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Best Gaming Video Cards for the Money
Tom's Hardware has decided to take a step back with their latest video card review. Instead of wowing their audience with in-depth benchmarks they head right for what someone reading a review really wants, an opinion of the best bang for the buck. From the article: "So if you don't have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don't feel confident enough in your ability to make the right decision, fear not. We offer a simple list of the best gaming cards on offer for the money."
...They went with the 128MB version of the x800GTO. On Newegg.com you can get the 256MB version for $87, though to be fair it is third party. Strangely enough, I can't find an AGP equivalent for under $125.
I'm currently using the 256MB AGP version because I'm extremely cheap (and don't want to reinstall Windows -again- when I get a new motherboard), and I can attest to how greatly it performs.
This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don't play games but surf the Internet and edit video, the cards in this list are probably too expensive.
It would be nice to have such a list for that type of usage.
I want to run X with the usual apps, and to play video. At HD resolution.
I think many "typical Linux users" are in the same boat: not too interested in playing games, want good performance for normal 2D and video.
But the market is more focussed on gaming than on this, and when you get a low-end gaming card (I have an Nvidia 6600GT based card) you end up wasting a lot of power and generating heat, and still not have perfect video playing.
It's 2006. You need a video card.
May the Maths Be with you!
Now, playing HL2 at a resolution of 1680x1050 with HDR, AF, all the fancies turned on, it played fine but with a (barely) noticeable judder when things got really busy.
So, I tried turning off Anti-Aliasing (this is one of the most demanding graphics features, as the GPU essentially has to treat each pixel as many pixels and work out the difference - it's to reduce the jagged, stepped appearance of diagonal lines). And d'you know what? I couldn't tell the difference at all. The frame rates went right up, but the appearance on screen was basically identical.
It occurred to me that when you're at a decent resolution AA really doesn't matter - the individual pixels are so difficult for your eye to distinguish that diagonal lines look diagonal, whether anti-aliased or not.
So basically, AA is an almost useless feature when you've got a good enough resolution. I can't find a game that will slow my card down - Doom3, Oblivion, you name it - and this card was less than £150. There's going to have to be a serious upping of the ante in games detail if anyone expects me to consider one of these £200+ cards to be of any worth.
Meta will eat itself
The Intel integrated graphics that is most common in on-board implementations is bundled into the motherboard cost, so your still paying for it. They also aren't very compliant with newer Direct X at times, they aren't trying to be the lastest greatest, just enough to run Windows and simple games. it may be cheap, like 20 - 30 dollars on top of the motherboard price, but IMHO your basically getting exactly that, a video card that's worth about 20 - 30 dollars. I have no doubt you could run Warcraft III, but you'd probably not get much fps out of it, it would be a very crappy solution as compared to having even a cheap video card. And I can't imagine your cranking up the detail settings in the game
I got stuck playing with onboard video while playing Unreal Tournament at a business that allowed the tech staff to stay late and play games after work as a social thing - although to some that might sound like slacking off, other departments started joining in and it became the first unofficial company function that brought people together and let staff mingle more successfully than any of the "official" get togethers. but back to the original point, the graphics sucked at work and when I went home it was back into fantastic looking graphics.
And reviews at Tom's Hardware are for someone who wants to get some bang for their buck, not no bang. I'd keep your integrated solution in the price range of $30 and you probably notice they aren't reviewing other cards that cost that much either.
My buddy Don wrote that article. Actually, wrote it and continually updated it on their forum for the past 2 years until Tom's decided it was so valuable to the community that it warranted a full Tom's article. Many, many people, myself included, use that list to help them make a sound decision for a card in their price range.
How can everyone criticize it so frivolously and heavily when all the thinking and research and careful consideration has been distilled down into a no-nonsense, 7 page go-to guide?