Home› General Discussion

graphics card recommendations?

Ruz
polycount lvl 666
Offline / Send Message
Ruz polycount lvl 666
well I got my shiny new pc last summer and already i feel the graphics card is not performing that well and off late I am getting weird corruption, invisible menus etc
so think i will get a new one.
Anyone recommend a good one. I use max , zbrush and pshop mainly
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Replies

  • Andreas
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    nvidia something.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • oXYnary
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    oXYnary polycounter lvl 18
    The whole fanboy nature of the above post not withstanding. Wait just a lil longer. Nvidia does have DX11 chip on the horizon thats supposed to be a whole new level. Ferni.
    The Fermi GPU will pack 3 billion transistors, making it one mammoth chip

    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-fermi-delay-gpu,9326.html

    So.. Can you wait till April? If you need something now, the ATI cheaper offerings are more than up to the job to get you by. But still want to see/save too see what the hype is (and if pass/fails).
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • hyrumark
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    hyrumark polycounter lvl 12
    Nvidia GTX285 is what I'm using (very nice!), but yeah I'd hold out until Nvidia releases their new generation of chips.

    ATI has let me down for a long time. They stack up well against Nvidia in benchmarks and games, but there is always SOME type of compatibility issues that pop up in dev apps with ATI cards in my experience.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Ged
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Ged interpolator
    nvidia geforce GTX 260 reasonably priced card these days and it does the job

    but yeah if your looking for cutting edge then wait a bit
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • eld
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    eld polycounter lvl 18
    as people have said, nvidia has a new upcoming awesome chip, if you want to spend money.

    otherwise its ATI, they're the fastest around at this very time, and also the cheaper.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • warby
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    warby polycounter lvl 18
    hyrumark wrote: »
    Nvidia GTX285 is what I'm using (very nice!), but yeah I'd hold out until Nvidia releases their new generation of chips.

    ATI has let me down for a long time. They stack up well against Nvidia in benchmarks and games, but there is always SOME type of compatibility issues that pop up in dev apps with ATI cards in my experience.


    quoted for truth if you are developing go with nvidia !
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • arrangemonk
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    arrangemonk polycounter lvl 15
    and dont buy an 9800gt with 112 stream units and 1024mb ram
    these dont work that well with win7, also the additional stream units are quite buggy
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • eld
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    eld polycounter lvl 18
    it goes a bit here and there, I had issues with an ATI card which was fine, but had issues with blender, and caused it to slow down, and I've also had issues with nvidia, where the 7900gtx card would heat up quite often, and not keep the right fan-speeds.

    nowdays I dunno, it seems like both are stable when it comes to drivers, but I would love to hear someone who has had bad experiences with the recent 5000 series of ATI cards.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Gilgamesh
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Gilgamesh polycounter lvl 12
    warby wrote: »
    quoted for truth if you are developing go with nvidia !

    Even if you are not, still go with nvidia. I just gave up after having three different models of ATI cards, all of which crashed locked and just plain didn't work properly and finally went for a Nvidia card and haven't had a single problem since.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Ruz
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Ruz polycount lvl 666
    yep I was never happy with ati cards, always some driver issue or weirdness going on. so yeah I will go for a nvidia but am not that fussed about waiting. just need something now that isn't 'too' dear, but does the job
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • eld
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    eld polycounter lvl 18
    gtx260 is where its at then, quite fast and so, but also quite cheap. gtx285 would be overkill.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Kwramm
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Kwramm interpolator
    max...doesn't matter if it's a current ATI or nVidia and you have a stable system to begin with. Chance for troubles are equally low. Maya may be a different thing though...
    edit: Actually it may matter if you use win 7 and max 2010. Some users reported extremely low fps in maximized perspective viewport with nvidia cards. Not sure if this also affects the latest nvidias. Might want to look at the autodesk forums.

    ZBrush...doesn't matter. uses it's own renderer. just needs CPU power and RAM (amazingly enough it even runs on my netbook with the craptastic intel GMA)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DrunkShaman
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    DrunkShaman polycounter lvl 14
    I am using nVidia GeForce 8800GT Ultra. I have no problem working in 3ds max so far, However; I will be buying a new laptop for my work soon. I would recommend anything greater than or equivalent to nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra with clock speed greater than 2.0-2.1 minimum (still figuring out this part).
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Mark Dygert
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Mark Dygert mod
    I was looking to get a new card recently was running a Geforce 7600GT 256mb (2 actually, SLI is garbage for what we do). I've never had a smooth experience with ATI, they've always claimed faster speeds but given me a headache.

