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  #1  
Old 10-25-2005, 04:47 PM
cassette cassette is offline
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Posts: 30
Default How important is my Video Card?

Ok, so I am giving in and upgrading my poker machine into something that can play games. Half Life, Civ 4, ect.

I don't know anything about video cards.

What's the difference between PCI, PCI Express and AGP cards?

Would either of these two fit my needs? What would be the noticable differences between them?

Leadtek Geforce 6600GT 128MB (Nvidia,16x PCI-E w/ TV-Out, DVI, SLI) $202
ATI All in Wonder Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (ATL, AGP 8x TV Tuner, Video Capture, Remote, TV-Out) $269

Would I be able to hook up 2 monitors to either of these?

Thanks for any help.
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  #2  
Old 10-25-2005, 05:15 PM
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

Neither of these cards will support multiple monitors. Both have one DVI port, I think.

The difference between PCI, PCI Express and AGP: don't bother with regular PCI. It shares the bus with all other PCI devices, meaning that your video card will compete with other system components for resources. Neither PCI Express or AGP suffer from this limitation.

I think this makes your choice of cards easy--from what I remember, your motherboard supports only PCI-Exp or AGP, not both. If you're buying a new motherboard or new system, I'd go PCI express. It is faster.

Either one of the cards you listed are available for less than the amount you posted. Look around a bit, you should be able to find them around the $150 mark. Also, make sure you look at the system specs for the game you want to play; the specs will tell you how much video RAM is recommended.

If you're buying a new card for gaming, and you're not planning ony buying a new card anytime soon, you might want to consider getting a 256 meg card.
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  #3  
Old 10-25-2005, 06:29 PM
cassette cassette is offline
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

Thanks! I appreciate the help. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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  #4  
Old 10-25-2005, 08:50 PM
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

[ QUOTE ]

Neither of these cards will support multiple monitors.

[/ QUOTE ]

why would you say that?
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  #5  
Old 10-25-2005, 09:10 PM
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

Oops. My mistake, must've searched the wrong card.

The Leadtek Geforce has both DVI and VGA inputs. The ATI All in Wonder has only DVI input. So, out of the box, the ATI card by itself will not support two monitors, but the Geforce will.

Of course, if you're upgrading from an old system, you could always run two video cards.

Is that correct, Zod?
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  #6  
Old 10-25-2005, 09:56 PM
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

[ QUOTE ]
Oops. My mistake, must've searched the wrong card.

The Leadtek Geforce has both DVI and VGA inputs. The ATI All in Wonder has only DVI input. So, out of the box, the ATI card by itself will not support two monitors, but the Geforce will.

Of course, if you're upgrading from an old system, you could always run two video cards.

Is that correct, Zod?

[/ QUOTE ]

sure, as long as you buy 2 video cards that are each compatible w/ your mobo
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  #7  
Old 10-27-2005, 02:26 PM
Terry Terry is offline
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Location: The Appalachian Trail
Posts: 660
Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

[ QUOTE ]
Civ 4

[/ QUOTE ]

It hit the stores yesterday and doesn't require a very powerful machine.
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  #8  
Old 10-27-2005, 02:32 PM
Asufiji2004 Asufiji2004 is offline
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Posts: 49
Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Civ 4

[/ QUOTE ]

It hit the stores yesterday and doesn't require a very powerful machine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you sure about that?

MY COMP
specifications
CPU: AMD Sempron™ 3300+ Processor (64-bit)
(256KB L2 cache, 2.0GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (1x512MB), 400MHz (PC3200)
Expandable to 2GB
Hard Drive: 160GB (7200 RPM, 2MB cache) 2
Video: S3 Graphics Unichrome™ Pro
64MB DDR Shared Memory
AGP 8x slot available for upgrade

In a OOT thread I was told by someone who has the game I would not only need a new memory card but, at least another 500MB of memory.
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  #9  
Old 10-27-2005, 02:45 PM
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Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

System Reqs for Civ 4:

Minimum Requirements:
1.2GHz
256MB RAM
64MB 3D accelerator
CD-ROM
1.7GB free disk space

Recommended Requirements:
1.8GHz
512MB RAM
128MB 3D accelerator

Running games with the bare minimum requirements generally sucks. Espcially if you are using shared video memory.

Civ 4 doesn't require too much power, but your system isn't all that powerful, esp. when it comes to video processing.
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  #10  
Old 10-27-2005, 02:51 PM
MyMindIsGoing MyMindIsGoing is offline
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Posts: 41
Default Re: How important is my Video Card?

[ QUOTE ]
In a OOT thread I was told by someone who has the game I would not only need a new memory card but, at least another 500MB of memory.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do not trust anyone telling you that you need "a new memory card" whem they mean RAM. Besides that Civ 4 will run on 512mb. If anything your video card will be the bottleneck. Try the game and then decide what to get, if you are gonna get anything at all.

http://planetcivilization.gamespy.co...ws&id=1860
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