How long would a good graphic card be good for

kermit · 09-07-2005, 11:41 PM

I'm thinking of getting a new video: eVGA 256-A8-N344-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card.

In terms of video games how long would this keep me at high-end and then mid-end before I needed to replace it? Ideally, once the graphic card was considered low-end I would replace it again.

Basically: How long would would a good graphic card be good for (years)?

Hylian · 09-08-2005, 02:38 AM

2, maybe 3 years?

Yet the next few years are iffy, because many new things have come out, or are going to come out (ie. DDR2, PCI-E, Windows Vista, more 64 bit processors, etc) which may or may not affect how useful your card is.

That card in particular I would say would last the 3 years at least though.

kermit · 09-08-2005, 03:12 AM

So a decent graphic card costs about a $100 a year then if the return for high end performance is about 3 years?

Johnnyboy0056 · 09-08-2005, 03:20 AM

games are mostly using about 128 mb on the cards right now, meaning games havent come out for use of all 256 mb yet. i think you can count on 3 years til its mid-end.

GhostEye · 09-08-2005, 04:12 AM

the mb's it has isnt the real issue thatll make it obsolete.... and 3 years is stretching it. like the dude said earlier, in these next months/years new designs and hardware competely different from previous will come out. it just wont be boosting pipelines and clock speeds anymore.

Qlutch · 09-08-2005, 04:49 AM

If you can look back to around three years ago, you can see that one of the big boys was the ATI 9700 Pro. This was real high-end for then, and now, it would probably struggle on quite a few of the newer games. I'd probably say plan on that 6800GT lasting you for a year and a half to two years.

**Archangel** · 09-08-2005, 05:56 AM

3 or 4 years will it last. my old M440 lasted 4 years.. and it could un everything. but now battlefield 2 didnt support it anymore.

as said.. the hardware is going fast. however, the software isnt.
i mean. somone who bought a 6800GT half a year ago, still can run the games released now on the highest settings. in the time i bought the mx440.. half a year after its release it coldnt handle the newest games on the highest settings anymore.

this mainly comes through the better information the Game producers get about the systems everyone has got at home (because of almost everyone having broadband internet) . so now they make games wich almost everyone can run.
(battlefield 2 is just a bigger step, becase it has gone to the next directx level.

So i say, a 6800GT will last at least 3 years, probably 4, before it cant run the newest games anymore. (but ten AGP pc's will be obsolete anyway

)
but that just my opinnion on it

spamdos · 09-11-2005, 01:11 AM

three years but watch out for sli they are making graphics cards get older faster

**Archangel** · 09-11-2005, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spamdos

three years but watch out for sli they are making graphics cards get older faster

not true. the SLI pc's will only have an advantage. but when the gf6 series becomes opbolete, so most SLI pc's will be.

skidude · 09-11-2005, 01:24 PM

Lol, nowadays, about 2 weeks, then they out of date.

J/K

I'd think about 2-3 years for that card.

09-07-2005, 11:41 PM	#1 (permalink)
kermit Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 130	How long would a good graphic card be good for I'm thinking of getting a new video: eVGA 256-A8-N344-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card. In terms of video games how long would this keep me at high-end and then mid-end before I needed to replace it? Ideally, once the graphic card was considered low-end I would replace it again. Basically: How long would would a good graphic card be good for (years)?

09-08-2005, 02:38 AM	#2 (permalink)
Hylian Bronze Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 89	2, maybe 3 years? Yet the next few years are iffy, because many new things have come out, or are going to come out (ie. DDR2, PCI-E, Windows Vista, more 64 bit processors, etc) which may or may not affect how useful your card is. That card in particular I would say would last the 3 years at least though. __________________ X-Blade ATX Window Case - Enermax Liberty 620W Power Supply Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 - ASUS P5n32-SLI SE Deluxe OCZ 2GB 800MHz RAM 80GB Seagate SATA - 320GB Seagate SATA BFG GeForce 7950 GX2 1024MB PCI-E - LG L204WT 20.1" Widescreen Flatron LCD Sound Blaster Audigy 2 - Altec Lansing 5.1 Surround Sound Windows XP Pro - SP2

