I found out that on the COD2 servers I am pinging at about 90 - 100, which I think I can live with.

My FPS is running about 20 -35, which is a problem.

I am wondering if I pick up a top of the line graphics card I can improve this. I'm currently running an NVIDIA nForce. I have an AMD Athlon 3200 chip. 448 RAM
Any thoughts?

And what card should I get, if any?

Thanks, Shred

Depends on what slots you have available and how much money you want to spend....

Junkie

Ok.
I'm willing to dump maybe $200 on a card. I guess I gotta rip the back of the computer and see what I'm working with.

I changed my video mode to the 640 x 480 and I was able to get up to 100 FPS, but its probably costing me some graphics. Oh well, it will get me by until I figure out what I need and get to the store.

look at Newegg,

7900GT is a very good card for the money. Here's a good chart to compare performance at the medium resolution and no AA which is probably what you want for gaming:


http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.htm...1&chart=196

Old Man Mike

Make sure you are running under direct x 7 in cod2 option.

Thanks Mike,
I'll look at that.
And its Valentines Day...I may get it for Freeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!
Shred

If you have an PCI-E slot that is a great choice. There are several models of that card and Newegg is a good place to find them. I bought the 7950 GT KO from there and am well pleased. Make sure you have a strong enough power supply to power whatever card you buy.

Junkie

Good Point!! This is a part of the PC that is overlooked every time people upgrade components. I believe the manufacturers for this particular card recommend, at the very minimum, a 300watt power supply. After you factor in all the PC's Peripherals, you should probably be running a power supply rated at around 500 watt minimum. Your particular needs will vary, but I would say that most folks would be safe with a power supply rated at around 700 watts and up.

Power supply selection is definitely another science all to itself. There are "cheapies" out there that say they are rated for higher power requirements, but they are short lived and just problems waiting to happen. Rule of thumb here, for the novice shopper, the heavier the power supply (actual weight) is a very good indicator of quality as the more it weighs the better quality parts are used in the construction.

Try it sometime, go to Bestbuy (or your favorite computer supply store) and physically handle the selection of similarly rated power supplys and feel the difference, then look at the price tags. The heavier the product, the higher the price, the better the quality. No joke!

Good tip, Junkie! You probably headed off the next problem that was waiting to rear its ugly head!

Good point guys, also maybe add an extra case cooling fan, the high end video cards can really pump up the case temperatures, and they are the least expensive item of any computer componet, $5 - $15.

OMG,


I didn't know my NV 6600GT sucked so bad.