I'm trying to decide whether or not to get a 128 or a 256 graphics card. I read around, and I'm really not sure which would be more worth it.

Suggestions and comments?

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Frightening the very small and very old since 1952.

There are many more important things than RAM on a video card, I presume that's what you're talking about...

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

I would personally go with the 256 but to be honest as comment on above... you can't really go on just the memory on the card.

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<MechWarrior> Lets just say the part of the family tree that does fork has bossy the goat in it.

<ubuu> does hitler have a last name?

The great thing baout those video cards with absurd amounts of onboard RAM; you can tap into it and mount it as physical device.

"So, Bob, where do you keep your swap partition?"

"I keep it on my video card!"





Seiously though, save your money, go with the 128.

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Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_6800.html

I'm looking at a Geforce 6800. Specs are as follows:



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Frightening the very small and very old since 1952.

People keep buying these crazy super-high memory graphics cards and then buy little ram and a poor CPU to go with it, and then they think their card sucks. Graphics cards really aren't the most important part of your computer. A good 128mb card with enough ram and a good processor will run every game on the market with smooth framerate.

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WAITER: Here’s your green salad, sir.
ANAKIN: What? You fool, I told you NO CROUTONS! Aaaaaaargh!

Feel free to stop looking at it, and maybe take a gander over here: http://www.ati.com

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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
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Yeah dont focus on the RAM alone. I made that mistake a couple years ago when I bought my Geforce MX card. Only after that did I realize there were many more important specs that should be considered over the amount of RAM. Core clock, ram speed, pipelines, fill rate, bandwidth, mem interface, ect.


I agree



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ZGPC

Indeed. Even an extra stick of RAM or getting faster RAM (not the card RAM) can make a huge difference

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

128

you read around? well, i guess it's better than sleeping around.



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I found a good Geforce at 128 at Best Buy today. It's the recommended card for Doom III, so I figure it's pretty good.

I currently have a 64, so any will do good. I have 512 mem on this comp and a 1.8 processor. Not top o' the line, but it works well enough.

Concerning ATIs, last one I had wouldn't let me play any games. Constantly crashed. Not cool. Thusly, I stick with NVidia.

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Frightening the very small and very old since 1952.

Which ATI card did you have? I had a 7500 in my old computer, and I got errors whenever I ran an OpenGL game. My 9800, however, gives me no problems.

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I bet you think that's funny, don't you.

I used to have a 7500 which never gave me any problems at all (both DX and OpenGL).

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Seriously, post the card here and ask people's opinions of it. Dont just buy a card because it has a big number on the box.

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The Massassi-Map
There is no spoon.

You mean bigger numbers don't mean it's better?

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I bet you think that's funny, don't you.

Yeah, don't believe that. Doom 3 is gonna be a beast. It will make even the mightiest of graphics cards fall to their knees.

Same with the HL2 preferred graphics on the ATI boxes. My theory behind the HL2 year long delay: ATI and Valve realized that the cards they had the "Preferred gfx for HL2" logo on could barely run the game, so they put the game off, waiting for ATI's new X series. Example, my friend bought a Radeon 9600 SE, which had the "Preferred" thing on it. Well lets just say that card could barely run DX: IW, FFXI, and a most other new games.

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ZGPC

Bigger numbers in the form of specs, not the product name, necessarily.



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ZGPC

Okay here we go.

Doom III is a purely OGL game, thusly, will run great on nVidia cards as their OGL implementation is better. That alone is enough of a reason to go nVidia (sadly), because the Doom III engine many people suspect is going to take place of the Quake 3 engine. ALSO, the 6800 ULTRA is a great card for the price.

The ATi X800 Pro and XT, however, outperform the GeForce equivalents (by whatever slim margins) in every testing, unless they're biased. The X800 Pro more than outperforms the 6800 non-Ultra. The XT slimly outperforms the 6800 Ultra.

If you're going for budget cards, I'm going to suggest three cards for you. 9800 Pro--220 I believe? 250 at the max. Great card, wonderful for all of today's games and really good for all of tomorrow's. 9800 non-pro--200 or less. Basically a somewhat slower performing 9800 pro, can't boost the AA or AF up as high, but still a good card. 9600XT 140-160 dollars. GREAT card for the price, basically THE budget card to have nowadays.

These cards are all made by ATi, and I'll suggest some manufacturers for you. Sapphire, Visiontek, PNY, all good distributors. DO NOT GET HERCULES! While great cards, they are confusing to use as they require their own set of drivers to run.

As for memory size--256 if you can. There's no reason not to if you have the cash. Just know how much you're willing to spend, and spend as much.

Ti4x00s are dated, MX4x0's are crappy, GF2 and 3's just don't size up, and the FX line is bad. Basically the entire nVidia line except the 6800 isn't worth the cash.

Final tips--Don't buy in a store. Buy it online, if you're American www.newegg.com is a great store. Why? Is it slightly less secure? Not at all. Statistics are you're more liable to get robbed on the way to the store than to get your credit card number stolen, especially through such a trusted and known company as newegg. Seriously though, consider all these options, and choose your card carefully.


Also, don't forget about other games coming up. Half-Life 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and more beyond the horizon.

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[This message has been edited by Dj Yoshi (edited July 13, 2004).]

Do NOT, do NOT get a Sapphire card. As you may remember me posting, they had a huge problem with their Radeon 9600 Pro series that caused display to become corrupted, the issue was posted by dozens of users including myself on the official Sapphire board, and we were pretty much left hanging. Fortunately the store I bought mine from was kind enough to supply me with a PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro, which has done me no wrong.

That's 9600 PRO. There's no reason not to get them now. Read up, they've changed a lot since then.

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There's the problem. My 9600XT runs everything perfectly fine at max settings (Far Cry, Prince of Persia et al.)

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

[This message has been edited by MaD CoW (edited July 13, 2004).]

What were the REST of his specs? SE's aren't GREAT cards, but they're certainly not crappy.

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There is no signature

Hehe, the REST of his specs?
Athlon XP 2800+
1GB PC3200 Kingston HyperX
2 WD 160 SATA in Raid 0
Plus the 9600 SE
And yes, they are crappy. He returned it and bought a 9600 XT, which runs pretty good. My 9800 oc still outperforms it

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ZGPC

[This message has been edited by finity5 (edited July 13, 2004).]

Strange. Oh well.

On a side note--I LOVE Recovery Software. *hugs 4 gigs of music* <_<

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There is no signature

4? That's all? Heh, well Ive only got 10, I am sure there is someone here with a 200gb drive full of music



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ZGPC

I knew him. He lost EVERYTHING. Dead drive. But 4's all I really need. I would get in a conversation about it but then it'd turn into a debate because some people think it's wrong and feel the need to voice their opinions. Meh.

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There is no signature

What's wrong? Nobody said it was illegally obtained.

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ZGPC

People like to assume. Hey finity, got AIM?

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There is no signature

I use MSN, but IMO they both suck

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ZGPC

lol, whatever works. If you don't mind my 'nick' is yoshmaista hat hawtmail dawt cawm

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There is no signature

HL2 Graphics Stuff

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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right." -Isaac Asimov

[This message has been edited by Bobbert006 (edited July 14, 2004).]

No, SE's ARE crappy cards, 64bit bus. That is all.



Hercules went out of business a few months ago.



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[="Rememeber that history isn't how the corporate controlled media made it look like. Read between the lines and free your mind. Evolution is the birth of equality and the anti-thesis to opression." - Immortal Technique=]

Massassian since: March 12, 2001

Oh, missed the bit about the 64-bit bus. NM, They suxbad.

I think I heard something about Herc goin out of business--but you can still find their cards.

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