Video Card Mayhem

[Blue_Wyrm]

I'd like really like to upgrade my video card since those Future Shop pre-built computers often come with a so-so one and I already have decent RAM and processor. I'm not really a fan of the "hardware" side of computers, and really don't know where the big wigs at NVidia and ATI are at, nor how they compare to each other, and if I need anything in particular for their cards to be compatible with my computer.

Now I'm not really looking for zomg-class video cards, my student budget being not bottomless, but I'd like to get noticeably better than what I have currently, which is an ATI Radeon X1650SE. Is it asking the impossible? Tell me what you know, please.

[ThePaganKing]

I just got a NVidia 7600 I believe it is. I would think the 7600 or 7800 would be good for you. The graphics are awesome and I don't have any lag or any other issues on NWN2. I think I paid around $150 for it, maybe more. I can't remember, because someone built my system for me and he did all the buying and such.

I would definitely go with NVidia cards.

[Rhazeal]

Anything in the 8800 or 2900 range will bring impressive results compared to what you have now. A decently priced option is the 8800 GTS 320 mb. If you can wait a bit, the 8800 GT is just hitting the market, and promises to blow everything away in the price vs. power range.

[Luck.exe]

I second waiting around to see what the 8800GT brings to the table. From what I have been following with speculation it's going to be an awesome above-mainstream DX10 card.

[SnoopBob]

Agreed, wait for the 8800gt, it's shipped so should show up in stores soon.

[felix_can_fly]

Yeh..I'd wait for the 88GT chipset cards...or even wait for the G92 series cards hehe, not too long now.

[Blue_Wyrm]

Cool, I got lots of advices! Thanks everyone!

Really sounds like the majority's opinion that NVidia is the way to go and the 8800 GT is the good card to wait a bit for. What kind of price do you think it will have on the shelves, approximately?

[SnoopBob]

Take a look here, for an idea.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...8800gt&x=0&y=0

It's actually available now.

[Blue_Wyrm]

Alright, thanks! I'll check the prices at my city's stores (if/when they have it) and compare around a while; maybe I'll also end up ordering from the net, but I'm a bit wary of mailed computer-parts, with the many uncaring shipping companies. Plus Canada has probably one of the worst postal systems in the world, everything takes soooo long to make it when coming from other countries... I hear Japan, on the other hand, almost Teleport without error their packages to destination. :P

[SnoopBob]

If you're in canada like me, then you could try these, i've ordered from both without problems.

www.directcanada.com and www.tigerdirect.ca.

I was actually thinking of picking one up from directcanada as it is not based in ontario(its in vancouver, I live in ON) meaning I don't have to pay PST. Although the shipping would take longer to get to me.

Tigerdirect is an excellent site, i've ordered more then 3 thousand worth of computer parts from them and haven't had a single complaint.

[Blue_Wyrm]

I went to my local FutureShop yesterday and it turns out according to the clerk the 8800GT series have been available for a while. But they sell it for far more than Newegg does, so I'm really considering ordering it via net.

[SnoopBob]

The gt was just released, the gts and gtx have been out for awhile, are you sure he didn't think you meant either of those? (they are both far more expensive.)

[Saulus]

I went to my local FutureShop yesterday and it turns out according to the clerk the 8800GT series have been available for a while. But they sell it for far more than Newegg does, so I'm really considering ordering it via net.

Don't ever, ever buy anything computer related from futureshop unless you want to be a very poor man afterwards. Find a local Canada Computers or go to Tigerdirect (they also have a website Tigerdirect.ca) to order. You'll save yourself a LOT of money.

[Blue_Wyrm]

Huh yeah, he said GTS, thought he meant the same thing... @_@
So then they just don't have GT, and I'll have to order by 'da Intarweb anyway.
These naming convention are so confusing... I'll have to remember that (and why did GTS come before the GT of the same # ?)

Find a local Canada Computers or go to Tigerdirect (they also have a website Tigerdirect.ca) to order. You'll save yourself a LOT of money.

I'll try Tiger Direct, I'll look at their prices and policies tonight.

[SnoopBob]

It is meant to go in order of how powerful and pricey (lowest to highest) they are: GT,GTS then GTX.

But nividia originally released the 8800 with just GTS and GTX.

They then released 8600gt,gts and gtx, a lower grade then the 8800 that followed the naming scheme.

So now they are releasing the new GT's, and re-releasing the GTS and GTX's with updated architecture, making the scheme actually make sense, however, if you already bought them then it just complicates things further. As it stands, new 8800GT's outpower the old GTS's for a fraction of the price.

Like I said, I've bought over 3k worth of pc gear from www.tigerdirect.ca and never had a problem. I'd recommend them any day.