ATi 9500 users(yes this isn't a daoc topic as such :p)

[Duryn]

I'm highly considering getting one of these due to the fact my Geforce 3 bottlenecks my system, but I've heard that ati drivers are a little poor.
Anyone running an ati card that can tell me how daoc runs, preferably a 9500 pro/xp 2400+ or there abouts.

 

[Envenom2]

why not just get a 8500? pretty good card and ive had little trouble with it so far.

Dont forget u need a good pc to run the good gfx cards or it wont really do u any good its like someone with a P2 450 example wanting to get a geforce 4 it just would perform to the best of its abilitys

I have a ATI 8500 my mate has a ATI 9000 theres no difference at all ^^

 

[Sortbane]

Just ordered one of those cards , CAN'T....WAIT....FOR...IT!!!

now, where did I put that preorder on SI again?

 

[Hatjitjai]

using ati radeon 9700 pro with xp here
its a jewel

 

[Pempulla]

Originally posted by Duryn
I'm highly considering getting one of these due to the fact my Geforce 3 bottlenecks my system, but I've heard that ati drivers are a little poor.
Anyone running an ati card that can tell me how daoc runs, preferably a 9500 pro/xp 2400+ or there abouts.

I doubt very much that Geforce3 can be a bottle neck in DaoC... especially in the sub-SI-version of the game. The biggest bottle neck is the shitty game engine anyway. Switching to Ati8500 from Geforce3 won't really make any difference anyway (Geforce3, Radeon8500 are more or less 'on par' in performance, Radeon9000 probably a bit slower actually).

I would really consider for SI and the new gfx engine to come out, those 'few' weeks can really save you a LOT of money. Radeon prices will probably drop some as soon as GeforceFX hits the market, and that may (well, should) be around the time SI finally comes out.

 

[Vasconcelos]

There is such a big difference btwn Ati8500/9000 n ATI9500. However the difference btwn GForce3 (assuming u got one of the Ti series) n ATI8500 isnt really big.

The "dark legend" about ATI drivers is quite true although their drivers r now better. If i was you i would go for a GForce4200, nice gcard n nice price (around 160€), or if u got enuff money a GForce4600. However, the technology of ATI9700 is the best atm.

 

[Duryn]

Im going for a ati 9500 pro (and unlocking it to a 9700) and currently running a xp 2400+(2GHz).
I'm not really that happy with my Gainward Geforce 3, I've had problems getting stable dets for the thing and have absoluetly no chance of getting good drivers from gainward due to their shite driver support.
I really think this card is what will hold back my system with any game, and atm I can see the 9500 pro as being the best card per cost you can get, with it out performing ti4200 and coming so close to ti4600's before its even unlocked.
I just wanted to know what the driver support was like, along with running in daoc ;p.

 

[Vasconcelos]

Originally posted by Duryn
Im going for a ati 9500 pro (and unlocking it to a 9700) and currently running a xp 2400+(2GHz).

Care m8, not every 9500 can be unlocked to a 9700 (ur 9500 card must have a 9700 PCB n this is totally random) n is a very risky process considering this isnt a "cheap" card.

PS: asumming u r talking about the hardware mod. Heard there is a software mod using the new RivaTuner tweaker, but this is not a unlock or a real mod, this sounds more like an overclock.

 

[Madonion Slicer]

I am a geoforce man, but i do have a an ATI 9000 running in one of my PC's and it looks and plays DOAC very nicely, if you going from a GF3 to and ATI you will see a differance in how the lighting and shading is done, but other than that they pretty much the same.

There is also a hardware and software hack to turn the 9500 into the 9700 as it is a simple bandwidth throttle that holds the 9500 back.

I like my GF3 but the price i can get hold of these ATI9000 they have got to be worth looking at.

 

[Envenom2]

I think tbh u have to look at the sort of games do u play do u only play mmorpgs?

because the great thing about mmorpgs is u dont have to be upgrading ur machine every 3-4 months as someone who plays the 1st person shootem ups there the games that require all the latest stuff.

example ive been running a geforce 2 mx for a year now just upgraded last month to 8500 64 mb and it cost me £60. Now then because i play mmorpgs only and the occasional game like bf 1942 i dont have to upgrade constantly the 8500 will last me roughly the same. Im also a Star Wars Galaxies beta tester and the game runs fine i can have all the gfx options on high with no frame rate problems.

So in short if ur only playing mmorpgs save ya self the cash and buy a good gfx card but u dont need to buy the best because mmorpgs simply dont need it

 

[Pempulla]

Originally posted by Vasconcelos
There is such a big difference btwn Ati8500/9000 n ATI9500. However the difference btwn GForce3 (assuming u got one of the Ti series) n ATI8500 isnt really big.

With the current game engine there is really NO difference between Ati8500 and 9500 unless you can get AA to work (AND use it) with the game.

And there is no way you can hack a 9500 Pro into an Ati 9700.

 

[katt!]

Originally posted by Duryn
Im going for a ati 9500 pro (and unlocking it to a 9700)

as someone already mentioned its the 9500 (regular ones) that you MAY be able to unlock (or mod).

 

[Zamza]

Just got myself a ati 9500pro and it aint working very good...
If it starts snowing, raining or when its dark the frames drop alot,
sometimes as bad as 1fps, a slideshow. I have tried changing drivers etc but nothing seems to help.

