What Video Card Do You Use?

[{a unit}]

I'm in the market for a new one - only stipulation is it can't be dual height. Budget is around 300.

What do you guys use? My real objective is just to get the best framerate I can for TF2.

[NerevarineKing]

I use the AMD Radeon HD 5750: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150603
It's not the best video card, but I can always play games at max settings and good fps so it works for me. I don't need to spend money on a video card that's just a huge overkill. TF2 runs at around 100 fps, I believe.

[The Domer]

I'm using a GTX 560 Ti. It works very well. I can run modern games on the highest graphics settings (for instance, I run Skyrim on Ultra with graphics mods installed). It's not the tippy-top of the line, but the tippy-top is often overkill.

Updated with link

[{a unit}]

I will look into those, thanks!!

Is there a console command to check framerate?

[Peahats]

Nvidia Gts 450, it's not the best card, but it serves me well and is worth the price.

[Peahats]

I will look into those, thanks!!

Is there a console command to check framerate?

"net_graph 1" I believe.

[Zork Nemesis]

I have whatever was already installed in the laptop I bought, which my brother has stated that the card is far superior to the one he uses in the desktop he built for himself. According to the sticker, i's a nVidia GeForce GTS 360M and i'm quite satisfied with it.

I suppose a laptop video card is a little out of your question however. Don't think they're cheaper than 300, and I bet that they normally can't be replaced anyhow.

[Boss Llama]

I use a GTX 470 at present, and though it's now a couple generations old, I've yet to play anything that gives it any grief whatsoever on a 1920x1080 display. TF2 will blaze on something as far back as an 8800GT - its requirements are practically zero by today's standards.

At around the $300 range, I would get a GTX570 if you're an nVidia person, or a 7850 if you prefer ATI/AMD.

[{a unit}]

I will look into those, thanks!!

Is there a console command to check framerate?

"net_graph 1" I believe.

Thanks~

I have whatever was already installed in the laptop I bought, which my brother has stated that the card is far superior to the one he uses in the desktop he built for himself. According to the sticker, i's a nVidia GeForce GTS 360M and i'm quite satisfied with it.

I suppose a laptop video card is a little out of your question however. Don't think they're cheaper than 300, and I bet that they normally can't be replaced anyhow.

Good info, regardless!

I use a GTX 470 at present, and though it's now a couple generations old, I've yet to play anything that gives it any grief whatsoever on a 1920x1080 display.

TF2 will blaze on something as far back as an 8800GT - its requirements are practically zero by today's standards.

I see - My main goal is to maximize the experience but it looks like that can only be done to a point. I have a stock system with an i7 proc but the GPU is lacking.

[Boss Llama]

To max the experience, I personally would suggest looking at the CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD, and router.

-If you have an i7 CPU, of any type, that shouldn't be causing any issues. Stock is fine - OC'ing is completely unnecessary for gaming performance. I'm sure it can be fun, and yes you could squeeze more performance out of it, but I've been gaming for something like 20 years without ever changing my stock settings.

-RAM, as mentioned in the other thread, should be fine for TF2 with 8GB. Quality RAM with decent timings is good, but don't worry about super high-speed or OC'd RAM. If you have the same amount of RAM, changing the speeds of it gives the lowest performance-for-cost increase of any component that matters.

-A better GPU will certainly improve performance, but the increase in visible performance for TF2 relative to increase in cost falls off quickly at a certain point. I would focus on picking a GPU that will handle newer games you may want to try, secure in the knowledge that if it runs those well, it will give you beautiful results in TF2.

-HDDs are an interesting one. As you suggested in the other thread, an SSD will definitely boost your load times. I don't believe it will significantly change the gameplay part of the game, but it will smooth everything in between. I feel like I do pretty well having the game on a standard Caviar Black HDD, but I know several of our members use and swear by SSDs, and the right one will make your computer faster on many fronts.

-Routers, if you use them, are critical. I had a router that gave no external signs of trouble, but which had decayed in performance horribly. When I finally got around to swapping it out of my network, my connection speed increased by about 5x and everything was just a little better. If you feel like you're having connection problems, and you use a router, do a speedtest both with and without the router in your setup.


If you're on Windows 7, hop in to Control Panel, run the Performance Information and Tools item, and check the resultant scores. Anything above 7 is not worth worrying about.

Also, I don't know what kind of AV software you run, but most are really bad for performance and should not be used while gaming. Honestly, IMO, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSSE) is the only thing any Windows user really needs. It's free, it works exceedingly well, and it is low-overhead, so it doesn't have negative effects on other programs that are running.

[{a unit}]

-Routers, if you use them, are critical. I had a router that gave no external signs of trouble, but which had decayed in performance horribly. When I finally got around to swapping it out of my network, my connection speed increased by about 5x and everything was just a little better. If you feel like you're having connection problems, and you use a router, do a speedtest both with and without the router in your setup.

By connection speed, do you mean ping? And if not, is there a measurable way to check connection in-game? I generally have a pretty good ping on your servers ~ 40-60 and haven't really noticed any lag, but I am using an ISP provided all-in-one modem/router. It sounds like replacing this might be a good move.

Edit- I also second your recommendation for MSE - I am currently using it and it works well.

[Boss Llama]

http://speedtest.net/

There's nothing inherently wrong with using ISP-provided gear. Some of them offer good stuff, and if you can avoid spending extra money, that's always good. The key is to see what kind of connection you get. You'll get a result that looks something like this (my own modest result):

[{a unit}]

I think I'm good here!

[Deslock]

http://speedtest.net/

There's nothing inherently wrong with using ISP-provided gear. Some of them offer good stuff, and if you can avoid spending extra money, that's always good. The key is to see what kind of connection you get. You'll get a result that looks something like this (my own modest result):

I must be living in the Stone Age.




And I'm still stuck with a Socket 754 Sempron 3000+ with a Radeon x800 Pro.


Or, to quote Monty Python: "You were lucky to have a lake! There were a hundred and fifty of us living in t' shoebox in t' middle o' road."

[The Domer]

Too bad that connection is at work on the University's internet. When I'm at home my speed is closer to {a unit}'s.