Best graphics card for Ultra setting.

Hey everyone. I'm currently on a 2 core Duo AMD 2.5 gig CPU, 4 gigs of RAM, (Acer Aspire E380) machine with an NVidia GeForce 6500 graphics card. I'm planning on upgrading my card so I can take advantage of the WindLight viewer which works quite well.... except that it gets SUPER CHOPPY as soon as I move the graphics slider to High and gets a bit choppy when I move it to Mid.
I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2 32-bit. Later, I may upgrade to Vista 32-bit but for now, this is what I'm on.

So here's my question although it may seem a bit far fectched... What graphics card can run a decent frame rate of about 15-30+ on the graphics ULTRA setting in SL WindLight?

I've seen the recommendations page, but I just want to see what you guys think as well.

I'm basically shooting for the stars and hopefully I'll reach the moon... or something like that.lol Well thanks in advance.

-Zee-

The NVidia 8800 series pwns SL. Any member of the family will work well; choose according to budget and availability. If cost is REALLY no object, a pair of 8800GTX Ultra cards in SLI is as good as SL gets (until triple or quad SLI works and you can actually get the supporting motherboards). Toward the more sane end of life, a single 8800GT is nice, and can sometimes be bought for under $250.

Cool thansk. People said to get an 8600 but I was thinking to go with an 8800 anyway... well I do have a motherboard with an onboard NVidia 6500SE which is lame but it IS an NVidia chipset so.... uyeah... and I don't think I'm gonna upgrade my MB right now... 'cause if I do that, I might as well upgrade my CPU as well and if I'm going to do all that I have to toally reinstall windows and if I'm gonna do that I might as well get a whole new computer, yo? So thank you and I will be looking for an 8800. My computer should be able to run it and WOW SL on Ultra is like.... Xbox 360 graphics and maybe a bit better. The only thing that really looks CG are the avitars themselves which I'm sure I could find custum skinds for that so yeah.

Have you seen the new 9600 series geforce graphic cards?
http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_9600gt.html

They are cheaper then otehrs in power then in the past. But with OC abilities/ FOr those that are OC able.

http://promotions.newegg.com/NVIDIA/9600GT/index.html

Wow these are great and for a nice price too and I'm pretty sure my PC can take them. It has PCIe slots... well, one slot anyway but... the card needs a power cord???Hmm... I think I'll need a bit of help putting it in... Oh well. I guess it can't be too hard.

Thanks for your help.

With specs like these :

GeForce 9600 GT
Stream Processors 64
Core Clock (MHz) 650 MHz
Shader Clock (MHz) 1625 MHz
Memory Clock (MHz) 900 MHz
Memory Amount 512MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) 57.6
Texture Fill Rate (billion/sec) 20.8

Its not surprising its fast lol.. It has it all going for it.. now if only SL was a better programme that supported raytracing and proper shadows......

I very nearly bought one of these puppies for film making, but will revamp my system yet again (only did it 6 months ago) and go for sli versions.

Well some have one and a few two meaning the rear slots. They are very nice and the prices are even better. But your 8800 gtx is a nice graphic card. And there is no real need to replace it yet. those 9600 series are more simple to deal with then the older series. Check your drivers make sure your updated. That might be your cause. Keep checking back from time to time on this thread for otehr people input.

I'm using a pair of cheapie overclocked 8600GT cards from MSI set for SLI alternate frames 2. Windlight - Ultra - 300-400 Draw distance is no problem at 12-20fps. (^_^)

Wow that's great but I only have one PCIe slot so I can't take part in the SLI feature. I'm really thinking of going for the 9600GT cards because they are higher than all the other cards I saw in specs and also because they're still a pretty decent price. I'd try the SLI thing but like I said, only one PCIe slot... but wait... do you need two slots because if so I'm out of luck there. Do I NEED two cards to get a pretty good framerate at ultra? I hope the 9600 cards work.

You'll probably do fine with the one card if you stay at a 256 draw distance. My cards have only 256MB on them because they were super cheap. If you get one card with more memory, I don't see anything to worry about. (^_^)y

I swear I read on a review site that you need TWO plugs for the card. As in 2 power lines.

It would also be helpful to spec out your Power Supply to ensure it has the juice to run the video cards.

Well I think I have the power supply to support it... I think it neds a PCI-e slot and a 6-pin power PCIe slot but one of the cards says it comes with an adapter of some sort that will help.

Something under my power supply says +12v. I don't know about the 29 amps but besides, like I said, I only have one PCIe slot anyway.

Thanks again. I'll do some more research on this.

Make sure the data on the front of you Power Supply reflects Voltage and Watts needed to support it......

usagi

Very true... Mine is a dual AMD64 FX74 system and I'm using a 1010W power supply. It doubles as a medium sized space heater. I likes mah toys. (^_^)y

You know what? I'm just gonna save a bigt more cash and get a motherboard/graphics card/CPU. I saw a motherboard Intel Q6600 and I think it came with a graphics card for about 350$. So I'm going to just go get that so that way I KNOW everything works plus I'd have more power in general. Yeah... that should work...

Plus I don't THINK I'd have compatibility issues because I'm switching out the entire board.