If i get vista, should i get DX10 card?

[spartan1121]

Im planning out what i want to upgrade on my computer this year. One of the first things i wanna do, is to get vista. Now i know people are gonna warn me about waiting for service packs ect. but i have a few reasons. One, i need media center, so that i can send video to my 360. 2, halo2 vista, which I haven't been lokking forward to tremendously, but im a halo nut. Also, ill be able to us DX10, which is just a small bonus in the short run. My second upgrade, and the one that im definately doing, is to buy a new graphics card. The question is, do i go with better performance, or do i go with direct x10? Im looking into the 8600gts and the 7950gt as my options right now. What would you guys recomend? Go with whats more future proof, or go with the better performance? Im also looking into late in the year upgrading to maybe one of those 45nm intel processors, but idk yet, since ill have to buy a motherboard with new chipsets. So, any suggestions? im gonna spend between 200-250 on a new graphics card. I may shoot for the cheapest 8800gts, but im not sure yet, that would take me about a month to save for, plus im buying vista.

 

[saltynay]

8800GS 320mb or you can get a 7900gt with evga and use the 90 day step up program

Matt

 

[plumber4578]

You wouldn't have to but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. If it's going to be a month from now to you are putting your system together maybe you should make the call then what card you are getting depending on what the prices do.

 

[spartan1121]

yeah i haven't thought about the step up program, but basically all it does is give me 90 days to find more money right? and then trade in the current card plus the extra cash, for a better card. If i get an 8800gts at all, ill just save some more, cause it's only an extra week beyond what i would have to save for an 8600gts or a 7950gt. So i may go with the 320mb 8800gts after all. I think that answers the big question, but i would also like to know if these 45nm chips intels coming out with late 07 are going to be as big of a step up as the core2's were, and also, whats AMD's equivilant, and what do we know about that?

 

[spartan1121]

You wouldn't have to but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. If it's going to be a month from now to you are putting your system together maybe you should make the call then what card you are getting depending on what the prices do.

Im not building a brand new system, im just looking for upgrades for this one. Also, how loud are those 8800gts's? Cause thats prolly one of the bigger problems with my surrent graphics card, i can't leave my computer on overnight, because of the graphics card. I can sleep with the lights and all the other fans, but this one is really loud and screetchy(don't think thats a word).

 

[saltynay]

I have one and it isn't noticeable over my Zalman 9500 at 50%

 

[plumber4578]

one thing to remember if you are even looking at getting a 8800 is it's size! HUGE! bigger than what I thought. I have a huge full tower case and that baby
hardly fit! covers up some stuff on my board - jumpers, headers, whatever else. Just something to think about. That and they require a lot of juice. I don't know about the GTS but my GTX needs two PCI power connections. If you don't have a PSU with PCI-E connecters it will use 4, 4-pin power connectors for the adapters.

 

[spartan1121]

My psu is 550 watts, and i think 2 12 rails with around 16 amps on each, and yes it has a pci-e power adapter, so i should be good. But psu is another thing im lookin into replacing, cause i've heard bad things about this antec smartpower series. Oh, and i have 2 inches to spare with this card, and if i move my HD down a few slots, ill have a good 6 inches.

 

[Nitestick]

the 8800GTS isn't so huge (apparently not much larger than a 6800GS i'm told) but the 8800GTX is undoubtedly large. my personal opinion is there still isn't that much reason to get Vista, however i'm not sure about the media centre/xbox 360 issue. if you only need a media centre app there are alternatives

 

[spartan1121]

if you could fill me in on that one, i asked in the 360 forum and no one told me about any other way then media center. That'd save me about 200 bucks, or whatever home premium is.