Graphics - 1280x1024

[Tobeornottobe]

Quick advice needed

I'm looking for an upgrade to my graphics card, not changing my 1280x1024 sony monitor. I want to get the best graphics possible at this resolution.
I don't think there is any point in going to the latest and greatest card, as it would seem that this is a waste of money at this resolution.

What would you people recommend?

 

[Tobeornottobe]

what graphics card have you got at the minute?

I'v got a x850 xt (AGP). I plan to upgrade MB, memeory CPU etc, and will need a PCI gfx card.

 

[Tobeornottobe]

After looking at toms hardware VGA charts I am tempted to splurge on the x1950 XTX. Would I be chucking my money away?

 

[Tobeornottobe]

For 1280x1024 gaming I would say a Core 2 Duo E6300 + 2GB DDR2 + X1950Pro setup would be ideal. I cam in 1440x900 (slightly smaller than 1280x1024) on my system, and to be honest I think my hardware is slightly overkill for the resolution I play at.

Just about convinced me to go for the X1950pro.

Thanks a lot

 

[Tobeornottobe]

Yeah same here, Oblivion maxed in 1280x1024 (TFT) , 2xAA/16x HQ AF+HDR runs very nice on my x1800 XT 512mb.

x1950pro runs it pretty well also due to having 36x shaders as you can see here , it really is an amazing card for the price, so if your want to keep your spend to around that level then it is the one to go for, but as i said i wouldn't touch the x1950 XTX, not when the new gen 8800 GTS is cheaper than it, so if your thinking of spending that much then the GTS is the one to go for over the XTX.

The 8800GTS is considerably more expensive than the x1950 xt-x at this site.

 

[Tobeornottobe]

There are some good games coming out in awhile, i.e. Crysis, BioShock, C&C3, SupCom so personally like I said in my previous post, if the card is going to be used as a "stop gap" until more DX10 cards are available then the ATi card is a good buy. However, if this card for the new rig has to last awhile (perhaps 1-2 years) then for ~£90 you can have the GTS which is a great card and should cope well with newer, more demanding games on the horizon.

All good advice. I will be keeping this card for a minimum of a year so I am starting to lean towards the 8800. There is nothing worse than getting a card which will play all your existing games perfectly fine, but when a new game comes out (normally just after you have got the card) it just doesn't cut it. This happened with my X850/Fear. I want to avoid this scenario if possible, and if it costs a few extra quid, so be it.

 

[Tobeornottobe]

Just ordered a BFG8800GTX. Ridiculously expensive but never mind!