Graphics card advice needed please

**Sophia** · September 13, 2007, 07:05 AM

Hello,

I am playing Medieval 2.

I am upgrading my computer to a Vista Ultimate 32 bit with 4 gig of RAM and this graphics card-

256MB PCIe(TM) x 16 NVIDIA(R) GeForce (R) 8600GT w/TV-Out & Dual DVI

I had a look on the forums and found comments about an 8600GTS - is this the same thing or would mine be different please?

It seems that the 8600GTS is a mediocre card. Would this also apply to the 8600GT?

I would be running on a 2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 - if necessary I can upgrade the processor, but not the graphics card as the latter is top option on a Dell Vostro Tower I am looking at.

Processor can be upgraded to and E6550 or E6750 though the last one is getting a bit pricey.

RAM is 4 x 1 GB NECC Dual Channell DDR2 667MHZ SDRAM (could be upgraded to 800MHZ for extra cost)

Any advice much appreciated please about how this will affect Medieval 2.

Thank you.

Sophia

**Scorch** · September 13, 2007, 07:16 AM

This belongs in the Basement, I'll move it there now.

**Freddie** · September 13, 2007, 10:28 AM

That video card is poor, you might get away with it for a year playing games at medium to low settings but if you want great performance with all the bells an whistles invest in a 8800 GTS/GTX The 320MB model can be had for as little as £170 these days.

**Dick** · September 13, 2007, 10:47 AM

If your willing to scrap the idea of buying from dell, other options become easier. If you're willing to build it yourself at all, then you will be able to pick what you want and save yourself a few bucks in the process.

That graphics card is not good, and will hold back your system.

**mrmouth** · September 13, 2007, 01:00 PM

I don't share the opinions of many as to the 8600 being a crap option. Its a great card for the price and some simple pencil mods are actually putting it in a league with the most expensive dx9 cards.

Like Freddie said though, the 320mb 8800 is fairly cheap now.

**Sophia** · September 13, 2007, 06:05 PM

Thanks for your input guys.

Perhaps we can use my my current system as a guide.

Currently I am using a GEForce 7800GT on an Athlon 64 Bit X86 Dual Core Win XP 32 Bit and 2 Gig of RAM.

Is the 8600 set up I described about the same performance wise as my current for MTW2 or will it be quite a bit better do you think please? If the 8600 performs as well as, or better than, my current system then that will be OK.

I am getting a Dell due to a number if reasons which include that I have had a series of problems with systems from personally and local shop built ones to Benq, Sony and others. I know a lot of business people with offices full of Dells and no probs. There are other reasons too.

The system I am thinking of buying is very good value and I will replace it in around 18 months to 2 years anyway.

Thanks again for your help.

Sophia

**Sophia** · September 14, 2007, 05:08 AM

I have looked into things further and got the impression that my existing 7800GT is better than the 8600GT because it has a higher memory bandwidth speed (33.6 v 22). This set me thinking and I decided to upgrade my desktop to a notebook and keep the old desktop cw 7800GT for games.

Ironically, the notebook I will be ordering has an 8600M GT w 256MB GDDR2 dedicated graphic memory. :-)) It is around 75 pounds more than the desktop I was thinking of getting.

Thanks for your help anyway guys - it set me thinking.

Sophia

**spartan_phalanx** · September 14, 2007, 05:35 AM

Tom's Hardware just put out a new article comparing the 8600 GT to the Radeon 2600. They mention some comparisons in there if your up for a read.

**LoZz** · September 17, 2007, 02:02 PM

sadly their is no midrange card from nivida in the dx10 section.

the 8600gt/gts all underperform against the 7800 and 7900 series, they are more like a 7600 series. the 8800 series is the best but costs 400 pounds.

you would be better of ether

a. waiting till that make a midrange dx10 card
b. buy a 7900gs for 100 pounds, i have that and it works like a dream.

edit: a 8600 will perform worse/same as your 7800GT in dx9 games like medieval total war 2. if you where to get a gain it would only be a few fps, its not worth the money, if i was you i would wait till more dx10 card come onto the market

**freekyjason** · September 22, 2007, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by LoZz

sadly their is no midrange card from nivida in the dx10 section.

the 8600gt/gts all underperform against the 7800 and 7900 series, they are more like a 7600 series. the 8800 series is the best but costs 400 pounds.

the 7600 and 8600 are both mid-range cards... and will underperform against the 7800-900 and 8800's of course because they are the top range cards...

you would be better of ether

a. waiting till that make a midrange dx10 card
b. buy a 7900gs for 100 pounds, i have that and it works like a dream.

the 8600 is the mid-range card

edit: a 8600 will perform worse/same as your 7800GT in dx9 games like medieval total war 2. if you where to get a gain it would only be a few fps, its not worth the money, if i was you i would wait till more dx10 card come onto the market

the 7600gt is what im currently using and it plays quite few games in medium to high settings, including med2tw just fine. an upgrade to the 8600gt is exactly that btw, an upgrade. sadly not all of us can afford the 800 or 900 cards, but find the 600's more than adequate for our needs.

telling people the 8600gt is a useless or poor card is not necessary (posted earlier), it is still a very good video card for todays standards. just becasue we cant buy an 8800 doesnt mean our gaming will suffer greatly for it...

**Sophia** · September 22, 2007, 03:54 AM

Thanks for your input guys.

**shadowarmy75** · September 22, 2007, 11:03 AM

b. buy a 7900gs for 100 pounds, i have that and it works like a dream.

I have a 7900GS and if I wasn't able to buy it for $120, I would have been less than satisfied. It's good but for me, it's lacking a bit when it comes to some games especially on high resolutions but maybe I'm just expecting too much from 256 of VRAM.