Yet another new computer thread

[Sever]

In anxious anticipation of Oblivion, i've finally placed an order for my new system. There's just one thing i'm seeking advice on and that's the video card. My old system ran a 128mb Radeon 9200 which was good in every aspect except the gamma correction. I don't know what caused it, but the darks were too dark and the brights were too bright and no matter how much tweeking i did, i couldn't find a level i was happy with. It was bad enough that i had to constantly change a game's gamma settings with day and night cycles and if the game didn't have any, i stopped playing sooner rather than later. I don't know if this is a driver related problem or not. (With Morrowind, this was particularly distracting and i'm not keen on repeating the problem with Oblivion. I'm also looking forward to fully exploring the Thief series and if there's one game where a happy gamma medium is necessary...)

My new system will have a 256mb GeForce 7800 GT but i have until friday to change this if necessary. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with this card? Good, bad, whatever. Driver problems, compatability issues, (Gamma!) etc. A change to a better/more expensive nVidia card isn't out of the question if someone has one to recommend.

Thanks in advance.

[Mozenwrathe]

No, you should be good with that one. What kind of RAM and CPU are you rolling with though? I found out that my system isn't good enough solely on the basis of my processor (AMD Sempron 2600+). Everything else is up to snuff, however. Go figure. Oh well, looks like I won't be playing Oblivion until next year when I buy new motherboard & CPU together as part of a present to myself. I'd have to find a new home for the old equipment though, maybe even donate to ReBoot Canada (they recycle old parts).

[Harkoliar]

I checked out the website and the specs needed for recommended and minimum requirements (my 3 year old computer can still play it yay!)

Recommended: -------------------------- 3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 1 GB System RAM ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card -------------------------------- Minimum System Requirements: ----------------- Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit 512MB System RAM 2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor 128MB Direct3D compatible video card and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver; 8x DVD-ROM drive 4.6 GB free hard disk space DirectX 9.0c (included) DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card Keyboard, Mouse -------------------- Supported Video Card Chipsets: -------------------- ATI X1900 series ATI X1800 series ATI X1600 series ATI X1300 series ATI X850 series ATI x800 series ATI x700 series ATI x600 series ATI Radeon 9800 series ATI Radeon 9700 series ATI Radeon 9600 series ATI Radeon 9500 series NVIDIA GeForce 7800 series NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series NVIDIA GeForce FX series

so if your going to follow what you need to play oblivion with great graphics, get at least what they are recommending for you to play.

I am not sure but I would think your Radeon ATI 9200 wont cut the cake for this game (but my FX 5200 will.. barely..) [img]smile.gif[/img] .

[ 03-21-2006, 09:35 AM: Message edited by: Harkoliar ]

[Sever]

I'll be running an AMD "sumfin-or-other" 3000+ with 2gb DDR RAM. No overclocking. It's primarily a gaming system so i'm willing to spend a little more on the V card if it's worth it.

Originally posted by Harkoliar: I am not sure but I would think your Radeon ATI 9200 wont cut the cake for this game

I am sure. It won't. That's why i'm looking at the nVidia 7800 GT.

[Callum]

Now I'm no expert... Don't even have my first "real" system yet, but everywhere I've seen, whereever the 7800 GT has been mentioned, there has been at least one comment recommending the 7900 GT instead. Apparently 'tis faster, and there was another advantage, but is also practically the same price right now.

It's what I'm going for, and when I get it here in Malaysia, it will cost (1370 ringgit / 3.72 = ... erm... about 370 USD).

*shrugs* I don't really know, but might be worth looking into.

Edit: Having said that, it's not listed in the supported chipsets. Again, I'm not really sure if that will matter.

[ 03-21-2006, 09:57 AM: Message edited by: Callum ]

[Hivetyrant]

If you are keen on Nvidia cards, then I would suggest the 512MB version of that card

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Callum - don't worry, it'l work just fine - it's just too new to be listed

Hive - I'm sure everyone would have one if they could afford it, but the 512mb XXX XFX 7800GTX costs a bomb and a half.

[SpiritWarrior]

Originally posted by Hivetyrant: If you are keen on Nvidia cards, then I would suggest the 512MB version of that card

Why though? Don't they say that amount of memory is basically useless in games today?

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

Hmm, Fear...HDR...1920x1280 (IIRC)...= quite taxing. But yeah, it's a nice asset at any rate, if you have the cash.

[Sever]

512mb? I do like the sound of that.

As it is now, the estimated price of my system is AU$2000 - $2100. Since it's the credit card that's copping the bill, i can probably sneek that up to $2500 safely. The estimated price of the 256mb 7800 GT is AU$600. I get a little uneasy at the prospect of $1000 for a video card, but i'll check both the 7900 GTX and 512mb options when i pay the deposit on friday.

Thanks for the advice, guys.