[Junkers]

I currently have an Nvidia Geforce 7500le graphics card with 512mb memory, 2gb RAM, Intel core 2 CPU 6400 processor at 2.13GHz. I was looking at a graphics card, the "XFX Nvidia Geforce 9500GT IGB PCI-E". Is the card any good, and will it require any upgrades other than the power supply? My motherboard is pretty rubbish, will I need a new one or will it be OK. If you need any more info about my PC I will try to get it. Thanks in advance for the help.

[Messer]

Junkers, 1GB video memory for the 9500GT is just pointless, I think the card has only 128-bit memory bandwidth and at most you'll need 512MB of video memory on this card. I'd suggest a 9600GT 512mb if you can afford it.


I'll use use the thread to ask a question - has anyone tried running Il-2 with ATI's new HD4670? I really need an update to run the game smoothly, but this is pretty much the only VGA that I can afford at the moment. Would it be able to run the game with decent framerates at 1280x1024 w/16AF and some AA (IMHO AA greatly improves Il-2). Currently I have an old Athlon 3500+ CPU, but I hope I'll upgrade to some cheap mid-range Phenom, so bottleneck should be a problem (only temporarily).

[Junkers]

Thanks for the reply Messer. I am afraid the 9600GT is not an option, it is too expensive. I could get the "XFX Nvidia Geforce 9600GSO 384MB", or "Nvidia Geforce 8600GT 1Gb or 256Mb" or "Nvidia Geforce 8800GS 384Mb". Bear in mind, it must support Open GL. Ultimately I would like to play IL2 on perfect settings. The 1Gb might be too much for the 9500GT but maybe it would still do the job, because it is the cheapest of all the cards I mentioned above. Thanks again.

[EQT]

Thanks for the reply Messer. I am afraid the 9600GT is not an option, it is too expensive. I could get the "XFX Nvidia Geforce 9600GSO 384MB", or "Nvidia Geforce 8600GT 1Gb or 256Mb" or "Nvidia Geforce 8800GS 384Mb". Bear in mind, it must support Open GL. Ultimately I would like to play IL2 on perfect settings. The 1Gb might be too much for the 9500GT but maybe it would still do the job, because it is the cheapest of all the cards I mentioned above. Thanks again.

my opinion its better to save money so u can afford to buy a good card instead to buy a cheep chard that u will regret lather, and remember that gfx card is one of the impotent thing on a pc, after the cpu.

my self bogth a ASUS EN9800GT HYBRIDPOWER/HTDI/1G GeForce 9800GT 1024MB DDR3 / PCI-E / 2xDVI / TV-OUT, and that one does the jobb, and worth every cent.

but that is my opinion.

[PA_Willy]

I agree. Don't buy a cheap GFX card. You will be throwing your money away.

Save money and buy a better car in the future.

[Junkers]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice. I think I will save up for a better card.

[Zooly]

I bought a PNY9800GT from my local PC World (UK) for just short of

[luther01]

the best card for the money is probably 8800 any of them. they are not new anymore so aren't that expensive but they can still perform well. 9600 gso is also good for the money, this game will not make full use of the 4870x2-type high end cards anyway.

[depalmer]

Junkers the card you considered http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150322
is on new egg going for $89.99 US dollars for exactly the same money you can get a 9600GT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814187032. The 9600 GT 512 meg with your Duel core E6400 would run faster then a 9500 GT 1 gig any day. You do not need a 1 gig frame buffer unless you are running a very large LCD. If you want to get a ATI chipset, you can get a HD 3870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102752 for exactly the same cash.
Either will run IL2 maxed out nicely at standard 19 inch monitor or LCD resolutions.

[stansdds]

Thanks for the reply Messer. I am afraid the 9600GT is not an option, it is too expensive. I could get the "XFX Nvidia Geforce 9600GSO 384MB", or "Nvidia Geforce 8600GT 1Gb or 256Mb" or "Nvidia Geforce 8800GS 384Mb". Bear in mind, it must support Open GL. Ultimately I would like to play IL2 on perfect settings. The 1Gb might be too much for the 9500GT but maybe it would still do the job, because it is the cheapest of all the cards I mentioned above. Thanks again.

my opinion its better to save money so u can afford to buy a good card instead to buy a cheep chard that u will regret lather, and remember that gfx card is one of the impotent thing on a pc, after the cpu.

my self bogth a ASUS EN9800GT HYBRIDPOWER/HTDI/1G GeForce 9800GT 1024MB DDR3 / PCI-E / 2xDVI / TV-OUT, and that one does the jobb, and worth every cent.

but that is my opinion.

Now that's good advice! Don't settle for less than what you really need or you will be sorry. I have a factory overclocked 8800GT (Zotac) with 512MB memory on a system that uses 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a Core2Duo E6850. It seems to be a great combination and fairly well matched. At this time there just aren't many applications or games that need 1GB of video memory, so 512MB is enough, but I would not consider cards with less than 512MB. With your system you need to look at the 9800GT or 8800GT, the 9600GT is ok, but not as fast as the 9800 or 8800 (fewer stream processes).

[Messer]

Well, I have a certain problem with any PC upgrade - the PSU. If I buy a more powerfull video card (like the 9800, or even HD4850) I'll need a better PSU (my current one is only 400watt) and that would leave me with my current 3500+ CPU, which would bottleneck the video. And part of the problem is that waiting doesn't help a lot - in my country hardware prices just don't drop after a certain point, sellers seem to prefer to dump older hardware than to sell in cheaply (ugh... strange mentality, but I can't do anything about it). So either way, if I want an upgrade, it'll cost a lot.

The HD4670 w/512mb of DDR3 memory seemed good to me, because its a decently powerfull card that doesn't require a high-wattage PSU. I'm just afraid it won't be able to deliver decent framerates with at least 2xAA enabled.
I'd appreciate if anyone who has the card (or similar) can make a quick test how it performs. I'd really appreciate it!

[Junkers]

Thanks for the replies. I have the same problem as Messer, I also need a new PSU. I think my processor is halfways OK, what I need to know is, will the motherboard be a bottleneck if I get a new card? Messer, where do you live? There is no way that it is as bad as Ireland. Here the 8800GT 512Mb costs 297Euros, that is 412 US Dollars :x

[Junkers]

It now seems as though I might be able to afford the 9800GT. A 680W power supply should do shouldn't it? I have two more questions, will I still get stuttering over water on the perfect setting, I heard someone say that that is a driver issue and cannot be fixed. Is there a chance that I will be able to play SOW BOB with the new setup? Thanks.

[stansdds]

It now seems as though I might be able to afford the 9800GT. A 680W power supply should do shouldn't it? I have two more questions, will I still get stuttering over water on the perfect setting, I heard someone say that that is a driver issue and cannot be fixed. Is there a chance that I will be able to play SOW BOB with the new setup? Thanks.

680 Watts is more than enough as long as it is a quality PSU, not some cheap, no-name unit. Never buy a cheap PSU, they usually fail and can fry other parts of your computer during the failure. As for the stuttering over water, it's not bad with my 8800GT, it's there, but even with water=4 it is not bad. I can eliminate the stuttering by turning off VSync and enabling Triple Buffering, but that result in screen tearing when I pan my view.

[Junkers]

The PSU is X-Power, I think I remember somebody telling me they were good quality. Should I be worried about the connector types on the PSU or are they all the same standard?