09-08-2005, 03:20 AM	#4 (permalink)
Johnnyboy0056 Platinum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Miami, Florida Age: 23 Posts: 666	games are mostly using about 128 mb on the cards right now, meaning games havent come out for use of all 256 mb yet. i think you can count on 3 years til its mid-end. __________________ John G. :rolleyes: Sweet Ride- By Me, For Me :) ____________________________________________ ATX Clear Side Tower with 500 Watt Power Supply EPoX 5NVA+sli Motherboard Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.40 GHz 1 GB DDR2 RAM (2 x 512 MB) Seagate 160 GB HDD w/ SATA Connection ATI Radeon X700 PCI Express Video Card

09-08-2005, 04:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
Qlutch Silver Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nebraska Age: 20 Posts: 213	If you can look back to around three years ago, you can see that one of the big boys was the ATI 9700 Pro. This was real high-end for then, and now, it would probably struggle on quite a few of the newer games. I'd probably say plan on that 6800GT lasting you for a year and a half to two years. __________________ AMD 64 3500+ Chaintech NF-CK804 2x512 G. Skill DDR400 Dual Channel eVGA PCI-e 6600GT 200GB Western Digital SATA 480W Power Supply 19" Flat CRT Windows XP Pro SP2

09-08-2005, 05:56 AM	#7 (permalink)
Archangel Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Age: 21 Posts: 7,790	3 or 4 years will it last. my old M440 lasted 4 years.. and it could un everything. but now battlefield 2 didnt support it anymore. as said.. the hardware is going fast. however, the software isnt. i mean. somone who bought a 6800GT half a year ago, still can run the games released now on the highest settings. in the time i bought the mx440.. half a year after its release it coldnt handle the newest games on the highest settings anymore. this mainly comes through the better information the Game producers get about the systems everyone has got at home (because of almost everyone having broadband internet) . so now they make games wich almost everyone can run. (battlefield 2 is just a bigger step, becase it has gone to the next directx level. So i say, a 6800GT will last at least 3 years, probably 4, before it cant run the newest games anymore. (but ten AGP pc's will be obsolete anyway ) but that just my opinnion on it __________________ God's busy, can I hellp you? Newton is dead, Einstein is dead, I don't feel very well either Xfire - Mirrari Intel Q6600 ( @3.6GHz) Asus Triton 79 Amazing 549/3200 4x 1Gb Corsair XMS2 DDR800 ( @ 960MHz ) Asus Maximus Formula Asus & Sapphire HD3870 512Mb Logitech MX Revolution mouse, G-15 keyboard, Saitek X-45 AeroEngine II case Corsair HX620W PSU

09-08-2005, 03:12 AM	#3 (permalink)
kermit Silver Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 130	So a decent graphic card costs about a $100 a year then if the return for high end performance is about 3 years?

09-08-2005, 04:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
GhostEye Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 252	the mb's it has isnt the real issue thatll make it obsolete.... and 3 years is stretching it. like the dude said earlier, in these next months/years new designs and hardware competely different from previous will come out. it just wont be boosting pipelines and clock speeds anymore.

09-11-2005, 01:11 AM	#8 (permalink)
spamdos Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Canberra Australia Age: 18 Posts: 1,107	three years but watch out for sli they are making graphics cards get older faster

09-11-2005, 01:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
skidude Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Windham, NH Age: 18 Posts: 4,700	Lol, nowadays, about 2 weeks, then they out of date. J/K I'd think about 2-3 years for that card. __________________ Desktop / Laptop CPU- AMD Athlon X2 6000+ 3.0 GHz / Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.8 GHz Video- Asus Extreme X1900XTX / 2x 8800M GTX SLI Memory- 2 GB A-Data DDR2800 / 4GB DDR2800 Hard Drives- 3x 160GB 7200RPM / 2x 320GB 5400RPM (RAID 0) Mobo- Gigabyte GA-M61P-S3 Socket AM2 Motherboard / Sager NP9262 "In These Lowly Halls / No Moon Will Beam, No Sun Will Shine / In These Narrow Rooms / No Tears Are Seen, No Laughter Heard" --- Insomnium ---

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