Need some insight

[DragonFire]

Hello all,

It's been awhile since I've followed the workings of video cards. I have been thinking of upgrading mine and wanted some feedback.

System Specs:
Antec True Power 550
DFI UT nF4 SLI-D
2GB OCZ PC3200
AMD Opteron 170


I currently have a XFX 7800GT, I play all games at 1400x900 with 8x or 16AF 0xAA, most or all other settings on MAX. Games that I might play are:

F.E.A.R
Supreme Commander
C&C 3
Perhaps Halo 2 for Vista....
I would like to play them at 1440x900 with at least 2xAA and 16xAF with everything else Maxed....

Games I know I'll be playing in the next year:
UT 2007
Unreal 3
Crysis
Half-Life EP 2
I can settle on putting some settings on med and/or have no AA to keep these games playable at 1440x900.

The max I am looking to spend is around $400. At the moment I am debating between a 8800 320MB and a 640MB version. So knowing the above, could I get feedback on perhaps why it be better to get the 640MB version? Would the 640MB be better even if I perhaps plan on upgrading again in say 1-1.5 years? If everyone is for sure I can get by with the 320MB version that be great (save $) Anyone know of any real good deals for either version?

 

[n7]

320 MB version is quite fine for 1440x900.

The reason i'd buy the 640 MB one is for higher resolutions. (1920x1200+)

Till you run at higher resolutions like that, the extra RAM isn't really needed. Bear in mind the eventual slew of newer DX10 games may mean more vRAM usage at lower resolutions, but i suspect 320 MB should still be fine for a while.

Other thing to keep in mind is that franky, the only card that's likely to somewhat hold it's own for the newer titles is the 8800 GTX/Ultra.

So you might be smartest going with the 320 MB card & then selling & buying the next gen ATi/nV card anyway.

 

[DragonFire]

Never mind....