"Tim" wrote in message
...
I think some of the latest games are unusually demanding on the
hardware (like Thief 3). It used to be that a moderately priced card was
all
one needed. Not lately though. I'm presently using a 9100, which until
recently would run any game just fine. I planned to hang onto it until
games I actually wanted to play required more horsepower. The only problem
is that they require a *lot* more horsepower.

Thief 3 caused me to upgrade from my overclocked 8500 128Mb to a 9800 Pro.
(I run a Barton 3200/ 1gig dual channel system) Even running at minimized
visual settings and 800x600 it was bloody awful. Thief3, although I love the
game, is just sloppy unoptimized programming and code. It's a modified
Unreal engine. It should run just fine on an 8500 or Ti4200. UT2004 with my
8500 was a great performer at high settings, 1024x768. Compare how Doom3
runs on an 8500 or Ti4200, then look at how Thief3 runs on it. Case closed.