A Roundup of 45 PCI-E video cards, Q'3 2006
HALO
DOOM 3
Summing up.
In the eternal race for the top performance, the epoch of another calm has come to an end. We might think like "What's the point of further chase? Will that end eventually?" It's always like that - the new generation of system memory is coming as a replacement for the outdated leader, then the new graphic bus calls for a radical new approach to the change of the main components, then a new generation of processors in no time drives the leaders of the past which cost several hundred dollars unmercifully into a category of cheap "Celerons". And producers of 3D graphics release their newbies which immediately discard the former smashing super-hits. When on earth shall we stop for a short respite to upgrade without a fuss (like it used to be ten years ago) and enjoy the maximum system performance for at least half a year?
Alas, but only not now. Very soon, we will see new 2-core Intel Core processors on the retail shelves, whose performance and power consumption will bring the new systems built on their base over to the category of unbeatable leaders. Thereafter, we can expect a new generation of graphic chips, then - once sales of the new Microsoft Windows Vista have been launched, the desktop systems will be supposed to meet absolutely different requirements, not only in terms of performance but also compatibility to the requirements of new platforms. Out there in the distance, looming are new games whose hardware requirements are even hard to imagine today.
So, what to do - it to upgrade, then what is it that we should check first of all?
The answer to this question is directly related to the capabilities of the other components of your system. If there is a hope that the chipset of your motherboard as well as other critical unit of the PC "survive" the certification for Microsoft Windows Vista, in other words, if you are seriously up to moving to a new operating system on today's hardware slightly improved with some "cosmetics", it does make sense to choose a new video card not only on the base of its level of potential performance, but also in terms of its further compatibility. In fact, the same is topical for those who are not planning to chase for the requirements of MS Vista for at least this year, especially for its Pro version with the AeroGlass GUI - it suffices to simply choose a maximum affordable and powerful 3D card, and that's it. At the same time, it always makes sense to think about the future...
Lastly, those whose current PC components definitely don't fit within the requirements of Microsoft's new-generation operating system, will anyway have to think not about upgrading the video card, but follow a more balanced reasonable approach to the migration towards more advanced modern platform. But how? We will explore this matter in detail in one of our forthcoming reviews...
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VGA Card:
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CPU & Memory:
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