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I just bought Starwars: Empire At War today. However, I am currently without a 3d Graphics Card. Seeing as I am a bit technologically impared, what 3d Graphics Card would suit my needs on a shoestring budget?

To play just Empire at War not much is needed; however since there's a good chance you'll tire of that game quickly let's look into cards that will provide some lasting value. As such I do not recommend cards less than $150, and will assume that you have PCI-Express.

This Anandtech guide comes at just the right time

If your only option is AGP, then the choices will be harder.

^^Seconded. a good gaming experience requires a sacrifice of $200 on the alter.

The Geforce 7600 I have heard is pretty good, but with dx10 around the corner it may be worth your while to play wait-and-see. I got a 7900GT and never looked back, but $275-300 maybe a bit pricey for you.

Azrael wrote:^^Seconded. a good gaming experience requires a sacrifice of $200 on the alter.

The Geforce 7600 I have heard is pretty good, but with dx10 around the corner it may be worth your while to play wait-and-see.

It'll be another year at the bare minimum before the DX10 cards are running quietly and efficently enough for somebody like ME to consider a worthwhile purchase. If he doesn't even have a 3D graphics card, imagine how many other components he'd have to replace to be able to handle one of those things.

Ypoknons wrote:To play just Empire at War not much is needed; however since there's a good chance you'll tire of that game quickly let's look into cards that will provide some lasting value. As such I do not recommend cards less than $150, and will assume that you have PCI-Express.

This Anandtech guide comes at just the right time

If your only option is AGP, then the choices will be harder.

The thing is I'm not a hardcore PC Gamer. Infact, I loathe most PC Games outside RTS Games. I just want a 3D Graphics card that is not only affordable but doesn't require me sawing off my arms to buy new hardware. That being said, the Radeon 7000 32 MB Card is just what I need in order to play Empire At War and will placate my graphics worries until I have the ability to spend a pretty penny later.

32 MB? Don't get anything less than 128 MB, dear lord.

It'll be another year at the bare minimum before the DX10 cards are running quietly and efficently enough for somebody like ME to consider a worthwhile purchase.

Meh... Unless dx10 cards are going to run into severe heat dissipaion issues, I don't see quietness or efficiency being a problem. Performance and efficency are opposed goals, so depending on what you want you'd probably have to throw one of those out the window anyway.

But you're right about it being a bad idea to wait but for different reasons: DX10 games require vista, so if he doesn't have it now (which he probably doesn't) he'll have to get it to take full advantage, throwing $200-300 dollars onto the upgrade price. DX10 midrange cards will outperform the high-end cards we have now, but they won't get here until months after the wanktastic $500 jobs arrive in impossible-to-buy quantities, so he can throw an extra 6 months ontop of his year long wait...

I take it back. Just pick up a good $200 card and be done with it.

EmperorSolo51 wrote:The thing is I'm not a hardcore PC Gamer. Infact, I loathe most PC Games outside RTS Games. I just want a 3D Graphics card that is not only affordable but doesn't require me sawing off my arms to buy new hardware. That being said, the Radeon 7000 32 MB Card is just what I need in order to play Empire At War and will placate my graphics worries until I have the ability to spend a pretty penny later.

Then define 'affordable'.

EmperorSolo51 wrote:The thing is I'm not a hardcore PC Gamer. Infact, I loathe most PC Games outside RTS Games. I just want a 3D Graphics card that is not only affordable but doesn't require me sawing off my arms to buy new hardware. That being said, the Radeon 7000 32 MB Card is just what I need in order to play Empire At War and will placate my graphics worries until I have the ability to spend a pretty penny later.

A Radeon 7000 will take one look at what Empire at War (or any game within the last few years) is asking it to render, have an immediate heart attack and die. I had a Radeon LE (very similar to a 7000) five years ago, until I replaced it with a GeForce 3, which was a massive improvement.

If you want a super budget card, look at the GeForce 6200 series. But if you want something that will actually run EAW worth anything, get a 6600 GT (make sure it's AGP and not PCI-E. It will say which) or Radeon 9800 Pro (if you can still find one). It'll run you about $100, but anything less will give you a very unsatisfying experience, and you'll have basically wasted your money. If you're not willing to spend that much right now, then wait until you can.