What kind of video card should I use in order to get the best possible gaming experience? I have a GeForce 9100 with Windows Vista 64 bit and AMD Athalon 5400 Dual Core Processor

The best out there right now is the Geforce GTX 580.

ATI 4800 series or better
GeForce 260 series or better

Wait until the specifications are released, don't rush it.

However, your current rig is far below what will be the probable recommendations. Start saving some money!

I'm running an SLI 1GB GDDR3 Nvidia Geforce GTX 285M in my M17x. This baby will play every game for at least the next 5 games on full detail hehe.

4 nvidia 580s in sli just to be on the safe side.

That would cost almost 2 grand.

I am planning on the GTX 460. runs cool also.

I could buy a new computer for that price >.>

I can still play every game on full details on my 4870. This generation of video cards isn't expensive anymore.

Well since it's still on the X360, a Radeon 4/5/6 series (and whatever the nVidia contemporaries are) is plenty, since the X360 is the limiting factor on computing power requirements.

I am going to be getting a Alienware Laptop with Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire graphics that should be good enough, I hope!

You did say "the best possible gaming experience."

Usually I'd say wait, but since it looks like you got a prebuilt, I'll address it.

Your Athlon is likely in the Minimum Requirement category or close to it.

I wouldn't get anything more than a HD6850 once the price comes down a bit or some variation of the GTX460 which is already in the $130-$170 range.


... and I bet that you are going to need a PSU upgrade.


Here is 5 fairly priced PSUs that can be considered reliable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=Property&N=100007657&IsNodeId=1&Manufactory=1400,1697,1516,1919,2031,1459,9830&PropertyCodeValue=http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1159720-video-card-reccomendation/1314:58401,1314:58407,1314:58409,1314:58410,1314:58383,1314:58388,1314:58395,1314:58397,1314:58398&bop=And&CompareItemList=58|17-256-061^17-256-061-TS,17-371-007^17-371-007-TS,17-139-018^17-139-018-TS,17-371-030^17-371-030-TS,17-151-094^17-151-094-TS

Thats what I have with a Phenom II 3.0, 4 GB DDR2(Thinking about upping this to at least 6 GB, I wonder if I can mix DD2 with DD3 or something). I hope my rig will play Skyrim on high settings, right now it plays everything on max or very close to it.

I wouldn't recommend it for two reasons. One, it's Alienware (overpriced garbage). Two, it's a laptop. Never use laptops for gaming purposes (unless it's really low recommendations like WoW or something). Take the specs and cut the performance in half, and that's what you'll get. Throw in awful heat dissipation and you've got a laptop that'll cook itself (and sterilize you if you dare put it on your actual lap).

Ah really? I wanted a Laptop for pure mobility and convenience. You dont think I will be able to play Skyrim on the laptop? I really want skyrim for the computer, I just dont think I can afford a computer capable of running it.

Here are the recommended specs for a couple of upcoming 2011 games (obviously these are entirely different engines, so not sure exactly how relevant the specs would be).





also, if it is within your budget, and you want to reduce your load times significantly, an SSD or hybrid drive can help. I don't think an SSD will help your gameplay; however, other than reducing interior/exterior loads and save game loads to almost nothing.



There are a few laptops that can deliver great frame rates with about any recent game other than Crysis at 1920x1080, all detail settings maxed. Most of them are giant lego block/spaceship looking behemoths that are really heavy to lug around, but a bit more convenient than a desktop. The Envy 15 (which has been discontinued but is still available refurb/ebay/etc.) is the only one that is actually portable (1.04" thick), and is available with such options as 4 DIMM slots for up to 16GB RAM, USB 3.0.

This is an excellent laptop, but if you buy one refurb or used make sure to get some sort of return policy in case you get a defective unit. I'm very happy with mine and I can usually overclock the Mobility Radeon 5830 to 550 MHz / 1100 MHz resulting in decent frame rates (at least 40-60 fps and often higher than 60fps) for games like Civ5, New Vegas, FO3, DAO, RE5, Bioshock2, The Witcher, Prototype at 1920x1080, all detail settings maxed. Vanilla Oblivion runs at constant 60 fps with vsync enabled. After installing over 100 mod files including QTP3 HD textures, OBGEv2 and ENBSeries shaders the frame rate is significantly lower, around 45-50 fps.

The battery life is terrible but you can get a very thin slice battery that triples the battery life. The case is made out of metal alloy and the bottom gets very hot when plugged in and running any intensive application. You would want to use a laptop cooler when gaming or performing video editing or other intensive tasks. The Mobility 5830 GPU, together with the Mobility 5850 and Mobility 5870, are all made from the same die as the desktop 5770.

You should never use an SSD for any game you intend to mod, they degrade and don't delete information completely when you keep deleting and installing content. You can use the TRIM command but then you can't run multiple SSD's in Raid to make up for their terrible storage capacity or use truecrypt. If you're going for an SSD just stick windows on it and any other essential programs you want to keep then use a 1tb Sata drive for the games.

The Intel Rapid Storage Technology SSD controller supports TRIM in Raid0. Some controllers do not. 320GB (160GB x 2 in Raid0) is more than enough space to install windows plus my apps and games including mods on my laptop, and I use a 64GB SD card for documents, videos, etc. that I don't need to access with SSD read/write speeds.

If you want to benefit from reduced load times for SSD you have to install the game on the SSD (including any mods).

I have a ATI 5850 - Dx 10/11 compliant and runs any game on 1080p/i (whatever is the higher) with no issues with all extras turned on.

Here is a cheaper [Under $2K] CF Mobility HD5870 laptop.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8120-built-clevo-x8100-gaming-laptop-p-2768.html


Also, the GTX 485m is about equal to dual Mobility HD5870 and there'll be no microstutter. This is also under $2k.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150s1-built-clevo-p150hm-custom-gaming-sager-notebook-p-2981.html


Finally, there is SLI GTX 460m for ~$2350 [This is worth it because it has a desktop i7 950 in it]

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7280-custom-laptop-built-the-clevo-x7200-p-2881.html

I don't know why you'd think that, a laptop will always be more expensive than a similarly powered desktop.

This is true.

$2350
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7280-custom-laptop-built-the-clevo-x7200-p-2881.html

3.06Ghz Intel Core i7-950 8MB Cache Quad-Core
6GB DDR3
500GB 7200rpm HDD
DVD drive
1.5 GB GTX 460m
1.5GB GTX 460m


$1208 @ www.ecollegepc.com [~$1400 with monitor]

3.06Ghz Intel Core i7-950 8MB Cache Quad-Core
Stock Intel LGA1366 Heatsink and Fan
ASRock X58 Extreme (Intel X58, 3xPCI-E, 8xSATA2, 6xDDR3, 1394)
6GB (2GBx3) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Serial ATA300 (Major Brand)
22X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB GeForce GTS 450 GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
1GB GeForce GTS 450 GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI (Major Brand)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CoolerMaster Black Elite 430 (3 5.25, 6 3.5) Fan, Audio/USB
650watt Antec EarthWatts EA650

Double post, please delete.