PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[BraTTy 0]

Ya comparing the ORB website for 3dmark06 all the top performers are PC's with 4870's.Comparative speaking my Ati 3870 clocks about 5000 while I see 15000+ for the 4870's...I'd like one too

[Shadow NX 1]

You said you updated your video drivers but I would try older drivers.

7900gs has no need for newer drivers really

I've tried 2 new ones, and the ones it came with and they all cause tearing :/ ... However, seeing as though it was my Birthday I'm going to upgrade my entire PC ... how do ATI HD4870's run ArmA?  

Overall I love my 4870 as it crushes the majority of games I've tried and it does a decent job with Arma but I still see many of the same problems ie...texture loss,slowdowns(more so with mods), and flickering. Since Arma was my primary game, the 4870 didn't have that 'Bang factor' I'd like to enjoy when getting a new card until I tried other games  

Here's hoping for Arma2...

For me the difference in ArmA compared to my old card was extreme but i had a Nvidia 7800GTX before.

Before it was 1280x960 on mostly mid to low settings and not 1680x1050 ( new tft widescreen ) on 90% highest settings and still i dotn notice the usual grass shader slowdows i had on my old card.

Ok in some other games the improvement was even higher like in Crysis but the boost with the 4870 in ArmA still was pretty extreme.

And most of the things like texture loading are more related to ArmA itself ( offcourse influenced by the hardware to a certain extend ).

[MehMan 0]

Well I do expect a huge boost going from a 7600GT and 1 gig of RAM running at 166(oh yes, the oldest stick is that slow) to a 4870 GS and 4 gigs of RAM. The Quad won't do much in ArmA, but might help a bit, while the new HDD will probably also help it along.

[Infam0us 10]

Thanks for the comments guys, I'll be upgrading from a 7900GS Gainward so I expect a rather large difference!

I'll be changing the Mobo, PSU, CPU and Ram aswell ... building my ArmA 2 PC a little earlier than expected

[Supernova 0]

4870 X2 is still king. If anyone is considering a P45 based motherboard I recommend getting a 4870 X2 (running at X16) instead of dual 4870's in Crossfire (because there is a performance hit x8/x8).

[MehMan 0]

One day when the price drops! But the thing looks huge so you better have enough room.

[echo1 0]

4870 X2 is still king.

Well, that's arguable. A lot of the performance is relative to how well the game in question deals with dual-GPU configurations. In ArmA's case, the answer to that is "Not very well". (See Troubleshooting section) The best bet at the high end of the scale is the cheaper and less energy-consuming GTX280, who by virtue of only having one GPU is guaranteed to give consistent performance, even if the 4870X2 works faster in certain games, the fact that it works like an overpriced 4870 in others kinda balances that out.

[Shashman 0]

I built myself a new rig a couple of weeks ago and my new gfx card is a 4870X2, and yes, it is the king and it performs flawlessly and I get a 3D Mark 06 score of over 19000, but my ArmA runs nowhere near as well as I was expecting it to. I have to turn off post processing and a lot of the details can't be set to more than normal or high or I get poor FPS

[Infam0us 10]

I built myself a new rig a couple of weeks ago and my new gfx card is a 4870X2, and yes, it is the king and it performs flawlessly and I get a 3D Mark 06 score of over 19000, but my ArmA runs nowhere near as well as I was expecting it to. I have to turn off post processing and a lot of the details can't be set to more than normal or high or I get poor FPS

Really, I hear conflicting reports over how it runs ArmA. Some say it makes it run amazing, others have to run on low?

[echo1 0]

I built myself a new rig a couple of weeks ago and my new gfx card is a 4870X2, and yes, it is the king and it performs flawlessly and I get a 3D Mark 06 score of over 19000, but my ArmA runs nowhere near as well as I was expecting it to. I have to turn off post processing and a lot of the details can't be set to more than normal or high or I get poor FPS

As I pointed out earlier, some games are so badly optimized for Dual-GPU solutions that the card acts as an overpriced standard 4870, which is quick in itself, its just that if the game and the X2 got along well, you could probably max out detail.

[Technical Rant ahead]

What it comes down to is that SLI/Crossfire/Dual-GPU is a niche market. Games must be correctly optimized to reap the benefits of having more than one GPU (a bit like the way software has to be optimized for Dual/Quad core CPUs). Most game developers have enough trouble trying to get games to run on regular PCs, worrying about fancy esoteric high end gear so they don't sink that much effort into it. Issues of technical practicality aside, I often wonder why nVidia/ATI don't make dual-core GPUs as standard. If this was the case, it would force SLI/Crossifre into mainsteam in a manner that would actually benefit us, as opposed to being a cheap gimmick to sell more grpahics cards. That said, Intel plans on doing something like that with its "Larabee" GPU, which is effectively going to be a 32-core Pentium 1 that renders in software.

