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best midrange card

dan1987

dan1987

dan1987

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Joined
14 Apr 2007
Posts
346
Location
York
My mates just got a new pc with a very nice spec however the catch was it came with a ATI x1300 which isnt really up to the job of some newer games.

The resolution he will be using is 1440x900, I think he will want to play new games like bioshock and crysis when they come out so maybe he should get a dx10 card or will these games be dx9 aswell?

He has asked me to advise what card he should get and I know he wont pay too much so a 320mb 8800gts is out of the question and the card will not be overclocked. I have narrowed it down to 3 choices:

If not dx10 then this is a really good price
ati 1950pro
or
ati 2600xt
or
nvidia 8600gt

For gaming which card (or one not in that list) is the best for around this price and which should I advise him to get? Will these actually be able to play new games at medium/high settings no AA or AF?
 
HI Sapphire X1950 GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express Dual DVI/TV Out Graphics Card 60 NOTES IN CLEARANCE. OR 1950 PRO IS THE BEST AROUND.NOT SURE HOW IT WILL RUN IN CRYSIS.
 
Good spot in the clearence section there, I guess these only have 1 year warrenty. I will consider it.

I know it wont run crysis very well or any newish game, I dont expect it to at this price. I just want the games to be playable and hopefully not with every setting on minimum!
 
Second hand X1900/1950XT/XTX. Or even stretch the budget a little and try to get a second hand 8800GTS 320mb model.

Or X1950 pro.

the shadow said:
BUY IT SEE HOW IT RUNS.SELL IF UNHAPPY CANT LOSE MUCH CAN U? :cool:
Click to expand...

Not everyone wants that hassle. ;)
 
J.D said:
Second hand X1900/1950XT/XTX. Or even stretch the budget a little and try to get a second hand 8800GTS 320mb model.

Or X1950 pro.
Click to expand...

Dont think he will want second hand unfortunatly even though its so much cheaper!

Do you think its not worth getting a dx10 card with these new games coming out soon? (bioshock less than 2 weeks :D )
 
Its not worth getting an 8600 for Dx10, if he can't stretch to an 8800 GTS then id just get the x1950, will handle Bishock fine in Dx9 mode, as well as all other Dx9 games, 8600 won't as they are rubbish in Dx9 compared to the x1950's, so he will only be buying the 8600 to run Bioshock in Dx10 mode, and the GT may not run it that well, the 8600 GTS only gets about 30-40fps in 1280x1024 pretty high detail in Dx10, GT will be slower than that, x1950 to tide over till November time when the other Dx10 games start appearing is what i would do as its the better card. :)
 
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I think your friend's best bet is the now rather cheap x1950pro. These new games will still look great in dx9 mode, and he won't have spent more than he can really afford.
 
LoadsaMoney said:
Its not worth getting an 8600 for Dx10, if he can't stretch to an 8800 GTS then id just get the x1950, will handle Bishock fine in Dx9 mode, as well as all other Dx9 games, 8600 won't as they are rubbish in Dx9 compared to the x1950's, so he will only be buying the 8600 to run Bioshock in Dx10 mode, and the GT may not run it that well, the 8600 GTS only gets about 30-40fps in 1280x1024 pretty high detail in Dx10, GT will be slower than that, x1950 to tide over till November time when the other Dx10 games start appearing is what i would do as its the better card. :)
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Great reply just what I was looking for, I was hopeing that the card would last him a fair while thats why I suggested a dx10 one but I see the 1950pro is better and hopefully games will still be both dx9 and dx10 for a fair while longer. I will tell him the 1950pro is the best choice!
 
A second hand or brand new end of line 7900GTX or 1900/1950XTX would be my choice!

The res is quite low meaning these cards will probably cope quite well with modern games still. Plus their 512mb of onboard memory will allow the ultra settings of modern games (where larger textures are utilised) to be used.

At that res 8800's will be wasted but the top end of the last generation of cards will be fine.

My gf's pc used a 7800gt 256mb with a 19" belinea (1440x900 as well) and that ran tomb raider legend with no visible slowdown. It even runs her new 22" belinea quite well too! Not bad for a £50 card. ;)

gt
 
gt_junkie said:
A second hand or brand new end of line 7900GTX or 1900/1950XTX would be my choice!
Click to expand...

Yeah shame I cant convince him to buy second hand as he would get a much better card, oh well I'm sure he will be happy with the upgrade from his x1300 if he gets the 1950pro.
 
x1950pro is the best value card for people who can't afford the GTS320 IMO. For £70 you are getting pretty decent dx9 performance.

Buying a 8600GT/2600xt for dx10 support would be a mistake IMO since anything short of a 8800 (at least) isn't going to be able to run dx10 titles at decent framerates anyway. Kinda like buying one of the low/midrange Geforce FX series for dx9 support was a waste of time.
 
HangTime said:
Kinda like buying one of the low/midrange Geforce FX series for dx9 support was a waste of time.
Click to expand...

Before my time using computers! however i do understand what you mean and have advised my mate to get the 1950pro.
 
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