Video Card recomendations

[2Slow]

I found a Nvidia GT 730, 2048mb memory DDR3 for $95.37.  Would this be a good card for AH3?

[TequilaChaser]

I personally don't think so, 2slow....

First, it might would help us help you better if we knew your computer specs

OS
CPU
motherboard model
PSU

Also what price range do you have to work with?

Not knowing any of that, I would say minimum probably Nvidia 960/970 or AMD R9 270x/290x with either 2 GB, but recommend 4 GB especially for the AMD video cards....

Not knowing your current computer specs/components and available price range you have to work with makes it harder to give a proper recommendation....

Hope this helps

TC

[Bizman]

I've always had a feeling that I use too many words for answering a simple question...

In this case I could have answered: No. Or, as a full sentence: No, that would not be a good card for AH3.

As TC said, some more information about your current system would be needed in order to give you relevant help.

If your system is less than a decade old, has a ~3GHz dual or quad core Intel CPU and a power supply with dedicated plugs for pci-e/video, your chances to beef it up with a decent video card are reasonably good. From Nvidia cards, the decent cards start from about GTX 660. The trick in their numbering is that the "tens" indicate the relative power within a generation whereas the "hundreds" tell the generation. Note that the new 10## series must be read as "ten hundreds"!

[Creton]

I got the Nvidea GTX1050 at Best Buy on sale for $100. It's a very nice upgrade fromt he GT460 I had. I would highly recommend it.

[jimbo71]

I agree with TC & Bizman.

A DDR3 card would work ok for AH2.  A DDR3 card will not cut it with AH3.  You'd be spending $100 for 8-14 FPS with EVERYTHING turned off or turned all the way down.  Unplayable slideshow.  I speak from experience.

You are going to need a DDR5 card to push AH3.

Since you're asking about GT 730 as an upgrade, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you have an older PC.  If that's the case, this may save you the headache I encountered.

Here's my PC story.  Take from it what you will.  Got a HP in late 2011.  Great memory, good processor, good amt of RAM, middle of the road AMD video card and a "meh" power supply.  I didn't know much about motherboards (still don't), but I knew it had the right PCI-e video card slot to upgrade.  I had them install a 700 watt power supply knowing that down the road AH would require better graphics card.  AH3 rolls out / got the slideshow mentioned at the top / TIME FOR THAT NEW GRAPHICS CARD.

Bought a Gigabyte GTX 960 4GB gaming edition card and installed it.  Powered up, card powered and lit up but PC would not boot into Windows.  Turns out the motherboard would not do a "digital handshake" with the new GTX 960.  I returned the card and began the research I should have already done.  The video card that was the game changer for me was the MSI GTX 750-TI. 

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-OC-PCI-Express-N750TI-2GD5/dp/B00I602S92/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487103002&sr=8-1&keywords=msi+gtx+750+ti

The MSI version has a small UEFI / Legacy switch on the card that when switched to "Legacy Mode" allows it to be compatible with older motherboards.  Runs AH3 in 1080p @ 60 fps in the air and 50 fps on the ground in GV.  For $30 more than the card you were asking about.  You get free shipping if you sign up for the free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime.

Good Luck
-JC

[2Slow]

jimbo71,  thanks for the input and recommendation.  I think I shall go with it.

Thank you to everyone else for you comments.  They saved me some money and efforts.

[Meatwad]

I have this in my computer

NVIDIA GeForce GT 730

I can play Ah3 on it, BUT everything is disabled with no detail and all sliders to the left. I get about 27 fps on it. There is no eye candy but I am able to fly and play

[2Slow]

I personally don't think so, 2slow....

First, it might would help us help you better if we knew your computer specs

OS
CPU
motherboard model
PSU

Also what price range do you have to work with?

Not knowing any of that, I would say minimum probably Nvidia 960/970 or AMD R9 270x/290x with either 2 GB, but recommend 4 GB especially for the AMD video cards....

Not knowing your current computer specs/components and available price range you have to work with makes it harder to give a proper recommendation....

Hope this helps

TC

System is a Dell P390 64-bit OS
OS is Vista Pro
CPU is Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4400 @ 2.00GHz 2.00 GHz
Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

Second unit is HP 8000 Elite CMT PC
OS is Win10
CPU is Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz
Memory (RAM) is 4.00 GB
32-bit Operating System, x64-based processor.

Video card price range should be $150.00 or less.

[Skuzzy]

That 2Ghz Vista system is going to struggle to play the game, no matter what video card you put in it.

[TequilaChaser]

2slow, you might would benefit a lot more if you would consider switching the CPU processors... put the 3.0 GHz CPU in the Vista Pro system because it is a 64 bit OS and can make better use of the 8 GB of system Ram

To where the Windows 10 OS is the 32 bit version and is already maxed out at 4 GB of system memory...

That Windows 10 OS being the 32 bit version, severely bottlenecks that complete system, I'm sorry to have to tell you....

Knowing what type of Power Supply those computers have would be very helpful as well

Since both are pre-built by Brand name manufacturers, just posting the computer model numbers would help

Hope this helps

TC

[Bizman]

What is Vista Pro? For what I could find, there's no such edition. Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate were what I could find.

Rather than swapping CPU's, I'd reinstall the 10 to the 64 bit version and add RAM to that supposing the HP is the Convertible MiniTower version. Vista will be obsolete within a couple of month anyway which means the issues it has will never get fixed. W10 has its issues, too, but they're hopefully improving the functionality alongside with the telemetry gadgets.

[Randy1]

The sad news is no matter what card and system you use the chance of having the freeze and stutters is pretty high.

[2Slow]

What is Vista Pro? For what I could find, there's no such edition. Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise, Ultimate were what I could find.

Rather than swapping CPU's, I'd reinstall the 10 to the 64 bit version and add RAM to that supposing the HP is the Convertible MiniTower version. Vista will be obsolete within a couple of month anyway which means the issues it has will never get fixed. W10 has its issues, too, but they're hopefully improving the functionality alongside with the telemetry gadgets.

You are correct about the Vista version being wrong.  It is the Business version.  I will be working on getting the card suggested by Jimbo71.  It will be installed on the HP machine.

[Bizman]

That sounds like a viable solution.

The GTX 750Ti ranks a little higher than my Radeon HD6970, our processors being about the same. With Win7/64 and 8 GB of RAM I get decent FPS, 30 in tower, 45 on the field and 60 mid air @ 2560 x1600 and default settings. That's what to expect if you can reinstall your HP to 64 bit and double the RAM (possibly from the Dell).

[AKIron]

I have several cards with the newest being a GTX 970. It is fine for AH3 and with an Oculus. I believe I tried my 960 (didn't try Oculus) and it was fine too.

http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=nvidia+gtx