Upgrade advice

[John C Flett 0]

I've presently got a Radeon 9200 in my machine and while its served me well I'm finding its increasingly prone to glitches with new games. Doom 3 has unsightly lines run down models, Silent Hunter has black objects flashing on the horizon and Pariah just blacks out the screen when things explode.

So, come pay day I want to upgrade. I'm looking mayby at something in the 6800GT series as a good balance of cost and power, I've got up to 250GBP to spend. But despite reading up a lot of hardware reviews and benchmarks don't really tell me how a card realy works in the real world so just wondered if any of you guys would care to share suggestions or experiences, especially with the latest games.

Thanks in advance.

[gandalf the white 0]

you'll probably won't listen to me but....

WAIT till autumm you can get the best card for OFP2 then

Anyhow, I think that your card's issue is more overheating then not being good enough, tone down the settings on some games?

[Gordy 0]

Yes,

Wait and try to squeeze mo' money til then. You'd be able to make the whole PC up-to-date.

[John C Flett 0]

Quote[/b] ]I think that your card's issue is more overheating then not being good enough

Sadly I think it is just not good enough. Reading forums for games like Pariah and Brothers in Arms there are specific post processing effects that cause problems for lots of people with this family of cards. Seems that some of the ATI cards just can't do certain things well. Can't complain too much though as it shipped with the machine over a year ago. Its had a good run.

I may wait, but its a never ending cycle, there will always be something else just down the road. Mayby for the present I should spend my money on a memory upgrade.

[JAP 2]

Nvidia 6600GT i think is best price/quality atm.

I have one and i m very satisfied with it.

[crashdome 1]

Never buy top-of-the-line. Unless you are a gazillionaire.

Always look at prices from the cheapest of the cheap all the way up to the best of the best. You will see a small gap somewhere along the line. Buy one that is just below it. I've done this for years now and have spent equal amounts of money as a friend of mine who buys top-of-the-line but I upgrade more often. He is stuck with a $300 card for 3 years (that is out of date after 1 year), but I upgrade my $150 cards every 1.5 years. I can usually go max detail on most games except the very very new.

Example:

<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">

Leadtek A400LE Geforce 6800LE 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$199.00

Compare  MSI NX6600GT-VTD128SP Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$202.00

Compare  Apollo Geforce 6800 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$209.00

Compare  BFG Tech Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$212.00

Compare  ASUS N6600GT/TOP/128 Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - OEM

$212.00

Compare  Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Extreme Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail

$218.00

[***-----BIG GAP IN PRICE HERE-----***]

Compare  GIGABYTE GV-N68128DH Geforce 6800 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$244.00

Compare  XFX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$294.00

Compare  PROLINK PV-N40GA(256JD) Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

$294.00

EDIT: Hmmm that Leadtek for $200 is looking pretty good to me. (I like Leadtek - never EVER had a driver issue + very stable cards).

Time to start hiding money from the woman again.

[denoir 0]

I bought a 6600GT about a month ago when my old Geforce3 started acting up. I've had no problems with it.

Well, actually, it had some troubles with my motherboard (AMD 761) chipset, so it led me to buy a new motherboard.. and then I bought more memory.. and then I bought more disk... So I actually ended up upgrading my whole system. I'm currently waiting for the Amd64 dual core CPU to be released and then I'm going to build a new system from scratch.

The 6600GT is a good solution for current games. If you want something that will last a bit longer then it's SLI'd 6800's, but that is in a bit of a different price range.

[Acecombat 0]

Ok i better ask this here too no need to start a new topic.

I have a problem a major limbo i'm stuck in.

I have a 2.4 GHZ and 512 RAM plus a crappy geforce 2.

I was thinking of upgrading my PC this summer with a new GFX card and another 512 MB of RAM in preparation of AA. But which card will be best to handle AA and will it be wise to shop now and hope that the card will be good enough for OFP2 as well or not?

