Video Card Performance ***Please Read Before Posting***

Alright, we're getting way too many "how good is this or that" questions. Please refrain from posting those. There are way too many of them, and frankly, a lot can be answered by a simple google search.

In order from lowest to highest performance.

Integrated Graphics Cards

Intel Extreme Graphics
SiS Integrated Graphics
Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Intel GMA900
Intel GMA950
ATI Radeon Xpress 200M

The X200M is by far the best integrated card. The GMA950 and the X200M are the only integrated cards that can run Windows Vista. Don't expect to play games with these cards. The X200M can do a little but is not designed for gaming.

Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) Cards:

Nvidia GeForce 4 440 Go
ATI Radeon 9000

Nvidia FX Go5200
ATI Radeon 9200

Nvidia FX Go5600/5650
ATI Radeon 9600

Nvidia FX Go5700
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700

ATI Radeon 9800 (no competition)

Notes: The Nvidia Go FX series are horribly outdated, and will not perform well in the latest games. ATI's Mobility Radeon 9600/9700/9800 are considerably better in the latest games, but still not ideal. Skip all of the above cards if you can and get a newer one. Avoid the Nvidia FX.

PCI Express (PCI-e x16) Cards

ATI Radeon X300
Nvidia Go6200
Nvidia Go7300
ATI Mobility X1300

Nvidia GeForce Go6400
ATI Radeon X600
Nvidia Go7400
ATI Radeon X1400

Nvidia Go6600
ATI Mobility X700
Nvidia Go7600
ATI Radeon X1600

ATI Radeon X800
Nvidia Go6800
Nvidia Go7800
ATI Radeon X1800

Nvidia Go6800 Ultra
ATI Radeon X800XT
Nvidia Go7800GTX
ATI Radeon X1800XT

Read this chart carefully - your card is in there, and if it isn't, then it is probably an integrated card. You aren't going to get 3D performance out of an integrated card, so please do not ask if it can play 3D games - it can't. That's a generalization, but integrated cards were never designed to do 3D.

The ultimate chart:

Intel Extreme Graphics

SiS Integrated

Intel Extreme Graphics 2

Intel GMA900

Intel GMA950

Nvidia GeForce 4 440 Go

ATI Mobility Radeon 9000

Nvidia FX Go5200

ATI Radeon Xpress 200M

ATI Mobility Radeon 9200

Nvidia FX Go5600/5650

ATI Radeon 9600

ATI Radeon X300

ATI Radeon 9700

ATI Radeon X600

ATI Radeon X1400

Nvidia Go6600

ATI Radeon 9800

ATI Radeon X700

Nvidia Go7600

ATI Radeon X1600

ATI Radeon X800

Nvidia Go6800

Nvidia Go6800 Ultra

ATI Radeon X800XT

Nvidia Go7800

ATI Radeon X1800

Nvidia Go7800GTX

ATI Radeon X1800XT

And that's it.

Read this chart carefully - your card is in there, and if it isn't, then it's probably not worth mentioning.

Notes:

- You aren't going to get 3D performance out of an integrated card, so please do not ask if it can play 3D games - it can't. That's a generalization, but integrated cards were never designed to do 3D.

- Low-end cards (X300, Go6200) can play games at minimum/low settings, ~800x600 res or less. Some games will not be playable.

- Mid-end cards (X600, Go6400, etc) = medium, 800x600 or ~1024x768 res

- High Mid-end cards (X700, Go6600, etc) = high, ~1024x768 res

- High-end (Go6800, X800, etc) = high, ~1280x1024 res

- Ultra high-end (X1800XT, Go7800GTX) = high, 1280x1024+ res

About Video memory:

64MB is the minimum. Expect lower settings if you have a card with this much RAM.

128MB is the target minimum. High settings should be fine. More intensive games use more RAM. You might have to keep the texture settings on medium

256MB is the best.

-I wouldn't buy a card with less than 128MB for games. A 256MB card is not always faster than a card with 128MB. A card in the same class (ex: X700 and Go6600) with more memory will be better. An X600/X1400/Go6400/Go7400 can't use more than 128MB efficently, so if they have 256MB, it doesn't matter.

-"Can I run this game?" - don't ask that. Look at the requirements for the game.

This chart is a generalization! Not everything is 100% accurate. Take it with a grain of salt. If you have any specific questions that cannot be answered by a Google search or by reading around the threads in here, then it's fine to ask in this thread.

THANKS

 

Hopefully soon I will integrate this into my other guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

Right now, I just want to get something up.

Chaz

 

now all we have to do is get everyone to read this before posting

thanks for the guide Chaz!

pb,out.

 

Yeah great work.

 

i think this should be posted in a different color at the top of the forum, so it sticks out more.

or we can do something that is quite funny...see here:

http://www.dfi-street.com/forum/index.php

youll see

"Welcome to DFI-Street. Please take a moment to read the Rules of this forum before you make your first post."

in big orange block letters..no excuse not to see that

pb,out.

 

I'd suggest putting a "PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING" to keep in-line with the mr. nice Chaz persona Also, maybe use the green arrow icon to help it standout at the top of the forum since there's 4 stickies here. Also, delete all of these suggestions after a few days as they're sort of off irrelevant after a time.

Thanks for the work on putting this together though Chaz!

 

IMO i dont think deleting the suggestions after awhile isnt a great idea. everyday new users join NBR, and will not think to check the stickies..some will some wont, but if it is highlighted, arrowed, underlined...they will understand the importance of it. for users older then (insert time frame here), or after a certain number of posts, should have the option to turn it off if they want.

my $.02.

pb,out.

 

Chaz maybe an explanation of Turbocache and whatever ATI's thing is called would be nice too, right under the memory explanations.

 

This is good information, but it seems kind of redundant when compared with your other video card threads. People just need to do their research before they ask questions. (I think the size of the 'Will my ATI Radeon Xpress 200M play...?' thread is evidence of that fact)

 

As I replied to one person, who asked about the game "Oblivion"? I was like do your research and had to find the information for him to show that it wont run.

It can be so irritating and at the same time frustrating.

 

Not to sound anal, but if you're going to leave this thread as a sticky you might want to change the thread name so 'please' is spelled correctly. Just a thought. (no sarcasm intended, sorry if it comes off that way)

 

Wow, how did I miss that, nice eye jstucker

 

LOL, is that spelled wrong?! I'll change it. Man I'm out of it today . .

 

Not really Chaz, that is an awesome article, so your totally in it today

 

It is a good article. If you can, you should try to track how many new threads are posted that are already answered in this sticky as compared to threads that were posted prior to it. It would be interesting to see how this effects forum use.

 

Hey guys, I deleted a few of the posts on the front page, trying to keep this as related to the topic as possible, hope you don't mind . .


Ah, jstucker - I'm going to be integrating this chart into my other one soon, we'll see how that goes. That way we'll reduce some of the stickies.

Cheers,
Chaz

 

Another guide

I tell ya, chaz writes these like a pro

 

he is a pro ..

pb,out.

 

Another great guide. Good work Chaz =)

 

Clear and concise, what could we want anymore?

 

Nice guide... one suggestion though... you might include where the x1400 ranks in the ultimate list at the bottom since ALOT of Core Duo machines seem to have that card, and thus alot of the questions on the forums are about it as well.

 

If it was added to the Ultimate Chart, the ATI Radeon X1400 would be listed just before the Nvidia Go6600. In other words, the Nvidia Go6600 is slighly faster than the ATI Radeon X1400.


Chewy