[James @ May 14th 2007 3:24PM]

So, call me a total newb, but is there any point to having ANY video card made after 2006 at this point?

If you have a 30" LCD and *must* run at 4096x2160 or whatever and need two dual-link DVIs and a gig of video RAM, OK, buy the hottest thing out there, but if the only improvement is getting 120 FPS (instead of only 95) in Battlefield (or being able to run a tech demos of Crysis), why waste all that cash? The same cards are going to be 100-300 dollars cheaper this time next year, so as far as I can see, the only people who are going to bother have more money than sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a modern rig with 2GB of fast RAM, a medium- or high-end Core 2 Duo, and last year's Hot Shit video card should be able to smoke anything you throw at it (well, maybe not SupCom, but that's a processor issue)... right? I mean, future proofing is worth *something*, but wouldn't you be better off spending $200-$250 on something near the top of the pile (Radeon x1900?) now, then another $300 on the almost-but-not-quite top-of-the-line card two or three years down the line, instead of spending $550-$600 on a very-slightly-better top-of-the-line card all at once? I don't think I've ever spent much more than $200 on a video card, and I don't think we (the "hobby" gamers) will ever have a very compelling reason to do so.

[Dustin Frazier @ May 14th 2007 3:37PM]

You answered your own question James. The high end video cards are meant for those running resolutions at 1900x1200 and above. Your idea also only works if you plan on never buying a new game for a year or more. There are games coming out now that definitely make the 8800gtx work to sustain acceptable frame rates at high resolutions. Heck many 2006 games only get 40-50 fps at high settings. So don't put your world on everyone else. $500-600 every few years is pretty cheap when it comes to hobbies.