I am eyeing a 9800 or maybe a 6600 GT will it be ok for my RIG? Or will i need to upgrade my CPU as well is 2.4 Ghz @533FSB enough to handle AA for now and OFP2 initially when it comes out.

Thoughts suggestions appreciated.

[Gordy 0]

Ok i better ask this here too no need to start a new topic.

I have a problem a major limbo i'm stuck in.

I have a 2.4 GHZ and 512 RAM plus a crappy geforce 2.

I was thinking of upgrading my PC this summer with a new GFX card and another 512 MB of RAM in preparation of AA. But which card will be best to handle AA and will it be wise to shop now and hope that the card will be good enough for OFP2 as well or not?

I am eyeing a 9800 or maybe a 6600 GT will it be ok for my RIG? Or will i need to upgrade  my CPU as well is 2.4 Ghz @533FSB  enough to handle AA for now and OFP2 initially when it comes out.

Thoughts suggestions appreciated.

 

I am affraid it will not be enough.

I have now P4 2.8 HT, 1024 MB DDR 400, 9800 PRO and it ain't pretty my friend.

I will be looking at some upgrade in the beginning of the new year. I advice you the same. Collect mo' doh till then.

[Tomislav 0]

i had the intention to buy a new pc for ofp2, but when AA does not work it would be more than a misery

i only got 2.0 GHz, 512 DDR-Ram and a 9600 Pro

so i guess it is too weak for AA atm

[Acecombat 0]

But i cant stand my PC right now , it just lumbers through OFP right now and with AA i dont even wanna think what might happen then.

Plus who knows BIS might delay OFp2 to 2007 what then .

Maybe i should get a cheap 9800/9600 or something to tide me over till OFP2 eh?

[Gordy 0]

I would advice you to wait for this to come:

Athlon 64 X2 (double core CPU) on NVIDIA nForce4 SLI (sli is for double GPU management)

Standard DDR 400 chips.

PCI slot for GPU.

It is a multitask equipment and should be obtainable (affordable) next spring. This will keep OFP2 (or whatever name) going.

[John C Flett 0]

Just been going through the paperwork that came with my machine and I'm beginning to think this may be academic. I'm beginning to think the motherboard only has a standard AGP slot, not a 4X or 8X. If so than I'm not going to be able to do much anyway.  A memory upgrade starts to look like a better idea.

Actually, its a 1.5v AGP slot, doesn't that indicate 4X?

[Heatseeker 0]

6600GT will do, i have one and its a nice card for the price.

I have the agp version, if you get one be sure to have a decent PSU (400W+), the card is very ungry .

I will not spend money on new HW only to find it wont be good enough for the game that isnt called OPF2, my 2.4 will serve me well untill there i hope .

[QBA69 1]

Quote[/b] ]Actually, its a 1.5v AGP slot, doesn't that indicate 4X?

1.5V - where V is for Volt not for version - doesn't mean that your AGP slot is 2x or 4x or 8x. Read your mainboard's manual to find out what AGP version you have. And btw, if you have a pretty old mainboard - don't try to upgrade your PC. Wait till you can buy all the most important computer parts - mobo, cpu, ram and vga. That's my way at least.

[John C Flett 0]

1.5v is the power but it is an indicator (3.3V for older slots ), along with the plastic bridge as to the slot type. Sadly this was the only clue I had because none of the documentation that came with the machine or online actually identified the type. It could have still been 4X or 8X.

In the end I downloaded some diagnostic software that tested the slot at 8X so I'm satisfied on that count. However from what Heatseeker said I don't have the power, only 300W on my PSU. Not that thats a big problem, a new PSU is about as cheap a part as I could need.

[Daddl 10]

Ace, I'd get either an ATI X800 or a Nvidia 6600 - the latter being probably the better choice as it supports 3.0 shaders (Ati only supports version 2.0 atm). Don't even think about getting a Nvisia 5900 - they suck in comparison to the newer generation NVidias and the last few Radeons (9800, X600, X800). If you're a bit short of money look for a ATI 9800 Pro if you still find one out there (the X800 might be a bit to expensive compared to the NVidia 6600).

