Question about graphics cards?

[laylei]

My current computer is, well, dying a slow death, so Dad went out and bought a new Dell computer. It comes with a graphics card, but I already have one I bought fairly recently. I really don't know much about graphics cards, so here's my question:

I currently have a GeForce 6600 GT graphics card. The new PC comes with a ATi X600. Which card is better for gaming- not just the Sims 2, but other games like Neverwinter Nights?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Okay, scratch that. Dad just informed me that we no longer have the correct kind of slot for my GeForce, we only have a PCI slot. There, I amend my ?: If the ATi X600 is WORSE than the GeForce 6600 GT was, what's a good PCI video card?

[miramis]

Why is your computer dying a slow death?  What is wrong with it?  Why can't the faulty part be replaced?  Don't throw away that GF!  You could still sell it if you don't want to keep it.

[BlueSoup]

Edit: Okay, scratch that. Dad just informed me that we no longer have the correct kind of slot for my GeForce, we only have a PCI slot. There, I amend my ?: If the ATi X600 is WORSE than the GeForce 6600 GT was, what's a good PCI video card?

Only a PCI?  Or a PCI-E (PCI-Express)?  Because there is a huge difference.  PCI is pretty much dead and you'll find it very hard to get anything for it.  PCI-E is the next gen.

[jsalemi]

If it's a new Dell, it's PCIe -- that's the only thing Dell ships these days.

[Tyraa Rane]

Edit: Okay, scratch that. Dad just informed me that we no longer have the correct kind of slot for my GeForce, we only have a PCI slot. There, I amend my ?: If the ATi X600 is WORSE than the GeForce 6600 GT was, what's a good PCI video card?

Well, I don't know how the X600 works in relation to the GeForce card, since I've never used that, but--I have an ATI X600 (admittedly, a "mobility" one--I'm on a laptop) for my PC and it runs TS2 absolutely fine. I don't have OFB yet, so I don't know how it works in relation to the new system requirements, but up to NL it runs the game absolutely fine. I have all my settings turned up pretty much all the way--shadows on, mirror reflections, etc. Runs fine and looks pretty to boot. (Although that may also have something to do with my other stats...I've got a lot of RAM, etc.)

It also has no problem with other new games, like Psychonauts or Myst V, so it should be okay with Neverwinter Nights--that's a few years old now, isn't it?

[laylei]

Edit: Okay, scratch that. Dad just informed me that we no longer have the correct kind of slot for my GeForce, we only have a PCI slot. There, I amend my ?: If the ATi X600 is WORSE than the GeForce 6600 GT was, what's a good PCI video card?

Well, I don't know how the X600 works in relation to the GeForce card, since I've never used that, but--I have an ATI X600 (admittedly, a "mobility" one--I'm on a laptop) for my PC and it runs TS2 absolutely fine. I don't have OFB yet, so I don't know how it works in relation to the new system requirements, but up to NL it runs the game absolutely fine. I have all my settings turned up pretty much all the way--shadows on, mirror reflections, etc. Runs fine and looks pretty to boot. (Although that may also have something to do with my other stats...I've got a lot of RAM, etc.)

It also has no problem with other new games, like Psychonauts or Myst V, so it should be okay with Neverwinter Nights--that's a few years old now, isn't it?

Yeah, NWN is old, but NWN2 comes out in... September, I believe, and I don't think the X600 was on their list of graphics cards that will run NWN2.

And as for why we can't replace the part- well, the computer, first off, is OLD. And what it's doing is it'll randomly corrupt some important file, causing the computer to just CRASH over and over. The only way to "fix" it from home is to get the comp to boot off of disk and manage to fun checkdisk, which fixes the corrupted file, then switch it back to normal booting. It's been doing this about 2x week for months now, and lately, it's not been booting off disk right. Dad got a really good deal on a Dell through work, so we just went ahead and bought a new computer rather than trying to fix this one, which is ancient.

Yes, since it's a new Dell, I'm guessing it's a PCIe graphics card slot. THe deal is, I paid for the GeForce 6600 GT out of my own, tiny paycheck, and now that it's obsolete, I can "bully" Dad into buying a good PCIe card for the new computer. Now, I can't manage to get him to shell out for a top-of-the-line, $1000 graphics card, but $200-$250 is a possibility.

Now, to conclude this tl;dr reply, I'm not just looking for a card that'll play for right now, I want one that will be able to handle next-gen games, at least for a little while.

I'm snooping around online and found a GeForce 7600 PCIe card for pretty cheap- is this a good card?

[Aldebaran]

The GeForce 7 series is the top of the line right now. The 7900 (I think?) is the newest right now, so the 7600 is not far behind. Just don't buy GS or LE or any downgraded model, and you're set for a few years (GT or GTX models recommended). Hell, I'm set for years with my 6800 (which is a rough equivalent of a 6600GT). I know for example that there are optional next-gen effects in the new Tomb Raider game and the 7 series handled them well.
And although most games are still optimized for nVidia, in the case of mid-high or high-end cards, it doesn't really matter if it's ATI or nVidia. It will run nicely, and that few fps difference won't be noticeable.

