I am going to f***ing scream

[Scotty]

For the  past few months, my computer has been crashing when I play certain games. Sometimes I get a BSOD and sometimes just an error. I am on Vista, have 2 GBs of Ram, and my video card is a Radeon x1650 PCI Express, 256 MBs. I have a feeling the culprit is either the video card, the drivers, or some random crap on my computer. (And yep, I updated the drivers) It's totally pissing me off. Can anyone recommend a good nVidia graphics card that isn't too expensive? It has to be PCI Express, since that's what my motherboard has. (This is a home built computer BTW) I had no trouble for several months after getting this machine, this started only a couple months ago, and the computer is less than a year old.

I am going to reformat the hard drive this week, and see if that fixes things. But if not, I'll get the new card. ugh, like I want to spend any money right now. I'm willing to pay $100-$200. Any ideas?

If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it.

[Rogue777]

I'm just moving it to General Sims 2 Help because I think it will have a better chance of being seen there. A lot of people don't even look in General Discussion.

[Wednesday17]

Look for some reviews about the new GeForce 8800GT 515MB.

It's a bit more expensive, but it's worth it. I saw it for about $250. But hey, I ordered it in Germany for €230, which is about $340, so it's still "cheap" for you if you order in the US. The performance is nearly as good as the still very pricey 8800GTX, but the price is about the same as the 8800GTS, which has far inferior performance. It's SLI capable, too.

And hey, why don't'cha loose Vista?
Might even do the trick without new hardware, but your gpu is still low end for the sims.

[Scotty]

This isn't exactly a Sims 2 issue. I have no problem playing that game. I have problems playing some other games though. Such as Half Life games, WoW, some of the smaller casual games that you would find on Big Fish.com and Real Arcade also crash my system. ::: gets a hammer ::: I am so tempted!

I will look into that card, thanks. It will have to be after the holidays. Cant afford much at the moment, but  I do want to get something good, and reliable. I may just end up going back to XP if thats the problem. But Vista was having no trouble for months, this is fairly recent. Only started doing this toward the end of summer.

I am also going to get more RAM and a bigger hard drive. I'll just use this one as extra space.

[Wednesday17]

This isn't exactly a Sims 2 issue. I have no problem playing that game. I have problems playing some other games though. Such as Half Life games, WoW, some of the smaller casual games that you would find on Big Fish.com and Real Arcade also crash my system.

I really don't know about that kinds of games, I am a tomb raider, persian prince and simmer mostly. But let the reviews and benchmarks on Tom's Hardware speak for themselves. Those were what convinced me, anyway.
I must admit, however, that I'm not using the card yet, atm everyone wants it and it's sold out everywhere. I've ordered it a couple of weeks ago and am now more or less patiently waiting for the postman...

I may just end up going back to XP if thats the problem. But Vista was having no trouble for months, this is fairly recent. Only started doing this toward the end of summer.

Although I cannot speak of first hand experience on this, but all I ever heard about Vista, was that it consumes lots of recources and makes all kinds of troubles. I for one am determined to keep my XP until the "beta stage for paying customers" will be history (if ever).