 

[gunner440]

Originally posted by Duryn
I'm not really that happy with my Gainward Geforce 3, I've had problems getting stable dets for the thing and have absoluetly no chance of getting good drivers from gainward due to their shite driver support.

cant u use generic nvidia drivers?

 

[Tilda]

well atm i have an ATI card and i dont like it, ATI drivers are imo pretty rubbish.
so im switching to a GeForce 4 Ti 4800se 128Mb (8x AGP)

and geforce drivers have good reputation.
if i wasnt so impatient or had an extra 500 quid to burn id wait/buy a GeForge FX, the reviews from that look astounding.

should also be in technical forums.

Tilda

 

[Pempulla]

Originally posted by Tilda

if i wasnt so impatient or had an extra 500 quid to burn id wait/buy a GeForge FX, the reviews from that look astounding.

should also be in technical forums.

Tilda

I guess I've missed all of those reviews... astounding you say?

 

[Sohan_THC]

Wel first agp 8x or 4x doen's make any diff , oke oke like 17500 on agp 8x and 17285 on agp 4x in 3dmark 2002se
it is known that apg 8x is a marketing trick

128mb viedeo mem ohw goodie cewl , yay right whoe plays here on 21" in 1600 x 1200 32 bbp and FSAA on 4 - 8 hmm with the lag we suffer already don't think any1 in daoc plays rvr in 1600 so the part above 64 mb will never be used.

S.I. will be based on directx 8 so to rush to the store and get a dx 9 compliant cart ( ATi) or a card who say's it is dx 9 (nvidia)
won't make any diff for the life we have on doac

The fun part is the gforce card is a killer (small one)
only in the things we do not use
so like serious sam , it is on a ati card still faster
hey that is funny that is about the same game as we play.

wanna look ?

1 tomshardware gf test

2 tomshardware.com gfx card specs overview

take a note on the last conclusion
sure a nvidia is fast but for how long ?
gpu on 500 mhz needed to crush a 325 gpu from 3 months old

Tilda on the drivers , i never had so many update's with my nvidia card , blue screens of death due to nvidia loop trouple
M$ bleems nvidia , nvidia bleems via , users still stuck.
ati drivers are not perfect but when they do come out we have some things working better or faster , you can say that about nv drivers also or did some rerolls to the previous version ?

What we have learned :
buy a decent gfx card not the latest one
tho high in price for most , and doac is not using most hardware items on it.
buy memory game + winxp takes up to 420 MB when im in rvr.
so to be sure get 768 mb intern swap on second disk 1,5 gig large
333 mhz mem you can see the diff
amd / intel does not matter only 1 is expansive and other is cheaper but hotter. xp2200 here still on 100% load
dual proc is NOT used by this game or windows can not handle it
think both.


take youre advantage with this info
and upgrade youre buying skills
enjoy the game

b.t.w. on a 9700Pro here on main system ti4600 on alt station
i can see the diff when hooked to eachother

 

[Sohan_THC]

forgot a link

anandtech.com

 

[Vasconcelos]

Note that to use agp x8 u would need a motherboard with agpx8 support, that is one of the latest generation.

 

[cHodAX]

Originally posted by Duryn
Im going for a ati 9500 pro (and unlocking it to a 9700) and currently running a xp 2400+(2GHz).
I'm not really that happy with my Gainward Geforce 3, I've had problems getting stable dets for the thing and have absoluetly no chance of getting good drivers from gainward due to their shite driver support.
I really think this card is what will hold back my system with any game, and atm I can see the 9500 pro as being the best card per cost you can get, with it out performing ti4200 and coming so close to ti4600's before its even unlocked.
I just wanted to know what the driver support was like, along with running in daoc ;p.

9500 Pro won't unlock to a 9700, only the 128mb Non-pro version can be used to enable the extra 4 pixel pipelines. The card MUST be based on the board with 256bit memory access and only the 128mb Non-pro 9500 version has that board. I have bought 3 of them here so you can take that info to the bank.

 

[Gabrial]

Originally posted by zamza
Just got myself a ati 9500pro and it aint working very good...
If it starts snowing, raining or when its dark the frames drop alot,
sometimes as bad as 1fps, a slideshow. I have tried changing drivers etc but nothing seems to help.

eek! I got one on order - hope I dont have same problems!

 

[Sortbane]

just got my ATi 9500 Pro from Sapphire and it works like a charm, only thing that I didn't like was that the nights was darker than with my old card. (but that was fixed in a sec with Powerstrip )
and I haven't noticed anything of the things zamza said with the weather and snow.. (I'm using the latest drivers and DX9)

been testing out on my 1.4ghz comp and been playing morrowind, BF1482, Q3 and other games to test out and it's been pure heaven to play..

oh.. and my mainboard supports agp 8x if that have something to say in this matter


Also read some good reviews around comparing with 9500/9700 pro and GF4 ti 4400 and 4200 and the 9500 came out as really good considering the prices

 

[Duryn]

Ye I fully understand the 9500>9700 thing now, have ordered a connect3d 9500 128MB, but atm my bank is owning me and is stoping them take money from my bank (overclockers have probably black listed me now )

 

[Zenedar]

bad fps lag with radeon

anyone found a way to solve this problem with the bad fps lag?

upgraded from geforce 4 440 MX to radeon 9700pro.

atm I have this wierd lag with radeon and the fps is just stupid,
my geforce 4 MX is way better in daoc atm

and btw I have NO problem with fps in other games then daoc with radeon.