wanting a new graphics card....best compatibility with intel 915GAV?

[floydthebarber71]

hi guys

i am new here, some guy said "get over there and ask them, they rule!" lol so here i am.

i am looking to get a new graphics card, because i am not very happy with the performance of my current system. i'm not sure, maybe u guys will pick up something else if it isn't gfx card....

my pc:

P4 3.0Ghz

1GB RAM

80 GB HDD

Geforce 6600 PCI-express (no not GT, normal 6600 with 256mb ram)

Intel 915GAV motherboard

okee so i play quite a bit of simracing, there is this game called rFactor. i have to run lowest resolution (800x600) and low graphics settings to have any hope of getting decent fps while in a race. it is very disappointing, i thought geforce6600 would be better than that....it was impressive with Quake4 tho

i am looking to get a new graphics card to take me far into the future (hmmm around 2months? lol) and i am looking at Geforce 7900GT..... but somebody said that ATI is better (recommended X800), and then someone else said go with the card that is compatible with your motherboard......i am not a pc guru, so this is getting a bit much for me hence i am here

i am looking at graphics cards in that 7900gt price range, i dont mind paying that. any help please?

THANKS

zaahir

[ripken204]

okay. a 7900gt is a great choice and thats what i recommend. pci-e is the type of card you need which is what the standard is today.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....=&maxPrice=

the n584 is the latest and contains a hardware fix that all brands of the 7900gt were having problems with. my 7800gt play 99% of games at full settings, fear is that one exception which i have to run 8xAA instead of 16xAA...

now for ati are you looking at the x1900xt?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....=&maxPrice=

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2769&p=5

as you can see here the x1900xt is better than the 7900gtx. it does cost more and it produces alot more heat. but its better... so you need to decide on how much money you want to spend.

[floydthebarber71]

thanks for the quick reply yes, my eye is still on 7900gt i keep getting recommended to buy ati x800gto2.....and the BLUE one.....i cant for the life of me find out whats the difference between the red one and blue one.....plus this is half the price than 7900gt? all reviews i see are for red one.....any difference?

i am also checking out the link for x1900xt.....at 1st, wow out of my price range.....but then i scroll down and the prices for same card are different? much lower? sorry, i am total noob at this, what is the reason for such major price difference on 'same' card? (not the open-box stuff) or am i missing something...

thanks again

zaahir

[ripken204]

i really have no clue on that one, im not much of an ati fan, i just cant stand all the problems ive had with overheating and drivers. if you can find out the prices on those then ill be happy to look into it some more for you.

[floydthebarber71]

ok, i can see it is now between the geforce 7900gt, or the ati x1800gto

geforce 7900gt ($278.99 ):

Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Core clock: 470MHz

DirectX: DirectX 9

DVI: 2

Memory Clock: 1370MHz

Memory Interface: 256-bit

OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0

PixelPipelines: 24

TV-Out: HDTV/S-Video Out

VIVO: Yes

ati x1800gto ($239.99 ):

Chipset Manufacturer: ATI

Core clock: 500MHz

DirectX: DirectX 9

DVI: 2

Memory Clock: 1000MHz

Memory Interface: 256-bit

OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0

PixelPipelines: 12

TV-Out: HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out

VIVO: Yes

its either/or between these two i've decided which do u think will suit my needs? i am not certain as to which specs are the priority specs to look at....

[puntoMX]

Look at the pixel pipelines, 24 vs 12. Go for the 7900GT .

Also check out this link, the 7900GT uses less power so you don´t have to switch to a big a** powersupply

Edited August 9, 2006 by puntoMX

[floydthebarber71]

ok cool thanks