Minimum Video Card for DD with max graphics settings @ 720P

[ScottRempel]

Hey guys,

So I picked up a DD SIM to mess around with this winter, since someone relatively local was moving on to better things .

I've got an older desktop that I plan to use for now...AMD X2 3800+, either 2 or 4 gig of high-end RAM (can't remember exactly), etc. It was my old gaming computer from 5 or so years ago, but had the video card swapped out with a low end one many moons ago.
I've been out of the computer scene for about 5 years, so I'm behind on what cards were good and what would allow me to run all of the DD courses at max graphics 720P smoothly. I'll likely look for a used video card in efforts to keep the cost down. I'm not trying to future-proof, just want to get your opinion on what might be the best value card for my situation. I'm sure some of you are, or have, run DD on a mid to high end card from a year or so ago that worked perfectly well.

I'm almost embarrassed to even be asking for this help. 5 years ago I knew every computer component to a tee, and had went through more graphics cards then you could shake a stick at. Now, I don't know a damn thing lol

On a good note, the old low-end NV video card from 5 years ago at least runs the DD software. I was able to take some 6-iron chip shots in me basement last night just to see if everything was working. Now I just need to get the garage cleaned out and find a good 220V heater.

[ScottRempel]

Perhaps someone could look at one of these graphics card ranking charts and let me know how far down I could go when looking for a used card. That way when I'm looking for a used card I can check and see if it is above or below "the line".

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

http://www.overclock.net/t/502403/gr...-updated-daily

[Libbing]

In terms of cards on that list, I know the the GeForce GTS 250 was recommended as the minimum card for the Protee sim. I'm guessing it would be a similar demand for DD, but I don't know. You can see that the 250 is pretty far down on that list, although it is higher performance than most of the low-end general-use computers you can buy. I've also been using the website www.hwcompare.com/ to compare two graphics cards. It will do a theoretical speed rating or, for the more popular cards than have been around, it ranks them in actual gaming situations in some of the more popular video games.

[ScottRempel]

Thanks for the reply. Thinking about giving this card a try: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=63987&...anufacture=XFX

Not high-end, but close to the performance of high-end cards from a couple years ago, and probably will still make the rest of my computer the bottleneck.

Any thoughts or reasons why you don't think this would be a good choice. It is definitely a step above the GTS 250. I'm thinking for 720P viewing this card should allow me to max things out.

[ZMax]

The DD is not as demanding as Protee or GSA. The GTS250 or 6750 will run DD on high(1080) fine(using an AMD X3). Should be fine also at 720 using an AMD X2. I'm still using the GTS250 for GSA on medium setting at 1080(AMD Phenom X4).

I will be upgrading to a GTX560 or 6870 in preparation for Red Chain's new graphics engine.