Best Video Card

Can someone please suggest a good video card that I won't have to download alternate drivers to? (Just official ones)

A decent card for $100 or less, that will actually work with SL, and also other games I may have.

I realize this isn't a whole lot of information but I don't know much about computers. (I have Windows XP if that helps.) Isn't there any card that is pretty good for SL that I don't have to download extra stuff for, and won't cost an arm and leg?

Thanks.

Try a nVidia 8600GT. It's about a two year old card and is really pretty reasonable in the price range since the 8800's came out. I'm like you, I only use drivers developed by the manufacturer and nVidia has new drivers on their web site that work very well with SL. I have Vista now but I had this same card in my old XP machine and it worked very well there too.

I run roughly 30 to 50 frames per second in most regions in SL with the card set at quality instead of performance........that's all the bells and whistles nVidia offers with that card. I also run the current SL client in a custom setting that has everything turned on except nearby local lighting (and I even occassionally turn that on and still see the same frame rates). And, I'm running Vista which is much more memory aggessvie than XP.

Good luck.

Yep Peggy is right for that $ 8600GT should be adequate.

Thanks a bunch.

I got the 6200 and have nothing but problems with it. All I get is the Crash Logger.

<--<< Another 8600GT fan here... No lag on me. (^_^)y

Yeah... get a 8600... then find out your MB only supports AGP..... when is cheap NOT?

Checkout your system, upgrading a GC may not be feesible on its own.

Best AGP graphics card then?

I can't attord a MB and graphics upgrade at the moment, is there a good AGP graphics card for SL? Preferably Nvidia because of other games I need to be able to run.

Best you can get for AGP is the 7900gs, and that's a darn skippy card.

Without more system info -- you may need a better power supply.

These would work easy ;
7600gt 256mb ddr3 agp
7900gs 512mb ddr3 agp

Only ones i could find.

But be prepared to pay nearly as much as a 9600gt 512mb gddr3, cause agp isnt very cheap, + you might get power issues if you have a low psu.

I'm Running a 7600GT & it performs brilliantly... With its 512MB of memory textures are no longer a pain ... A couple of weeks ago I was running an MX440 now that was painfull...

You should be able to get one for very cheap ,mine only cost 50 GBP brand new, Be aware though you will need a decent power supply for any of the nvidia 7 series cards ...

i would say go Nvidia anyway .

SL is not compatible with the lastest ATI drivers so dont even bother looking ATI

beside the more i talk to CSR about it the more i start to think SL is not even interrested in ATI users ...

now on a more serious view. ATI is really getting down lately. there are 2 games that aren't working with ATI, dark and light and SL and the list is growing. they do not provide drivers for the laptops anymore so people with dell toshiba and so are stuck with drivers old from mid 2006, ATI driver from after may 2007 aren't working with SL and for some reason make distorded font on SL if not overload your processor with graphic instead of putting your graphic card to work. so if you play SL well go Nvidia at least you will be certain it works for SL and Nvidia works for all as far as i know.

Do not buy ATI, there is no compatability, I have one. It's hell. nVidia is apparently the best, but go for a 512, which may be more than 100 bucks. The lower end, a 256, isn't really going to offer that much difference. Just from experience. My ATI is 512, but I have a laptop with a 256, it's really quite ridiculous, so slow.

thanks

Think I'll look into a new power supply and get the 7900.

Seems like I need to elaborate a bit more on my post.... You need to make sure a new GC is what you need, and if you do, what is the best your system/and you, can afford?

No point rushing out and buying a new GC, when you don't know the difference between PCI-E and AGP, let alone a power supply. You may spend $100 and find A) None of it will fit. B) You already have the best for your system.

If possible, post specs of your existing system, then people can give you proper advice.

Apologies to the OP for trying to 'muscle in' on the thread..

I know very little about the inner workings of the mighty computer and I'm also looking to upgrade a little but as to how..I'm not so sure. I would like to get a better graphics card and some more memory....

CPU: Intel Core 2 Series Processor (1999 MHz)
Memory: 1022 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce 7500 LE/PCI/SSE2

The above specs are what I currently have.... would anyone have any suggestions as to how I could improve. I have a desktop which is a Packard Bell, and in about an hour and a half, I'll be leaving my abode to pay a visit to PC World to possibly make a purchase or two..lol

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks.

More memory will benefit both SL and the OS (Vista), Vista can handle more than the 3gb that XP can handle, so the more the merrier. A new GC would also benefit, the 7500 LE is a light weight card, in the 7 series, go for a 7900 GT or GTX, the 8 series, the 8600 is good at a suffix of GT or GTX, or the 8800. Either way, keep away from LE and GS, neither of which have the full potential of the GT and GTX, those also mainly come with more onboard memory, and do not use system memory by default.

Only the 64 bit version of either Vista or XP.

The 3.5G limit is an addressing problem with 32 bit operating systems.

"GS" is fine, it indicates an AGP version of a PCIE card.

Does SL support the nVidia 9600GT ? I don't see the 9xxx series in the Hardware requirements page.

Only if my Bank Managers initials aren't SL....

I toyed with the idea of have a couple of those in a SLi config... but when the price comes down to a more sane level.

The price is only $160.00. So is it supported or no?

Yes.

ONLY?.... A pair at $160 each, is ONLY?

I do not want to ONLY payout $320 for something that may give me an extra 10fps, when I can already get more than the Sim can supply, nor will it cure the memory leaks, or the runtime library crashes in the client, or keep be connected when SL keeps borking the programme.. when it's more stable and the advantages are tangible, then maybe yes.

Actually, the 9600GT has probably the best value of all cards out there. It's almost exactly as fast as the 8800 GT (the difference is about 5-10%), and costs a LOT less (about half the price around here). The 9600GT is also at least twice as fast as the 8600 GT, and it can be a huge difference if twice means 30 FPS instead of 15. And I'm only talking about one card, no SLI. Honestly, I haven't seen any game that you can't run perfectly fine with a single 9600GT, so putting 2 in your machine is almost useless.

Edit: I forgot to add, that the 9600GT has a much-much lower power consumption than the cards of the 7xxx and 8xxx series, so you get your investment back in a few months, because of the lower electricity bills, and you're PSU will be a lot happier too.

On the other hand, you only need a card like that for Crysis or other top games. Almost any new graphic card is good enough for SL. RAM is more of a concern in SL, especially with Vista, although 2 Gbyte should be enough.

I agree with that analysis, however as I make machinima in SL at very high settings (ultra), resolutions of 1600x1200, some SLi configurations have their advantages. If you compare the various core/ram settings of the various nVidia range, given that I use overclocked and not 'domestic' versions, the 7 and 8 series can be more powerful. I run dual 8800GT overclocked GC's, which negate me wanting to spend anymore money for the foresseable future, hence my comment ONLY lol..