I currently have an ATI Radeon 1950 Pro 512mb running on an Asus p5k mobo, i was guna add a second matching card but im wonderin is it worth it with the advent of DX10 games, however I would prefer to go for an nvidia DX10 card as the ATI DX10 card perform substantially worse. Would my board run an nvidia card or would i have to change that as well?? it has a p35 chipset if that is any help

Lets break your question down into three

1. There's no problem using NVIDIA graphics with an Intel chipset. Of course, you cannot do SLI without an NVIDIA chipset. At certain price points, SLI is becoming pretty attractive, but it's still quite a blunt solution.

2. NVIDIA and ATI DirectX 10 generation graphics cards match up a lot better since the Radeon HD 3870 was released. Yes, it's true, NVIDIA manufacture the fastest card, GeForce 8800 Ultra. However, unless you plan to fork out the cash for a GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB* or better, don't dismiss ATI out of hand. The Radeon HD 3870 keeps up with the GeForce 8800 GT in most things and can be had in many places for less.

3. Even the best DirectX 10 cards aren't pushing very good DirectX 10 frame rates. DirectX 10/Shader Model 4.0 (SM4) hasn't had a chance to work through new developments yet. Most games released now started development prior to DirectX 10 and feature SM4 as an afterthought, adding a few new visual effects for a big cost. It's generally believed that SM4 software is too immature to see any great benefit at this point, while the hardware is to immature for future proofing. It might also be worth noting that Direct X 10.1 is nearing release and only the Radeon HD 3-series hardware supports it. Not much is new in DirectX 10.1/Shader Model 4.1, but it still serves as a good argument against future proofing at this juncture.


All that aside, should you buy now? Sure, but as long as you're just looking for a frame rate boost. With the GeForce 9-series on the horizon and DirectX 10 in its infancy, don't make the decision because you "want to play DirectX 10 games", because you'll be disappointedly. Don't discount AMD just yet either.

DirectX 9 support will go on for quite a while, for the simple reason that by far the majority of people still sue DirectX 9.0c based hardware, and even if they have splashed out on the new AMD/NVIDIA offerings, many have stuck with Windows XP and therefore cannot use the DirectX 10 features. It's not uncommon even today to find games with a DirectX 9.0 path, DirectX 8 path or sometimes even DirectX 7 path.

* Note: Take care not to get confused with the new GeForce 8-series line-up. In order of performance, it used to be GeForce 8800 GTS (320/640MB), GeForce 8800 GTX, GeForce 8800 Ultra. The G92 core changed the landscape; now it's GeForce 8800 GTS (320/640 MB), GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GTS (512 MB), GeForce 8800 GTX, GeForce 8800 Ultra. Retail pricing will not represent this very well at all.

Thanks for that I didnt really mean it as just because i wanna play DX10 games more a case of saving money in the long run, instead of buying a 2nd Radeon If I bought an Nvidia card and then gave my current card 2 my brother or sumthing it would save me a few pennys when I do decide to upgrade