need help picking a new graphics card

[Toddster420]

fist off ive been a fan of Unreal since Unreal. last time i played was unreal tournament for the PS2, but any way.

I bought UT3 so i can start to make mods and hopefully one day get in the biz. the computer im installing it has a ASUS P5GZ-MX motherboard, hence no graphics card. its a mini tower so i know it needs a PCIe card, but the opening on the back slot is only 2.5" and all the cards ive been looking at seem to be longer Like This One.

i look at the actual board and it has 2 PCI slots, a PCIex16(x16??) slot, and a PCIeX1(X??) slot. so does this mean i should get number 1 which looks correct,
Number 2 which still looks wrong.
Number 3Which also looks wrong.

or am i just looking wrong completley???

edit: found out what the PCIeXis used for, guess i shouldve googled it before. oh well.

[Toddster420]

fixed the links

[Optimus]

9600 GT

Any of them can handle it, really. I'm running at 1600x900 with medium settings on a 7800 GTX which is actually slower than that 8400 GT... heck, mine's slower than a 7900 GT.

You probably won't get the double throughput of PCI-X 2.0 that the 9600 GT supports, but it will still easily handle any UT3 engine game.

[Toddster420]

thanks, i might just order the 9600 GT. my question isnt if they can handle it, its if they will fit in the tower with the cover on.

[SilentKoala]

Get an nVideo Quadro FX

[neo158]

Get an nVideo Quadro FX

So you think OP should get a workstation graphics card for one game?

[Toddster420]

Get an nVideo Quadro FX

when i win the lottery, sure why not.

but i just went with this one i think itll do the job(i hope!)

[Sincreator]

The 9600gt would of been WAY better. Anything below the 9600gt from Nvidia, is meant more for an HTPC, not for gaming. I'd cancel that order and get the 9600gt if I were you.

[Krattle]

^^Yeah, and that's why I can play UT3 on max settings and AA with just a single 8600 GT with NO slowdown. 8400 may not have been the best choice, but the 8000 series is hardly ****. In fact, many of the 9000s offer only the bare minimum improvement over 8000 for twice the price. If you have $120 you can get an 8800GTX, or a 9800GTX, or a 250GTS.

512MB 9800GTX for $115 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339
512MB 250GTS for $120 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130468

[Toddster420]

The 9600gt would of been WAY better. Anything below the 9600gt from Nvidia, is meant more for an HTPC, not for gaming. I'd cancel that order and get the 9600gt if I were you.

yeah i wouldve gotten that but it wouldnt fit in the tower, i know it would fit in the slots but not through the opening in the back of it. the VGA plug on the 8400 can be on its own plate thats why i know itll fit on my PC, i wouldve gottn the 9600 but just by looking at it i know it wouldnt workout for me, unless i had a normal size tower.

its more about modding then playing, dont get me wrong im gonna play it but its mostly so i can do mods.

[Sincreator]

^^Yeah, and that's why I can play UT3 on max settings and AA with just a single 8600 GT with NO slowdown. 8400 may not have been the best choice, but the 8000 series is hardly ****. In fact, many of the 9000s offer only the bare minimum improvement over 8000 for twice the price. If you have $120 you can get an 8800GTX, or a 9800GTX, or a 250GTS.

512MB 9800GTX for $115 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130339
512MB 250GTS for $120 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130468

Yup the 8800 series were up to par with the 9800 series, but the 9600gt would blow both the 8600gt, and the 8400gs out of the water. PROOF: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...d%5B2088%5D=on

PS: You should try raising your resolution, so the gpu is doing most of the work instead of the cpu, and then see how everything runs.