I'd like to start off by saying PLEASE don't suggest I save up money and buy a whole new system, because it's not going to happen. Anyways, I'm looking for a graphics card to suit my system best (see my computer spec's dropdown menu under avatar). Christmas is coming up, so I might as well get what I can. I was looking at a 9800 GT, but then I had a feeling it wouldn't be worth it because the rest of my system will bottleneck it, mainly in games like Crysis and Far Cry 2 where CPU demand is higher. Then I remembered how 8600's and 9600's can run Crysis and Far Cry 2 on Ultra high in the resolution I use anyways, 1024 x 768, just minus all the bells and whistles (AA, realistic physics, etc). I'm trying to stay away from ATI, mainly because I'm a Nvidia person. I'd like to keep it that way. Any suggestions, other than a whole new system, are welcomed. Thanks.
I'd say a 9500GT DDR3 or a 8600GTS 512mb is about the limit of what your going to be able to use without CPU bottleknecking, espescially at that resolution. If you want to push the boat out and don't mind the bottlekneck then you could consider a 9600GSO - it has only 384mb of memory, but that's plenty at your res. It also has enough power to last a while be worth moving over onto any new build (2 in SLI would extend it yet further). An old 320mb 8800GTS from ebay would put you in a similar boat. I'd say that any further up the ladder is pretty much pointless. You could try to reduce any bottlekecking by overclocking, if you have good cooling and are comfortable with this, though I know little about how that motherboard would cope.
yeah those are your best bet seeing as you aren't really keen on jumping into the ATi boat that is the same set of cards i would suggest to you EDIT: That and I've got an XFX 7600GT i could mail you! I jest I jest
I was looking at this: Newegg.com - MSI N9600GT 512M OC GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards It's such a great deal after the mail in rebate. The only thing I'm questioning is the "stream processors". I've never understood what these do, but I know the amount of them is usually the difference between cheaper and more expensive cards.
Stream processors is, to simplify vastly, comparable to the number of cores in a CPU. Lots of stream processors aren't always enough though, factors such as bus width, to name one of many, are also important. The best way to judge performance is just to read comparison tests. I would say that a 9600GT is overkill, even if you do overclock that P4.
The offer is too good to pass up, though. 75 dollars, when cards you don't consider 'overkill' are in the high 80's and 90's. If I can get my parents to get it for me for xmas, I think this is gonna be the one I'm getting. Thanks everybody. +rep for all.
