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ok...i want to get the full experience when NWN comes out. That includes the most optimal graphics possible. Im wondering what is the best (for the money) graphics card out there. Are there any of you that have bought one such as this and have seen a difference in say ummm baldurs or icewind dale? If so, i will probably go out and buy one before the game is released.

This is more at home in the Tech. secktion, so I'm moving it there

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If money is not an issue go for one of the GeForce 4 Ti cards, they should ocme in over 200 squids. Pretty much the only graphics card that competes are ATI's Radeon 8500, but i have heard some bad things about drivers. Definately go for a GeForce of some kind

Steer clear of Radeon. they are evil. I'm running one right now, in addition to XP, and I can't play half my games because of it... Get Nvidia Geforce 4 Ti, as Sleep said, but a Geforce 3 Ti is just as good.

How much can you afford to put into your video card? There are $100 cards, $200 cards and $300 cards. Pick a figure that you can afford, then buy the best card available. I happen to like ATI cards, although I've never used a Radeon (I have only a Rage Fury Pro card).

One other thing to consider is that it's pointless to invest a lot of money in a good video card if you have a crappy monitor. If you buy a GeForce 4 or Radeon 8500 card, and have an old monitor with a high dot pitch and low refresh rate, you're wasting your money on the card.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
One other thing to consider is that it's pointless to invest a lot of money in a good video card if you have a crappy monitor. If you buy a GeForce 4 or Radeon 8500 card, and have an old monitor with a high dot pitch and low refresh rate, you're wasting your money on the card.

That is very true, and avoid TFT for gaming.

There is a card coming out called 4200TI (as opposed to the 4400TI) which should account for the budget user who wants some of the power of the GF4's. I am not sure of it's due date though.

From what I hear, the best bang-for-buck comes from the GF4 64 MB TI-4200s. The only disadvantage over the 128MB model is a worse FPS in anti-aliasing (which I think is much less important than resolution), and the huge advantage is in it's clock speed.

A 64MB TI-4200 consistantly (AFAIK always) beats out the best ATI chip, and is faster than the 128 model in all but the most memory demanding tasks.

Unfortunately, I also don't know when it's being publically released.

Something to be careful about with the T1 4200 is that some of the more advanced features of the GeForce4 have been removed from the MX versions of it. In reality you'd get more power for the same or lower cost from a GeForce3 Ti.

Originally posted by Mr Flibble
Something to be careful about with the T1 4200 is that some of the more advanced features of the GeForce4 have been removed from the MX versions of it. In reality you'd get more power for the same or lower cost from a GeForce3 Ti.

I will find a Tom's Hardware Guide article on it...THG

Just out of curiosity, I don't have the funds for a GeForce Ti card (just cheked them out. yikes! )What would eb another good card to pick up, that is around $100-$150 Canadian, but still would be able to play games such as Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (Thus running OpenGL), and is compatible with XP.

Originally posted by Aegis
Just out of curiosity, I don't have the funds for a GeForce Ti card (just cheked them out. yikes! )What would eb another good card to pick up, that is around $100-$150 Canadian, but still would be able to play games such as Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (Thus running OpenGL), and is compatible with XP.

Well Geforce 2 TI's are selling for about 60ish trade in the UK.

Thanks everyone for they info.......i am running XP also and will probably go research them some more on the net and in the stores.....from what u say, a GEForce card is my best bet...i have plenty of money, that's not the issue. But then again, i don't want to spend around 300 dollars for one. It's the principle u know. LOL...well anyway, thanx again.

Can someone explain to me the more technical aspects of graphics cards?

For example:

1) What does the MX at some GeForce cards mean?
2) I keep hearing about vertex shading and pipelines, what are those used for?
3) What kind of role does DirectX play in gaming?

I want to buy a new computer and am willing to spend some cash on it so my gaming experience is optimal. I went to several websites, and they showed me charts, FPS rates, and all these other technical stuff that I have no idea of, and I don't want to play into the hype and buy something that is not good.

Don't get a Hercules Prophet, It is really a pain in my backside.

Originally posted by humanflyz
Can someone explain to me the more technical aspects of graphics cards?

For example:

1) What does the MX at some GeForce cards mean?
2) I keep hearing about vertex shading and pipelines, what are those used for?
3) What kind of role does DirectX play in gaming?

1) MX is simply a cut-down version of the same chipset and is available for the GeForce 2 and 4. It's designed more for low end graphics, so you'd be better off spending a bit more and getting a full GeForce card. Ti series if you can.
2) Vertex Shading is a method of assigning colour and texture to 3D objects using DirectX. You don't really need to know much about it as this is done by the game engine (if it supports it) and DirectX. Pipelines are process lines that can transfer data between various parts of the graphics chip and memory. The more the better.
3) DirectX is an API (Application Programming Interface) which allows programmers to create applications and games without having to worry about hardware compatability. In order to use the latest hardware you need to have the latest version of DirectX. Other than that, again you don't really need to know much in order to use it, just make sure you've got it!

@Mr. Flibble:

Thanks.

Is there a qualitative difference between the various GeForce cards? That is, what is the advantage to buying an nVidia card as opposed to a Chaintech or Gainward card with the same GeForce4 Ti 4200 chipset?

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Is there a qualitative difference between the various GeForce cards? That is, what is the advantage to buying an nVidia card as opposed to a Chaintech or Gainward card with the same GeForce4 Ti 4200 chipset?

Apparently so, there is quite a difference in the noise reduction on many of the cards. The fans used by some of the card makers are excessive causing ones machine to sound like it is going to take off, check tomshardware.com for somewhat of a guide to the noise issue.

I think there is a qualitative difference as well, i have heard reasnoable things about Gainwards new cards, i think it might be a case of waiting a month and seeing how they pan out...why do you ask, is it something important, if so i might check some links and post them up?

I have never bought a GeForce card before; I've been in the ATI camp for a long time, but it seems that the prices on the GeForce cards are dropping faster than the Radeons (plus they apparently don't have the driver issues that the Radeons have). So I'm checking into the various GeForce cards and it seems that there is a tremendous variation in price between the different brands and I was wondering how much of the price difference in actual quality and how much of it is the name brand.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
I have never bought a GeForce card before; I've been in the ATI camp for a long time, but it seems that the prices on the GeForce cards are dropping faster than the Radeons (plus they apparently don't have the driver issues that the Radeons have). So I'm checking into the various GeForce cards and it seems that there is a tremendous variation in price between the different brands and I was wondering how much of the price difference in actual quality and how much of it is the name brand.

Okay i will try to break it down so it makes sense:

GeForce4 TI4600 - Top of the line and the most expensive, all the bells and whilstes
GeForce4 TI4400 - As far as i know the same card with just fewer features and a slightly lower clock speed
GeForce4 TI4200 - A lower clock speed and not half the features, probably all that is need with most games for 6-9 months, 100+ cheaper than the other two and most test suggest very good.
GeForce3 TI500 - The highest class of GF3, more expensive than the TI4200, again due to features and bus clock and memory clock
GeForce3 TI200 - Same as teh GF3 only more widely available, cheaper and lacking quite the same bells and whistles.

Any help?

Personally i have had a GeForce since the first DDR card came out, mine has always been reliable and i have never had a game not work, in fact i can't recall any serious graphical glitches. Deus Ex had a problem with it which was remedied by a patch other than that no problems