Video Card

Hello gentelmen.
I once again turn to the the demigods of computer heaven.
I am now looking for a video card that my system can handle and still be good in a year or two.
I am a NVIDIA fan and that is what I would like to stay with, that is of course if you fellows know of others out there (other than ATI) that are as good and reasonably priced.
I am thinking that my system should be able to support (for now) the NVIDIA 7600, 512mb. Although there are a couple, I seem to be confused.
I don't know the difference between GS, GT, OC, PCI-E etc.
Attached is my system makeup.
Thank you all in advance.
Tino

 

GS is bottom line. under GT. OC stands for overclocked. pcie is pci expresses. you have agp.

Best agp card to date is the X1950 pro. Next is the 7800GS

personaly i run a BFG 6800GS unlocked to 16/6 and flashed with a GT bios then overclocked to ultra clocks.

My buddy runs a 7600gs in his agp rig and my 6800 man handles that card. I guess it would be better at the higher res since his has 512mb and mine only has 256 but its a pretty big diff between the 2 cards. 3dmark he gets about the same score as a deacently oc'ed 6600.

the 7600Gt is just barly better than my 6800 with a mild oc. If i max my oc out i can beat a 7600gt no problem and the only way a 7600gt will beat me is if they oc as well.


BFG 6800GS OC $159 at newegg.com
XFX 7600GT $169 atr newegg.com
EVGA 7800GS $179 at newegg.com with a $20 mail in rebate makeing it $159


I say go with the EVGA. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274 For the price your getting the best bang for your buck and it offers everything your looking for.

 

Thank you for your input and sound advice ruber. Now I think I know what to look for as I am still confused as to which one will fit my case and what kind of "extra" cooling is needed.
Also, what is SLI? what does it do?
Thank you all for looking.
Tino

 

One question, two parts please.
What are "pipelines" and how do I OC my card?
Thank you.

 

http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_learn.html

baslic SLI is the linking of 2 cards for more proformance. Is this worth it? if you have 2 pci express slots that run at X16 in SLI then yes. however some cut there speed down to X8 when SLI is used. There is still a proformance increase but it will really only help you alot when you start getting into high res. imo its not worth it unless you game on a big widescreen or want the SLI bling look. Better off takeing the money that would be spent on 2 cards and getting the next card up that usualy ou proforms 2 of the lower cards. example 2 7600GT for about $260 compared to a 7900GT for about $250


http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/pixel_pipelines.html that is a good source of info on what pipes are. basicly the more you got the better.


overclocking voids your warenty but for geforces i like to use coolbits. you just download it then run it and it will mod the reg. entrys. you then go to your advanced display settings and there will now be a tab for overclocking. i oc 10mhz at a time on the core testing with 3dmark 05 or 06 for stability. Also why i test i use "rivetuner" to log the temps of the graphic card. that way when im done i can look at the temp long to see at what point my gard was the hottest and how how it was and how much more i could push it before i aporch the zone where its to hot.

for cooling it dapends on the card. not much for the 7800gs. I personaly used a Xcelero X1 on my 6800GS but i would much rather have a ZALMAN VF900 – CU but i got my xcelero for free from actric cooling so i cant complane its uber quiet and its better than the stock cooler.


how big is your case? if you have a normal atx case you should have no problem fitting a 7800gs in your case. As for extra cooling just make shure you have good air curlaction in your case. "intake and exhust fans" you can check this by watchng your temps then removeing the side of the computer case and see how much they drop. if they drop 1c you got pretty cool air circularion. they drop 10c then you need to sit down and plan out a plan of atack for better air circulation.


Order up that EVGA 7800GS dont worry about a aftermarket cooler or ocing it and it will be a nice jump in proformance and a pretty easy upgrade.

 

Damn Ruber!!
You should start your own board and call it the General's Geek Retreat.
WOW man!
thank you.
It's going to take me a while to absorb what you just said, but I think I should be able to after I finish two years of computer science.. LOL :clap

 

How do I OC my card?
Do you think it would harm my system?
Thank you.

 

If you're asking these questions I would say you're not ready to overclock. Just buy the best card in your price range... I would assume the 7800GS with a rebate would suffice.

 

Thank you.

 

I just OC'd my card.
I used the automatic "Optimal Frequencies" selection button.
It went from a stock 3.0 MHZ and 1.0 G, to 4.04 and 1.2
My question is, why is there "no difference al all" from the modification?
With all being equal there is no gain at all in frame rates.
Thank you in advance.
Tino