Near-Term Graphics Card Future

[KrisRhodes]

I've been out of the loop for several months.

What's the next great thing that's going to be happening in graphics cards, and when is it happening?

I will probably put together a system in about two months. My budget will be small--just six or seven hundred dollars or so!--so if I were putting it together right now, I'd probably have to do something like a Geforce 8600GT and an AMD X2 4400 or 4600. I think. Is this the same as what I should expect to be able to put together on that budget in a couple of months as well?

It looks like the 8600GT will run most current games decently well, at just barely playable framerates at 1280-*1024 w/ 2x antialiasing. (i.e. 20 to 30 fps or so.) What about games that will be coming out in the next few months or the next year or so? Do we have any good idea about this?

-Kris

 

[spuddyt]

if you could afford an x1950 pro it would murder an 8600gt (or gts for that matter) and if this computer is for gaming, the Gfx card should be highest priority (unless you want to wait, then upgrade), in addition to all this, in the near future G92 and G98(?) are coming out and one of those is supposed to be the new mid range

 

[Hatman]

G92, aka 8800gt. Its the one to get for most gamers.

 

[Valtiel]

Might check out AMD's offering coming in november (assuming AMD stays true to their word.)

 

[zenmaster]

AMD/NVIDIA will likely have releases in the Nov. Time Frame.
This may drive down the prices on some of the older cards.

The x1950GT is another good option.
Not as fast as the pro, but a couple dollars cheaper.

Avoid the DX10 Cards.
On your budget, the cards you are looking at do not have the power to run DX10 options are are much slower than their similarily priced DX9 cousins.