The Difference Between Need and Want
Jul 24 '00
These days the computer industry's latest and greatest change about every month, or at least it seems like that. Video cards are no exception to this get better all the time rule. The GeForce256 hadn't even been out for a year before the GeForce2 GTS came out and quickly after the GeForce2 GTS came the GeForce2 MX. So why do companies create new and better products so often now days? No it's not because computer technology is advancing so fast or because you actually need the latest and greatest; they could've made new stuff all the time ten years ago when technology wasn't advancing so fast and no one needed the latest and greatest because no one had computers (most people anyway). Companies make new stuff all the time because computers have become a part of everyone's life and with all those people buying computers it generates good business to make new stuff all the time.
And now discover what you actually need to have depending on what you do.
Gamers:
Did nVIDIA already give you the idea that you need a GeForce2 GTS to be playing Quake III Arena or Unreal Tournament? If they did, then you've been fooled by the big man. Quake III Arena only requires an OpenGL compatible 3D accelerator with 4 megabytes of RAM, Unreal Tournament doesn't even require a 3D accelerator to run, only a normal video card. Now, I'm not suggesting that if you are a gamer you buy a card this far down at the bottom of the pit. The games require a minimum of these cards; the games don't actually perform at their best when you use these types of cards. I play both Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament, probably the most demanding games of your video card out there, and I use a TNT2 with 32 megabytes of memory. I run the games at 1024x768x32 using the Trilinear texture filter, oh I also have FSAA enabled and the games never slow down while I'm playing. No this isn't because the rest of my system is super duper, it's a PIII 600 with 128 megabytes of RAM, average, now days anyway. The settings I have specified are about as good as the games will get whether you have a TNT2 or a GeForce2 GTS.
So if you're a gamer than just get at least a TNT2, you could probably even get by with an original TNT.
DVD Junkies
If you want to run DVD videos on your computer then you need a good card with an mpeg2 decoder. The best cards for DVD playback in my opinion are made by ATI. It's what my parents use and they get great DVD on their PC. Now, once again, ATI like everyone else, makes something new all the time trying to get you to buy it. Their latest creation is the Radeon which does have great DVD playback, but it is geared more toward gamers giving it the usual huge price tag. My folks use an ATI Rage Fury Pro
which currently goes for about $90.00. So I'm going to recommend that card as a minimum to any DVD Junky, and of course a DVD Drive (DUH).
Solitaire Player
If you only use your computer for school work, word processing, the internet, Solitaire, and so forth then you need nothing special. A GeForce2 GTS won't make your desktop icons look any nicer. Any 4/8 megabyte video will suite you well. If you search PriceWatch.com you can find a regular old video card for about $20.00.
Bottom Line
No matter what you do with your PC don't fall for the hype and waste your money. Look at how good the 'best' cards are and think, "Do I really need this?"
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