Purchase new card

[Navid]

I am in the market to upgrade my graphics card (9600 pro).

I see all the comparison betwen different cards in these forums. But, I haven't seen the monitor being mentioned as a part of the equation. Why?

I only have a 17" monitor. Will I need as fast a card as someone who has a 20" monitor to get the same smoothness?
I mean I play all my games at 1024x768 and I never see any rough edges. But, wouldn't someone with a 20" monitor need to increase the screen resoltion to get the same smoothness?

If I get a very fast card, wouldn't it be an overkill for my monitor?

Anyway, I would like to not spend more than $200 on a card knowing how fast the prices drop.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions,

Navid

 

[DerwenArtos12]

screen size does mean something but very very little when it comes to IQ, now you do have the potential for higher framerates because you can run in a lower resolution. I used to play only in 10x7 too. there is not that big a difference between taht and 12x10 but I LOVE 16x12. there is definatly a distinct difference. the biggest proponent of great IQ is AA and AF. on your 17 you should be fine with 10x7 you really should wich will allow you to turn your aa.af hugher than someone with 16x12. I woudl recomend you a 6800 non-ultra if you can afford it, if not then go with a 9800 and overclock it.

 

[Navid]

Thanks for your reply.

My previous card was MX420. I played Halo with that. Then, I got my 9600 pro. I was surprised by how different things looked in Halo. I was missing lots of colors. In some scenes I did not even know I was standing in water (with my MX420 card)!

Would there be such an improvement now if I upgrade from 9600 pro, or is it just higher FPS, which will allow me to increase AA and AF?

I can afford the card. I just hate to buy something and see its price halved in a few months!

Navid

 

[CraigRT]

If you buy an expensive card, you can for one, sell your current card on eBay or to someone else you know, and secondly, even if the price drops, you can sell your current card and buy a new one again.. that's what i do.. I sold my 9700 Pro a few months ago for a 9800 pro which only cost me less than $100 USD to upgrade, and now I am going to sell the 9800 Pro and use the money towards a new card.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Navid
Thanks for your reply.

My previous card was MX420. I played Halo with that. Then, I got my 9600 pro. I was surprised by how different things looked in Halo. I was missing lots of colors. In some scenes I did not even know I was standing in water (with my MX420 card)!

Would there be such an improvement now if I upgrade from 9600 pro, or is it just higher FPS, which will allow me to increase AA and AF?

I can afford the card. I just hate to buy something and see its price halved in a few months!

Navid

yeah pretty much. I was actually asking if you could afford the 6800NU as it actually beats the 9800 most of the time.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Navid
I am in the market to upgrade my graphics card (9600 pro).

I see all the comparison betwen different cards in these forums. But, I haven't seen the monitor being mentioned as a part of the equation. Why?

I only have a 17" monitor. Will I need as fast a card as someone who has a 20" monitor to get the same smoothness?
I mean I play all my games at 1024x768 and I never see any rough edges. But, wouldn't someone with a 20" monitor need to increase the screen resoltion to get the same smoothness?

If I get a very fast card, wouldn't it be an overkill for my monitor?

Anyway, I would like to not spend more than $200 on a card knowing how fast the prices drop.

Thanks a lot for any suggestions,

Navid

I have a nice 19inch CRT but rarley play over 10x7 because everythign looks mini to me if I do and I don't like it. regardless of resolution a bigger monitor is nice.

 

[Johnbear007]

personally I think the non ultra isnt a very good buy at 300$ ... at 225 or 250 it would be great but 3 is just too much for what you get, especially after seeing that the doom 3 engine really wants at least 256 mb of ram. If you go nexgen go all the way, if not then save that extra 100$ and upgrade in a year to a nexgen with 256mb

 

[Navid]

Let's say we have 2 monitors, one 15" and one 21". We connect them to two identical computers. We play the same game at the same screen resolution on both. Do they look the same (smooth edges)?

I think (perhaps incorrectly) that to get the same level of smoothness, the computer with the larger monitor needs to run at a higher screen resolution. A higher screen resolution results in lower FPS.

Can you point me to information on the web to read about the effect of (or no effect of) monitor size on the required FPS?

 

[reallyscrued]

hahahhah omg my name is navid too! no joke...its persian rite?

well anyway about ur question...if both the monitors are at same res and the picture is stretched all across the screen, im pretty sure u get less jaggies on the smaller one. ur thought is correct from what i see with my two computers.

BTW, im buying a 6800NU in a couple of weeks also. the free farcry and the card is a steal IMO at 287. but from what i've noticed, its the ABSOLUTE WORST PERFORMER OF THE DX9C cards. im not quite sure now if i should just go back one generation....my other choice was the 9800pro 256meg edition. i was told doom3's textures could run one notch higher with more mem (it needs 512 for full) but will the R350 core be able to keep up? from what ive seen, there is no 256meg edition of the 6800...yet idiotic companies add 256 megs coupled with an FX 5200! but then again, the 6800 is like ~30 - 50% faster than the 9800pro, am i correct?