Hello. This is my first post.

I'm building a new pc for Age of Conan and I am unsure as to what Graphics card to get.

I'm looking at the 8800 GTX 'Extreme', or maybe a combo of 2 9600s, or perhaps wait for the RAdeon 4800 series.

My first question is, will the 8800 GTX Extreme run AoC on the highest settings? Comfortably?
Secondly, has anyone combined 2 88xx, 2 96xx or 2 98xx cards together?

Thank you

Not sure if a single 8800gtx can max it out, as the game haven't came out yet. But the gtx cost almost twice as much as a g92 8800gts right now, for around the same performance. It's safe to say 2 g92 8800gts in sli can certainly max it out.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] p/?page=11

That's a bit dissapointing. I was hoping I could rely on the 8800gtx extreme to pull it off. I think I'll go for 2 lesser cards, or even wait for the new ATIs to make an entrance.

A single gtx is still fast, and could pull a lot of things off. It's just severely overpriced for its performance.

Here's a full graph. G92 8800gts is the highest, but cost the most, 9600gt is lowerest, and cheapest. The 9800gx2 far outperform any single gpu card, but both cost more and perform lower than g92 8800gts sli.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/02 [...] up/?page=8

Thank you very much for the graph, it tidies a lot of things up for me. The 9800GX2 looks to be way ahead of the rest. Maybe that will be the one to go for.

I have been scouring the forums here (awesome one stop web site), and I have learned a lot, but it still isn't as clear to me which card to go for.

OP, I think it would help our suggestions if we knew what your other computer specifications are. Inlcuding what resolution you game at and how big your monitor is. For instance, if you have a 19" monitor 1280X1024 resolution, it is very possible that a single 8800 G92 GTS would do the trick, or even the GTX extreme which you seem to like. Keep in mind the GTX will only provide better results at higher resolutions including AA (to fully utilize the 768 meg of ram onboard the card). Keep in mind these better results will not be much more than 10 %. Check out Tom's Hardware's Desktop VGA Charts for a better comparison. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] 6,581.html. Sadly they don't have the G92 listed, but if you reference the 8800 GT OC, you should get very similar results. You should note that the 8800 GT beats if not just barely loses almost every benchmark. Without knowing the rest of your configuration I would say that the GTS would be enough. Please fill us in with more details so we can better assist you.

someone has too much money...... jk just get a 8800 g92 card... doesn't matter if ts a GT or GTS.. the graphics don't look to amazing.. so they should run it fine at any res except 2560 by 1600

i think a single GTX can pull it off.
Two 8800GTS's Sli may do it.
Or two 8800GT. Those are really fast combo's


But i myself am waiting for the new 4000 series or the new GT200's

Thanks for the feedback.

22" Samsung TFT probs at highest possible resolution.
650 Watt PSU
4 Gb Ram
CPU is an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300
Mobo, whatever takes the cpu, haven't really thought about that as of yet.

Thanks for the specifications. Knowing that you wont be CPU limited and you plan on gaming @ 1680X1050 I would go no less than an 8800 GTS. The GT might do it justice, but you might as well pay the 20$ more and get the most bang for the buck. Currently Newegg has a sale on the eVGA with a 30$ MIR for 225$ (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130325). This is also an overclocked version and I've had nothing but the best from eVGA. They also support the Step-Up Program just in case the new GT200's are that much better than the GTS. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the info. I'd say my budget for a graph. card can be stretched to £300 ($587.00). Obscene I know, but I haven't upgraded for over 7 years so I admit I am just going for it.

What are the GT200s? Sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop to be honest.

EDIT: Just did a search on the GT200s, latest nVids. I can barely keep up.

(It wouldn't let me edit my own message)

Sorry I didn't explain that further in my post. I thought you had mentioned it it the beginning. I musta mixed up a different forum post. The GT200's are the new graphics chip that is coming out from nVidia. They are due out in June and may be right up your alley. They are supposed to provide some stunning performance compared to the current gen cards. The GT200 will be an actual new release, including new architecture not just a processor refab (90nm to 65 nm 8800 GTS ---> 8800 g92 GTS). From rumors we expect that it will include a refab of the processors to 55 nm, but it is also rumored that the memory interface will be much higher which should cause some major gains. ATI's 4800 series was supposed to come first, but with the latest rumors spreading it appears that ATI will have to push back to June as well, and Nvidia might beat it into the mix. Keep in mind the Nvidia GT200 series in June will be more top end and performance users while the lower to mid-range cards will be brought out in Julyish. Take this all witha grain of salt because some of the rumors I'm sure will come true and others not. As far as concrete details, the new product should come out Juneish. ATI's products will also come out in June / July and should provide a very likeable market for consumers. If you have time to wait, you might want to do so simply because the price of the current generation will obviously lower with the new products coming out. Sorry for the lengthy post make sure and ask me any questions if I missed something. Thanks.

You've answered my question fantastically!

The Age of Conan games is out May 23rd [euro release], so the June/July release date will allow me to save for other pc stuff as well.

Perfect actually

(Now here's hoping a cpu is out there that will do it justice)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300, Yorkfield, Retail