Yet Another Graphics Card Question...

First, I have to say I pretty much know nothing about graphics cards. So, I just bought a Cyberpower PC witha 2.6Ghz quad core processor and 4GB of RAM, so I'm thinking I've got a pretty powerful system and can pretty much run any game out there, with maybe a few exceptions, especially since I have a 1GB video card. However, after some research, and first hand experience, my 1GB card is on the lower end of cards. It's the Geforce 9500 GT. Now, I've always thought that the memory of a video card was the end all and be all when it came to cards, and 1GB is plenty! But, then I see the price of my card and I see some 512mb cards that cost way more than my 1GB and that really showed I don't know squat about cards if a 512 card could perform better than a 1GB card.

So, one question is about running Fallout 3. With my system specs and my 1GB card, albeit a lower end card, I figure I should be able to run that game pretty much flawlessly at max settings. It's not like we're talking about Crysis here, or even Just Cause 2, which I could barely run. However, when my son played Fallout3 there were some framerate issues, which kinda bummed me out.

Second question, what card is recommended for like the sligthtly above 100 range that given the specs of the rest of my system could run at least all of the second tier games in terms of spec requirements, such as Fallout 3, Left for Dead 2, Bioshock 2, etc, at maximum settings without any hickups? And like the upper tier games like Just Cause and Crysis with maybe taking things down a notch, but still playable.

Third, if I do get another card, what should I do with my current 9500? Should I keep both cards in the sytsem? I do want to have a dual monitor set up. Should I just connect both monitors to my new card, or one to the 9500 and one to the new one?

Oh, fourth question. I think the problem with playing just cause 2is that when I went to "can you run this" it said the recommended specs were directx 10.1 capable card. I was looking around at some $100ish cards and the max on those were only 10. If I get a card maxed at 10, will I end up not being able to run a lot of games in the near future, or would I be safe getting a card that's just 10 capable?

Thanks a lot.

I don't have any experience on the cards mentioned by the previous poster, but what I would recommend from experience for bang-for-the-buck I'd recommend either the 8800 / 9800 series (as long as they have 512 MB or higher) from Nvidia - physx is also supposed to be exclusive to Nvidia, or something like a 4870 ATI/AMD - if you don't need physx.

For almost 2 years, I've been running an EVGA 8800 Ultra and it still performs well in most games out - given that I run everything close to 1920x1080 resolution. The 4870 is what I put into a build I did for my brother-in-law - and at 1280x1024 resolution - games on his run as well or better than mine at the same resolution.

My card has 768 MB ram and his has 512 MB.

Funny you mention the 9800, I've put this one in my cart at Amazon. Would you recommend this one?

BFG BFGE981024GTGE NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card with EcoIntelligence Low Power Design

Not knowing anything about cards, what's the difference between the two? This second one is like 30 bucks more. How much better is it, and is it worth the extra $30. The so called regular price on this one on Amazon is $209, and $149 for the one above.

EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Just found this one at bestbuy for $124, which I would prefer cuz I have a giftcard with them. How am I supposed to know the difference, they all sounds so similar???

PNY - NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

Sheesh, another one...so confusing...a little pricier, though...

PNY XLR8 GeForce GTS 250 Graphics adapter - 1 GB - DDR3 SDRAM

What about a 4850? Later on down the line, if your MOBO and PSU are capable, you can crossfire it with another if you need the extra power.

Honestly, the best way to "shop around" for different video cards is to check website reviews beforehand. I strongly recommend Guru3d.com for their multi-page comparison reviews. Tomshardware is another great review site.

Mainly I mentioned the 8800 / 9800 series video memory, because I heard that the original 8800 GTS 320's had lesser-than-ideal performance at release when being compared to the GTX which had 640 MB. Video memory, as you menitoned can make a difference, but, like you also mentioned, it's not the most important feature of a video card.

On the other side, you could check out tweakguides.com to see what certain settings really affect in different games. If you're getting less-than-ideal performance, that site can help explain the best way to lower settings without lowering quality too much.

Honestly, the best way to "shop around" for different video cards is to check website reviews beforehand. I strongly recommend Guru3d.com for their multi-page comparison reviews. Tomshardware is another great review site.

Mainly I mentioned the 8800 / 9800 series video memory, because I heard that the original 8800 GTS 320's had lesser-than-ideal performance at release when being compared to the GTX which had 640 MB. Video memory, as you menitoned can make a difference, but, like you also mentioned, it's not the most important feature of a video card.

On the other side, you could check out tweakguides.com to see what certain settings really affect in different games. If you're getting less-than-ideal performance, that site can help explain the best way to lower settings without lowering quality too much.

Stinger78

Guru3d.com is good, but Tom's Hardware is so pro-Nvidia it's not even funny. Firingsquad.com has some great reviews on graphics cards.

Actually the original 8800 GTX was 768mb, not 640. There were 2 versions of the 8800gts, one was 320mb, one was 640mb (I had one of the 640mb cards). At most resolutions there wasn't much difference between the 320 and 640mb cards. IMO the best card in the whole series was the G92-refresh 8800gts 512mb, which sold for slightly more than the 8800gt but performed on par with the 8800 GTX in most situations. They also had a far better cooler than the 8800 or 9800gt.

Here's something to help the OP sort out this mess regarding the Nvidia naming scheme-

8800GS 384mb = 9600 GSO 384mb.

8800gt = 9800gt (literally the same performance and specs for gaming purposes)

8800gts 512mb = 9800gtx = 9800gtx+ = GTS 250. These cards are the most rebranded product EVER. There are slight differences and improvements with each newer version, but at the same clock speeds they perform on par with each other. The GTS 250 1GB being the strongest out of this lot due to higher clock speeds and more memory.

