Help me choose a video card...

[morkus64]

Ok, so i've been doing a lot more design work lately, and as much as I hate to admit it, that probably trumps my gaming. I'm looking for something that will do well in photoshop, maya, 3dsmax, and illustrator, especially when doing live trace with extremely sensitive settings in illustrator and rendering in maya.

Currently i have a P4 2.8 w/ 1 gig of pc3200 and an fx5900 ultra... I need to be able to get my next card for 500 or less, and if you recommend going for a new mobo with PCIe, then that's got to come from that budget as well. I don't mind going used, and I don't mind sticking with agp for a little while longer.

I also want to be able to play my games with decent detail... Generally i play things like Sims2, Guild Wars, Longest Journey, FIFA Soccer, Civ3... though I do like to dive into KOTOR2 and C&C Generals now and again.

Danke.

 

[morkus64]

wow... nothing?

 

[blckgrffn]

Sorry, man, workstation graphics aren't my thing I would think that a 5900U would be decent though!

Nat

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

if can spend 500 and you want to, get a 7800gtx for anything. if not the 5900ultra is fine.

 

[hans030390]

yes, for less than $500, you can't get a better card than a 7800gtx...or wait, are you on AGP? in that case, the best card you can get is a 6800ultra. (ok, so the x850 is better, but it doesnt have shader model 3!!!)

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: hans030390
yes, for less than $500, you can't get a better card than a 7800gtx...or wait, are you on AGP? in that case, the best card you can get is a 6800ultra. (ok, so the x850 is better, but it doesnt have shader model 3!!!)

YEAH SM3 for MAYA RENDERING AND CIV 3 W00TNESS!!
Just get a x850xt.

 

[Munky]

I think you have to decide what's more important to you: games or 3d rendering. I know workstation cards like the Quadro and FireGL are better at 3d rendering than gaming cards, but they're not so good at gaming. Gaming cards like the 7800gtx are just the opposite.

 

[blckgrffn]

But a workstation card should still be able to game... fun stuff You pay a lot to be able to use them fancy drivers!

 

[morkus64]

I know there was something i read a while back about basically softmodding a 5900 or something into a quadro... anyone know more about that?

Would that be a good option for me?

 

[mwmorph]

yes, but games will suffer a lot. something like at least a 50% decreasein game speed due to the new bios.