Need some suggestions on gfx cards

[Baron von Beer 0]

Unless it is really old, yes. (Older, like 5+ years old, which only have 3.3v AGP slots) Not sure, but IIRC, 4x-8x doesn't make a huge difference in performance, though correct me if mistaken.

[toadlife 3]

That was a good article abput benchmarking at hardocp.com.

This tyan model looks sweet...

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTU2

[S_Z 0]

Like you guys are talking about XT cards of the 9800 radeon, and one im looking at is an SE. What do the letters mean?

The XT run at 412/730Mhz (core/mem) and the Pro version at 380/680Mhz. The XT version also has a function called “overdrive†that dynamically overclock the card. If the card gets too hot it slows it down so it won’t get damaged.

But IMO it’s not worth the price, a “normal†9800P is almost as fast and cost a lot less.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

I may be mistaken, but isn't ATI's implementation of AA and AF a lot better than NVIDIA's at the moment? Given that some ATI cards can provide 16xAA and 4xAF almost for free, whereas an NVIDIA card takes a massive performance hit when they are enabled

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I may be mistaken, but isn't ATI's implementation of AA and AF a lot better than NVIDIA's at the moment? Given that some ATI cards can provide 16xAA and 4xAF almost for free, whereas an NVIDIA card takes a massive performance hit when they are enabled

I wouldn't go quite as far as that, but ATI's performance and visual quality in AA and AF is unquestionably superior to nVidia's offerings- it's always been that way, ever since the days of Quincunx AA

[theavonlady 2]

My husband just went ahead and bought us a new home computer with an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB card in it.

I thought I'd never see the day that I would have an ATI card in the house and have good things to say about it.

After installing the latest Catalyst Drivers, it works flawlessly with everything and the graphics quality is terrific. It is neither the cheapest card out there but it's far from being the most expensive one.

[Consigliere 0]

How's this then? Comes with a handy TV tuner and remote and it's a fair price at 140 quid

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

Is the 9800 XT worth buying?Being 256MB and all.

I'm kind of thinkin about upping my video card from my Geforce 2 Ultra, to a 9800 XT.

What will I notice with my AMD Athlon 1.2 Ghz processor+512MB of Ram(Maybe might up it up to a gig)?Will I be able to run Lock on Modern air combat fine?Will the graphics look nice?What will my processor not do so well on?

Thanks for any help.

[S_Z 0]

Is the 9800 XT worth buying?Being 256MB and all.

I'm kind of thinkin about upping my video card from my Geforce 2 Ultra, to a 9800 XT.

What will I notice with my AMD Athlon 1.2 Ghz processor+512MB of Ram(Maybe might up it up to a gig)?Will I be able to run Lock on Modern air combat fine?Will the graphics look nice?What will my processor not do so well on?

Thanks for any help.

I suggest you buy a cheaper card and get yourself a new processor instead of burning all money on a graphic card. A 1.2Ghz processor will not be able to make full use of a 9800XT anyway. Get a 9600XT or perhaps wait for the new 5900XT*. From what I have read it will be in the same price range as the 9600XT and much faster (at least in DX8.x games). You can see some benchmarkstests of it here if your interested: http://www.tech-report.com/reviews.....x?pg=1

Lomac is very demanding on your CPU. Lomac gets my AMD XP1900 to its knees when there are lots of vehicles/aircraft’s around.

*The name is a bit confusing. In ATIs case the letters “XT†are used on the new improved (faster) versions of the 9800 and 9600 but in nVidias case they use put “XT†on their new low price (slower) version of the 5900.

[Baron von Beer 0]

yeah, the 1.2 ghz will be the bottleneck. Take that 500, and split it 250-250. Can get a 3.06 P4, and a radeon 9800 (probably pro online) for the same, and get MUCH better performance than just a 9800xt w/ the 1.2 gig. Can easily find a 9800 non pro for ~$200ish, and still have 200+ to grab a new CPU, and have a great rig.

