JCarter426 Posted April 13, 2013 Share Posted April 13, 2013 Hello, everyone. I currently have a Radeon 6970 and I'm very satisfied with it; however, as most of you probably know, these games don't get along with AMD cards very well. So for a while now I've been thinking of picking up a cheapish GeForce as as a backup... nothing too fancy as it wouldn't be my primary card. So I'd like to conduct a small survey to see what models fare well with these games. And that's where you come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindikorr Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Really? I'm using a Radeon 6850 and I've never had any problems playing either of the games since I got it about 2 years ago. Nevertheless, some apparently verified working cards: GeForce 7300, 7600, 8800, 9200, 9400, 9600, GT 120, 320M, 330M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexrd Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Laptop or desktop? What's your budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallen Guardian Posted April 14, 2013 Share Posted April 14, 2013 Don't know if this is more expensive than what you are aiming for but I have the GeForce GTS 250 and it runs KotOR beautifully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted April 14, 2013 Author Share Posted April 14, 2013 Really? I'm using a Radeon 6850 and I've never had any problems playing either of the games since I got it about 2 years ago. They're very minor issues and it largely depends on your hardware and software combination, and I guess I didn't luck out; I install different drivers and it fixes one issue but bring backs another, irritating. Laptop or desktop? What's your budget? Desktop. I see GeForce cards for sale all the time for something like $15 to $30... I wouldn't exactly call it my budget, but anything in that range would be convenient Don't know if this is more expensive than what you are aiming for but I have the GeForce GTS 250 and it runs KotOR beautifully. This is one of those I was talking about, $30 on Newegg.com, however it appears to be out of stock at the moment. So thanks for the suggestions, everyone... I'll keep my eye out for any of these particular models, though I'd welcome more of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 All of the cards mentioned so far are very old and can usually only be found used. The GTS 250 that Fallen Guardian has would run KoTOR at just about any resolution, but it's probably beyond your price range. However, both the 9800 GTX and the 8800 GTS 512MB are essentially the same card and could possibly be cheaper. Another possibility in this performance range is the original 8800 GTX. One step down is the 9800 GT and 8800 GT; once again, both are essentially the same card. There are a number of cards at a performance level just below the 8800 GT/9800 GT that would probably work fine at resolutions up to 1080p, but they're really not worth mentioning since you can score an 8800 GT for roughly the same price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted April 21, 2013 Author Share Posted April 21, 2013 I saw a GT 650 on sale for $30 plus shipping (after MIR) and it came yesterday. I don't see any problems so far, though the frame rate is quite a bit lower than I'm used to. So thanks anyway... and thanks to everyone else again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 That's really cheap. Too cheap. Are you sure it's a GTX 650, and not a GT 640 or GT 630? A GTX 650 wouldn't have frame rate problems. The cheapest I've ever seen a GTX 650 go for is $70 after rebate, and I pay attention to these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Ah, my bad, it's a 610. I was going from memory, which I obviously shouldn't do. Still, I doubt there's very much practical difference, so it was still quite a deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Actually, there's a HUGE difference. Nvidia's GPU architecture changed beginning with the DX11 400 series and now their stream processors are less powerful compared to the DX10 models, which is why their newer GPUs have so many more of them. The 8800 GT is roughly six times as powerful as that 610 and could be had (used, of course) for about the same price as you paid for it. Really, I'd sell that 610 and get an 8800 GT if I were you. A 512MB frame buffer is fine for KotOR at resolutions up to 1920x1200. You'd likely end up breaking even price-wise in the end, but with a much better card. I'm sorry that I didn't catch this and chime in earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 I'm not sure I follow as the GTS 650 is also a DirectX 11 model. And I'm not seeing the 8800 GT for anything less than $170, though that's for new cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Well, for starters, the GTX 650's GPU has 384 unified shaders, or stream processors, whereas your GT 610 has 48. The number of stream processors in the GPU, combined with its clockspeed, is a major determinant of a graphics card's overall performance. Another is memory bandwidth, which is determined by memory bus width and memory speed. Frame buffer size only matters when you run out of memory. KotOR only requires about 420MB at 1080p. As I said, Nvidia's shader model changed when they switched to DX11 and the Fermi architecture. The individual shaders are less complex and weaker, which is why there are more of them in the newer models. You would need at least a GT 640 to equal or surpass an 8800 GT's peformance. To get a good deal on an 8800 GT, you'd have to buy one used from a reputable dealer on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Well, I got an 8800 GT from Ebay, for about $10 cheaper than the 610. Frame rate is definitely improved, and all the other errors are resolved, so that's great. My XP has no video card at all, and I'm slowly rebuilding another computer, so the 610 won't go to waste. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted May 17, 2013 Share Posted May 17, 2013 You're welcome. Glad to hear it worked out for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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