I've been using my on board graphics card since I bought STO, I believe its a GE 6150 inside. I can run the game on low settings pretty well. but would like to experience the graphics I see on the videos.
I'm currently looking at a GE force 9500 GT with a gig of RAM, I'm also thinking about a GE force 430 with a gig. Any thoughts on either one of these cards to run STO. STO is really the only graphic intense I use.
Either one will run the game but you won't be seeing a huge increase in detail. IMO a GTS 250 is the lowest you should go if you really want to run the game on high quality like in those videos. A 9800 GTX works too but then again it's the exact same card as the GTS 250 but runs hotter.
the rule of thumb with GForce Cards is that the higher the number is, the better the 4300 isn't as good for gaming as the 9500, that being said, the 95 isn't really the best for gaming either. GF numbers are kinda confusing, but the second digit is more important than the first. any thing above x500 is good for gaming. but a higher first digit is good too.
STO isn't terribly intense graphically, I used to run it on a GTX 260 at 2560x1600 and it was perfectly fine and smooth. The lag issues with STO don't seem to be related so much to the GPU from what I can see though it does not seem to like triple SLI rigs much.
The GTX 260 series seems to have gotten pretty cheap and as long as your power supply has the proper pcie power connectors for them, anything from the 200 to 400 series cards will work fine. Since STO is the only graphically intense game you play, I would personally not go too expensive with the card and the 400 series cards can heat a small house. GTX 260 didn't pump out nearly the amount of heat as my GTX 470s do.
Whatever card you get, make sure that you have the airflow and that your power supply meets, or exceeds, the requirements of the card. Any relatively high end card will require either 2 6pin PCIE power cables or 1 6pin and 1 8pin for the even higher end cards.
It sounds like you are also using a brand name computer and the lower end and mid-range HP computer power supplies in my kid's computers didn't have any pcie power connectors. Just things to look for.
It sounds like you are also using a brand name computer and the lower end and mid-range HP computer power supplies in my kid's computers didn't have any pcie power connectors. Just things to look for.
Which is why I built my system that replaced an old Gateway E-2100 and I built this system because of STO. In my case I would've had to spend just as much to upgrade that old PC than it did just to build this one. In total I spent around $600 on the PC but then another $180 on the video card. I spent more on the video card then I should have but I wanted to buy it locally just in case I had to return it. When I upgrade it'll probably be to a GTX 460 or 470 depending on what's available at that time.
Now if you happen to have a PCI-E x16 slot on your motherboard you may get away with just having to buy a power supply. Even though most video cards come with an adapter to turn a regular 4-pin molex into a 6-pin PCI-E connector it is doubtful that your supply even has enough power to run the video card. So I guess you'll have to plan on spending at least $150-200 or so if you buy the power supply and video card online.
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The GTX 260 series seems to have gotten pretty cheap and as long as your power supply has the proper pcie power connectors for them, anything from the 200 to 400 series cards will work fine. Since STO is the only graphically intense game you play, I would personally not go too expensive with the card and the 400 series cards can heat a small house. GTX 260 didn't pump out nearly the amount of heat as my GTX 470s do.
Whatever card you get, make sure that you have the airflow and that your power supply meets, or exceeds, the requirements of the card. Any relatively high end card will require either 2 6pin PCIE power cables or 1 6pin and 1 8pin for the even higher end cards.
It sounds like you are also using a brand name computer and the lower end and mid-range HP computer power supplies in my kid's computers didn't have any pcie power connectors. Just things to look for.
Which is why I built my system that replaced an old Gateway E-2100 and I built this system because of STO. In my case I would've had to spend just as much to upgrade that old PC than it did just to build this one. In total I spent around $600 on the PC but then another $180 on the video card. I spent more on the video card then I should have but I wanted to buy it locally just in case I had to return it. When I upgrade it'll probably be to a GTX 460 or 470 depending on what's available at that time.
Now if you happen to have a PCI-E x16 slot on your motherboard you may get away with just having to buy a power supply. Even though most video cards come with an adapter to turn a regular 4-pin molex into a 6-pin PCI-E connector it is doubtful that your supply even has enough power to run the video card. So I guess you'll have to plan on spending at least $150-200 or so if you buy the power supply and video card online.