Looking For Graphics Card Suggestions...

WetDaddy

My oh my... What has the world of display adaptors come to? There's more acronyms recklessly flying about than you'd find in a Knoppix lover's chatroom!

Anyhoo, today I got myself a Dell 2407WFP. Very happy with the monitor so far, although I've noticed that for higher resolutions (i.e. native resolution of 1920 x 1200), my poor old graphics card (Radeon 9800 Pro - Don't laugh!) is starting to struggle.

I really don't know that much about graphics cards at the mo since I haven't been in the market for a while. I'm looking to spend upto about €200 at the most (would happily go second hand) and was wondering if anyone would have any suggestions...

Also, on a side note, does anyone else have this monitor (or something similar) and use it for gaming? How do you find it fares when it comes to scrolling, etc.?

Thanks guys!


-Seán

KdjaCL

AGP

The 7800GS would be your best bet

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=317794

290 the best available

http://www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10413&sortBy=p&minprice=&maxPrice=

the choices.

What is CPU ram situation?

kdjac

WetDaddy

Cheers, KdjaCL.

Meant to mention RAM / CPU situation in original post: 1.5GB / AMD 3200+ (runs about 2.21Ghz). Will probably be looking to upgrade motherboard and processor soon enough too (will see how funds fare after Christmas!).

Am I correct in assuming there's lots of cards out there with the SAME chipset on them (e.g. GeForce 7800GS)? If so, what's the difference between vendors? Is it just the outputs and the bundled software?

8T8

While the 7800GS is one of the better cards you can get in AGP form it is not particularly good value for money given it's performance & cost.

You don't need anything very powerful to drive the 1900x1200 display and a 9800 Pro is easily out done by today's mid-range cards. An AGP 7600GT is cheaper and faster than your 9800 Pro. An X1650 Pro will also do the job but it's not as fast as the 7600GT.

Currently the very best you can get AGP wise is the X1950 Pro which is a very new card definitely better than a 7800GS in terms of image quality & performance.

But given your CPU and the fact AGP is no longer used in current motherboards I would be hesitant buying an AGP high end card unless you know for sure you will be using that same system for some time to come.

The only difference between vendors is the bundle, outputs and cooler plus occasionally the clock speed (minor overclocks out of the box sell for a premium).

WetDaddy

Thanks 8T8. I thought as much about the different vendors (i.e. outputs and software), although I didn't know about the different outlets / heatsinks.

I probably will be updating the motherboard and processor over the next few months, so I think I'll hang on for now. Also, would it be wise to hang on for a few more DirectX 10 cards in case I choose to upgrade to Vista over the next while? I'd like a card that could last me a year or two.

8T8

Yeah cheaper DX10 cards will come along with in the first few months of 07 though the high end GeForce 8 line already out are DX10.

Depends on how you look at it if you buy mid-range stuff you will be always be at the mercy of performance issues whereas the high end gear tends to last much longer.

In general DX10 upgrades should be less of an issue in the long run as well so the cards should last longer.

Also my mistake their in the previous post I was referring to the 2D display & the 1900x1200 resolution while a 7600GT can push some games at that level they will be older titles. If you want all they eye candy enabled with AA/AF at 1900x1200 you need a high end card simple as that.