[toadlife 3]

Definitely. You will be able enjoy OFP much more with a new CPU too. ;)

[Jester983 0]

How about a 1.7 amd ahtlon processer? Do i too need to upgrade it? Or would i be okay with a 9800 pro card?

[blackdog~ 0]

Check what processors your mobo supports first, because I bought a 2100xp a bit ago and had to get a new mobo because the old ne only supported up to 1900

PS: Just bought this 25mm bradley ammo can... might make a PC out of it like zapwizard did (www.zapwizard.com).

[Baron von Beer 0]

Yeah, check what your motherboard will support. XPs are real cheap now, an xp2700 can be had for ~$110. (Mobo for it would range from $80-110 for a higher end model)

Worst case, if you are planning on upgrading, but don't have the cash up front, get one part now, the other later. (GPU now, new CPU in 3 or 6 months, or whatever). In the end, it all comes down to, does it run what you use, as well as you would like it to. If not, than yes, upgrade. If yes, then wait, and get even more powerful parts down the road.

Didn't see what your current GPU is. That will also give a good guide as to what sort of improvement you may see. Can check for older benchmarks/reviews (Like at Tomshardware.com, etc) and try and find one similar to your current rig, and one similar to your proposed rig. Most likely won't find exact, but you may be able to find a "ballpark" figure from a semi sameish test rig.

[blackdog~ 0]

Actually... I just remembered. I'll sell you my old AMD 2100 w/ heatsink for $20+shipping. I'm not sure if the processor works, but the fan does - it cost at least $25 itself. It comes with another faceplate for a front cd-bay mount to control fan speed on the heatsink, but im too lazy to dig it out right now.

Speaking of heatsinks, I'll sell someone this watercooling kit for $50. It doesn't work with my athlon 64. i got it for $99. i will take a pic only if you are interetsed.

[Badgerboy 0]

Urghh, clean that processor up! It's plastered with heat sink compound.

And everyone, remember when you reseat your heatsink, clean the CPU and reapply new compound. I recommend Artic Silver, and only use a tiny amount. Slapping in on all over the place can make things worse. You only need a thin film, as all heatsink compound really does is fill in the imperfections in the metal to provide a better heat transer area.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

What did you do to that CPU

Clean it up, and next time do not cover the whole heatsink with it, just a small patch where the CPU is, its not hard That looks so messy, its unbelievable.

[blackdog~ 0]

hey hey, that's what I did. It's always a pain in the arse to put that heatsink on, and when you finally do, it moves the grease all over the processor.

[Gollum1 0]

I think Radeon 9600 XT 128 mb has the best bang-for-your-buck ratio right now.

[toadlife 3]

hey hey, that's what I did. It's always a pain in the arse to put that heatsink on, and when you finally do, it moves the grease all over the processor.

You only need a razor thin coat that covers only the chip. One tube of thermal compund should be anough to do like 20 processors (or more). I wasted tons of thermal compund, and messed plenty of processors before realizing that.

Grab a razor blade, dab a microscopic drop on the chip and start spreading as if your making a peanut butter sandwich. dab and spread as neccesary. You're basically aiming to get a nice thick coat of 'paint' on the cpu core.

[Baron von Beer 0]

Yeah, grab a soft non fibery cloth and some rubbing alcohol and give it a nice wipe down. It will thank you for it.

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

I don't think I can upgrade my processor any higher on my mobo.I kind of don't really want to upgrade my processor, or else I'd have to buy a new Mobo, and new ram, and all that other stuff.But since my Gateways computers warranty is about to expire, I might consider building a new computer I guess, and just transfer some of the stuff from my old comp to the new computer(DVD, CD-RW, Firewire card etc.)Probably cost me $100 for a new sound card, $150 for a mobo, $200 for a processor, $200 for ram, and $300-400 for a new video card.

Or I might just upgrade the video card soon, and see how it'll run Lomac.