Do we need such powerful cards now?

[Phil2008]

The reason I ask this is cos 90% of games are port games and dont really show off the topend cards

I may be wrong when I say this so please put me right if I am, I can only think of 2 reasons for getting a high spec card nowadays, and thats either playing at a real high res or for playing crysis or crysis warhead

Im still using a 3870 and it runs all games fine at med to high detail at 1280x1024, even runs fear 2 and burnout demos maxed out, and there the latest games that are out atm. I guess my card would start to struggle at a higher res tho.

anyway your thoughts guys, But port games dont push our pcs far enough, I dont think.

 

[gt_junkie]

Think it comes down more to resolution like you mentioned.

My 8800GTX managed fine @ 1680x1050 but when i upgraded to a 1920x1200 screen it brought it to its knees. The 260 that i use now is just about right (for the moment) so i'll probably be sticking with it for the next 4-6 months.

You're also right about 90% of games not needing monster cards - but remember that those remaining 10% are still there and still need to be played.

gt

 

[jrodga2k5]

As GT Junkie said and yourself its all about the resolution.

The extra intricacy in the detail which you get at each higher resolution really does start to push things. I have had a few cards @ 1650x1080 resolution since I upgraded my monitor 8800GT>9800GTX>GTX 280 and I have to say the differences between each were noticable.

The GTX 280 I have now just chews up absolutely everything I throw at it....even Crysis with everything at enthusiastic level apart from shadows which is set to mainstream I believe....and I couldnt be happier.

I think I will be seeing a good period of time spent with this card and I can see myself keeping it well into the early part of 2010.

The only reason I upgraded was due to the fact this card was at a very attractive price and would be a considerable upgrade in the games I play compared to my 9800GTX.

This however will be the resolution I play at for the forseeable future as I tend to upgrade monitors around the 3 year mark unless something goes wrong. haha!

Though to be perfectly honest looking onwards on the horizon I am not so sure there is much out there that really will stress the higher end tech to such extremes as the need to upgrade.

The next big step will be the Id Rage engine and how our "powerful" cards of right now will handle this new and looking attractive engine. Also no forgetting the release of DX11 probably early next year with Windows 7 which will give us new specifications to match and for most techno-junkies having the ability on your card is a must.

 

[Herojuana]

I'm upgrading to a 26" monitor today with 1920x1200 resolution screen. Do you reckon a 4850 will be crippled by that res aswell?

Currently at 1680x1050 and runs everything just swell - I just hope i don't need to upgrade the card now as the monitor cost a bomb!!!

 

[cje]

All about res. I was having a laugh yesterday running my 2 9800GTX+ in SLI through an 1024 x 768 17 inch monitor. I actually got less fps than running the game at 1680 x 1050 on my 22" monitor. My SLI is wasted on 1680 x 1050 at the moment, need a larger screen really.

 

[jvowles]

I was fine with a 8800gt card until i upgraded to a 1900x1200 screen, which killed the card. I now have a GTX280 and its just a world of difference really.

 

[Chong Warrior]

As said it's only when you hit 1920x1200 res that you need the latest cards with 1gb of RAM. Below that res and a 4850 512mb should be more than enough.

 

[Dutch Guy]

You can never have too much GPU power.

If cards get faster, games developers can add more detail into their ggames which drives the card manufacturers to develop faster cards etc....

I also had a 8800GTS and I upgraded from a 19" to a 24" screen which killed the framerates in games as I always have a minimum of 4xMSAA/16xAF, now that I have a 280GTX the framerates are back where they were or even higher.

If you have 1280*1024 res monitor there is a smaller difference between cards and upgrading will not give you a big difference in framerate.

 

[Adrianr]

What were people playing that 'killed' their cards at 1920 x 1200 exactly? :S I ran a single 8800GT at that res for a while and it was fine in shedloads of games. I can only imagine a 8800GTX being better with more memory and larger bus. 8800GT SLI at that res was more than enough for Warhead, faster than the 260 core216 i'm using now, even with only 512mb of Vram.

 

[4T5]

Yes.
Higher resolutions, Bigger screens & more background tasks require bigger CPU's & Bigger GFX cards & don't let anybody tell you otherwise

 

[Rroff]

Depends a lot on what you are doing i.e. 8800GT at 1920x puts up perfectly playable fps for max settings in COD4 in single player, but not good enough fps for serious multiplayer gaming unless you drop some settings - so for online play with max settings you'd need to upgrade.

 

[Hyper]

The speed limit in this country is 70mph...

Do we need such powerful cars

People still buy them though.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Think it comes down more to resolution like you mentioned.

My 8800GTX managed fine @ 1680x1050 but when i upgraded to a 1920x1200 screen it brought it to its knees. The 260 that i use now is just about right (for the moment) so i'll probably be sticking with it for the next 4-6 months.

You're also right about 90% of games not needing monster cards - but remember that those remaining 10% are still there and still need to be played.

gt

I've not had too many problems with my 8800GTX @ 1920 x 1200. Although I have it clocked to about 625Mhz.. However, I am behind on games.. Currently on Far Cr 2 and COD5.

 

[Phil2008]

I might be upgrading to a 27-28" next year, better put a card on the list aswell if I havent upgraded my 3870 before then.

I guess thats why I like sticking with a 1280x1024 19", cos I can make my cards last longer. Ive had my 3870 for a year now, and if it wasnt for my 19" and port games I think Id be planning of upgrading round about now.

 

[ph3onix]

The majority of recent games play really well at medium resolution. I know my 8600GTS was perfect before it died this week. It played CoD:WaW perfectly, at high settings, aswell as steam based games, on my 20" 1680 x 1050 res monitor.

I know these arent as intensive as the likes of Crysis Warhead on a 38" monitor at crazy resolutions and all settings on Ultra, but the majority dont play at these resolutions. And when you also consider that you can now buy an xbox 360 for £120 which plays a lot of games which then get ported to PC and require a £150 gfx card to play its ridiculous.

 

[Chong Warrior]

You can buy a 4870 1gb for £150 now. Any game played pushing one of these to it's limits will look a lot better than anything the Xbox360 can produce.

It's the AA mixed with high res that requires the horsepower, a 360 can't output 1080p with loads of AA enabled and smooth framerate.

 

[gt_junkie]

I've not had too many problems with my 8800GTX @ 1920 x 1200. Although I have it clocked to about 625Mhz.. However, I am behind on games.. Currently on Far Cr 2 and COD5.

Completely understand and for the most part gaming was fine. I was @ around 630mhz on the 8800GTX if i remember correctly although i can't recall the memory clocks.

It came down to a mix of crysis, a maxed and modded oblivion a and modded S.T.A.L.K.E.R that all slowed the performance enough to warrant selling on and upgrading. I'm not really one for happily playing a game at medium settings if i can help it.

I did initially go to a 4850 and then xfire but found the sweetspot was the GTX260. After all the buying and selling (not counting the initial outlay on the 8800) i was only out of pocket by a couple of sets of postage costs so it was a worthwhile upgrade.

gt

 

[Duran]

actually we dont. hardware companies will take a big hit soon if they dont do anything about it. we need someone to back up pc gaming so we can get quality exclusives. pc gaming alliance did absolutely nothing

 

[HangTime]

I guess it depends how you define 'need' really.

There's definitely a benefit from having more powerful cards because the most demanding games don't run completely smoothly when maxed out at high res / AA.

 

[reflux]

I've had a 4870X2 since September, and wondered exactly the same thing last week. I spotted a bargain GTX 280 in b-grade, so I'm going to run that for a while and see how it is.

E-peen = fail, I must keep telling myself that