[RMN]

Okay to explain.. I want to buy a new Graphics Card as mine currently cannot play gta iv. It's just 128 MB. So what I want to know is when I go to buy a new one how should I ask salesman:

1. Give me a GCard of 512 MB. OR
2. Give me a 512 MB GCard of Nvidia. OR
3. Give me 512MB NVIDIA 8600.

What will work?

[mkey82]

You'll have a better chance posting this here http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showforum=240
I'll ask someone to move it for you. While we wait, post your budget, your other PC specs (info on how to do that here) and your country/area.

[jpm1]

i think for GTA cpu is as important as gpu . for the gpu i suggest 1 gig card which are the same price of 512 Mo cards generally

[lpgunit]

And another thing. GPU memory alone won't necessarily cut it. Anything that has better fillrate, bandwidth, clock speeds, etc. might do.

[Warlord.]

If you have a 128MB video card, I somehow have a feeling the rest of your PC isn't all that powerful either.

Might be a good idea to post up the rest of your specs before you get a video card and realise you can't even get 5 FPS.

[RMN]

QUOTE (mkey82 @ Wednesday, Aug 29 2012, 10:44)

You'll have a better chance posting this here http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showforum=240 I'll ask someone to move it for you. While we wait, post your budget, your other PC specs (info on how to do that here) and your country/area.

Thanks for your reply. Good people here.

My budget may be near 4000 rupees.
Some of my specs are:
OS: MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP2 (I know gta iv requires SP3)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.20GHz Conroe 65nm Technology
RAM: 1.00 GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 333MHz (5-5-5-15)
Motherboard: Kobian PI945GCM (CPU 1)
Graphics: Intel® 82945G Express Chipset Family
Memory - 128 MB
Memory type - 2
Driver version - 6.14.10.4785
Audio: SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC

Country: India
Things here in India are cheaper than other foreign countries. For eg. GTA 4 here is available in 9 USD.


@jpm1 Yes. I just asked that question. Otherwise I'll buy not less than 2 GB Gcard.

@lpgunit fillrate, bandwidth, clock speeds, etc. I didn't understood all these

@Warlord Thanks for your reply. Yes. My PC is so weak. At that time when I buy my PC, I didn't even know how to start or shut down it. I didn't know even a single thing of it. At that time I only know how to start "Paint". That's it. I was totally illiterate about computers.
... and realise you can't even get 5 FPS. Thanks for your info.

[yojo2]

4000 rupees isn't a lot. Dunno what exactly are the prices in your country; HD4850 GDDR5 might be available in your budget.

[radioman]

QUOTE (yojo2 @ Wednesday, Aug 29 2012, 11:28)

4000 rupees isn't a lot. Dunno what exactly are the prices in your country; HD4850 GDDR5 might be available in your budget.

Wow, you must be rich if you think $4000 isn't a lot of money, as 4000 bucks IS quite a bit of money-A LOT more than a whole PC costs-lol

OT-Your RAM is below minimum too, as the minimum for IV on XP is 1.5GB...so, that AND the video card need an upgrade...

QUOTE

If you have a 128MB video card, I somehow have a feeling the rest of your PC isn't all that powerful either.

That's not always true, as I have seen plenty of PC's that have good processors, RAM, etc. yet still have the cheap Intel Video card...It's like they put good processors, and ram into the PC, yet go cheap on the video card-lol

[yojo2]

QUOTE (radioman @ Wednesday, Aug 29 2012, 19:58)

Wow, you must be rich if you think $4000 isn't a lot of money, as 4000 bucks IS quite a bit of money-A LOT more than a whole PC costs-lol

You do realise that rupees don't equal US dollars?

Or was it another one of your jokes that I didn't get?

This post has been edited by yojo2 on Wednesday, Aug 29 2012, 18:39

[RMN]

@radioman Man that's just 72 USD. yojo2 is right. However it can increase or decrease. Dunno. And thanks for your advice.

I think upgrading my RAM and Graphics Card will be enough for me.

