As stated, being a Beta tester for Microsoft is a great experience. You not only get helpful tips, and useful hints especially for MS games, but also get to play some of the latest Beta games published by them. My list of tested games, include Freelancer, RON, AOM, The Titans, Rallisport Challenge, Impossible Creatures and the FS2004. And you would also need to test the multiplayer feature which really is an added advantage with most of these games. You learn a lot of networks and how the protocols work.
The specifications for playing games vary every few years. I’ll refrain from making any recommendations as to the specs of a video card. You can always review the latest video card information at Tom’s hardware site.( Awesome tests are carried out on certain performance benchmarks) That should fill you in as to the current technologies.
Before we proceed, try to understand the video card better. Regardless of whether it is dedicated or integrated, the video display should consist of three components to display content on your monitor:
A video chip set of some brand(ATI, Matrox, Nvidia, S3, Intel, to name some of the better known). The video chip creates the signals, which the screen must receive to form an image.
Some kind of RAM(EDO, SGRAM, or VRAM, which are all variations of the regular RAM). Memory is necessary, since the video card must be able to remember a complete screen image at any time. Using AGP, the video card may use the main memory of the motherboard.
A RAMDAC - a chip converting digital/analog signals. Using Flat panel monitors, you do not need the function of a RAMDAC.
With dedicated video cards, the video chip runs around 350 Mhz on an average card nowadays which in itself is a very good speed for video cards.
The video card can also be an integral part of the system board. This is the case in certain brands of PCs and is always the case in lap tops. Remember that video cards on a laptop cannot be modified. Once installed, it’s for life. So it’s always recommended to install a high end video card when purchasing laptops!
The only difference with dedicated cards in most cases is that the RAM is not provided on integrated video cards. It uses the system memory itself to perform the graphical manipulations for the game.
Here is the problem. The latest and graphics intensive games often do not play on integrated video cards. The reason being they do not have the functionality for features like, TnL, Pixel shaders, and use the system RAM for the graphical calculations. Even if you are able to run the game, it is with minimal functionality or graphics in most cases. Another point, is some of the older video cards never supported the TnL or Pixel shaders functionality. Ever tried playing the Age of Mythology series games on a Pro Savage DDR( The entire Savage series) video card? Though this is a dedicated card, it does not have the TnL functionality nor pixel shaders and is very basic card. AOM players might have received Initialization failed errors on this card.
In most cases, if you have excess RAM even though you might receive the video card does not meet the minimum requirements error; you may still be able to play it – thanks due to the excess RAM. When purchasing a video card, check if it offers the latest Direct X architecture, has TnL and Pixel shader capability. (I won’t try to explain it. But if you want info, https://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20020116/shaders-04.html -what_do_shaders_let_me_do) Of course, you might also want to check out Tom’s review on the latest and the best video card and how they handle the inputs.
The moot points are the drivers. Drivers are small programs that allow your OS to communicate with the hardware in your computer. Beyond acting as a translator, drivers also enhance the operation of a particular piece of hardware, like a video card or a sound card.
It’s very important to update your video card drivers because new drivers are created for a number of reasons. A new driver for your video card might allow it to more efficiently use the video card features and having the current drivers will improve performance - graphical and rendering capabilities of the game. Usually companies release their drivers on regular basis for the cards to keep pace with the ever-changing software technologies. Also note that with newer games and versions of Direct X, you are updating the drivers for the Direct X to use the video card properties better. There are a few games which require the usage of specific versions of drivers for that game, be it a NVIDIA or an ATI(Dungeon Siege, WOW, Max Payne, RON and others) A point in case would be say, Age of Empires(Since almost all of you are familiar with the game) AOE can be played on a 2 MB card with Direct X 6. AOE2 and 3 required a 4 MB card, though you could also play on a 2 MB card with a little manipulation. However AOE 3? No way. You need a new video card altogether with Direct x 9 capabilities and the recommended is 64 MB TnL with the latest drivers. See? It’s not only the architecture, but the entire game operating system in 3 has undergone a change –almost similar to AOM.
Another example is the FS2004 - ACOF game. Try playing it on a 8 MB video card. You get to play the game(mostly in safe mode on savage series of cards) but the graphics is horrendous. The ground is a green, or brown as in a google map. The same game on a high end card, the graphics are awesome. You can see the trees, and the clear definitions of an airport. I recommend flying around the Taj Mahal at sunset or sunrise. Makes for an awesome experience. The same for the historic flights too!
All in all, there is one more point I would like to point out. That about the video card you select. There are umpteen manufacturers of video chipsets. Chaintech, MAX, Saffire and lots more. Most of them integrate the NVIDIA or ATI graphics processor while selling their own video boards with different memory. What they do is often try and obtain the cheapest source while maintaining the architecture. Much like ASUS manufacturing Intel motherboards. They also offer their own version of the drivers optimized for performance depending on the architecture. However you can also use the drivers from the NVIDIA and ATI site in case you o not want to use their drivers. It would still work the same. Below is a list of a few of them
NVIDIA processor users are Albatron, Aopen, Chaintech(The cheapest cards in the market), eVGA.com, Gainward, AsusTek, Gigabyte, Galaxy, Innovision, Jaton Corporation, Leadtek Research, MSI, BFG, PNY and XFX.
For ATI – ABIT, Visiontek, AsusTek, Gigabyte, Saffire
There are other manufacturers with their own processors like 3d labs, Matrox and VIA’s own company. But they have their specific markets, for ex., the Matrox is famous for multiple monitors configuration. Awesome experience! The 3d labs is good for autocadd and design purposes!(NVIDIA and ATI battle it out for the gaming segment.)
TM