[Acecombat 0]

1.5v is the power but it is an indicator (3.3V for older slots ), along with the plastic bridge as to the slot type. Sadly this was the only clue I had because none of the documentation that came with the machine or online actually identified the type. It could have still been 4X or 8X.

In the end I downloaded some diagnostic software that tested the slot at 8X so I'm satisfied on that count. However from what Heatseeker said I don't have the power, only 300W on my PSU. Not that thats a big problem, a new PSU is about as cheap a part as I could need.

Thanks for the advise everyone.

@Heatseeker : I know OFP2 and AA armed assault are different , i said it in my post too .

@John C Flett:

Quote[/b] ] In the end I downloaded some diagnostic software that tested the slot at 8X so I'm satisfied on that count.

Hey can you tell me which diagnostic tool was that? I am in a similiar problem and wanna find out my AGP count as well , i think my mobo was Intel I845pesv something?

I tried it with RIVATUNER as bn880 told me but i cant figure out how to find out my AGP count through it.

@Dadll: Thanks for the comparison i think i'll stick with a Radeon 9800 PRO or something. Which model among them is btw the best? SInce i believe they got plenty of models in them too right? Like 9800XT or 9800 SE etc , i think SE versions are crap right? Also which company would be a best buy MSI or what.

[John C Flett 0]

I used Sandra Lite.

http://www.download.com/3000-2086-10018691.html

Not saying its the best but it helped me.

I've just upgraded the memory to 1GB so I'm off to do a few tests, especially on the very sluggish Boiling Point. If all works well I'll probably replace the PSU tomorrow. Not a difficult job but the 5,000 assorted wires out of it will take some sorting.

[Acecombat 0]

Ok i am back with another question i have a 4x AGP slot it seems i found out using that sandra thingy (thanks john c flett) , so if i am to get a 8x card will it work like less happily on my system and get bottlenecked by 4x AGP? How big does this difference translate in games? From this article i see major differences in hardware but what about games/software.....

AGP 4x to 8x comparison

Quote[/b] ]Name AGP, AGP 2x AGP 4x AGP 8x

Signaling 3.3 V 1.5 V 0.8 V

Bus Width 32 Bits 32 Bits 32 Bits

Bandwidth 533 MB/s 1066 MB/s 2133 MB/s

Backwards Compatible yes yes only to AGP 4x

The bandwith as you see is doubled so wouldnt it effect my FPS in games or not?

[Heatseeker 0]

I've always heard the diference betwean AGP4X and 8X was minimal, i have a 4X AGP slot and a 6600GT AGP8X card and it runs pretty well, around 7500 3dmark 2k3 wich isnt bad even if bottlenecked by a P4 2.4 .

About the power supply, TRY FIRST!!, i have a xfx, wich runs at 500/1000 stock (same has pci-e), box clearly says 450W PSU minimum but there are people using them with less wattage with no problems, i have also heard it is optimal to have atleat 18 or more amps on the + 12 volt rail so i got a brand 450W one with the card, you can try it with your current one because it still might work, just dont forget to plug the psu molex to the card .

[John C Flett 0]

Thanks to everybody. I've now made two upgrades, memory and graphics and now have 1GB ram and a 6600GT.And all this for well within my budget.

I've not had time to test it on everything but then it won't benefit everything. My two main benchmarks though are "Doom 3" and "Boiling point" and what a change. D3 has gone from playable low detail at 800x600 to a silky smooth 1024x768 high detail and it looks fanastic. BP might not be pretty yet but its looking a lot better and running much more smoothly.

With F.E.A.R. out in a few weeks it should be another tasty graphics treat for my money.

Thanks again.

[Colossus 2]

I heard it is going to be cheaper then the normal 6800GT

SLI, dual-GPU and 512 MB