Please suggest a Graphics Card

[caspian]

I currently have a 6600gt and I'm thinking of getting a new one.
What kind of graphics card would be best for playing SS? With all the graphics setting on high and huge armies.

Thanks.

[MadWolf]

I have an HD 4850 and it runs it at max very smoothly, the only time it stutters is when I have multiple stacks in battle, but my processor is a bottleneck, just about every card right now can run it at max settings is my guess. Nvidia 9800GTX+ or the HD 4870 are excellent choices too.

[ace4455]

MadWolf is correct but if you are using weaker video cards, turn shadows off. Personally I think shadows are useless and just slow the game down (a lot if you max shadows).

[muffinhead]

i like to turn off grass to- you cant see as much of the action, and its hard to count the dead... ive got an 8800 gt and it runs pretty smoothly (alll highest settings, huge armies, but no shadows or grass, can easily get up to about 2500-3000 guys with a city on it, but the real thing you should be looking at is your processor, but that kind of goes hand-in-hand with a new video card

[ace4455]

always try to get newest processor with new video card because if you have new video card but bad processor you will not get the maximum efficiency from your vid card cause the processor would be too weak, and vice-versa.

muffinhead, lol you count the dead, I also never put in permanent arrows cause the arrows are still 3d and can slow your game down a lot especially if you are England. but if you want arrows to last longer i think you can set time for arrows to dissappear like ,minute of somethin.

[Sorkenlol]

I heard the Geforce 8800 GT is very popular, my brother has it. Myself I have the 8600 GT, really wish I had bought the 8800 though.. If you're looking for something more expensive, I also heard those HD Radeon 4850 something are popular, aswell as the 9800 GT.

That's about all I know of Graphics Cards.

[Angrychris]

need the doe to make it go

[TheLastPrivate]

8800 GT is very recommended for price and abilities. Stay away from 9600 as well.
But you will need Intel wolfdale 8000 CPU for 8800gt to perform at its full capabilites.

[Skooma Addict]

I currently have a 6600gt and I'm thinking of getting a new one.
What kind of graphics card would be best for playing SS? With all the graphics setting on high and huge armies.

Thanks.

That will depend on what size monitor you have. Also, my suggestion may vary depending on the motherboard and processor too.

[Tacitursa]

If i was you i'd get a graphics card that can run Empires on full settings and has Directx10 support. Will see a big wave of next generation games for the PC in the next year also.

ATI Radeon HD 4870
GeForce GTX 280 ( best card on the market atm )

i dont really like ATi , Nvidia have much better drivers for there cards and currently SLi Technology is alot better than Crossfire.

[Santiago de Pola]

i dont really like ATi ,

Neither did I, until I bought Sapphire's HD 3870..cheaper than nvidia's equivalent, but works as good!

With the 8.6 drivers it performs beautifully in SS..I highly recommend it, but I guess you wouldn't go wrong with the new 4870 model either!

[Tacitursa]

Well theres alot to consider when choosing ATi vs Nvidia.

Nvidia has much better support in almost all fields.
Nvidia produce much quieter cards than ATi
And Nvidia have a much better dual graphics card setup if u ever wanna add another card to your system.

ATi are cheaper
ATi cards ussualy have better performance

Those 3 are the main reason i dont buy ATi anymore , ATi are ussualy cheaper and some cards have more performance but end of the day u never notice that performance once your past 50 fps. Its the sound of the card and how much help u get when things go wrong that u notice

ATi cards generally use up more power and get overheated alot quicker too

And Nvidia have taken the top spot again for best card on the market atm allthough its expensive , you get what you pay for as they say.

[RomaVictor6969]

If i was you i'd get a graphics card that can run Empires on full settings and has Directx10 support. Will see a big wave of next generation games for the PC in the next year also.

ATI Radeon HD 4870
GeForce GTX 280 ( best card on the market atm )

i dont really like ATi , Nvidia have much better drivers for there cards and currently SLi Technology is alot better than Crossfire.

Id say the GeForce GTX 280 is the best aswell

[MadWolf]

Personally, I have owned both Nvidia and ATI cards, my last nivida card (7600 GT) ran alot hotter and louder than the HD 4850 I have now.
I can hardly even hear the fan on the 4850 and it runs at around 35 Celsius. I don't think there is much of a big difference in the cards really, but I dont have any knowledge about crossfire or SLi.

[Tacitursa]

You cant compare a 4-5 year old out of date nvidia card to a top of the range ati card....

Compare the HD 4850 to a geforce GTX 260.

[MadWolf]

You cant compare a 4-5 year old out of date nvidia card to a top of the range ati card....

Compare the HD 4850 to a geforce GTX 260.

The card is only 2 years old, but you are right, they are different generations. I honestly don't think there is a huge difference between the lines, neither ATI or NVIDIA are better than the other and vice versa.

[TGoP]

Without telling us the rest of your system it's impossible to suggest the right graphics card for your system. Buying the most powerful graphics card is pointless when the rest of your system can't keep up with it, especially the cpu. The only answers you will get, as you can see already, is what people use for themselves (and therefore like) or the old Nvidia vs Ati crap (which is totally pointless nowadays).

[BlazingDragon]

I have a e6750 and a 8800gt and the game runs smooth with everything set at the highest setting (including AA and QA) and army size huge with 4000 - 5000 soldiers on the battle map

[Lulian]

I have an overclocked 512mb 8800 GT and the game runs really well. It'll only get a -little- clunky on x6 speed when there are multiple (4+) stacks in battle.

[strife1013]

Just upgraded my BFG 8600 GTS OC 256 MB to a PNY 8800GT 512 MB cost me $130 something at Best Buy.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1196469743507

Went from a 3Dmark 06 score of 6583 and Vantage score of P2334 to 3Dmark06 score of 10,160 and for Vantage P6278

I have been thinking about getting that new i7 technology though....
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1218017465909

If it goes on sale soon I might grab it and return that GPU I just bought....I have 14 days to do so lol.