    I settled on the Nvidia 250 GTS 1gb from newegg. Decent price, will probably last me a year or two.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121333
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • EarthQuake
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    EarthQuake mod
    I've got a 8800GT which was $100 a year and a half ago, and it does everything i want flawlessly. You can get a 9800GT for about $90, or maybe a 260 for a little more. I wouldn't bother with anything better than that, as you dont really *need* it, and will be paying a lot more for not much more performance.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ZacD
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    Wait for DirectX 11 Nvidia cards.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Rurouni Strife
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Rurouni Strife polycounter lvl 10
    Depends on price range and how much things like efficiency matter to you. Since it sounds like your hardware or drivers are going nuts, I'd reinstall drivers and try to make due until march when Nvidia's DX11 comes out. Then check price vs. performance vs efficiency. Supposedly, Fermi will be nice and powerful but hella hot and power hungry. ATI's drivers have never given me much of a problem and they perform very well. Currently have a 4870. Used a 3850 and 1800GTO before. Anyway, just wait and see. But if you can't, maybe a 5770?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Ruz
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Ruz polycount lvl 666
    thanks for the suggestions. will do some more research before I decide.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • EarthQuake
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    EarthQuake mod
    I dont see the point in "waiting for dx11", by the time any games/applications actually use it, you will likely want a new graphics card anyway, instead of waiting and droping $350 on a new card the day its released. The sub $100 market has some fantastic hardware these days, there really is little reason to get anything more.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Ruz
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Ruz polycount lvl 666
    I agree with that. The only time I bought a 'really' expensive card in the past I regretted it
    and that was a rage 128 if you remember those
    As long as it runs the apps I use I don't need something 'uber'. I will also be using windows 7 at some point soon. i only have win xp 32 bit right now which is fine but does n't use all of my ram.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ZacD
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    EarthQuake wrote: »
    I dont see the point in "waiting for dx11", by the time any games/applications actually use it, you will likely want a new graphics card anyway, instead of waiting and droping $350 on a new card the day its released. The sub $100 market has some fantastic hardware these days, there really is little reason to get anything more.

    The next generation of consoles will use dx11, so there most likely be a lot more support on the PC side too, but getting a cheaper card to hold you off until the new line of nvidia cards drop in price isn't a bad idea.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • EarthQuake
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    EarthQuake mod
    Right, the next generation of consoles.... So you're talking about waiting 2-4 years before any of these games are available, playing new games on 2-4 year hardware? Again, there is no reason to do this, its just a waste of money. By the time DX11 has any purpose, the hardware will be much faster and cheaper than what will be first-run cards.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Mark Dygert
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Mark Dygert mod
    The next generation of consoles? Both Sony and MS have said they might be at the half way point on either console. So we're 5 years in on the 360 and 3 years in on the PS3. That means we have another 5-6 years before we start talking about new hardware?

    I say get a new card to hold you over, its going to be a while. Unless something magical happens and the cost of producing new hardware and getting people to switch comes way down?

    I'm not sure if they've made back their investments on the current generation much less stockpiled enough of a war chest to declare round 3.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ZacD
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    ZacD ngon master
    I kept hearing the date 2012 over and over again for the next generation of consoles, but who knows. The wii HD will probably come out in 2011. The Xbox 360 was officially announced the same year it came out, so its really hard to speculate. I'm sure the 5-6 years is more like 2-5. If you look at past consoles, there's normally a 5-6 year gap before the launch their next product (Sony and Nintendo, NES SNES N64, PS1 PS2 PS3)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Isaiah Sherman
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Isaiah Sherman polycounter lvl 14
    Will the new Nvidia card require PCI Express x16 2.1 to use? The ATI DX11 cards do. I don't want to buy a new mobo just to run a new video card :(. I just bought my GTX275 rig like 6 months ago.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Gilgamesh
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Gilgamesh polycounter lvl 12
    Vig wrote: »
    I was looking to get a new card recently was running a Geforce 7600GT 256mb (2 actually, SLI is garbage for what we do). I've never had a smooth experience with ATI, they've always claimed faster speeds but given me a headache.

    I settled on the Nvidia 250 GTS 1gb from newegg. Decent price, will probably last me a year or two.
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121333

    It's what I settled with as well, zero troubles and runes everything smoothly (including most high end games as well).
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Sign In or Register to comment.