Which Graphics Card

[--Cole--]

I'm going to get San Andreas PC soon, and I'm wondering what kind of graphics card I'm going to need. (Official req. are BS, by the way. They're never accurate in real life and don't show all the angles.)

 

Currently I have a GeForce2 MX/MX 400, which works fine for Vice City, but would it be ok for SanAn? Do I HAVE to have a GeForce3 or better?

 

Although I've been looking at new cards and I'm thinking of either an NVIDIA GeForce 6200 or an ATI All-In-Wonder 9600XT, 128MB. Can anyone recommend anything else in the $150CDN price range?

[vALKYR]

Might be better to go for Nvidia. They're quite good at the moment and their drivers are by far superior to the Catalyst Drivers of ATi.

 

Your GeForce 2 will more likely not work (if only, then not properly) with SA.

 

I looked on some sites, if you're willing to spend a bit more you might want to have a look at the 6600. It would run your SA without any problems with very nice graphics.

 

6600 Link.

 

[--Cole--]

Ok, thanks!

 

So it comes down to either the GeForce 6200 256 ($65-100), the GeForce 6600 256 ($162) or the ATI 9600XT 128 ($150).

 

I haven't upgraded my graphics card in about 5 years, so I've fallen a bit out of the loop with the details of the GPU wars. I don't know what to get.

 

Also, is there a happy medium between the 6200 and the 6600 that I could look into?

[vALKYR]

Nah, you'd be better off with the 6600. When you go for a 6200 or a 9600XT you'll be replacing it earlier than with a 6600 in a few years when you try to install yet another new GTA or something new

 

Trust me, the 6600 with 256 Megs of Vidram will do it's job on SA without any problems. It's worth the 162CND

 

Oh and there is no inbetweenie of the 6600 and 6200. Nvidia 6 Series go from 6200 to 6800.

[Statico]

I've always had nVidia cards, seems to work ok but I can only give a biased opinion as I've never had an ATI card.

[Mike_Toreno]

I don't think you HAVE to have GeForce 3 or higher, the minimum requirements aren't that accurate, as some people can run San Andreas even if they don't have the minimum requirements. I myself have integrated nVidia Graphics with 128MB and it runs SA smoothly. So aslong as you have 128MB + on your Graphics Card, you'll be alright.

[--Cole--]

I found a good deal on a GeForce 6600 256, here. What do you think?

[Wolf68k]

That 6600LE would have been a good enough card for you....one little problem, it's a PCI-E card and you have a AGP slot.

Stick with the eVGA 6200 256MB card

 

[--Cole--]

Yeah but I have both AGP and PCI slots, ...does it really matter which one I buy?

[doogle]

Yes it does. PCI and PCI-E are not the same thing.

PCI is an old technology from before AGP was introduced. PCI-E is the next thing after AGP which supports higher bandwith/memory thingies for better graphics cards etc.

[vALKYR]

That 6600LE would have been a good enough card for you....one little problem, it's a PCI-E card and you have a AGP slot.

Stick with the eVGA 6200 256MB card

sh*t, happens to me all the time when I look at cards.

 

There are 6600 with AGP though: Click here and here.

 

[Hong_Ki]

I just bought a 9600xt 256mb from Newegg.com for $96(including shipping). It runs the game, but I still have to put my settings at 1024x768x32 with low detail. I upgraded from a gf3. Of course Im running w/512mb ram and a 1.4 athlon xp. So it may not be all the video cards fault. I would definitely go with the Nvidia line. I was out of the loop on the older gen cards, so all i did was look at the clock and memory timings and the 9600xt (Sapphire brand name) had the highest.

I cant wait to save up for my new rig that will have at least the 7800gtx 512....pending what comes out until i save up the money.