DeeBye,Apr 12 2006, 11:29 PM Wrote:Would you suggest a nvidia 7000-series PCI-e graphics card as my next upgrade? What's the best performer versus price in this regard? Like I said before, I'm not really a heavy 3D gamer nor am I a graphics whore, so passable and playable FPS's are just fine by me.
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The current golden boy for power and price on the Nvidia side is the 6800GS. It has all the power of a 6800GT, which seems to be plenty for your needs, but costs cheaper due to a more efficient building process. I have no clue how your current video card, or ATI cards, compare, as I've never heard of your particular model. At this time, the 6800GS seems like the best choice for to maximize Oblivion details at a decent FPS for a moderate price.
The Nvidia 7X00 Series so far, with the exception of the 7300, is pretty darn high end, though not greatly so over the 6800GS at lower resolutions (1024x768 and 1280x1024) so if you're not really a graphics whore, to get the most out of your oblivion, there's no point in getting high end from the 7X00 series, or for that matter, the ATI 1X00 series from ATI's high end product line.
You don't absolutely "need" a better Video card if you're getting ok fps on Oblivion with your current card, but you'll be playing a different game with all the goodies turned off.
IF however, if you get a moderately powerful to high end gfx card, you can start turning up things like grass, shadows, reflections, see distant lands (the screenshot I put up does no justice to the possibilities Oblivion can do)... and all sorts of crap that's not available on a weaker card.
Really though, it is all up to product availability and budget for you. Please keep us updated on what graphics cards you're looking into, and that you're also looking into a better PSU.
Edit 2: PSU Link
Take a look at this link for idle and load power requirements of some modern cards:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2717&p=4
Edit 3: The 6600GT is also still a good value for a low price. However, I do not recommend getting anything lower than this, and prefer the 6800GS or higher.
Note: I played WoW with the 6600GT, and frame rates were always good with it. I had zero 3D issues with the 6600GT. If you're looking for only a modest upgrade, this is probably it, but I'd personally go spend the extra money for a 6800GS for Oblivion goodness. The 7600GT/7800GT line may or may not be in your price range. Go take a look.