Would better video card make a diff?

This would be my pick:

EVGA 512-P3-N975-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core Clock: 600MHz
Shader Clock: 1500MHz
Stream Processors: 112
Memory Clock: 900MHz (1800MHz effective)
DirectX: DirectX 10
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
DVI: 2
PRICE: US$99.99

Second choice would be:

ASUS EN9800GT/HTDP/512MD3 GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core Clock: 600MHz
Memory Clock: 900MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
DVI: 2
TV-Out: HDTV Out
PRICE: US$104.99

The top EVGA brand card has an S-video output if you want to send it to a TV, VCR or some such. The bottom ASUS brand card has an HDTV output. Just in case that makes a difference to you.

I have had experience with both of those brands and they both make solid cards.

Just a quick word of advise.

When you upgrade the card, download the new drivers for it direct from NVIDIA bafore removing the old one. Then, replace the card, boot it up and load the drivers you just downloaded. Do not bother with the disks that come with the cards. Too often there are extra gadgits on the disk that are not needed. If nothing else the drivers in the packaging will be out of date anyway.

TY Rhonda! $100 means it's not going to happen today, but maybe by the end of the year.

I would never be sending anything to a tv or whatever. I don't own a working tv.

I live in a house that doesn't have air conditioning in the summer, so it's routinely 85 degrees in this room. Yes, whee. Anyway I was considering installing an air intake fan in the front of the case anyway, which would help.

If you want a cheaper card, you can get a gf8600 for less than $40 and it will still blow your gf7100 out of the water.

I would LOVE to purchase a new graphics card...it it was only that simple.

I had my PC built years ago by the techs in a small, local computer store. I did it this way because years ago I purchased a computer (desktop) from a name-brand company and when the motherboard needed to be replaced, the brand computer was built in such a way that most motherboards would not fit.

I have really enjoyed my desktop PC and if anything goes wrong, I just have that specific component replaced, ie. a hard drive, etc. About 8 months ago, I had new RAM installed to max it out. I mentioned to the tech that I would be adding a new graphics card up the road.

PROBLEM: My motherboard is now so old that the new graphics card will not work with it. Ok, so I need to purchase a new graphics card AND motherboard. BUT, apparently the RAM is a bit different with the new motherboards, so I can't use the existing RAM.

I've been advised by my geek friends at this point it would be better to just purchase a new computer, but I'm hesitant to purchase a name brand so I don't into the same situation I did I did initially.

That second SL pic did look wonderful. *sighs*

yep, yep, yep

I had missed the two comparison pics that Milla had put up (ty Milla!). Yes, I see the diff. I would say what I have now is not as bad as the low-end example, but of course it's nowhere near the upper end. Would the 8600 make it look that good?

My 7600 let me turn on pretty much all the high level graphical options, so I would assume the 8600 would as well.

Silly question but how do I know what graphic card I have? I know it is nividia (brother installed it) but dont know what one. Where do I check the version?

In control panel somewhere you'll have a "display" applet. Where that applet lives depends on the version of Windows, but eventually you'll find it, and look through the tabs until you see something like this:



But preferably not with a Mobility Radeon 9600

My wife has the mobile 8600GT, which is a slower version of the desktop 8600GT. The results from her card are about what the Ultra picture shows, although her laptop is on a custom setting that is medium-to-high. It supports all of the water and atmosphere effects that make the second picture pop.

OK I see this one for 39.99 (plus shipping, of course):
http://tinyurl.com/yclokku

It would probably be easier for me to justify the lesser expense, since the only reason I will be buying this card is for SL.

I have an 8600 in my home desktop. I usually keep the draw distance around 128 (close) and anti-aliasing at 4X. The anti-aliasing takes a big chunck of the graphics card's power but is also responsible for making the textures and edges so much smoother.

I take portrait screenshots more than landscapes and usually just with default lighting. Here are a few samples.

By the pond at night



Clover with the sky in the background.



Waiting on fireworks at Livingtree



Playing with the windlight settings



Other than the last, these are my running settings. I coud set the options to max if I wanted to take the best photo possible but so far these settings have been fine for me.

Or try right-clicking your desktop and looking for "ATI Control Panel" "Nvidia Control Panel" or (God forbid) "Intel Graphics Settings"

To the OP: The 8600 you have linked should be a nice improvement, and the price is good.

Wow thanks Argent! I found that my driver was old old old. and I have Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS. So guess that is good?

Downloading the updated driver as we speak.

Thanks again!

Typically x100 or x200 is low-end, x400 is low-mid, x500 or x600 is mid-high, and x800 or x900 is high-end.

Then there's GS vs GT vs GTS vs GTX which I have completely lost track of, I think that GS is usually the low end version of a given model.

ummmmm ok what you said Argent maybe after remodeling I will look into getting a better one.

Thanks again.

I think you'll get the same level of detail, but you'll need to run at a lower draw distance.

128M draw distance is fine for most uses, and ought to do okay on an 8600GT.

Wow, Rhonda, those look really good. I can't get portait shots like that now, even if I fiddle with Windlight settings (which I suck at anyway, since I don't understand most of them, but I did follow a notecard's instructions for a lightning setting that presumably makes av's look as good as they can, and it does look ok if a little overly bright. At least I don't have the awful face shadows that no facelight can fix. Mood light shots are out of the question, because my settings give the effect of being lit by the sun going nova.)

I am much more interested in portrait shots than landscape. I'm the opposite in RL!

I appreciate the hints from everybody on drivers, too.

It certainly will AK especially since your present one is onboard but not so much with the lag we are getting.

A month ago I got a new computer with a Radeon 4850 and 512mb ram. Everything in-world looked so much clearer and smoother. In the SL viewer I can have the hardware settings such as draw distance, anti aliasing and anisotropic filtering much higher without affecting my frame rates. Was a definitely a wow factor over the Nvidia 7600 GT that I used before.

Just a little OT from your question, I have ran SL off a very old machine with just a 32MB graphics card - about 8 years old I think. Trees just look like fuzzy colored objects but with no details

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html

(and its part of an article on best cards for the money this month)

I am suspecting my ATI 1950s are dying

If I run SL with the window max size in about 30 minutes I get a white blink on the monitor and hear a beep from inside my machine.

Run the window small and it never happens.

This is new behavior just in the last week or so. The machine and the boards are 2 years old. CLeaning out the machine did no good.

I am wondering just how bad it would be to replace my 1950's with the 9800 GTX . I am not super knowledgable any more about power supplies (mines a 500), driver removal, or just flat how to install the card. THese ATI's look like they are gonna be ugly to get out.

OR.... just get an Nvidia GTX series. The 260 sells well. I went with the GTX275 and have no need to adjust settings lower. Havent found anything that'll make it choke yet!! It was a bargain at $375 on Newegg. They're just under-clocked GTX280's.

The GTX295's are ultimate.... including their price.

I just dont want to sink that kind of money into a 2 year old machine

Particularly when I am not 100% sure its the video boards dying.

I paid $170 delivered for a GTX260.

Although, honestly, unless you push the hell out of Second Life and cry when you get less than 30fps in the Chakryn Forest, a 9800GT will hack it for you.