Graphics Cards

Mothergoose · Post by **Mothergoose** » Sun May 18, 2008 9:40 pm

I am seriously considering upgrading my crappy, standard, 2003 e machines video card for a XFX GeForce 8800 GT Video Card that I found while shopping on the internet. According to the reviewers on the site it is a good card for its value, and can run most anything pretty well.

Right now I can play morrowind, with some toned down settings, at about an fps of 8-15 (standard resolution). I just want to be able to run oblivion at standard or close to standard settings. Well I get this much out of this card?

Here is a link to the site with descriptions. I really appreciate the help:
http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=62681273/skd=1/search=GeForce%208800%20GT/st=product/sv=title

Post by **Haplo** » Sun May 18, 2008 9:49 pm

lol

buy it. It will play your silly Oblivion at its highest settings.

Mothergoose · Post by **Mothergoose** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:02 pm

Lol, thanks Haplo, I think I'll do that.

Final question: if I needed to get something cheaper, is there a graphics card any would recommend that would do what I am looking for?

Post by **Haplo** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:15 pm

Yeah. An 8600GT or a 7800. Even a 7600GS would probably do what you want.

TheGooch · Post by **TheGooch** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:39 pm

i use a 7300go in my laptop and a 7300gs in my main computer
they both run oblivion at about 15fps outside and about 50 inside. (speedtree is a real killer in fps)

the 7300gs in my main, is a AGP card, it was one of the last ones they made in AGP. but its a decent card and works well.
before the 7300 in my main i had a 5700LE, it was shit i could tell you that much.

Lady Nerevar · Post by **Lady Nerevar** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:54 pm

i <3 my 7800

Mothergoose · Post by **Mothergoose** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:25 pm

Alright, thanks a lot! Gooch, I found your 7300 gs online for a little over forty dollars. The 8600 Haplo suggested was being sold at one store for 70. The one I want is 130 so I have a good price range, and even the cheapest will do what I want. The help is very appreciated

Thanks again!

Mothergoose · Post by **Mothergoose** » Mon May 19, 2008 2:17 am

Ok after doing a lot of research, and spending considerable time with customer support, I have found out that that the graphics card I wanted with incompatable with my mother board. I found this graphics card (Visiontek Radeon 2400 Pro Video Card) that was though, and I would appreciate any opinions on what I can expect from it. Again, thanks for the help; without which I would be very lost.

Link to information on the card:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3592044&CatId=1603

Tyrion · Post by **Tyrion** » Mon May 19, 2008 2:42 am

I run on Radeon x1600 on full everything for Oblivion and moves along pretty well.

jarvis · Post by **jarvis** » Mon May 19, 2008 3:06 am

I dunno much about oblivion, but i know for sure that morrowind is mainly processor powered, you might also want to look at extra RAM if your going to play oblivion.

Post by **Haplo** » Mon May 19, 2008 4:59 am

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=561101&st=0&p=8103698&#entry8103698

Mothergoose · Post by **Mothergoose** » Mon May 19, 2008 2:14 pm

Ok.. thanks Haplo. Looks my the graphics card I am getting is about two or three generations ahead of oblivion, but my proccessor is the lowest mentioned on their list. This means I will get it running, but we will see how well...

Good thing is, according to Haplo's link processors are not terribly expensive, and neither is RAM (thank Jarvis). Thanks all again for the technical help. I am now much more computer literate for the process.

wogya · Post by **wogya** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:50 am

Before upgrading anything, I'd suggest you'd find out exactly what kind of motherboard you have and how well it can be upgraded. If you don't have a PCI-E slot and you are using the slowest processor mentioned on the OB-list, then you might have something like a socket-A motherboard, for which you'll have problems finding any processors at all. It's also very likely that it doesn't support DDR2-RAM. Buying new components to a motherboard like this is not worth it, because those components would be outdated by years already when you install them.

You could get a new motherboard that supports modern fast processors, faster RAM and that has a PCI-E slot for only $50. The only problem is that when you upgrade your motherboard, you'll probably have to get a new processor and all new RAM at the same time.

angelus6 · Post by **angelus6** » Tue May 20, 2008 1:40 pm

in adition to everything else here, GeForce cards tend to Burn out pretty fast if you overclock them. whereas ATI cards dont. i've been running a ATI Radeon x1300 for 2 years overclocked 2x and its bnever failed me.. but i had a Geforce 4 for less than 3 months before that and it burnt out.. so did the replacement i was sent by Nvidia

Post by **Haplo** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:50 pm

Of course, you don't need to overclock video cards because there's no point really. Overclocking a video card and thus burning it out quickly and buying a new one is a lot more expensive than just shelling out a few more bucks for a better one you don't need to overclock. But srsly, who overclocks video cards?

angelus6 · Post by **angelus6** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:15 pm

me? well, i know my card wont run crysis without being overclocked., tried it both ways and it only barely runs it now ^^

Eissaye · Post by **Eissaye** » Tue May 20, 2008 9:45 pm

I have a Nvidia GeForce 7900GS, and it runs Oblivion on Ultra Graphics without lagging at all. I don't know how many FPS it gets. Also, I have a probably excessive 4 GB or so of RAM. This all runs Oblivion perfectly, and I haven't found a game yet that lags on Highest graphics.

Although Crysis on Ultra would probably blow up my computer.

wogya · Post by **wogya** » Tue May 20, 2008 11:47 pm

I agree with Haplo, overclocking is probably not the most economically efficient way to go...

I have the Geforce 7900GS as well and it runs OB like a dream. But I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy this card today, mainly because the geforce 7000 series lacks DirectX 10 support. It might not make any difference for Oblivion, but I suspect many future games (including TES V) will not run at all with a graphics card that lacks DirectX 10 support. The geforce 8000 series (DirectX 10 compatible) is an investment that will last a lot longer.

Crysis on ultra would probably blow up most computers today. Sometimes it seems quite amusing how game developers can force hardware manufacturers to develop faster and cheaper components, just so the players would be able to play an already released game. I'm now waiting for the day when a hit game is released that requires 8GB of RAM, that should bring down the price of the system I need...

Post by **Haplo** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:33 am

The system you need will be bigger then

And contrary to that belief you mentioned, most developers are still preferring to work with XP rather than Vista, due to many issues with compatibility and stuff. I can link you to a Digg article if you like.