So how much card does GW REALLY need?

I'm buying a new computer this coming week, and I've got everything planned out but the video card. GW is the only PC game I play, so the answer to the question in my topic line will pretty much determine what card I get.

For example, how well will a cheap card like this run GW:
-256MB nVidia GeForce7300LE

And how much of a difference will a card like this make:
-256MB nVidia GeForce7900GS

My connection is great, my processor will be great (Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz), but does my video card need to be as good as the second card I listed, or will the first card I listed run it just fine?
Is GW is more of a card-intensive game or a processor-intensive game?

The reason I ask is that cheap cards are better than ever these days, and GW doesn't exactly have the highest requirements in the world.
That said, I want GW to run very, very good. As good as humanly possible without turning my PC into some sort of ridiculously expensive hotrod (the second card I listed is as high as I'll go).

So what say you, GW community?
Does GW REALLY need those extra pipelines and extra bandwidth and super GDDR3 RAM and such? Or will any old 256MB card do?

I don't know why...but ever since I start playing NF, my GeForce 7800GTX starting to give me 16-32 FPS. It was like 120 FPS in Ascalon

Get the best card you can afford. Guild Wars might not need it, but will you never play a different game?

I agree with Hocksyer, get the best card that you can afford. Saying that read the forums and make a decesion after that as there have been a lot of problems with Nvidea cards (I am not saying they are bad just a friendy warning). Check all the reviews on all cards that you are concidering that you can before making any decission.

Mega Mouse

Well today I got a Geforce FX5700LE 256mb for just $75 bucks and it run everything so smooth. Only reason why I can't play newer games is because of my processor (1.5 Ghz).

My point is...even a cheaper sub $100 card will get the job done. And if you have a nice processor and ram thats even better.

Next question(s):

1. Do I have to worry about overheating issues with the 256MB nVidia GeForce7900GS, or can I just leave it in there as is without going out and buying some additional stuff (extra fans, etc.)?

2. Is 1GB of RAM enough? Or better yet, will 1GB RAM still be enough when I get Vista?

3. I don't run surround sound. All I run are 2 small speakers and a subwoofer, nothing fancy. I'll just be sticking with the integrated audio because audio is not that big of a deal to me.
My question is: Does not having a sound card effect the VIDEO in anyway (leech of processor, etc.).

Thanks for the advice so far BTW.

If you notice your card overheating alot get a fan or whatever. 1GB of ram is enough to run any pc game on the market today. The sound card doesn't affect other computer components performance.

A stock sound card will be fine. And, its pretty easy to upgrade if you ever did want a FULL surround sound system.

1. i am running a pair of those in SLI OC to 500 mhz core/ 1380 mhz ram.

no overheating at all.

2 if the motherboard supports it get that gig in dual channel (512 mb X2) as it makes a big difference.

integrated sound will have some effect as it uses CPU cycles and GW is processor intensive.

i use onboard sound and still get 75+ FFS so i dont notice it.

i run GW on max graphics with an FX5200 and i get no lag..only slightly slow loading times...

What is the rest of your computer's specs?

-Casey

(OFFTOPIC) I run my game on full graphics with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 with these:
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ @ 2.4 ghz,
Nvidia Geforce 7900gt @ 1.4V, Core 630 mhz, memory 1700ghz
1gb of 333mhz (-.-) RAM
160gt hard disk
A8NE-FM as motherboard

I'm running it on a 5 year old pc, with no problems on the hardware side.
My rig is a
P4 2.8mhz
512mb Ram
GeForce 4 Ti4600

Its at 1280x1024 with 4AA turned on. All settings are at default (either medium or high, except for reflections, which is default as aforementioned.

It run perfectly. A constant 20 FPS.

i run with all settings at max, 1280x1024 res
ATI Radeon 9200, 128mb AGP - (really old card, had this in my pentium 2, lol)
runs quite well.

(bought the 9200 in 2003 to replace my diamondA50 8mb agp card) O.O

Original GuildWars was using Direct X 8, with Nightfall there using Direct X 9 with some of the advanced features + implemented 3d Audio - all eat up more resources.

I would go with the 7900GS, not for guildwars sake, both run just fine for GW but future gaming.

That would explain why my game runs like a Dolyak. :/