Important question for those who really know their stuff

[parkbench]

Please, only responses from intelligent, informed, forward thinking, non-fanboy individuals please!

I'm thinking about buying a 6800GT at insane prices for Doom3. I loved the original Dooms and I don't usually do this sort of thing.

However in buying a $400+ videocard I need an insurance policy for the future; I need to know that my system will run games of the future just fine.

You see, I'm banking on the fact that the engines won't get more demanding for another 1.5 years at least because the top tier engines Doom3, HL2, and Far Cry, will all run really well on this system.

What bugs me is high bandwidth RAM, faster hard drives, faster CPUs, Nforce3 w/ soundstorm, and PCI-E. (I'd really rather not junk a $400 videocard for at least 2 years).


If I get the 6800GT I will have

Barton Athlon 2500+
Asus A7N8X nforce 2 mobo w/ Soundstorm Dolby Digital 5.1
2x256mb pc2700 in dual channel
17" NEC 1760V LCD max res 1280x1024 Monitor
Altec Lansing 4.1 speakers.

When I TV-out I use:

Sony Wega 27" Flatscreen
Logitech Wireless KB + Mouse
Videologic Digitheatre DTS 5.1 (true dolby digital/DTS)

I'm one of those sad suckers that played Doom/2 in single player (COMPET-N) and multiplayer for 4 years straight, and I'm itching for this so badly but I don't want to make the wrong choice and be stuck with a slow system or a useless card if forced to upgrade to a new architecture. I love gaming, but I don't have THAT much disposable cash available to me.

I guess my question is, will I be FORCED to upgrade to a new architecture anytime soon?

 

[Regs]

However in buying a $400+ videocard I need an insurance policy for the future; I need to know that my system will run games of the future just fine.

There is no proof of this since the future does not exist yet. But, you can look into to past and see that a 9700pro lasted a long time as a top performer and still does. 9700pro has been around 2-3 years, so I'm sure the people who baught it are happy. The 6800 GT will likely last you for a good 2-3 years also. Now that we only begun to see dx9 based feature games, I don't think we'll see much more hardware demanding games than D3 for awhile. Of course in a year or in 18 months time you will see cards that ill out perform the GT by as much as 3 times more. But that's just the way it is.

 

[Safeway]

Forced, no. If you read the entire D3 review, you will notice that the engine is entirely scalable. With your setup and a 6800 GT, you should be fine. Most games are becoming increasingly scalable. I played FarCry on a GeForce 2 Ti for goodness sake. That card is ... 4+ years old. Games of the future should also be like this.

PCIe is a new technology, and as with most new technologies, they take a while to be massly accepted. When you upgrade in the future, meaning, when you buy a new system, I would definately get new-tech. But for now, AGP is not dead.

You can always squeeze extra life out of that Barton with an OC, or even get a faster chip. A system wide upgrade is not neccessary.

 

[parkbench]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

9700pro still being a viable piece of hardware is both true and encouraging. The fact that the Doom engine is scalable to all sorts of hardware is encouraging as well. Far Cry engine really only shines at high-res, high quality settings so that's a bit scary, but youre right, it does play on GF2.

I will rest easier getting more use out of my system. Thanks guys!

 

[neop]

So your getting the 6800GT?

I noticed you only have 512 ram. What I may ended up doing since I am in a similar situation is opt for the 6800 NU and increase the ram 512 more. Sure the 3dmarks will be lower but hopefully system performance will increase.

I really hate to break it to you but your on a hardware forum with people that upgrade for a living. If you need to run at high resolutions with AA/AF on full then yes upgrade your architecture. Heck I've played with my Ti4600 for a long time and skipped the whole 5xxx stuff.

 

[Safeway]

I'd say, don't do what neop just said. The 6800NU is a crappy card when compared to the GT etc. It's a huge jump from the NU to the GT. HUGE. It's a much smaller jump from the GT to the Ultra. If you really want to upgrade your gfx card, get the GT. 512mb would help the system alot though. You could buy 2 more 256mb ram modules for fairly cheap.

 

[neop]

It's a huge jump, also a huge $100 jump. I know your point is the PIPELINES 16 vs 12. The GT is getting a ton of coverage because it's not TOO pricey and it's pretty much the same as the ultra. Keep in mind I just asked him whether or not he wants to play with high res and AA/AF. If he doesn't then it's not going to really matter what edition he picks up.

My other point is it's a hardware forum, come back in 6 months and watch GT users looking for the new product.

Whether or not you like 3dmark I think we can safely compare same-brand cards. 8000~ for 6800 NU, 10000-11k~ for 6800GT and 13000~ for the ultra. My point being if your saying how much better the GT is than the NU, why don't you offer up advice to upgrade to the ultra? I don't know if you ever read the post about 15-20% increase for 6800 NU from previous generation cards. 6800 GT is 50% increase and 100% increase for the 6800 ultra.

It was never said if money was an issue or if he considered upgrading him ram. 512 ram is already a bottleneck for some games, MMO anyone? Also for the original poster you said how you played doom 2 for four years straight. It makes one think you want to do same for doom 3 but then you ask if it could handle newer games on the same engine...?

Just so you know I don't own any next gen card yet. 18 months is a long time and if you need to play new games that come out in 2005 at high settings with a video card you bought in August I would only choose the Ultra. If you want an Nvidia card.

 

[Safeway]

My 6800 GT will arrive (or has arrived) today. I am using the eVGA Step-Up program in a few months to upgrade to an Ultra for ONLY the difference and shipping? Still, awesome deal. If money was no issue, bump up to 4 x 512 and an 6800 Ultra for sure. But since we are not all rich here, I was try to be conservation. A GT + RAM is the same price as an Ultra alone. I'd say that adding RAM to that 512 would help ALOT.

 

[neop]

My point exactly. 1GB of ram should be a high priority if your concerned about the future. If his price range is $500 then GT+512 ram. If it's only $400 though I would consider either waiting a little while for a price drop or work some overtime or whatever to be able to pick up the ram.

I can't wait and I want a more complete system until a full overhaul next year that's why I am considering the NU.

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: neop
1GB of ram should be a high priority if your concerned about the future.

 

[parkbench]

If Far Cry is any indication (normal mapping & shadows), then I'll be okay w/ 512. It's choppy due to the 4200, but it doesn't hiccup (an indication of insufficient RAM).

 

[Nebor]

Originally posted by: parkbench
If Far Cry is any indication (normal mapping & shadows), then I'll be okay w/ 512. It's choppy due to the 4200, but it doesn't hiccup (an indication of insufficient RAM).

We like it when people ask for advice, then ignore the advice given.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: 49erinnc

Originally posted by: neop
1GB of ram should be a high priority if your concerned about the future.