Thoughts on Video card I might be getting

[Dattebayo]

GeForce GTS240 1024MB GDDR3

Comes with my new Dell Studio XPS. I like to game very seldomly, but like to play when I can.

[Looneybomber]

Well, there's definitely faster cards out there, but this one will work so long as you don't run crazy screen resolutions. It also has DX10 for in case you get a BRD.

[RCA]

You can also get a GeForce 9800 GT and over clock it yourself.

The reviews for it so far have been great http://www.newegg.com/Product/...30440

[Dattebayo]

You can also get a GeForce 9800 GT and over clock it yourself.

The reviews for it so far have been great http://www.newegg.com/Product/...30440

That's more than I am paying by a good few bucks.

[Sushibandito]

A great resourse is tomshardware.com

Look for the video card monthly "Round-ups" and your card should be on there, or at least the one closest to it spec-wise. They will show you tests like FPS, how it functions at A/B/C resolutions, etc. They usually list about 40 different cards, and its constantly updated.

I have never heard of that brand of card though. GeForce has a GTS 250 though... If that is what you meant, you would be able to run high end games like Crysis or Fallout 3 at an easy 20-30 FPS on at least as big a monitor as 24"

[MinisterofDOOM]

It's a decent card. There are certainly better, but it'll run any game on the shelf right now...just not all at max settings. It'll even run Crysis, though how well depends on the rest of your rig. And 1024MB video memory is nothing to scoff at. You should be pretty happy with it if you just play games occasionally.

You can also get a GeForce 9800 GT and over clock it yourself

The GTS 240 is superior to the 9800GT.

Actually, it's based on the 9800 GT, but faster and with other optimizations. The 200 series has replaced the 9000 series, so anything with a "GTx 2xx" name is going to be better than a 9800. The GTS-240 is about middle of the range as far as the 200 series cards go...it's pretty decent, though not incredible.

I have never heard of that brand of card though. GeForce has a GTS 250 though...

The GTS 240 is pretty smilar to the 250, but is an OEM-only card (can't buy it on the shelf, but you can get it in a new computer).

As for Fallout 3, the GTS 240 should do much better than 30 fps. I managed that with my Radeon 2600, which isn't nearly as good.

[Dattebayo]

Thanks MoD!

[RCA]

The GTS 240 is superior to the 9800GT.

Actually, it's based on the 9800 GT, but faster and with other optimizations. The 200 series has replaced the 9000 series, so anything with a "GTx 2xx" name is going to be better than a 9800. The GTS-240 is about middle of the range as far as the 200 series cards go...it's pretty decent, though not incredible.

Well from what I read, the GTS 240 is a repackaged 9800 GT that has been over clocked. Did the actual hardware change?

[Dattebayo]

From what I have read, referring to it that way is over-simplifying what it really is...

It is not "overclocked", but rather it is in it's normal state similar to if you overclocked a 9800 GT. There are other features that are different according to another source also.

[RCA]

Ahh ok then I guess I misunderstood it. If the hardware changed and they were just mentioning it's performance vs that of an over clocked 9800 GT, my bad.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Well from what I read, the GTS 240 is a repackaged 9800 GT that has been over clocked. Did the actual hardware change?

I think the GT 210 is that way, or one of the other bottom-end 200-series cards. It's just a 9800 GT with different stickers.