Video Card Recommendations

I'm typing this message while still on my trail account.

After playing the game for a little while I can tell I need to upgrade my video card. It's a cheap piece of crud anyway and I'm not surprised it crashed when I even get near certain sims.
So I've decided to go ahead a signup for a month to get a better feel for the game, but before I do I wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations for what card I should get.
Second Life and TS2 are the most graphic intense games I'll play with it so i doubt I'll need too much, but I wanted to see if there were certain cards having more problems or during better then others.

Thanks

Well, avoid ATI at all costs, is my first recommendation. Second: Linden Lab has this cool promo going on with certain nVidia cards. See www.secondlife.com/newsletter for more info. You can save $25 (I think, maybe more) on some cool cards (one of which I own, it rocks!). I have the GeForce FX 5600 w/256mb, I recommend it. However, if you can afford a bit more, go with a 5900, or maybe one of those new spiffy models that I cannot remember. If you want to go inexpensive, at the least, a GeForce 4 (NOT MX) or GeForce FX 5200.

General player concensus : avoid ATI!

I have a nVidia GeForce 4 Ti4800, and I've had no problems whatsoever. I think Linden Labs are currently recommending the GeForce FX range? Can't find the right thread to confirm...

IMHO the FX 5600 is the best bang for your buck as far as SL is concerned, though an FX 5200 or even a used Ti 4200 would suffice, if money is a concern to you.

Thanks for the quick response. I think I'll go with the 5600 w/256 mb, although the eva website doesn't seem to have the option of buying it there, newegg has it for 150 with free shipping.

I would wait and get a Geforce FX 5700. It is pretty much the same price as a 5600, but is much faster.

Don't get the 5200, it is the Ford Pinto of the FX series. It's the 5xxx equivalent of the hated "MX" cards.

I just picked up a FX 5900 for $220, tax included, free shipping. I like the way my pants ripple while I fly around. Check PriceWatch for the best prices.

nVidia cards generally score higher on OpenGL apps, whereas ATi cards generally score higher on DirectX apps. The ATi Radeon 9xxx series also have better 2.0 pixel and vertex shaders than nVidia, and are better DirectX 9 cards for this reason. This is something to take into consideration if you are one of the legions of people slavering over the Half-Life 2 release. However, Second Life is an OpenGL game and does not use the 2.0 pixel or vertex shaders, so for the hardcore SLer, the GeForce FX 5600 or better is a great choice.

Please keep in mind, however, that getting a killer video card is not going to automatically supercharge your SL experience. If you are running a "slow" CPU like I am (P4 1.5 which I bought in 2001), a newer video card is going to help somewhat, but you'll still see it chunking while you are moving around. Also my motherboard only supports AGP 4X, and the 5900 is an 8X card, so that is also a limiting factor. Generally upping your CPU and motherboard resources are the most surefire way to get better performance out of SL. There are guys with 2.0 and faster CPUs with old video cards, and they get better framerates than I do with my 1.5 and this 5900.

Still... watching all the nifty effects, like my pants legs rippling in the wind, is great.

I had upgraded my computer, before I started playing. 2500 althon XP and good nvida mobo, along with a half gig on good memory. I'm going to go with the 5600, I figure it should be enough for a good second life, along with being enough for TS2 when it comes out.