New video card considerations

  • Thread starter Thread starter Swingman
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Swingman

My computer has onboard graphics and I'm planning to upgrade soon to a PCIe
graphics adapter. I know that the hardware requirements for Vista have not
been finalized, but I wonder which video cards are running the latest Vista
beta well, supporting the AeroGlass interface, etc? I'd like to try and
chose a card that will be compatible down the road. TIA
 
Your best bet is to wait for a Direct x10 based cards to arrive, which Direct
x10 will be tied to Vista when it releases.

If you can't wait, you might want to consider a 6800GS card
 
I would agree with the other posters comment about going with a 6800GS card.
I did but for a different reason. I have no idea if it will be compatible
with Vista or not. When you consider Vista isn't supposed to be released
until the end of the year, it will have a big bug list and most vendors will
be scrambling to be compatible at any cost during that time. That usually
means about 6 months or more of headaches for the video card manufacturers
and the folks that write the drivers.

With all the other features Vista is promising, I think it will be a year at
the earliest before things start to stabilize and everyone starts fixing
things "for real". Bottom line - you're looking at almost 2 years time
before you have a good idea of what really works really well or not with
Vista. Unless you're contemplating a very spendy video card, I wouldn't
wait. Get what works now and has a chance of being upgraded with firmware
and software releases to give it some life with Vista if you're going to be
an early adopter.

Enjoy the (almost) next two years with better graphics capability than what
you have now. Waiting 6 months may yield some better answers but still
doubtful on how compatible it really is. Same at the one year out point
where you have Vista, and a new card with bugs. So either buy one now or
wait 2 years to be sure and even then it will be a crap shoot just like it
is now......;-)

Bob S.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm inclined to agree that it will take a long time
for video hardware and drivers to shakeout RE Vista. I will probably
upgrade now and deal with Vista later. Regarding the 6800gs what memory
quantity and type would you suggest? I'm don't play 3d games, but I do want
good 2d and DVD performance in XP.
 
I would consider that depending on the time frame - any idea when DirectX10
parts will become available?
 
Swingman said:
Thanks for the reply. I'm inclined to agree that it will take a long time
for video hardware and drivers to shakeout RE Vista. I will probably
upgrade now and deal with Vista later. Regarding the 6800gs what memory
quantity and type would you suggest? I'm don't play 3d games, but I do
want good 2d and DVD performance in XP.
Click to expand...

Here's the one I went with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121192

It's the Asus version (EN6800GT) and I went with it because of the great
reviews (i.e., Tom's Hardware, etc.) and figured there was at least half a
chance that Asus had tested these cards with the Asus motherboards
(A8N32-SLI) I purchased. I use AutoCad and Adobe Photoshop CS and this
seemed to be a reasonable choice. Not the best, not the cheapest and the
reviews were excellent except for the heat sinks falling off. Not a big
deal and Asus is sending me some new heat sinks and adhesive to affix to the
chips.

One card had double-back tape holding the heat sinks on and they promptly
fell off after one day. The second card had thermal adhesive holding the
heat sinks on but one fell off during shipment. That was due to the heat
sink having a slight (.002") bow to it. I lapped it down flat and applied
some Artic Silver adhesive and it should never come off again - even on
purpose....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835100005

I doubt that the thermal compound Asus is sending me is any better than the
Artic Silver stuff and it's not brain surgery to clean off the tape and
apply the epoxy thermal compound. How Asus can make such a great card and
screw up on such a simple thing makes one wonder... But do your homework
and read the reviews at NewEgg carefully and take some with the grain of
salt (good and bad) and then look in your wallet and see if you can afford
what you like. If not, tell momma to get a second job to support your
habit......;-)

In order to make a valid comparison of the differences, pluses and minuses
between vendors graphics cards, you need to be able to distinguish which
tests are valid and which are not. I can't imagine any brand-name vendor
having a junk card these days at specific price points. You get what you pay
for and if you pay $600 for a card and don't use it's capabilities then you
would never notice the difference between it and the $200 version. If my
eyes (getting old too) can't see it - why buy it.......;-)

Bob S.
 
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