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Which card is best for me?

Associate
Joined
22 Jun 2004
Posts
233
Location
Hampshire, UK
Hey all

Investing in a big upgrade, so now gotta think about the graphics card. Currently own an x800 pro. 2 years on now and that's a little redundant! Got around £280 to spend. Not really fussed between Ati or Nvidia. Watch a lot of movies and things on my computer so obviously that's important and like my games too - particularly FPS, e.g. HL2, Fear, etc. Want the graphics card to Direct X 10 compatible obviously, so when Vista comes out it'll be a smooth transition.

What do you guys think?
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Nov 2002
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6,852
Location
Romford
Not really sure what you mean by smooth transitiion, as there arent any DX10 cards, so you'll probably want a new one when Vista comes out.

The best card u can get for £280 is: Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO)
Price: £239.95 (£281.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Mar 2005
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17,481
LoadsaMoney said:
Your gona need Vista and a DX10 card for DX10 games.

So let me get this straight...theres zero point in me upgrading to Vista without a DX10 card, and theres absolutely zero chance of me playing any DX10 games even if theyre backwards compatible with DX9?

easyrider said:
what does it mean when it says my 7900 GTX is vista ready then?

Think you need at least a DX9 card to actually run the OS.
 
Soldato
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easyrider said:
what does it mean when it says my 7900 GTX is vista ready then?

" Built for Windows Vista – The next generation operating system"

What that means is that'll it'll work with Vista, its marketing BS. As far as i know, there are no current cards than even have HDCP built in, so really, none of these current cards are Vista ready (you wont be able to watch HD content)
 
Associate
OP
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Great. So I bet all the manufacturers are loving the idea of Vista and putting out loads of DX10 cards for peeps. The thing is... is there going to a MASSIVE difference between running a game like Unreal Tournamemnt 2007 (when it comes out) using DX9 rather than DX10? I mean, coz if there is, why is everyone rushing out to buy new cards when Vista is just gonna make people change in the end anyway? I mean, it seems the cards out at the moment then are just there so you can run Vista. But if you want to enjoy the benefits of it, you're going to have to wait til DX10 cards come out - both for games and HD.
 
Caporegime
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sr4470 said:
So let me get this straight...theres zero point in me upgrading to Vista without a DX10 card, and theres absolutely zero chance of me playing any DX10 games even if theyre backwards compatible with DX9?



Think you need at least a DX9 card to actually run the OS.

Thats about it, you can use your DX9 card for Vista as Vista will have DX9L or something in it to allow that, but you can't run the DX10 stuff of Vista or anything else thats DX10, Halo 2 for example is Vista/DX10, so you need a new card, DX10 one, and the Vista OS. :)
 
Soldato
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Dodge777 said:
Great. So I bet all the manufacturers are loving the idea of Vista and putting out loads of DX10 cards for peeps. The thing is... is there going to a MASSIVE difference between running a game like Unreal Tournamemnt 2007 (when it comes out) using DX9 rather than DX10? I mean, coz if there is, why is everyone rushing out to buy new cards when Vista is just gonna make people change in the end anyway? I mean, it seems the cards out at the moment then are just there so you can run Vista. But if you want to enjoy the benefits of it, you're going to have to wait til DX10 cards come out - both for games and HD.

a lot of people here buy new cards every 6 or 8 months anyway, so its no big deal. For those of us who keep them a little longer, then now is still ok to buy DX9 cards, as it'll be at least a year before Vista's properly ready, maybe longer what with ongoing delays. Then you'll have ages again before a lot of DX10 titles become the norm. So if you bought say an X1900XT now, it should last a good 15 months, then you'll have 2nd generation DX10 cards out. And like you said, there wont be a MASSIVE difference in eye candy anyway, just like SM2.0 to SM3.0, most games will probably look the same anyway, with some funky water or something.

So if you need a card now coz you cant play todays games good, then just get one, not much point waiting.
 
Soldato
Joined
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easyrider said:
what does it mean when it says my 7900 GTX is vista ready then?

" Built for Windows Vista – The next generation operating system"
It means you'll be able to run Windows Vista, but not with the aero glass theme on the G.U.I. It won't be able to play DirectX 10 games either, unless the have a DirectX 9 mode. As has been said, it's marketing B.S. :(
 
Caporegime
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As has been said just buy a card now, fair enough you can't run Dx10 stuff, but thats not going to come for ages, cards come out every couple of months, its pointless buying R600/G80 just for Vista, as when the DX10 stuff starts to appear that its worth buying a DX10 card for, the R600/G80 are gona be old hat and will have been well superseeded, so you will have to buy yet another cad to run the DX10 stuff well thats eventually started appearing as your R600/G80 can't cope.

When Vista hits the DX10 games are not going to be flooding out in droves, how many do you think there will be by christmas 07, i bet its about 5 or less, and can you imagine how many cards will have been and gone by then, exactly, were only in May 06 ffs. :)
 
Associate
OP
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Sounds like you guys are right. But it's not just for games though is it. I mean, the problem extends to HD. I presume that cards today won't be able to play HD DVD when it becomes available on PC?

As you said though, this is all going to happen in about 15 months time or more. By the time DX10 becomes standard in games, I'll be out of uni and hopefully earning a bit, so then maybe I'll get a card.

With regards to the Aero Glass theme... doesn't that mean that without a DX10 card you won't be able to tilt the windows in 3D and stuff? I mean, you'll still see the same Start bar et al, yes?
 
Soldato
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Dodge777 said:
Sounds like you guys are right. But it's not just for games though is it. I mean, the problem extends to HD. I presume that cards today won't be able to play HD DVD when it becomes available on PC?

HD DVD under Vista is meant to need HDCP on both the graphics card and the monitor, if you dont have both gpu and a screen that talk to each other, then you wont be able to watch HD content. It all sounds very dodgy and crap to me, as we'll all need new monitors and cards. Personally I think it'll encourage more piracy, as people will just say stuff HD movies and just download more Xvids of new movies and TV eps than they do now...
 
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