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I only have enough money to buy a new graphics card right now. Maybe, MAYBE I might be able to get a fresh new comp next year but very doubtful. So my question is, if I get that new graphics card, how much longer will my system keep up with all the new games?


My current system specs:


Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz
1 Gig DDR333 RAM
GeForce 4 Ti 4800 SE
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
2x 120 gig Hard drives
420W Power supply


The new graphics card I'm hoping to get, if I do choose to do so, is the fastest AGP one, a 7800 GT, I think.

So how long will my system with a 7800 GT last?

The power supply is quite adequate for that rig. The hard drives will last you a long time if you don't have tons of shit on them and don't install a lot of games at any one point.

Processor power is the first stumbling block, the second is probably the memory bus speed (1GB in itself is enough for a lot of things and upgrading memory is not too expensive, especially the lower bus speed ones). And of course the graphics card.

You should be fine for a couple of years if you're willing to give up on the newest and shiniest games.

Edi

I'd wait till DirectX 10 card come out, which would be somewhere near the Vista release (January '07), but I'm not sure whether ATI or nVidia will release DX10 AGP cards or not.

Shinova wrote:I only have enough money to buy a new graphics card right now. Maybe, MAYBE I might be able to get a fresh new comp next year but very doubtful. So my question is, if I get that new graphics card, how much longer will my system keep up with all the new games?


My current system specs:


Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz
1 Gig DDR333 RAM
GeForce 4 Ti 4800 SE
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
2x 120 gig Hard drives
420W Power supply


The new graphics card I'm hoping to get, if I do choose to do so, is the fastest AGP one, a 7800 GT, I think.

So how long will my system with a 7800 GT last?

I have a system of similar power, but better GPU, and I intend to pop an AGP 7600 GT in there (they just came out and are out of stock everywhere, but should be available again soon) to last me until around this time next year. The 7800 GS is better at higher res than the 7600 GT, but otherwise the 7600 GT matches or beats it, and for $100 less.

Doesn't this depend on whether any "must have" games come out which your system can't handle? You can't really predict that until it happens. I was happy with my old system until Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion came out. The massive five or six thousand man barbarian horde armies brought my old machine to its knees, and a new graphics card wouldn't have helped because the process was CPU-bound.

True. It's always best to wait until there's a game worth upgrading for that doesn't look good on the current system.

Elaro wrote:I'd wait till DirectX 10 card come out, which would be somewhere near the Vista release (January '07), but I'm not sure whether ATI or nVidia will release DX10 AGP cards or not.

What is it with you and DX10? Sure, it will be all prettier and stuff, and when buying a new gaming computer it is something to consider, but you most definatly don't need to consider it for general Vista usage (the other thread, Vista will be DX9, period) or , like in this case, AGP upgrades. Don't have the time to check right now, but I'm pretty certain that there are a thing or two in the DX10 specs that essentialy preclude an AGP card being made, notwitstanding the fact that they are unlikely to be made even if it works. Even if I'm wrong about that, DX10 exclusive titles aren't likely to come out for at least 1.5-2 years from now, by which time ANY AGP era based computer, regardless of graphics card, will be in dire need of a replacemet of its guts if it is going to be used for anything above casual gaming.

Yes, waiting for DX10 cards is a bad idea. It will be years before you really need one, an unknown number of months before they even come out, and several months after they do finally come out before they make a reasonably priced model available (or have people forgotten that new cards typically launch with the fastest version at $600 first?) If you've got AGP, this is even moreso, as it's highly unlikely that any newer and better AGP cards will be released. Better to go with the AGP 7600 GT when you need one, and then do a total system upgrade in a year or so when a DX10 card will actually be reasonably priced and having one will really mean something.

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Yes, waiting for DX10 cards is a bad idea. It will be years before you really need one, an unknown number of months before they even come out, and several months after they do finally come out before they make a reasonably priced model available (or have people forgotten that new cards typically launch with the fastest version at $600 first?) If you've got AGP, this is even moreso, as it's highly unlikely that any newer and better AGP cards will be released. Better to go with the AGP 7600 GT when you need one, and then do a total system upgrade in a year or so when a DX10 card will actually be reasonably priced and having one will really mean something.

Lets not forget the probely accurate rumours that the first gen DX10 cards will be HOT and power hungry, VERY power hungry.