 fps but I prefer 60 fps. Average at least 60 fps and maximum fps it really doesn't matter.

Right now this is just not possible in all games. Most yes but not all like DX10 games and a few DX9 games.

 

[dipdeol]

I can get an EVGA 8800 GTS Superclocked 640MB or a Sapphire Radeon 2900XT for the same price right now ($400 cdn). I plan on building my system in 2- 4 weeks. Should I buy one of these now at this price? Which one should i get? Are there any price drops brewing for ati or nvidia? I don't want to be kicking myself a month from now if nvidia drops the price on the gtx and I'm stuck with one of these.

 

[ALECUBA]

i just bought the 8800 in my sig...now i would like to know about my limits, games/settings, and such, how high can i go...
is it worth it to sli it in the future or just wait and get one of the new coming cards(im talking bout 2 years ahead) im not a hardcore gamer but i play maybe once a week...i really play sim games tho..flight sim 9 and flight sim X(this one is intense if u want to test ur card) my res is 1440x900 since i only have a 19" viewsonic...heres a pic of my 3dmark results...http://i180.photobucket.com/al...0/3dmark05sept2207.jpg
about the sli, i wouldnt like spending 500+ on one of those new 9800s ive heard about, so if sli'ng an 8800 gts sc 320mb is not that big of a step then i have no choice...
anyways, thanks all for the support...

 

[JPB]

Shouldn't your score for 05 be much higher than that ?

With my rig in sig with a 8800 GTS 640..and my cpu overclocked from 2.2 to 2.6 I was scoring over 14K.

320MB 3DMark05 scores

 

[ALECUBA]

Originally posted by: JPB
Shouldn't your score for 05 be much higher than that ?

With my rig in sig with a 8800 GTS 640..and my cpu overclocked from 2.2 to 2.6 I was scoring over 14K.

320MB 3DMark05 scores

do u think something i set up wrong? i had the following settings and thats how i ran it:

http://i180.photobucket.com/al.../lokito50/settings.jpg
http://i180.photobucket.com/al...lokito50/settings2.jpg
now im curious, cuz im not too experienced with 3dmark, etc....when the test is running, and it goes to the section where it runs on the cpu, i usually get really really low frames, ie. around 5fps...is this right?
do i need to change some settings or anything? id like some help if u can...thanks

 

[JPB]

For default settings for 05, you need to run default resolution instead of 1440x900. Id be willing to bet you'll get a few more grand in points. Also, turn off AA and AF.

Also, everyone get's low frames when running the cpu parts of the test. This is normal.

You could also try closing most of those running processes I see running in the background.

 

[ALECUBA]

k. will try that right now...ill post back results as an edit

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
At those resolutions you'll be wanting a 2900xt or a 8800gtx. For CS: Source both cards will do just fine, for Crysis a 8800gts 640 might not cut it at those resolutions hehe

GTX or Ultra won't even be able to play Crysis at the resolution with 4x FSAA and all details on high.

you will be able to get 30fps average with pretty much everything maxed with no AA/AF at 1280x1024. Any higher = slideshow.

You may quote me

 

[ALECUBA]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
At those resolutions you'll be wanting a 2900xt or a 8800gtx. For CS: Source both cards will do just fine, for Crysis a 8800gts 640 might not cut it at those resolutions hehe

GTX or Ultra won't even be able to play Crysis at the resolution with 4x FSAA and all details on high.

you will be able to get 30fps average with pretty much everything maxed with no AA/AF at 1280x1024. Any higher = slideshow.

You may quote me

with nothing touched, all settings default, no aa/af this is wat i got
http://i180.photobucket.com/al.../x157/lokito50/3d2.jpg

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: ALECUBA

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: pcslookout

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
At those resolutions you'll be wanting a 2900xt or a 8800gtx. For CS: Source both cards will do just fine, for Crysis a 8800gts 640 might not cut it at those resolutions hehe

GTX or Ultra won't even be able to play Crysis at the resolution with 4x FSAA and all details on high.

you will be able to get 30fps average with pretty much everything maxed with no AA/AF at 1280x1024. Any higher = slideshow.

You may quote me

with nothing touched, all settings default, no aa/af this is wat i got
http://i180.photobucket.com/al.../x157/lokito50/3d2.jpg

I'm pretty sure that you will be very fine playing crysis at 1280x1024 with no AA or AF with most settings maxed out in single player. You will be running DX9 since you are not running on Vista (at least not in that screenshot). This will ease the burden on your card because DX10 will obviously have more special effects.

Just for refrence here is my score on my system with vista X64 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=3420975 (score 19517 3dMark05)

On my X1900Xt which I sold a few weeks ago I got 13097 under XP in the same test.

 

[ALECUBA]

well, my max res for now is 1440x900...but i have a 50'" hdtv with 1018i capable...anyhow, wat is this crysis game everyone is talking about? is it that max in graphics compared to Flight Simulator X? if u havent heard/tried FSX do so cuz it needs a lot of power. it comes in 2 DVD's...anyhow...i think ill be fine for now..thanks

could u give me some advice on this previous post:
"i just bought the 8800 in my sig...now i would like to know about my limits, games/settings, and such, how high can i go...
is it worth it to sli it in the future or just wait and get one of the new coming cards(im talking bout 2 years ahead) im not a hardcore gamer but i play maybe once a week...i really play sim games tho..flight sim 9 and flight sim X(this one is intense if u want to test ur card) my res is 1440x900 since i only have a 19" viewsonic...heres a pic of my 3dmark results...http://i180.photobucket.com/al...0/3dmark05sept2207.jpg
about the sli, i wouldnt like spending 500+ on one of those new 9800s ive heard about, so if sli'ng an 8800 gts sc 320mb is not that big of a step then i have no choice...
anyways, thanks all for th"

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: ALECUBA
well, my max res for now is 1440x900...but i have a 50'" hdtv with 1018i capable...anyhow, wat is this crysis game everyone is talking about? is it that max in graphics compared to Flight Simulator X? if u havent heard/tried FSX do so cuz it needs a lot of power. it comes in 2 DVD's...anyhow...i think ill be fine for now..thanks

could u give me some advice on this previous post:
"i just bought the 8800 in my sig...now i would like to know about my limits, games/settings, and such, how high can i go...
is it worth it to sli it in the future or just wait and get one of the new coming cards(im talking bout 2 years ahead) im not a hardcore gamer but i play maybe once a week...i really play sim games tho..flight sim 9 and flight sim X(this one is intense if u want to test ur card) my res is 1440x900 since i only have a 19" viewsonic...heres a pic of my 3dmark results...http://i180.photobucket.com/al...0/3dmark05sept2207.jpg
about the sli, i wouldnt like spending 500+ on one of those new 9800s ive heard about, so if sli'ng an 8800 gts sc 320mb is not that big of a step then i have no choice...
anyways, thanks all for th"

search the net for videos of crysis and you'll see what everyone is talking about. One of the most graphically intense games.

 

[ALECUBA]

will do...u should try fsx too