Hotel California said:
I'm building a new computer and want to get a pretty hefty graphics card (in order to play the oblivion engined FO3).
don't
if you're gonna buy a new computer for a specific game, buy it when the game is released... else you might get stuck with an 'older' pc thats not performing as good as it could've been if you'd have waited. ya know, HL2-style (or duke nukem fornever if you catch my drift)
Hotel California said:
I need: An AGP compatable, running on 300mW PSU which would be able to play oblivion. (My PSU is non changable due to it being incorperated into a minitower)
mkay, if it's a new comp, why AGP?
and 300W is too low for a brandnew setup (certainly if it's a 'vanilla' PSU that came with the case)
Hotel California said:
1) Buy a 512mb gf5900 xt from a college for £40 ($80) which will work on my new rig. Then wait for a year till FO3 comes out and upgrade it.
looks steep to me. you should be able to get a card of that generation cheaper.
and no, afaik there is no version of that card with 512mb vid ram. 128mb is what would be logical for that type+generation. there might be a 256mb version, but it wont affect the performance.
Hotel California said:
2) Buy a newer card which is slightly more expensive now but may be cheaper in the long run. However, i'm concerned that it won't like my pansy PSU and will conk out.
if you're going with newer stuff, than at least buy second hand. a new normal 6800 really isnt a good choice. for that price you can probably get a 6800GT second hand.
and yes, it'll either refuse to run on your old psu, or cause it to spontaniously combust on the long run. :p
i still dont see why you'd go with AGP anyway, btw...
Hotel California said:
The problem is my case is one of those really small ones and the PSU is custom made - i've already bought the case so i can't really get a new one - however, what about having a PSU externally?
ah, so your pc is a shuttle & you wanna keep your mobo & psu?
and yes, sander is right. an external PSU is possible, but a huge pain in the ass to pull it off. i really wouldnt advise it unless you have some uberhardwarefreak buddy that wants to fix it for you. it's a rather tricky undertaking as you have to bypass some safeties to make it run without being connected to a mobo.
Sander said:
I'd really advise for buying a new PC
yeah, but that depends on how much hardware he wants to keep from his old pc. looks to me like he wants to keep his case & mobo.
but yeah, i agree. he's probably better off starting from scratch. you'll regret it later if you're trying to salvage old stuff (at least when it's a core element like a motherboard)
Sander said:
or perhaps replacing the AGP motherboard with a PCI-E one.
that could be hard, since his pc seems to be a shuttle (or other small formfactor), there might be some problems with compability.
Pajari said:
We don't even have a year estimate for the release yet, you're better off forgetting about Fallout for the moment.
seconded
if this is really about FO3, just wait, save some more money & go all out once it gets released (and no that wont be anytime soon)
disclaimer: this post contains a lot of guessing & i cant be held accountable for false information & wrong conclusions :p
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