Card upgrade

[Amitad]

Guys,
Will a DX 9 or higher card(when it will come) run the "Older Generation" games properly.?
As much as I will like new games(with all the fancy special effects) I am a sucker for old games like System shock-2,Tomb Raider-TLR,Homeworld(Part 1 of course),and all the good games released prior to 1998-1999.
I want to upgrade to a card which will play the latest games like HL-2,Doom-3,Stalker,Far Cry(even if these games run on 800*600 with some special effects toned down I dont mind,but the card should be able to run next gen games as well as old games).
My budget is around $150.
Pls help and thanks in advance

 

[playerdef]

I have a Radeon 9700pro and it plays tons of old games, even DOS games. I have yet to encounter any problems with older games. The only obstacle has been incompatability problems with windoowsXP and some old games, but not with the card itself.

 

[somekid007]

radeon 9600xt. comes with half life 2 and hella fast

 

[agissi]

The Radeon 9600XT would fit your budget perfectly I have yet to see the 9600XT come bundled with Half Life 2, since its not out yet However you can buy the card here, off www.newegg.com for $151.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-326&depa=0

If you can, for $50 more you can get a 9700PRO, which is much better then the 9600XT. You can expect frame rates to be 30-40FPS faster with the 9700PRO, then the 9600XT. So if you can spare the extra 50, it'd be worth it

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-199&depa=0

Also all newer cards, can play old games just fine, DirectX 9 cards work with DirectX 5 games, its backwards compatible.

 

[PreservedSwine]

R9600XT is a great bet....and all DX is backwards compatable...so all old games should run just fine


However, CompUSA is selling R9800PRO's for $199, if you can swing it, it's worth the extra $50 bucks:grinthumb

Sale ends Feb 21st