Video Card Question

[jnblz316]

I was checking the requirements of the game and it said ati radeon 8500 or better but what would that equivalent to in the X series (i.e. X700, X1800)?

Thanks

[BahnKnakyu]

I THINK the three-digit X series are essentially souped-up Radeon 9600-9800's. They are more than capable of playing the game (I have a X700 myself). The X1000 series are the fastest ATI cards available at this time.

[Blitzkommando]

The 8500 is a very old card and could easily be surpassed with even an X300 Pro or X1300 XT not that I would suggest either of those cards. However, a 9800 Pro and especially 9800 XT performs essentially identical to an X700 Pro if not better than. I've owned both (9800 Pro and X700 Pro) and found the performance essentially identical even though the X700 Pro had double the memory. For pure reference, the 9000 series was codenamed the R300 series, the X100 series was codenamed the R400 series, and the X1000 series is the R500 series.

The upcoming R600 series should well outperform anything currently produced by ATI and come in at a lower cost as well due to some clever engineering. These cards will also be fully ready for DirectX 10 (Along with the Nvidia 8000 series) and have a complete architecture overhaul compared to previous generations of cards. These cards are rumored to be named the X2000 series. If the leaks are correct about the cards, the X2000 GT should prove to be a very nice card even at the low end of the spectrum. Please keep in mind however, if you don't plan on going to Windows Vista waiting for cheaper DirectX 10 compatible cards a bit silly, though their performance should spank anything currently on the market (If the 8800GTX and 8800GTS are omens of things to come).

[Pakwan]

Info on Radeon cards can be found here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_Graphics_Processing_Units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_NVIDIA_Graphics_Processing_Units

In layman's terms, a Radeon x1600 with only the fan/heatsink that comes with the card will alow you to play at 800x600 with everything turned up, or at 1024x768 with a little fiddling (e.g., turn off AA/AF, etc.)

[jnblz316]

So what would be a good PCI express card to have the setting turned up and high resolution with PSU?

[Pakwan]

I just got a Radeon x1950 Pro, which is less powerful than the x1950XT or x1950XTX cards, but definitely a little cheaper also. Just get a fan or some other cooling for those cards and you'll be good. I used to have a Radeon x1600 Pro. Word to the wise: if you get a x1900 or above, you'll be fine in terms of raw horsepower for this game's graphics...but make sure you have the physical inside your PC's case. Supposedly the 1900's only take up one PCI-e slot, but depending on if you get a card from ATI, or a 3rd party like Sapphire or Diamond, the card's heatsink/fan might crowd out the adjacent PCI slot.

Can't say on the GeForce side of the world, since I don't have experience with recent GeForce cards.

[Blitzkommando]

The X1950 Pro is probably the best PCI-Express (and AGP) card for the money (about $200). The 7900 GS is also a good card near that price range and the 7950 GT for a bit more is even more powerful. However, the 7600 GT should perform excellently for PSU at maximum settings depending on your processor and should cost around $100. For the 7600 GT be sure to purchase one with GDDR3 memory rather than DDR2.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130073

That one for instance is an excellent buy. EVGA provides a lifetime warranty as well as a 90 day step-up program should you decide you want a more powerful card within 90 days of the purchase and you pay the difference between the models.

[jnblz316]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130073

So that product will work well with the graphic setting maxed out?

[Blitzkommando]

It's highly dependent on your processor and memory, but if backed by a decent processor and 1GB of RAM it should do maxed settings, yes.