Graphics card to play UT3

[sprite-hero]

I built my pc in 2004. I'm looking to put something together this January to replace it. My current card is an ATI X800XT (flagship of it's day). I average around 30 fps(lows around 20 and highs around 45) with all the "pretty-ness" turned off. UT3 is the only game I currently play and plan on playing for the foreseeable future.

What graphics card can I buy today (or in January) which will allow me to play UT3 with all the cool video effects turned on and get 60 fps most of the time? I was looking at AMD's 7850, but was wondering if I could get away with something less expensive.

[1XTreme]

That's probably a good card as far as bang for the buck, I was going to recommend a GTX480 but I see the price is back up on those and they do tend to run "hot" so maybe you're on the right track.

What I look for in a video card along with price is type of memory should be at least GDR5 and memory interface should be at least 256, then stream-processors, pixel pipelines, etc. A lot of times what happens is they re-brand a card as a supposed higher number and newer gen but it doesn't mean that it will out perform earlier cards, for example I don't think there is anything is the Nvidia 5xX series that will beat the GTX480 they have some really creative marketing strategies.

I previously ran a PC consulting biz and did hardware, tech support & help-desk for a major United States university for several years, one thing I learned is that cutting edge hardware is very pricey, can you imagine paying 6 or 7 hundred bucks for a CD burner back in the day? yeah so take a look at whats still available with the earlier product lines and be sure you consider the rest of the hardware so you don't end up with a bottleneck that limits your GPU performance. G/L and good fragging - you're really going to love the game with newer hardware, let me tell ya its really night and day.

[evilmrfrank]

The Nvidia 560 should EASILY do well over 100 FPS on the highest graphics on all stock UT3 maps.

[sprite-hero]

Thank you both!

[UTPlayer529th]

A GTX 480 or AMD 5870 or > will do fine at 1080

[chrisl121212]

If you can still find it on Ebay or something, the Nvidia 9800gt would be good for UT3. It's discontinued though, so you would have a very hard time finding it.

[oldkawman1]

For UT3, you need a powerful CPU to go along with a powerful video card. You need a balanced rig. A mainstream rig will use a core i7 sandy bridge and a HD6870 or GTX560ti. Intel is the way to go. Ebay is a good place to find used gear at a good price.

[Bl!tz~]

For UT3, you need a powerful CPU to go along with a powerful video card. You need a balanced rig. A mainstream rig will use a core i7 sandy bridge and a HD6870 or GTX560ti. Intel is the way to go. Ebay is a good place to find used gear at a good price.

lol^^....no problems to run ut3 at max settings with phenoms 4 and 6 cores(tested on PII940; 840; 1090t and 965)....and no problems to run it on FXs cpus(tested on FX-6100 and FX-8350) and even no probs to run it on athlonX3 at decent settings...."intel is the way to go" just makes no sence mate , it s the way u have choosen ... ...that s an intel fan boy comment....not a fact , because if we start this kind of comments here it will end in a classic flame war ...imho
the only situation intel is the way to go is if u want the more powerfull rig of the moment but that s not what u need to play ut3....and hopefully because it normally always costs a lot....,if u want a cheap efficient rig u can easily chose between intel and amd to pick what fit to ur tastes, especially on ebay where u can find some nice second hands cpus from both manufacters...

@sprite-hero: agree with thoses who suggested a GTX560 or GTX-560ti....price are down since the 6xx serie and it s a very nice balance price/perf + if u have some luck and time to hunt...on e-bay, it really worth it , ATI GPUs are nice too ...no physX options though...

[oldkawman1]

You can find CPU and Graphics performance charts here. Best to do your research and then make an informed choice based on your gaming needs and budget.

CPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ison,3370.html

CPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...lock,3106.html

GPU http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2...marks,135.html

GPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html

[Bl!tz~]

You can find CPU and Graphics performance charts here. Best to do your research and then make an informed choice based on your gaming needs and budget.

CPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ison,3370.html

CPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...lock,3106.html

GPU http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2...marks,135.html

GPU http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html

that s a fair linking mate, thx for your wisdom ...

[Nightmare85]

I built my pc in 2004.

Okay, but it will be better to give us more details.
As some other members mentioned, a good graphics card is probably not enough.

UT3 needs indeed a powerful CPU and uses much RAM (compared to other games that came out in that year.)

Maybe it's better for you to wait some further months and buy a completely new PC.
(Sure it will be more expensive, but I doubt you will regret it.)

8 years is a long time for a PC!

Cheers!

[Cx Sandman]

i need Graphics card too.

[UTPlayer529th]

i need Graphics card too.

Do you plan on buying one, and if so what's your budget?

Nvidia works best on the UE3 engine. I'd recommend a GTX 670

[Bl!tz~]

just to tell....i ve build a PC this week end and installed a MSI HD7770....(running with a phenom965 @ stock speeds)...and ...surprise....this GFX was doing the job nicely on high settings (1920x1080res, textures on 4,never gone under the 66 fps stock limit setting)....so...it seem that a 99 € card is now enough