I'm buying a video card?

General discussion about Celestia that doesn't fit into other forums.
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chrisr
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I'm buying a video card?

Post #1by chrisr » 26.02.2007, 01:28

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.
Just do what makes you happy provided you do not infringe on another's happiness for there is no point in living if you do not have happiness.
[tex]Happiness = \[\int_a^b \int_c^d \int_e^f \int_g^h U(x,y,z,t)\,dx dy dz dt\] = 42[/tex]
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Reiko
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Post #2by Reiko » 26.02.2007, 03:43

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.

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LordFerret M
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Post #3by LordFerret » 26.02.2007, 06:21

Yes, AGP is dying a slow death.

I think your best off with nVidia.

Johaen
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Post #4by Johaen » 26.02.2007, 23:25

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.
AMD Athlon X2 4400+; 2GB OCZ Platinum RAM; 320GB SATA HDD; NVidia EVGA GeForce 7900GT KO, PCI-e, 512MB, ForceWare ver. 163.71; Razer Barracuda AC-1 7.1 Gaming Soundcard; Abit AN8 32X motherboard; 600 watt Kingwin Mach1 PSU; Windows XP Media Center SP2;

Topic author
chrisr
Posts: 62
Joined: 21.08.2003
With us: 21 years 3 months
Location: AZ

Post #5by chrisr » 27.02.2007, 06:08

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!
Just do what makes you happy provided you do not infringe on another's happiness for there is no point in living if you do not have happiness.
[tex]Happiness = \[\int_a^b \int_c^d \int_e^f \int_g^h U(x,y,z,t)\,dx dy dz dt\] = 42[/tex]
If only we knew U!

Reiko
Posts: 1119
Joined: 05.10.2006
Age: 41
With us: 18 years 1 month
Location: Out there...

Post #6by Reiko » 27.02.2007, 21:12

One thing to consider is nvidia cards usually require more power than ATI so make sure your power supply can handle a new card.

Johaen
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Post #7by Johaen » 28.02.2007, 03:45

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.
AMD Athlon X2 4400+; 2GB OCZ Platinum RAM; 320GB SATA HDD; NVidia EVGA GeForce 7900GT KO, PCI-e, 512MB, ForceWare ver. 163.71; Razer Barracuda AC-1 7.1 Gaming Soundcard; Abit AN8 32X motherboard; 600 watt Kingwin Mach1 PSU; Windows XP Media Center SP2;


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