7900 GS question

I recently ordered an E1705 with the 7900GS. After reading all of this stuff about DX10 right around the corner and new graphics cards coming out to replace the 7900, I can't help but think I've made a bad decision.

In reality, how long will I be able to game on this card? This is the primary reason I bought this laptop was for gaming and now Im scared to death it will be useless for newer games in less than six months.

Can someone please shed a bit more light on this as far as the longevity of using this vid card? I'd like to be able to play Age of Conan when it comes out as well as other new MMO's as they reach the scene.

Thanks so much

 

Welcome to NBR.

You have a very powerful graphics card, and it will last a very long time yet. Certainly more than 6 months or 12 months. I wouldn't worry about DX10 graphics card yet, as most game designers know that the majority of people who play games, may still have DX9 cards. Only after a number of years, will it become advisable to have DX10 graphics cards.

 

Thank you so much for the welcome and advice, that makes me feel a whole lot better, and if I may ask another question, I ordered my Lappy with the T5200 1.6 Ghz core 2 duo, It was more expensive than the regular core duo @ 1.73 ghz or whatever it was and I think it is also 64 bit, as the other was not. Is this suitable for gaming?

 

I agree, asides from the 7900gtx/7950gtx cards, the 7900gs is one of the most powerful cards on the market and you will be able to play upcoming games pretty well.

 

Yes, the processor you have is fine for gaming. Practically any newer Core 2 Duo processors are sutible for gaming. Gaming is processor dependant, but in the vast majority of cases, the graphics card still limits the maximum performance the notebook can achieve.

 

As with any graphics card, next year's big game will run slightly slower on your current top-of-the-line card than that year's top-of-the-line card. That said, you'll still be able to max out a lot of settings two years from now. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

The biggest thing that people forget is that tomorrow's medium settings are today's high settings. Just because you're card doesn't max out the graphics scale doesn't mean you get worse video quality...you get the same quality, but that quality is just now lower on the scale.

Keep in mind the 7900GS is the 2nd most powerful card out there and has been for a year or more now I think. It'll carry you for a long time.

 

Hi,

as the others said, I wouldn't worry to get problems with the game performance at least for the next year, probably 2 years or more. Even when there are games supporting DX10, you'll still be able to play them on your DX9 card, just without the new effects which are supported by DX10 cards. My old desktop computer has a graphics card based on DX7 and i can still play a number of games programmed with DX9.