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I'm buying a video card?

Posted: 26.02.2007, 01:28
by chrisr
Hi, is there anyone here proficient in building computers. i'm putting together my own rig and would like to run celestia perfectly (all shaders and stuff) (and modern games too).
So far i've purchased the harddrive (western digital 500gb), the processor (intel pentium d 900 series 2.8ghz). any suggestions...all i know is that the motherboard i want supports sata. i don't have the motherboard either, so if some one could suggest a good motherbord/vgard combo, that would be very helpful. Thank you.

Posted: 26.02.2007, 03:43
by Reiko
I'm not sure about the motherboard but get one the has pci-express instead of AGP. And then get an ATI X1800 XL video card.

Posted: 26.02.2007, 06:21
by LordFerret
Yes, AGP is dying a slow death.

I think your best off with nVidia.

Posted: 26.02.2007, 23:25
by Johaen
First, is there any reason you bought a Pentium D? That's the older Intel chip, and it quite a bit slower than the new Core 2 Duos. If possible, I'd look into getting one of those, if I were you.

As for the motherboard, just make sure that it has SATA, atleast one PCI-e slot, and has the correct pin set for the processor you bought. Beyond that it's mostly just features and the looks of the motherboard, plus a possible second PCI-e slot if you're interested in going SLI.

As for video cards, I'm not very familiar with ATI cards, so I can't say much about those. For NVidia, get either a 7600GT or above for a 7 series, or any of the 8800s will work very well.

Posted: 27.02.2007, 06:08
by chrisr
Yeah, it had great reviews for what it was and its still faster than single cor. i also couldnt really spring for the core 2 dou.

Thanks everyone for the input. Ill let you guys know if it all works out and doesnt explode!

Posted: 27.02.2007, 21:12
by Reiko
One thing to consider is nvidia cards usually require more power than ATI so make sure your power supply can handle a new card.

Posted: 28.02.2007, 03:45
by Johaen
Reiko wrote:One thing to consider is nvidia cards usually require more power than ATI so make sure your power supply can handle a new card.


I've heard the opposite: ATI cards require more power than NVidia ones. But if your power supply isn't powerful enough to run anything other than the new 8800s, you need a new power supply.