Video Card Opinion

[Tithis]

Well I finaly saved up the money to get my new graphics card. I've decided on the 256mb Gigabyte Geforce 7600GS.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125028
I picked it since it seemed like the best bang for buck and I'm on a very tight budget. Also it matches my motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813128320
I figured I'm pretty much garenteed compatibility.


So how do you think the card will fare, is it a good choice? I started upgrading my computer in preperation for Spore, but that doesnt mean I dont want to try some other games . Also note that while my ram is only 768mb but I will be bringing it up to a gig in a month (I'm getting a free 512mb stick).

[jfk]

For a little more money, I'd get this one as it has GDDR3 memory instead of GDDR2. It will be faster.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130054

Just another option.................

[Tithis]

Thanks but no thanks. It takes a long time for me to save up money since I'm a highschool student with no job, the only reason I can buy this now is because I unexpectantly got some extra cash.

[Al Pollock]

After reading the link to the newegg site about that MB .....the review was not very good ...

AL

[Alaron]

Al, the poster asked about a video card, not motherboard.

Tithis, the 7600GS is a fine choice. I'd switch to this one, eVGA makes nice cards, and its a bit cheaper after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130020

Be sure you have at least a 350w PSU.

[newbuilder14]

^ Well, you should be sure you have a 350w PSU by principle, BUT... my P4 build as seen below in sig uses a 305w PSU with no problems.

[Al Pollock]

I realize the question was about the MB, but if you read the reviews posted on new egg if I recall therewere problems with a video card because of the MB....

[glc]

Newegg reviews must be taken with a grain of salt. Forums are a much better source of information because there will be responses.

[Tithis]

I just decided I should say what I ended up doing.

I ended up getting the Gigabyte 7600GS like I planned. So far I am pretty happy with my choice. I've been playing Half Life 2 1024x768(my LCD's res) with absolutely everything on full (40-70 fps). After I applied some artic silver to the graphics card my temps have been 55-60 idle, 70's gaming(its passive cooling) The only other game I've tried is Oblivion (I borrowed it from a friend but just returned it ) which played on medium/high 1024x768. I did notice that there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in frame-rate for Oblivion if I use HDR or not. So I think I'm getting bottle necked somewhere, I'd guess my CPU. However a CPU upgrade with have to wait till after I finally rid myself of my E-machine case and get a Centurion 5

I did have some issues with the card so far though. Very surprising was its issues with both my integrated sound and Ethernet. My sound configuration started going screwy as soon as I installed the card. Certain plugs wouldn't work and always identified things wrong (speakers getting recognized as mic's and line-ins) I reinstalled XP to try to fix it, but due to the graphics card my motherboard install disk didn't install nForce chip-set drivers. So I had to remove the card till I installed them.
(note: I don't like the PCI-E lock system. Its a pain to unlock inside a micro-ATX case)

Another issue was getting the card to output the correct aspect ratio to the TV. I needed to install older drivers (a bug many people are having with the new drivers that Nvidia wont seem to fix)

So although I am happy with the performance I am disappointed with Gigabyte and Nvidia. I'm not sure I'll use either of them again in the future. I'm just glad everything is working perfectly now.

edit (answers to posts)
Alaron: I looked at the EVGA card earlier, however I didnt pick it for several reasons.
1. It has a fan (when I get a centurion case I plan to use quiet fans)
2. Gigabytes version is more powerful, its core is clocked at 450mhz opposed to EVGA's 400mhz.
3. Wanted the card to match motherboard, both manufacturer wise and look wise (both are blue with gold heatsinks)
newbuilder14: I have a 400w FSP power supply, so its getting enough power