Looking to buy a video card

[Tyler1989]

I'm looking to buy a video card with 128-256 megs. Can someone please tell me what are good ones to buy.

Also instead of just giving names tell me what makes a good video card and what I should be looking for. Do 128 or 256 megs really a differance what indicates the cards speed and other things.

 

[burned-ati]

all i have to say is 6600gt evga or leadtek........ they will run any game on almost max settings assuming u have itleast a gig of memory. for the demanding games now days lol.. but 480 wont do it if u want to run nowdays games at good settings

 

[burned-ati]

256mb is not needed its really just drawing people in to buying it... all u need is 128mb. games nowdays dont even use 128mb to tell u the truth. u should worry about bandwidth memory clocks and core clocks.. but all u need is a 6600gt and more memory and you will run anything thats thrown at you.

 

[Calzinger]

First off you do not want to base your decision on the amount of memory. It's almost meaningless. For example, I have a 5700 LE with 256 MB RAM. However, a 6600 GT with 128mb RAM would defeat it by far.

You should be looking for a card with high clock and memory speeds. Make sure to look at the memory interface. A 256-bit card will have drastically different clock speeds over a 128-bit card, even though they may perform reasonably precise.

A 6800 GT is 350/1000 stock and can play any game that is out there currently on full blast settings with some AA & AF. Based upon that, you can cut off the speeds for what your budget and how much performance you find necessary.

 

[joshd]

the more pipelines, higher memory and core clocks the better. size of memory doent make a huge difference, but may well do in the future, when games will load huge textures etc into it. if your going to get a 256 card, get a top end one, otherwise, get a good 128 card, its cheaper. it all depends on how long you want the card to last before upgrading

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

With your thinking joshd, the 6600GT at 500/1000 should beat out the 6800...

 

[joshd]

maybe, but what about a 6800 Ultra or one of the 7**** series, do they have 256 memory?

 

[Tyler1989]

Actually I'm a peson who doesn't play games I'm building this PC as a christmas present to my 2nd yougnest cousin who is 9. I'm not sure what kind of games he plays but I want to build him a PC that will not be outdated for 6 years.


burned-ati this isn't for my current computer it's forthe one I'm building and it has 2 gigs I am thinking about shoving in another half gig though. About bandwidth memory clocks and core clocks how important are these two and what do they do. Is there a place you can find these specs on a box at the store?

 

[Diabetic]

6 years, thats a bit steep aint it. Most hardware (for gaming) lasts like 2 years before it really starts to show its age.

Anyways, once i get back in i'll post some info on good video cards (also, whats your price range?)

 

[joshd]

i dont think a 9 year old would need a 6600GT. i dont think that he plays games that would actually merit one does he? sorry if he does...