Yet another advice on what to do post....

[ComradeMishkin]

Right, I know there are so many post on here that i have seen and read that I could work it out myself, but still, wouldn't mind an opinion....

My specs...

Athlon 2600+ (FSB 333)
Biostar M7NCD Pro
3x512 PC2700 (can't remember the make)
Gforce 4Ti 4200
and don't think the rest is relevant.

Now I am (or was realy) quite happy with my system, although haven't seen any of the cool DX9 features, so I want more graphical power and I want it to last for at least a year. I have £200 to spend and have two options as I see. One blow it all on the best card I can find for that money, I think I should be able to get a good enough card for that, or I could wait 2 - 3 months for the next generation cards to come out, during which time i would have saved up even more money and either go for one of the new ones or the Radion 9800XT (which at that point should have gone down the price by quite a bit).

I know, I am one of those people who wants HL2 and Doom3 to look best on my system. So with the thought that those two titles not going to come out till the next gen cards, not sure if I should hold out or go for it and where to get it from if that was the case.

Cheers

 

[Whisper]

There are no cool DirectX 9 features, yet. None of the current generation of games uses it. Both Half-Life 2 and Doom III will run perfectly fine on DirectX 8-class hardware like what you have now.

So save the money, and wait for the definitive benchmarks...

 

[Whisper]

There are no cool DirectX 9 features, yet.

Before anyone starts flaming... What I actually wanted to say is that you're not missing a lot. Sure, there are cool demos, but nothing that will really revolutionize gaming quite yet. So just wait a few more months and then be totally amazed.

 

[kinney]

What whisper said is correct. DX8->9 was merely an overall small evolutionary step.
If you checkout my post in your other thread you'll see my opinion on matters such as DX9, PS 3.0 and what I'm doing.
Besides, theoretically, those games should be backwards compatible to DX6 era technology.
I dont know about you, but a game should be FUN regardless if you have a $400 GPU or a $100 GPU (eg. counterstrike or another classic).
If these new games dont offer that appeal, then they will die quickly so why would you purchase a new video card for that fleeting feeling?

Doom 3, from what I've read, doesnt really use that advanced of features but rather uses older technology (similar to DX7 era) to its fullest extent. So it mostly requires a card that does older features, very very quickly but won't necessarily need a DX9/10 era card to look good.
Doom 3 is more a tribute to John Carmacks abilities than a 3D engine that uses what he latest hardware can do.
This was evident with Quake3, as it was a severely restricted engine on release as it brought most everything to its knees. Its still being used today.
I'm one who prefers games based off Carmacks good looking engines that are efficient than whatever Valve is going to be releasing.

The story of HL2 sounds appealing (tho doesnt make for a game to last for years and years like HL1), but the gameplay sounds more intriguing in Doom 3 as they are doing something a little more out of the ordinary.

----
Yeah, thats right. I support the NV/AMD/IBM axis of evil.

 

[ComradeMishkin]

Cheers guys, will stick to my card for a while till the pricess go down.