Should I buy a card now or wait until DX10?

[Chengora]

Hi all,

This is my first post, and I was wondering what you thought about either purchasing a new graphics card now or waiting until the DirectX 10 cards come out. The most intensive thing I use my computer for is to play some games, although more like Civ 4 or RPGs rather than first person shooters.

I've been waiting for a couple different components to come out in order to build a new computer (my first build!), but I'm wondering if it's worth it to wait and purchase a DirectX 10 card. I'm concerned that since games which are only DX10 compatible won't be coming out until 2008 or so (or so other people on these boards have said), that I might as well get a cheaper but solid DX9 graphics card, and simply wait a couple years for ATI and nVidia to work out the bugs in their new generation of cards. Also, I'm thinking that the first DX10 cards are going to be out of my budget anyway.

Any thoughts? And thanks!

 

[kaotao]

I might as well get a cheaper but solid DX9 graphics card, and simply wait a couple years for ATI and nVidia to work out the bugs in their new generation of cards. Also, I'm thinking that the first DX10 cards are going to be out of my budget anyway.

Looks like you answered your own question.

 

[Guest]

Yup as mentionned you said it yourself, only thing is that it might drive the price down somewhat, especially on ATi part while nVidia already has their DX10 part... But then again you have to wait some =)

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

This question has been asked so many times, my computers screen hurts.

Why wait for DX10? As I've said a million times before, the moment Vista ships, it's HIGHLY doubtfull that all DX9 games will vanish and DX10 will spawn 20+ titles in 3 months.

Besides, the public inception to VISTA will really be the deciding factor here - and so, game developers will be hard pressed to just focus on DX10 games.

I say, get a gcard now, cos life is just to damn short to wait for MS and their new OS and all the bells and whistles that comes witth it, incl DX10.

 

[prozac26]

If you need an upgrade now, then upgrade now.

Vista and DX10 will need probably 2-6 months to blend in, and go mainstream, so upgrading now wouldn't really be a waste.

 

[TSIMonster]

While I agree fully, don't go getting any crazy sli setups or anything like that. A simple 7900GTO or x1900xt 256 will suffice for a good while. Even the x850 is holding up well. I can play anything I want at resonable framerates at 1024x768 and 1280x1024. DX10 cards will be nice because maybe we can finally run oblivion outdoors and get decent rates

 

[danny9894]

Yea getting a 7600GT and then a year from now buy a new card. A year from now the DX10 cards should be very well perfected

 

[big_tuna]

if the computer you are using now is working good with the games you play now then wait to upgrade.when you get ready to build see what your budget is like and the cost of components are, and budget for your card then.i'm thinking there will be a whole host of dx10 cards at several price points like now (6600 7600 7800 7900 etc) and see what you like.i just used nvidia for example ,ati has same 1600,1800 1900 series but they will all hit the market at low mid and premium range prices when it happens

 

[Chengora]

Thanks for the suggestions. Sorry if I made my decision sound a bit one-sided. I'm pretty certain that I'll go with a DX9 card now and make the upgrade later. Now, I just need to figure out if I want a C2D 6400 or 6600. Thanks again!

 

[Doughbuy]

Its your money, you decide whats more important. DX10 games won't come out for a while, but when they do, will you buy a DX10 card? If yes, then might as well wait for a DX10 card, if not, then buy a good card now.

If your on a budget and want to game, the e6400 is fine. Tom's just did a nice article on OC'ing it with stock, so your set there.

 

[purdueguy]

I agree with several of the folks above and say get an X1900XT 256MB. It's only $245 at chiefvalue.com and is the best bang for the buck.

As far as the E6400 or E6600, that would depend on whether or not you plan on OC'ing. If you are not going to OC, then get the E6600. If you do, then get the E6400. The reason. Here.

 

[Dahak]

I would upgrade now cause you just know they'll come out with something sick in a year or so for graphics cards.But like others have said,it will take awhile to work the bugs out so an upgrade as soon as Vista comes out is not advisable.there are a few DX9 cards out there that kick butt now and are fairly affordable.Goodluck.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU

 

[Chengora]

Wow, again, thanks for the responses. I only learned about Toms' Hardware recently, and I'm amazed by how knowledgeable everyone is.

No, I don't expect that I will purchase DX10 games as soon as they come out. I tend to lag behind on game purchases, and the games that I get (outside of Oblivion) aren't that graphics intensive anyway. I might wait for the nVidia 8800, but only so that it can push prices down and just out of curiosity.

As for the 6400 or 6600 thing, still considering. I don't use that many processor-intensive applications (really just Word, and likely more Excel in the future for economic modeling). And from Tom's benchmarks, it doesn't seem like there's a huge frame rate difference in games between one and the other. But perhaps I should move this post to the processor section?

 

[Talon]

Heres another option for you. Buy THIS CARD now and enjoy the hell out of the upgrade for a month or so. If new cards hit in Nov. like they are scheduled and you decide you think they are the hotness and must have one then read THIS.

Buy now and enjoy, upgrade with step-up and your 7900GTO is essentially a down-payment atm so you can enjoy the 8800GTX or whatever in a month or two.

Like I said just tossing an option out there that wasn't exactly covered yet. Hope you are happy with whatever decision you make.

 

[DimDim]

What do you guys think on waiting for DX10 cards for a laptop or buying one with a ATI X1600 now?

 

[Talon]

I'll be honest with you, I am not sure of the situation on laptops.
Having said that I can make an educated guess that it will be a little while after the desktop DX10 GPUs are released that we can expect any movement in the laptop area. It may be a few months, possibly longer. If you are using that laptop for gaming then I'd wait personally because the slot for the new DX10 cards for laptops may very well not be compatible and thus not a drop-in part for what you could buy now.

If you just game on it occasionally when you aren't at a desktop or such I might go ahead and make the purchase if you're in need of a new laptop.

Maybe someone more up to date on laptop plans might respond for you

 

[Chengora]

Just remember that If your going to get a powerful video card you dont want to skimp out on a good CPU, it would cause a bottlneck in your performance.

That's true, although either the 6400 or 6600 would be a good choice, no? In Tom's benchmarks, they seem pretty comparable, except for the processor-heavy applications. I'd probably be pairing it (for a couple years) with a 7600 GT, so I think that should provide decent (although not top of the line) graphics and processing... Or, if I'm saving money on the card anyway, I might as well get a better processor...

Ugh, too many choices.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Well the MRX1600 isn't too bad for a laptop, it's almost near a desktop X1600XT, and while there are better solutions out there, it's OK for now (about as good as GFGO6800 better than the GFGO7600GS) until you get into the better solutions like the GFGO7800/7900 and MRX1800 series. The MRX1700 is also out now which is better than the other two, but still not the MRX1700 originally promised.

 

[brick88]

The games you outlined are more processor intensive than graphics intensive. either way i would just go get a solid graphics card as the only dx10 exclusive game going to be released is halo 2. if you have the extreme urge to play the game you could always go out and borrow someones xbox. so yeah definitely the graphics card.