May 03, 2003 11:21 PM
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(Updated May 03, 2003 11:22 PM)
If you intend to buy a desktop with a good graphics card then look at ATI's Radeon series of graphics cards. These cards have rocked the gaming world in the US & elsewhere with their cutting edge technologies.
I own a HP desktop with a Radeon 9700pro graphics card. Before purchasing this, I'd checked out desktops with other graphics cards like the GE Force4 but found the ATI card to be better. My decision has since been supported by many vendors who have made product comparisons.
1) The 9700pro is the first card to support DirectX 9.0 and the latest OpenGL.
2) It has an outstanding 128MB DDR memory which accelerates the game graphics.
3) Its 256 MB memory interface handles game polygons most efficiently.
4) Its New SMARTSHADER 2.0 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications.
5) Its SMOOTHVISION 2.0 technology enhances image quality by removing jagged edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising on performance.
6) Last but not the least, its 128-bit floating-point color precision allows for a greater range of colors and brightness.
When I played'Noone Lives Forever - 2' on my Toshiba laptop(6 months old), I'd have to set the textures and graphics to medium to avoid the screen from freezing sometimes & also for faster screen refresh.
After my desktop arrived, I installed this game first. Amazingly the game installed automatically with all textures, details and effect in'High Detail'. The game looked awesome and ever since then I've even started playing my completed games again just to see the graphics & textures which I'd missed earlier.
This card is a little expensive(retails for about$270 to$300 currently) but rest assured that its worth its cost.
The only other con with this series is that ATI does not rest on its laurels. Just after my buying the desktop, they released the 9800 card and quickly followed it with the 9800pro card.the 1st graphics card with an unbelievable 256 DDR memory. But the lower end cards still rock & I'm very delighted with mine.
And ofcourse the best gaming systems are still the'Alienware' systems. Go to their website and check them out.
