Another video card question

I run 7300 LE and am thinking to upgrade to a 8600 GT which I heard is better so would it be better for me to upgrade to a 256 or a 512?

Everybody here is going to say 512. Thats like asking if you should drive your dad's Volvo or a brand new BMW.

Make sure your computer can even take that upgrade. It also won't make any sense to upgrade the video card when everything else on the computer is FUBAR.

depends ... whats the rest of your system, maby you could get a few other cheap upgrades that would benefit your performance MUCH more than extra video ram

and yea a 7300le is kind of a "el-cheapo" card you would be better off with a 8600GT

For those who don't already know this:

Anything with the suffix "LE" is usually a slightly crippled version. I think both ATI and Nvidia take chips that don't perform up to specs and put them on budget cards. If you have to choose between, for example, a 7300GS and a 7300LE, the GS will perform much better.

When it comes to memory, in all cases, the more the better.

yea but in SL''s case video memory doesnt do much performance wise, thats why i was interested in the op's system specs

ie maby they only have 512mb of ram well more system ram would benefit the op rather than video ram

or maby they have a celeron, and could get a P4

ect ect ect

Another thing to consider, is the power consumption of the new fandangled GC you are proposing. Make sure your MB and PSU are up for the task... might want to consider adding more case fans as well.

Judging by the posts I've seen here about the nVidia 8 series cards.. I'd stick with a 7900gt or something close.

There'll be a big jump up from a 7300LE to a 8600GT or a 7600/7800/7900 series card. The 7300LE is a pretty weak card, as said "LE" represents a card crippled in its functions in order to reduce its price. I wouldn't myself go for a 512MB model on a new card if it is using the slower GDDR2 memory (which I think most 8600 512MB card are), you are better off with a high-end 256MB 7900 card using the much faster GDDR3.

As said, your current power supply is going to be a big factor in which cards are going to work in your current system, unless you are also planing to upgrade the power supply. If you current have 350W or less, you may be much more limited in your options.

Here is a page showing the power consumption of most modern videocards: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

You can see from this that the 8600GT is actually pretty power efficient, and actually doesn't use much more power than a 7300LE. Upgrading to a 7900 series card may mean a PSU upgrade as well, although it is true the 7900 is a better high performance card.

The biggest stability problem with the GeForce 8 series vs a really nice GeForce 7 card, is I think drivers. Which might mean that issue lessens as time passes. I haven't had any issues with my 8800GTX though. Just make sure you use NEW drivers off the web, and not ones that come on a CD with the card. Those are usually pretty out of date even in a "new" card.

do spend some time reading up on the compatibilty of your motherboard/mainboard with the graphic card that you intended to buy. take it as an investment.

graphic card dont rules by "megabytes" but by the pipes and technology of the chips nowsaday.

I had this dilema as well but by the time i got to the store they had removed the 7900's off the shelves and any canadian sites i went to were selling this 8600 model. I didn't want the 8600 but i got it and it works very well I got the 512 meg ram one and I have no lag at all. I"m very happy with the card and it works. I was going to get the 7900 extreme version it was the only one left on the market and the price was very good the next week I went to get it and all the 7900's were down. This is in Canada though I have no idea of any other areas of the world.

8600 GT 512 mb would be a better answer. 256 is ok. But more the better. I get the 512 mb 8600 if i were you.

here a great source for you to refer too

http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/54675-graphics-card-ranking.html maker sure you review the whole thread its has changed in parts.......


Usagi

Thanks for the wealth of info. I have 450 watt power supply so not a problem there and I have 2.5 gig of memory and I realize now through looking and comparing cards through gpu review that my card is low end thats why I am going with the 8600GTS 256MB card. I am thinking I will see major improvement even tho I have not had issues out of the 7300LE card other than finding out I chose the low end card when I had my machine built...oops lol! Thanks everyone

Handy video card comparison chart:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=718&model2=854&chart=275

Yep, jump from 7300 to 8600 is huge. Personally I would go with a 8800GTS for more bang for your buck, but the 8600 is fine too.

We use this chart also out here. One of the best out there!

Its a nice way to compare video cards, but I see a minor bug. It always seems to report that the 320MB 8800GTS performs better than the 640MB version. Its a minor bug. Just saying...

Nothing is near perfect. But go to the site i use to refer Graphic cards. It seems to be always updates......What i don`t like being caughtup in when reling on their types of site is this........ You must do you own back ground review and resource. Never just use this sites and buy. ( i think many do their own resource before buying these days ). But Tom`s is repected world wide.

My 8600 GT 512MB card only shows 256MB in SL. Any ideas? Can I change this manually? Thx.

Go to Edit and then preferences and then Adv. Graphics and you should be able to change it there.

Whilst the jump from 7300 to 8600 is large in performance terms, the value for money is poor.

A 7900GTX or better or a X1950 would both be a better choice.

As Nvidia's OGL performance slightly aces the ATI the Nvidia would be the better option and give a better performance boost than the 8600.

True.. but the 32 Bit version of Windows (XP and Vista) can really only address upto 3MB. So if you have one of theses O.S.' - getting more than that is a waste of money.

d.

Nope, 512 is grayed out. That is where I saw the 256.

i have an 8800 gts 640 mb version and it runs sl great! maximum settings, SL recognizes the memory as 512 if i recall right, but when i turned draw distance to maximum is the only time it slows down at all!!

the 8600 should be great too...but yes, the system specs make a huge difference...

list the processor, bus speed, ram and size...etc and people can be much more helpful...

(oh, and thats 3 gb of memory addressed by xp or 32bit vista)