Buying a new Video Card

[thaspraya]

Hey,

I'm looking for a new video card. I have a GeForce 6600, but new games like Crysis need a GeForce 6800 minimum, so I want a new one xD

Anyway, I was looking at the website of the shop where I usualy buy my stuff, and they had 9 difference ones. The specifications they listed included:

Memory Frequency
Core Frequency
RAMDAC
Bus Slot
DirectX and OpenGL Versions
Maximum Resolution
OS Drivers

And ofc the name, XFX GeForce 8600GT 256 MB PCI-E(As an example)

So, what's the most important?
And, at Compression it showed: DirectX10 and OpenGL
And at Drivers it showed: Windows Vista

Does that mean that I can't use the 8600GT with my Windows XP?
And what card would you recommend anyway ?
My budget is pretty much up to the 8600GT, the 8800 is a bit to expensive. As I live in europe, and the prices are way different in dollars(Even when converted), It's quite useless to tell

Greetz, Thas!

Edit: I forgot to ask, how to check if my 6600 is in a PCI-E slot atm?

 

[Rich-M]

Download and install Siw and it will tell you the motherboard and probably video card type as well....
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html

 

[Triple6]

You can use the 8600GT with Windows XP no problem, with the Geforce 8xxx series cards you should use the latest drivers from www.nvidia.com as they are still tweaking these cards to continue improve their performance and compatibility.

But you won't be able to use the DirectX 10 features in Windows XP, for Directx 10 you need to be using Vista.

Also, while the card is a decent performer, it is a mid level card and some say it will struggle with DirectX 10 games. If DX10 gaming at high framerates is your intent then unfortunately you would need to look at the Geforce 8800 or Radeon 2900 cards which are a lot more expensive as you've seen.

Also there is a Geforce 8600GTS version, with some of them overclocked beyond NVidia specs. They have faster GPU, Shader, and Memory speeds for better performance.

 

[thaspraya]

Thanks for the quick replies!

The program says my Geforce 6600 is in a "PCI-X bus" .

Is that the same as PCI-E(Stupid question xD)? or in other words, can a PCI-E go in there?

They sell a GTS to. The specs are:

Memory Frequency = 2.0 GHz
Core Frequency = 675 Mhz
RAMDAC = 400 Mhz
Bus Slot = PCI-E
Maximum Resolution = 2560 x 1600
Memory = 256 MB DDR3

Could that play DirectX10 games using DirectX9 with a good framerate?

Could you also tell me why the XFX GeForce 7950GT 512 MB AGP is quite a bit more expensive ?(Not that I could use it, as it uses AGP)

 

[Triple6]

The 7950GT is more money because its a better performance card, although only Directx9 and based on the previous architecture, and its AGP.

There is a PCI-X interface thats different then PCI-Express but its rare in desktop PC's and I don't think they made a Geforce 6600 in PCI-X. SO you likely have PCI-Express x16.

You can check performance here: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=854&model2=722&chart=318
Just select the game and cards you which to compare to see how they do.

 

[thaspraya]

The website shows the 7950GT has 1465 and the 8600GTS has 1127.
It states "Overall all games FPS", but isn't it quite impossible to have 1000+ FPS xD? I mean, I'd simply like to know what the different in FPS is. Like 10, or 20.

 

[Triple6]

Yup, but at the top of that site you can choose which benchmark you want to look at.

 

[thaspraya]

Thanks!

Is there a large difference if I would upgrade to Vista and get DirectX10? I actualy don't like vista(Yes, I've used it) as it imo takes up quite a chunk of RAM, and quite some things that worked on XP need to be modified or don't work in Vista. And there are quite a few reviews at the newegg link saying the drivers don't work well at all atm, but that will probably get fixed.

So,
Would there be a large difference if I would upgrade to Vista and get DirectX10, instead of Directx 9.0c with XP?

Another thing -

If I would upgrade from my good ol' 6600 to the 8600 GTS with 512MB Ram (This one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130286)
, I might need a new fan or power supply(No idea to be honest.)

I don't even know what fan and power supply I have, do you know how I could check it(Hopefuly without opening the case xD)? I couldn't find it at the program the other guy linked in this thread.

Greetz, Thas

Edit - Rofl, said 6800 instead of 8600GTS <3

 

[MichaelDee]

If your going to spend over $200 for an 8600, you are WAY better off going with the 8800gt for about $50 more. It will kill the 8600 which is only a mid level card.

As far as I know there is no program to tell you what psu you have, so you'll have to open the side and look for a sticker on the psu.

DX10 doesn't really offer much yet, so if you are looking to switch just for that, then you are better off waiting (just like me). Some games run faster in vista, but many don't.

 

[Triple6]

As mentioned, Vista gaming performance isn't at the same level as with XP. Some do run better but most run slower. ANd you have to make sure your hardware and software is supported on Vista.

There are only a few DX 10 games out, there is a difference, you can see it here: http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_crysis_videos.html

I wouldn't buy a Geforce 6800 card. Old tech that ran hot and required large power supplies to achieve mediocre performance. A Geforce 7800 might be a better choice.

 

[MichaelDee]

I thought it was the 6800 to, but the link points to an 8600.

I watched both videos and am hard pressed to tell the difference between 9 and 10. The jungle version looks a bit better but I didn't see much difference in hunter.

 

[MichaelDee]

The website shows the 7950GT has 1465 and the 8600GTS has 1127.
It states "Overall all games FPS", but isn't it quite impossible to have 1000+ FPS xD? I mean, I'd simply like to know what the different in FPS is. Like 10, or 20.

Its giving you an overall score so that you can compare overall performance with other cards because some cards may perform great in some tests but really bad in others. As mentioned, you can look at individual tests for each card.

 

[thaspraya]

Well, all 8800's are at least $300 on newegg.. This onehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130038

Was the cheapest one. Could you give me a link with the card that you'd go for ^^?

And any ideas on how to know what fan my pc has got(Or if it will be good enough for the 8600GTS or maybe the 8800)?

 

[thaspraya]

Something else - How hard will it be to install a new graphics card? I've never installed any real hardware inside the tower, but hey, I have to start somewhere xD

ATM I'm thinking of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814130302

According to the link Triple6 gave, it's the 3rd card out there. And you get lifetime warranty(Yes, I did check the conditions at the evga site ). And it's still 100$ dollar than the cheapest GTX. 390$ is probably the max amount I want to spend.

 

[Rich-M]

Disconnect the cable from the card, open the case, unscrew 1 screw, pull out the existing card
if you have one there (and be careful some have clamps towards the back you need to release to pull card out, otherwise they pull right out), put one in replcae the screw and topuch nothing else while you are doing this. It's a snap!