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Originally Posted by SecretMethod70
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As for the video card thing...do you think games advance at a much faster rate now than they have for the past 4 years. I suppose they probably do, so I guess my overall point is that I'd like to be able to stretch as much life out of whatever I upgrade to as possible.
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Games advance at a faster rate because video cards advance at a faster rate. Back in the olde days, when you bought your GF3, there wasn't really any other choice. A lot has changed since; we now have competition, which forces videocard makers to improve their cards continually. The games take advantage of that. And once in a while, Microsoft creates a new DirectX version, with more features, which will only run properly on the latest cards.
(Case in point: when playing Call of Duty 2 with my 9800 pro, I can choose to have it run on DirectX 7 and DirectX 9. With similar detail levels, DirectX 7 runs fine at 1024x768, while DirectX 9 only has decent framerates at 640x480.)
My advice (for what it's worth): only think about getting videocards that run the latest DirectX version. In that segment, get a card that gives good value for money. If you were in Euroland: most decent cards (used to) cost between 150 and 250 euros. You do the math.