Get a nice high end 4xxx series ATI card. They're about $120, or get a nice mid-range 5xxx series, like the 5770. You should do pretty well then.

Funny you mention the 9800, I've put this one in my cart at Amazon. Would you recommend this one?

BFG BFGE981024GTGE NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card with EcoIntelligence Low Power Design

Not knowing anything about cards, what's the difference between the two? This second one is like 30 bucks more. How much better is it, and is it worth the extra $30. The so called regular price on this one on Amazon is $209, and $149 for the one above.

EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Just found this one at bestbuy for $124, which I would prefer cuz I have a giftcard with them. How am I supposed to know the difference, they all sounds so similar???

PNY - NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB GDDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

Sheesh, another one...so confusing...a little pricier, though...

PNY XLR8 GeForce GTS 250 Graphics adapter - 1 GB - DDR3 SDRAM

Stupidguy24

okay the first one is by the card developer evga and uses less power than the other 3 9800gt's you have there. the second one is by a different developer bfg and will preform the same, but isnt as energy efficient. finally the last one is from pny and has an overclock meaning it wqill preforming better than the other two but it wont be very noticeable at all.

finally the gts 250 there is far superior to all , uses less power and kicks alot of ass in terms of modern gaming power.

Get a nice high end 4xxx series ATI card. They're about $120, or get a nice mid-range 5xxx series, like the 5770. You should do pretty well then.

-Snooze-

Dude.. who is the girl in your sig?

Thanks for all your input. I THINK I've decided on this one.

PNY - NVIDIA GeForce XLR8 GTS 250 1GB DDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

I can get it on Amazon for $128 with a $20 rebate, making it $108. From looking around, that seems to be a pretty good price. It's going for $149 at Best Buy.

Thanks for all your input. I THINK I've decided on this one.

PNY - NVIDIA GeForce XLR8 GTS 250 1GB DDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card

I can get it on Amazon for $128 with a $20 rebate, making it $108. From looking around, that seems to be a pretty good price. It's going for $149 at Best Buy.

Stupidguy24

That's a solid deal on a great card.

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"]

Get a nice high end 4xxx series ATI card. They're about $120, or get a nice mid-range 5xxx series, like the 5770. You should do pretty well then.

hartsickdiscipl

Dude.. who is the girl in your sig?

Me in a dress, silly ...

Cheryl Cole

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"]

Get a nice high end 4xxx series ATI card. They're about $120, or get a nice mid-range 5xxx series, like the 5770. You should do pretty well then.

-Snooze-

Dude.. who is the girl in your sig?

Me in a dress, silly ...

Cheryl Cole

9.99999999/10

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"]

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

Dude.. who is the girl in your sig?

hartsickdiscipl

Me in a dress, silly ...

Cheryl Cole

9.99999999/10

When you hear the garbage she spews out of the hole in her face, you'll take off a few points ...

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"]

Me in a dress, silly ...

Cheryl Cole

-Snooze-

9.99999999/10

When you hear the garbage she spews out of the hole in her face, you'll take off a few points ...

LOL.. maybe. I've heard some of the things she's said to other people.. I actually thought it was pretty funny. But judging on looks I'd say I'm underrating.

[QUOTE="hartsickdiscipl"]

[QUOTE="-Snooze-"]

Me in a dress, silly ...

Cheryl Cole

-Snooze-

9.99999999/10

When you hear the garbage she spews out of the hole in her face, you'll take off a few points ...

Okay...from what I'm hearing the 250 isthe way to go, a better choice than the 9800. Question I have now is power supply. The 250 calls for a 450W and I have a 425W, can I get away with that? I was thinking if I can't that the 9800 listed below would be a good alternative. I don't want to buy another power supply right now. Is this 9800 at least close to the 250 in terms of the performance I can expect?

PNY XLR8 GeForce GTS 250 Graphics adapter - 1 GB - DDR3 SDRAM

BFG BFGE981024GTGE NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card with EcoIntelligence Low Power Design

Okay...from what I'm hearing the 250 isthe way to go, a better choice than the 9800. Question I have now is power supply. The 250 calls for a 450W and I have a 425W, can I get away with that? I was thinking if I can't that the 9800 listed below would be a good alternative. I don't want to buy another power supply right now. Is this 9800 at least close to the 250 in terms of the performance I can expect?

PNY XLR8 GeForce GTS 250 Graphics adapter - 1 GB - DDR3 SDRAM

BFG BFGE981024GTGE NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1 GB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card with EcoIntelligence Low Power Design

Stupidguy24

What is the exact make and model of your power supply? This will be very important.. You will notice a difference in performance between the GTS 250 and the 9800gt, usually from 10-25% difference depending on the game.

I was actually trying to figure that out, and I'm not really sure how to do that other than looking on the unit itself. What I found was a sticker on it that saysLC A42 ATX 12V. I googled that and couldn't find anything. The only way I know it's a 425W is that I googled my PC and checked out the specs. It's a cyberpower 5100. Based on what I'm discovering from this PC it's probably a lower end power supply, just like my Graphics card, motherboard, keyboard and mouse. Well, not sure my motherboard is lower end, but the max RAM it can support is 4GB, so it'sprobably lower end or older.

Okay..checked again, and prob not good news from just a brief google of it. It's a TurboLink LCA420 ATX 12V.

P.S. I'm not really looking to find out if my power supply is a good one or not, really just if I can run the 250 card with it in terms of whether it'll provide enough power.

Just wanted to bump this cuz it looked like it was getting lost in the mix....

I wouldn't use that PSU with any graphics card.. especially not the GTS 250. The 9800gt MIGHT be ok.. but that's a pretty bad PSU. You may want a new one.