[unc13bud]

*shakes head* anyway, original poster, if you install 8600 gt, yes you can play, but at low settings... turn reflections off, shadows low, vehicles slider set to 1

[RMN]

QUOTE (unc13bud @ Thursday, Aug 30 2012, 06:16)

*shakes head* anyway, original poster, if you install 8600 gt, yes you can play, but at low settings... turn reflections off, shadows low, vehicles slider set to 1

I do not want to install a 512MB G.Card. I'll go for something bigger. My question was just How should I pruchase it. (1) Any G.Card, (2) Only Nvidia or ATI or w/e is supported by R* OR (3) Only that specific G.Card which R* is saying.?

[jpm1]

if you buy a 1 gig GC you'll need more memory too , 1 gig won't be enough . don't know what's the minima but at least 2 gig , 4 would be perfect (not more as xp can use 4 gig maximum)

[mkey82]

Looking at 1GB cards is not enough, the card model is very important as well. One of the weakest cards I have seen with loads of RAM strapped to id is the 2GB GT 9500. If you placed 10GB RAM on that card it would still suck but I can bet my ass they sold a truckload of those because people can't see this distinction.

[jpm1]

man after it's up to the person , here RMN to check the reviews on hardware sites and make his choice . it's not up to us to tell this . i mean there are sites for this

[mkey82]

Well, he did ask and I find his reasoning won't get him far in his search.

[RMN]

QUOTE (jpm1 @ Thursday, Aug 30 2012, 09:16)

if you buy a 1 gig GC you'll need more memory too , 1 gig won't be enough . don't know what's the minima but at least 2 gig , 4 would be perfect (not more as xp can use 4 gig maximum)

@jpm1 @mkey82 Thanks for your valuable suggestions. Yes I'll go to some shopping sites. There I can see some GCs and user reviews too. I had just that question at top.

[Lefteris]

QUOTE (jpm1 @ Thursday, Aug 30 2012, 03:46)

if you buy a 1 gig GC you'll need more memory too , 1 gig won't be enough . don't know what's the minima but at least 2 gig , 4 would be perfect (not more as xp can use 4 gig maximum)

Actually he will need 64bit OS to be able to use more than 3GB RAM.

Also, note that your new GPU is most likely going to be bottlenecked by your CPU. I can give you an example: I had an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13GHz(quite similar to yours) and a 8800 GTS 320MB. When I upgraded my GPU to a 560 Ti I saw very little difference. Quite recently though I upgraded my Motherboard/RAM/CPU too and well, it can play everything on max with no lag at all. I thought I should tell you so you won't be disappointed when you get your new graphics card.

About your original question, you never go to a retailer without having in mind specific models. Best thing to do is search for what suits you best and try to find a shop that sells the specific product. If you don't find it, look for another one close to it.

[RMN]

QUOTE (Lefteris @ Thursday, Aug 30 2012, 15:43)

Actually he will need 64bit OS to be able to use more than 3GB RAM. Also, note that your new GPU is most likely going to be bottlenecked by your CPU. I can give you an example: I had an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13GHz(quite similar to yours) and a 8800 GTS 320MB. When I upgraded my GPU to a 560 Ti I saw very little difference. Quite recently though I upgraded my Motherboard/RAM/CPU too and well, it can play everything on max with no lag at all. I thought I should tell you so you won't be disappointed when you get your new graphics card. About your original question, you never go to a retailer without having in mind specific models. Best thing to do is search for what suits you best and try to find a shop that sells the specific product. If you don't find it, look for another one close to it.

Okay. My heartly thanks to all of you. You've helped me a lot. Guiding many important things. Until now I've thought that mere buying a 1 or 2gb GC will do the job. But I also need to consider other things like clockspeed and other. Also I need to see as described by Lefteris. I don't know this thing that to use more than 3gb RAM I need to change my OS. Now I've guidance. I'll use it whenever I go for a buy.
I think this discussion should now be closed.

[Warlord.]

Dude, just some advice. Don't buy ANYTHING yet.

Clock speed and memory speed aren't the only things to take into account.

The best thing to do in your position is to look up benchmarks. Say you're thinking of getting an HD5770, go on Google and search for 'HD5770 anandtech' and look at the benchmarks against other cards to see how it performs.

You can't just look at one spec and determine if the card will be faster/slow than another.