[Greystoke]

I'm a bit of a newbie in building PCs, having only assembled two (in ten years). Embarking on a new project to assemble a replacement for my aged Pentium Pro <> system, I have a general question on video card selection.

I've reading up on video options, and most reviews now rate cards by how well they handle Oblivion: Elder Scrolls 4. Now, I already play this game on the Xbox 360, and I'm a little disheartened to read that most people have to disable some effects in the game to get a decent frame rate in the PC version. What card(s) do people recommend for new gaming systems?

My goal is to aim towards the upper end of the price/value spectrum, and try to incorporate a reasonable upgrade path as well. I'm planning on building a AMD system, probably the Athlon 64 X2 processor and a SLI-capable motherboard. However, I'm not really looking to blow my budget on a quad-SLI configuration that becomes obsolete in six months; looking for leading edge, not bleeding edge.

Any suggestions? How have other folks dealt with the graphics handling options out there?

Thanks for all replies!

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Granted, I'm not the best person to listen to, but I'm betting that the first thing people on here will tell you is to think about investing in an Intel Conroe processor over an AMD as the lower end Core 2 Duos overclocked are comparable with the AMD 64 X2 etc. etc. etc. - just giving you a heads up

Edited by apritske, 14 August 2006 - 08:48 AM.

[apritske]

Granted, I'm not the best person to listen to, but I'm betting that the first thing people on here will tell you is to think about investing in an Intel Conroe processor over an AMD as the lower end Core 2 Duos overclocked are comparable with the AMD 64 X2 etc. etc. etc. - just giving you a heads up

Edited by apritske, 14 August 2006 - 08:48 AM.

[warriorscot]

Nah im only reccomending core 2s unless youre going for something like the 6600s anythig under them and the X2s are comparable if not better and they are very cheap right now, the E6600 is a good chip though but going intel is let down by the lack of good motherboards to compete in features, price and choice with the huge range of great cheap AMD boards about. AMD just launched a new CPU the 5200+ that looks half decent.

Oblivion isnt used all that much other games give a better indication as oblivion isnt the best made game its a resource hog where it shouldnt be and is picky with hardware however most can run it fine, the 360 has an advantage that is gets to have it optomised for it but even at that alot of things that most people disable on the PC arent on in the xbox anyway and its at a lower resolution so most wouldnt be able to tell the difference if they played oblivion on a TV with a computer.

There is a new generation of video cards coming out, DX10 is coming out over the next few months and is a big step fordward until its out i wouldnt spend alot on a video card, 7600GT or x1800 is the best i would reccomend somebody get both are capable of playing oblivion, at the most an x1900XT or 7900GT is the limit i would say anything more and you really are just throwing money away. I wouldnt think you would need an SLI or crossfire system most people are confused or misinformed as to the purpose of dual gfx card systems.

[kidnova]

Here's a link to a good writeup on mid-range cards:

http://www.anandtech...doc.aspx?i=2812