- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
-
Are you sure the motherboard has PCI Express slots….
No you’ll still probably need to upgrade the RAM, ideally you what a minimum of 1024 in a modern gaming system, 2048 in a high end one. Are you set on an ATI card?
-
1gb or ram is well enough for any of the current gen game engines, and by the time the next gen ones come along, your going to want something faster than a 2.66 anyway. Even 512mb is generally ok, if not fantastic. Better going for a 256mb graphics card though that can handle all the most up to date shader effects etc. That will make the most difference on a system upgrade.
Dave
-
-
-
Right so a few points…
If the PC is going to be for games then put no less than a 256MB card in it.
As for your choice of graphics card well thats the tricky one but it all depends on what Steph said – availabilty of a PCI-E slot on your mobo, PSU power (for a games system you need ~450W really) and also the important one, how much you have to spend…
Once I know the above I can give some better advice.In general however I’ll say one or two things. ATi have released numerous products based on the x800 architecture so be carful which one you buy. Several cards arent really good for games and many just fill gaps, performance wise, between their initial offerings.
If it was me and I was buying a mid-range card I would either wait a month or so until ATi’s Crossfire (their answer to Nvidias SLi solution) has been released and there is increased competition in the market, or if I was more impatient just buy an nVidia 6800GT and be done with it.
Oh and brand wise I’d stay away from the lesser known makes such as Connect 3d and Club3d, stick with Sapphire if you want a good balance between price and performance for ATis and go with XFX, Gainward for the Gigabyte Nvidia alternative.
Oh and don’t forget to check the likes of Anandtech for the relevant benchmarks. That will give you a good idea of the performance of the cards…
-
-
- The forum ‘General Discussion’ is closed to new topics and replies.