Graphics card question

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Hey yall,

I'm going to be getting a new PC for Christmas (a Dell btw). I have a few questions. I'm looking at a desktop w/ a 3.0GHz P4 processor w/ 1GB of RAM or a laptop w/ a 3.06GHZ P4 processor w/ 512MB of RAM. Now as for a graphics card I can get on a desktop up to 256MB. But on a laptop the highest is only 64MB (I can get a 128MB, but the processor is only a 1.7 P-M). I plan on playing games that i have not been able to play on my current PC such as SW:Knights of the Old Republic, SW: Jedi Academy, Neverwinter Nights, Temple of Elemental Evil. I'm going to be going to school in FL and occassionally going back home to SC so I really would like a laptop. So my question is do I really need the 256MB graphics card or would I be alright with a 64MB card on the laptop?

[ December 14, 2003, 08:06: Message edited by: Jarlaxle ]

 

kinda figured that. thanks!

 

It's all about your budget: how much money are you willing to spend? Second, consider why you are buying it. Which is more important: games or mobility?

I would suggest choosing games and desktop, as you can do your work at home too.

 

Dell's are wicked, man.

I think you can get a 128meg Geforce4mx. Now, I wouldn't really call that particular card a "gaming" card. Even on the Infinity Engine games, the spell effects pull some amperage.

A 64meg AGP 4x Geforce4 Ti4200 is still an excellent buy for the cash-money you spend. The Radeon 9600pro is a step upward with the newer games, but you'll pay a little extra for that. If you're using PC3200 memory on that machine (or better), the AGP apature memory will help out your card on the more complex games. Stuff like Unreal Tournament 2003 at 1024x768 pulls around 75meg of texture memory, which isn't a whole lot over your card's.

The Radeon 9800pro is the "future investment" card right now. It pulls a serious amount of power, and if you have a side panel fan, it actually overclocks *very* well. Currently, I'm happy with mine, even though it took some work to get my system to accept it. I bought the 128meg version, simply because I have to squint to play games at 1600x1200 on my piddly 19" monitor. I still game at 1024x768 or 1280x1024.



Jedi Knight3: Jedi Academy, if you turn off the "texture glowing" option, will play very well at 1024x768 on that Ti4200 I was talking about. NwN will play well, too.

 

I agree with everything EJ said, and would like to add that although the GeFrorce 4 cards are selling at a very attractive price (I've seen the MSI 4600 for just 159.00), these cards don't support DirectX 9. This API has improved shaders that will see heavy use in the new FPS coming out next year (Doom III and Half-life 2). If you have any interest in these games, I would recommend a DX 9 card.

Here's the real thing: I tested both the Radeon 9600XT and the GeForce 5700 FX cards in my machine (each has 128MB). After running both for several weeks I settled on the Radeon card. They are both excellent, and I came real close with the FX card. I ran Call of Duty on it and it felt faster than with the Radeon card. Plus the ATI drivers still have issues, even with CoD. It also benchmarked a little higher with 3D Mark 2001. For current games (DX 8) it seems the GeFroce FX card is the card of choice.

However, the Radeon card came with a free voucher for HL2, which is worth about 50.00 and the card has VIVO which the FX card did not have for the same price. Also, my system ran about 10 degrees cooler with the ATI card, (I have side panel cooling) and it took up less space in my machine. And the Radeon cards, while lower memory bandwidth, but with a more robust VPU, are seeming to run DX 9 apps somewhat faster than the FX cards. Right now the Radeon card seems to be the card of the future, but that means about 6 months. Then you will see a whole new set of cards with new technology.

It's your choice but if you are going for power, go with the desktop, but look closely at the graphics card if you are into games. Choose a card that you will be happy with for the long haul, since you are going with a mainstream manufacturer. If you change out the card, the odds are you will lose your Dell support (have to hate that outsourced tech support to India anyway) and you will be on your own. Good luck.

[ December 15, 2003, 18:05: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

Well, I've been testing out this Radeon 9800 pro all morning. Yeah, I didn't go hear the Holy Word. Just put it on my tab, mate.

Anyways, this card has a hela lot more power than I even expected. Medal of Honor, at 1600x1200@75hz with everything cranked up (in-game; I didn't edit the .ini file) and 6x/16x AA/AI, is silky smooth. I haven't actually checked the fps on-screen, but there is 0.00 laggage noticable.

At stock speeds, it does get just a tiny bit choppy. You can tell mainly when you whirl the mouse around, looking up stairs or something. But with a few mhz on both the gpu and memory, it completely smooths out. I haven't even taken it up to it's maximum overclock just yet. Been too busy playing stuff. However, it does overclock by an enormous amount (certain brands like Powercolor are reputed to have cheaper memory on them).

Of course, you have to have the monitor to take advantage of the card. At 16x12, on this 19" monitor, it makes things difficult to pick out from everything around it. I can't tell if he's got an automatic rifle, or just a plain old bolt action, until he gets up fairly close. At 1280x1024, I can tell a bit further away.

Also, you can tell a difference between it and "true" 32bit color. It's not unplayable, but things get washed out or slightly askew. There's some cut-scene movies, where an area of the movie should be completely black (like a total shadow), and it's a noticable dark blue instead (like the background color of the board).

There's some other kind of annoying issues that take a little work to figure out. I ran back into the XP 60hz bug, and I had to run a busload of nuns off a cliff to clear it up.

Haven't strolled through the Icewind with it, just yet. I'm prepared for the colors to not be quite as vibrant or broad as I'm used to, but the game will still play (I hope? ).

 

The Radeon 9800 Pro is definitely state-of-the-Art. In fact, they don't come any better. But I still don't like the ATI software. After tinkering with the 9600XT for a few weeks I decided to return it(yes, another return). I just ordered a new nVidia 5900 XT card, which should arrive tomorrow. I really like the nVidia software much better. Firing Squad just wrote a convincing article on mid-range cards, with the 5900 coming in way out in front of the other cards in its class, while the 9600XT was at the bottom of the heap in almost all benchmarks. And the 5900 XT was 20.00 cheaper than the Radeon 9600 XT card, which covered the restocking fee - can't beat that.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/xmas_video_shootout/page3.asp