Is this a good choice?

[McGooTheWise]

I stumbled upon this card a few days ago, and thus far I am thrilled with it, and have talked to my dad about getting one of them for Christmas. However, a few of the reviews are saying bad things about the card, and I wanted a few more opinions before I make my dad pay $300 for something that is going to break in 3 months.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=geforce+9800&cid=5198717162996166066#ps-sellers

And also, here are some other cards of the type. I would, however, be thrilled if one of you guys could refer me to a card similar to this.

http://www.google.com/products?hl=e...a=X&oi=product_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title

 

[The Brick]

What are you upgrading from? What are your other specs? Can your psu handle it?

 

[McGooTheWise]

Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
Speed: 3400 Mhz
2 logical processors
1 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported

Network Information:
Network Speed:

Windows Version:
Windows XP (32 bit)
NTFS: Supported

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
DirectX Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.10.8466
DirectX Driver Version: 6.14.10.8466
Driver Date: 21 Oct 2006
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x391
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1152 x 864
Desktop Resolution: 1152 x 864
Primary Display Size: 16.77" x 12.60" (20.94" diag)
42.6cm x 32.0cm (53.2cm diag)
Primary Bus Type Not Detected
Primary VRAM: 256 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x


Sound card:
Audio device: SB X-Fi Audio [AF00]

Memory:
RAM: 3071 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Microphone: Not set
Media Type: DVD
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 305234 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 96696 Mb
Power Supply: 500 watts

 

[The Brick]

Ah, well your cpu (pentium D) will be bottlenecking you most likely. If you have a mainboard that supports a core 2 duo cpu, you will get much better performance if you purchase a 9600gt along with a mid range cpu.

If you want to figure out what mainboard you exactly have, download and run CPU-Z -> www.cpuid.com

 

[McGooTheWise]

Yeah, my Motherboard supports Dual Core, it came with the processor.

So can I run this thing? I'm pretty excited for the jump in performance.

 

[The Brick]

I'm talking about support for the Intel Core 2 Duo series processors. You should download CPU-Z and see what motherboard you have exactly. Come back with the answer and I'll help you further.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Okay... it's a NF570_SLIT-A

Chipset: nForce SLI Intel Edition
Southbridge: nForce 410/430 MCP
LPCIO: ITE IT8712

Not skimping on details this time.

 

[The Brick]

Alright it's the ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A. It supports Core 2 Duo processors, but only the somewhat older 65nm ones.

Not sure what your budget is, but I would suggest an Intel Core 2 Duo e6850 processor plus an Nvidia geforce 9600 gt.

This will get you much better results than just a 9800GTX+, even while that card is slightly faster.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Ah, well, no worries, mine is a 65nm, and it's faster than that one. This is mine. http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202730423&listingid=23608044&dcaid=17902

But would the 9600 be better than the 9800? I have a big enough budget that I could get 2 cards if they don't take up 2 slots. Or did you mean that if I were to change my processor those 2 would work better together than just the 9800? ...Surely not.

 

[The Brick]

Yes it will. I don't think you understand the differences in the processor. The e6850 is about 70% faster than what you have now. The 9800 is a slightly faster card, but it's also more expensive. If you upgrade your processor as well, I thought you might need to save on that.

 

[McGooTheWise]

Oh, I see. Most of the numbers on the e6850 are bigger, while I was looking at the clock speed. I understand now. I'll see about that processor then. Thanks for the help.