Spec me a new GFX card

collisster · 25 Dec 2007 at 19:41

as title looking as cheap as possible to play Crysis & COD4

thanks

rubberduck · 25 Dec 2007 at 19:45

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better

semi-pro waster · 25 Dec 2007 at 19:46

AGP or PCI-E? The answer would be rather different. Also what is the rest of your system like? Crysis is pretty demanding as I understand it and you could be throwing good money after bad as it were when an upgrade to another area might make more of a difference.

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 19:50

collisster said:
as title looking as cheap as possible to play Crysis & COD4

Do you have a rough idea of a budget you're aiming for, and any preference when it comes to things like heat and noise? We should be able to pin something down nicely that suits your needs.

pre1twa said:
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better

I can't see him having much fun playing Crysis on those and he might have something better already.

collisster · 25 Dec 2007 at 19:55

I've got a 6800GT already, PCI-E, overclocked it today to see if it will make an ounce of difference I doubt it though. I've got an SLI board but I'm not bothered about that because I'm not spending that much to get 2 cards. heat and noise to a minimum please : not bothered about budget just give me a range please

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 20:01

collisster said:
I've got a 6800GT already, PCI-E, overclocked it today to see if it will make an ounce of difference I doubt it though. I've got an SLI board but I'm not bothered about that because I'm not spending that much to get 2 cards. heat and noise to a minimum please : not bothered about budget just give me a range please

The 8800GT and 8800GTX are the popular choices at the moment. From my experience the 8800GT handles Crysis on all high in 1680x1050 and the 8800GTX handles it the same, but the extra memory gives you a bit of legroom to use a decent amount of antialiasing.

The new 8800GTS 512MB is also popular at the moment, but the 8800GTX is too cheap right now for me to see the benefits of buying one. You also have the same memory limitations that you would on the GT.

collisster · 25 Dec 2007 at 20:04

as in not bothered about budget I meant as cheap as possible but not going to specify incase there is nothing I can get in that price range.
so whats the best budget atm? ati or nvid ?

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 20:10

collisster said:
as in not bothered about budget I meant as cheap as possible but not going to specify incase there is nothing I can get in that price range.
so whats the best budget atm? ati or nvid ?

I think it'd be much better if you specify some rough sort of budget, then you can decide if it's ideal for you to try stretching or even going lower. If you're after something a little lower priced than the 8800 Series then the X1950Pro 512MB is a great buy at under £100, and it'd be a huge improvement from a 6800GT.

collisster · 25 Dec 2007 at 21:34

I'm after something that will do DX 10, for around 100 lower if poss

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 21:48

collisster said:
I'm after something that will do DX 10, for around 100 lower if poss

The 8600GTS 512MB is about £100 and should suit your needs, but it will struggle a lot in some games.

It also has a crippled 128bit memory bus as well though so I'd advise looking at mid-range ATI cards.

collisster · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:12

ah right, what cards in the ATI range are up to it? I wasn't impressed at first glance

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:27

collisster said:
ah right, what cards in the ATI range are up to it? I wasn't impressed at first glance

I don't really know anything about ATI's current mid-range I'm afraid.

rolypolyman · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:38

The are only a few cards that will give you decent framerates in Crysis(depending on res you game at) and the 8600gts is not one of them. On a budget of £100 @ 1280x1024 or higher res. I would say nothing will play Crysis comfortably on high or even medium settings. Nearest card would maybe be that new 512mb 3850 turbo x thing which is about £135 and I'm not even sure its up to it.

kkelly · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:38

ATi 3850 ! or 8800 GT 256 ?

rolypolyman · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:40

I think 512mb memory would be preferable for Crysis.

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:49

rolypolyman said:
the 8600gts is not one of them.

I was aware of that but pretty much no £100 or under card will play nice with Crysis, period and he specifically stated that he wanted DirectX 10 support which takes the X1950Pro out of the picture.

rolypolyman said:
I think 512mb memory would be preferable for Crysis.

Aye 512MB is important for a lot of games now, including Crysis and Call Of Duty 4.

TheMorningStar · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:50

Ulfhedjinn said:
The 8600GTS 512MB is about £100 and should suit your needs, but it will struggle a lot in some games.

It also has a crippled 128bit memory bus as well though so I'd advise looking at mid-range ATI cards.

I think a 3850 256mb would be a better buy or £20 more and get a 3850 512mb depending on his resolution. More performance than the 8600gt and in a similar price bracked as the 512mb version.

btw nothing is really going to play crysis smoothly at decent fps and quality/rez for under £200 really. even the best of the cards are having trouble. Next gen may yeald better results.

Darkwave · 25 Dec 2007 at 23:53

TheMorningStar said:
I think a 3850 256mb would be a better buy or £20 more and get a 3850 512mb depending on his resolution. More performance than the 8600gt and in a similar price bracked as the 512mb version.

btw nothing is really going to play crysis smoothly at decent fps and quality/rez for under £200 really. even the best of the cards are having trouble. Next gen may yeald better results.

I can't really comment on the 3850s but if they're good then it sounds like a plan. Seriously plump for the 512MB model though, you'll regret playing Crysis on a 256MB graphics card.

For under £200 though the 8800GT plays Crysis very nicely, Once you draw closer to £100 though it sucks.

Edit: Not sure if it's due to older drivers or whatever but this graph makes the 3850, and indeed the rest of the current ATI lineup, look terrible when it comes to playing Crysis. That said isn't there an ATI hotfix now?

rolypolyman · 26 Dec 2007 at 00:08

Ulfhedjinn said:
I was aware of that but pretty much no £100 or under card will play nice with Crysis, period and he specifically stated that he wanted DirectX 10 support which takes the X1950Pro out of the picture.

Agreed.

Aye 512MB is important for a lot of games now, including Crysis and Call Of Duty 4.

I got Crysis today for crimbo and had thought I would be rushing to play it but having read all the comments about poor framerates and having to lower detail I'm in no rush to install it. I've been playing Dx10 Coj and it looks great and plays very well on my vista 64. How does it compare to crysis, as in demanding graphics.

gurusan · 26 Dec 2007 at 00:11

death to crysis