Which graphic card for a Samsung 215TW (1680x1050)

[Stentoft]

Hi All

Well I have a small thing that i would liek to discuss, I have just recived my new monitor, a Samsung 215TW, 21" 1680x1050. And i love it

But my dilemma i now, My current setup, is about to be obselete, (p4 3.4 Ghz,2 GB pc3200 RAM, Nvidia FX 6800 Ultra) and even though it handle WoW just fine, I am having som serious trouble with newer games in the native reselution, such as HL2,Q4,F.E.A.R,Tomb Raider snd BF2. It is not unplayable, but i have to tone down the effects, to get a decent framerate.

I will be ordering my next setup som time this august, And it will most likely be a Conroe, depending on what the benchmark says. But the graphic card is a bit hard, is a 7900 GTX good enorgh now, and for future games, or should I postpone my purchase untill R600 and/or G80 hits the market this fall/winter?

I hope someone will be able to give som qualifed advice.

 

[prozac26]

Conroe is a good choice. As for the video card, it's a hard one. If you can get a 7900GTX/X1900XT, and still afford a high-end DX10 card, you should do that.

Maybe go for a lower end card, like a 7600GT, and then go for a DX10 card.

Also, if you can wait until DX10 cards before upgrading, that's a good option as well.

 

[Stentoft]

You state my dilemma, I would hate to buy a low end card, and then upgrade in 3-4 months. And i would allso hate to have to wait to buy it all untill the new cards come out.
But then again, i would also hate to buy a Highend card, that it not up to the challenge.

So anyway i need to make a choise, at the moment, i am leening towards postpone, untill R600/G80 is released. This will also give the motherboards time to matur, in terms of drivers, firmware and BIOS.

 

[rexter]

Like you said if you can wait a little longer until the new chips arive it would be worth it. Just hold your self into temptation on buying new rig 'till Christmas by then you'll have a better system than a what use to be....

 

[Heyyou27]

Even an 1900XT or 7900GTX will have trouble on 1680x1050 on some games such as F.E.A.R. and of course Oblivion.

 

[DoctorSamAdams]

I hope someone will be able to give som qualifed advice.

Get a mtherboard with integrated graphics, then install graphics card whenever you are ready.

 

[sirheck]

huh?

 

[DoctorSamAdams]

huh?

Graphics chip that is part of the motherboard, low-performing but functional. Presumably he is buying a pre-built system, then he can buy it with no graphics card and install one later, or stick his old graphics card in there temporarily if it's going unused.

 

[sirheck]

onboard graphics wont play the games he is wanting to play
the 6800 he already has is far better than onboard

 

[DoctorSamAdams]

onboard graphics wont play the games he is wanting to play
the 6800 he already has is far better than onboard

And his question was, should he postpone his computer purchase to wait for a new graphics card or should he just get a 7000 series; this way he can purchase the computer now and use it and still wait for better graphics cards to come out. :idea:

 

[4Aces]

The monitor is HDCP so I'd look at a card that's HDCP, some of Nvidia's 7900GTX's and 7900GT's are HDCP compliant thought I'd think you'd want 512mb of mem.

 

[Vinny]

What would be the point of getting a HDCP complient graphics card? As far as I understand, that's only a security feature and no software requires that for now. At least, I don't think so.

I have the same monitor and I agree that it's great. I went with a Sapphire X850XT and I can run FarCry, HL2, HL2 Episode 1, SiN Episode 1, Call of Duty 2, and Black & White 2 nearly maxed out at the resolution.

With these newer games, I won't be able to run them maxed out at 1680x1050 though.

 

[Heyyou27]

If you ever plan on playing Bluray or HD DVDs on your PC, you'll need an HDCP compliant videocard.

 

[racerboywonder]

If you ever plan on playing Bluray or HD DVDs on your PC, you'll need an HDCP compliant videocard.

Finally, a thread that deals with my monitor/video card problem!

Actually, you don't need to worry about HDCP right now (could have saved some money if I had known it would end up that way), because Hollywood has backed off a bit on implementing it soon. I think you have at least 5-6 years before they start requiring HDCP. Millions of people would be outraged if their recently-purchased $2500 widescreen LCD or $7000 plasma TV couldn't play HD and Blu-ray at full resolution a year later...I'm pretty sure the law suits would be fast and furious (Hollywood pun not intended).

Vinny, I was considering getting an X850XT with my upgrade for the short-term...you can honestly play at native resolution on the 215TW with the features maxed out?? Also, what games are using Shader Model 3.0 right now (the X850XT has SM 2.0)?