[Supernova 0]

I don't think people care how long ago you had built you're wonder rig. For a person who works with hardware and electronics all day what do I have to show for it ?. Not a new rig but an outdated S478 rig. You all have up to date and modernized rigs but what do those who know actually understand how hardware works and the specifics get ? Zilch. Spoiled. This is one thing that really pisses me off about the economic system of Western nations , the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer.

[-Snafu- 77]

Most people don't have uber computers (I don't have one, mine is circa 2003 with only small upgrade in RAM and GPU in 2006). On a PC game forum you are of course going to see a lot of people who are really into it and thus build up their rig. They probably make sacrifices in order to obtain that by working more hours or buying a cheap car, don't buy ridiculously expensive clothes etc.

So put a bloody sock in it.

[Supernova 0]

I will not put a bloody sock into it. Everywhere I see spoiled rich kids and brats getting whatever they wish and I work my ass for what ?. Flawed economic system is at fault. Hope it collapses soon.

[-Snafu- 77]

Whatever. As I said this is a PC Game forum, in fact I am not going to repeat myself to some whiny little kid.

If all you want to do is live in a world of ignorance where you believe the West is evil and everyone is rich go post on a Russia Today forum or YT video.

This is a topic for PC stuff, let's leave it that way.

*shakes head in disbelief*

[echo1 0]

Quote[/b] ]For a person who works with hardware and electronics all day what do I have to show for it ?. Not a new rig but an outdated S478 rig.

A few pages ago you were saying you had a Quad core system with a 4870X2, now you have a Pentium 4? Not sure how you made that mistake.

Quote[/b] ]but what do those who know actually understand how hardware works and the specifics get ?

A college degree and a good job . The hillarious thing is that you then proceed to call such people spoilt and lazy despite the fact that you are pretending to be an expert in all things technical, and possesing some high-up job in the field. Either A) You're lying through your teeth, B) You're a hypocrite or C) You like to think you know more than you do, and descend into childish argumentum ad hominem with people who show you up. Either way, you're talking nonsense.

Quote[/b] ]Zilch. Spoiled. This is one thing that reallyu pisses me off about the economic system of Western nations , the rich get richer and the poorer get poorer.

Ever considered that perhaps you are Spokeperson's long lost twin? Seriously, what the deuce has this got to do with a discussion thread about PCs?

[Supernova 0]

Yea I wish I had a CrossfireX 4870 X2 system , the one that was previously mentioned I only got to use and test because it was a build I was assembling for a client. I mean I bet that client that received the X48 DDR3 build probably won't even overclock or understand what it is that he ordered other than it is top of the line and high-end. The one's who talk nonsense are Western capitalist's.

[echo1 0]

Quote[/b] ]Whatever. As I said this is a PC Game forum, in fact I am not going to repeat myself to some whiny little kid.

If all you want to do is live in a world of ignorance where you believe the West is evil and everyone is rich go post on a Russia Today forum or YT video.

This is a topic for PC stuff, let's leave it that way.

*shakes head in disbelief*

Hear hear...

Universal, judging by the way you ignored my "rebuttal", as it were, to your post that you have no real justification for what you are saying. Do everyone a favour and give it a rest. Don't bother posting unless you have something constructive to add to the discussion. Let that be the end of it.

[MehMan 0]

what a useless rant there universal, comparing us to spoiled brats. Lovely. And I thought I worked for my money through screaming clients.

[Shadow NX 1]

-edit-

Nothing to see here... move on everyone.

[Placebo 28]

This thread is for discussing PC stuff, the place to bicker about PC stuff is here

[MehMan 0]

Nevah! it is the point of the internets to bicker like little children!

[SHWiiNG 0]

Ha, love the URL joke.

Anyway back on topic.

I just picked up a PC mag and they claim that the Radeon 4870 is vastely superior to the 9800 series. (In terms of performance vs Price, so please dont say the obvious that the GTX 980 is better because.. Duh its 3X the cost of course its better)

I have been having trouble finding some comparative charts. If this is the case, maybe one or two of these cards is an ideal path to follow when i come around the upgrading.

[echo1 0]

Yeah, the 4870 is much better than any 9-series nVidia card except the 9800GX2. Of course, the 9800GTX+ is somewhat cheaper, and there's also the horribly named "GTX 260 Core 216" which is somewhat cheaper than a 1GB 4870 (If I'm not mistaken) and is just as fast.

[Deadfast 43]

...I have been having trouble finding some comparative charts...

Perhaps this page will come in handy then

[Infam0us 10]

Ha, love the URL joke.  

Anyway back on topic.

I just picked up a PC mag and they claim that the Radeon 4870 is vastely superior to the 9800 series. (In terms of performance vs Price, so please dont say the obvious that the GTX 980 is better because.. Duh its 3X the cost of course its better)

I have been having trouble finding some comparative charts. If this is the case, maybe one or two of these cards is an ideal path to follow when i come around the upgrading.

What magazine, I would be interested to read it!

And I thought the HD4870 was the fastest card in the market?