If you are interested in card comparison, try here: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php

For the file corruption, I'd say faulty harddrive. At least the symptoms you describe is usually from a hdd that is dying and needs replacing, so with the new computer you shouldn't have this problem. Just don't put the old harddrive back

[laylei]

Hate to necro this, but I got my new card (a GeForce 7600GT), and installed it. I dunno... considering how "great" it's supposed to be...

All the edges are jaggy are VERY pixelly, even with "smooth edges" cranked all the way up. I The option for "shadows" is greyed out in the video control panel.

It really almost looks worse than the X600 did.

Should I be changing something that I'm not?

[BlueSoup]

What drivers are you using?  Apparently they are very picky.

[laylei]

What drivers are you using?  Apparently they are very picky.

I'm not sure how to tell. Dad said he installed the newest ones.

[BlueSoup]

Nvidia is notorious for their bad drivers. Try rolling back a version and seeing if that helps. This thread may help you.

[laylei]

Nvidia is notorious for their bad drivers. Try rolling back a version and seeing if that helps. This thread may help you.

I'll try that... but how DO I roll back my drivers?

[Nec]

To roll back your Nvidia drivers:

Right-click on My Computer, select Properties. Go to the Hardware tab, click on Device Manager. Click the + sign on Display Adapters. Right-click on Nvidia GeForce FX550 and select properties. Click on the Drivers tab, then click Roll Back Drivers. Follow the directions from there. That is it =)

For the record, I have the same video card and have the latest drivers and they work great. (84.21 I beleive) You just have to install them before you install the game, or reinstall after installing the drivers.
Oddly enough, I was running the game at the default graphics settings (medium all) and at 600x800 because I thought it would be easier on my card. This does not seem to be the case. I - for the hell of it - set everything on high, including shadows, and only reflections are off. I have the resolution at 1024x768 and refresh at 60mhz. It runs great - better, actually. I can load larger lots than I could before upping the graphics. View distance is small and fade is medium. I do not have the fastest pc - I run at 1.83gHz, and I have 1gig of ram. I would have never thought it would work that way, but somehow it does.

You may want to just uninstall and reinstall the newest EP since it automatically resets your graphics info. Just backup your files and make sure you back up your custom terrains! Uninstalling OFB deletes some custom sc4 terrains, I found out the hard way.

[laylei]

To roll back your Nvidia drivers:

Right-click on My Computer, select Properties. Go to the Hardware tab, click on Device Manager. Click the + sign on Display Adapters. Right-click on Nvidia GeForce FX550 and select properties. Click on the Drivers tab, then click Roll Back Drivers. Follow the directions from there. That is it =)

For the record, I have the same video card and have the latest drivers and they work great. (84.21 I beleive) You just have to install them before you install the game, or reinstall after installing the drivers.
Oddly enough, I was running the game at the default graphics settings (medium all) and at 600x800 because I thought it would be easier on my card. This does not seem to be the case. I - for the hell of it - set everything on high, including shadows, and only reflections are off. I have the resolution at 1024x768 and refresh at 60mhz. It runs great - better, actually. I can load larger lots than I could before upping the graphics. View distance is small and fade is medium. I do not have the fastest pc - I run at 1.83gHz, and I have 1gig of ram. I would have never thought it would work that way, but somehow it does.

You may want to just uninstall and reinstall the newest EP since it automatically resets your graphics info. Just backup your files and make sure you back up your custom terrains! Uninstalling OFB deletes some custom sc4 terrains, I found out the hard way.

Aww, poop- does this mean I have to uninstall FFS too? Stupid video card.

[BlueSoup]

No, you could go with just uninstalling FFS.  That will do the same thing as uninstalling OFB (Nec was probably figuring you only had OFB).

[laylei]

No, you could go with just uninstalling FFS.  That will do the same thing as uninstalling OFB (Nec was probably figuring you only had OFB).

Oops, too late. Just uninstalled OFB. Guess I'll do FFS as well, don't want to get anything screwy!

[BlueSoup]

lol well at least they're each only one disk.

[laylei]

lol well at least they're each only one disk.

Exactly, it's going pretty fast 

Edit: That seemed to work. Everything is less jaggy, though I still don't have the shadows options. More distressing is the fact that my brand-new Legacy family just had quadruplets.        Too many babies!!!

[Ambular]

Laylei, I don't know if this will help you, but when I recently upgraded from a GeForce FX5200 to a 6800 Ultra, I had to go into my Display Properties in Windows (not the game!) to crank everything up to its highest resolutions and color settings.  They defaulted to the lowest possible settings and everything on my computer looked terrible until I changed them.  Have you looked at the Windows settings, or only the game's?

[laylei]

Laylei, I don't know if this will help you, but when I recently upgraded from a GeForce FX5200 to a 6800 Ultra, I had to go into my Display Properties in Windows (not the game!) to crank everything up to its highest resolutions and color settings.  They defaulted to the lowest possible settings and everything on my computer looked terrible until I changed them.  Have you looked at the Windows settings, or only the game's?

No, I fixed all that right away.