HL2 and Doom3 weeks away - new graphics card discussion

[Jonty]

Sounds like a night score, SawTooTH Have you tried the Ultra settings? Particularly with multplayer (smaller map sizes) many systems can just about run it (even my system can handle it around 30-40fps, although it's a little too much strain during in combat). I haven't benchmarkexd my system as yet, but in game it's hitting around 60fps constantly at 1024x768x32 at 8xAF (the default setting) with no AA.

Kind Regards

 

[SawTooTH]

Yeah I adjusted the image cache as suggested earlier and it seems to run okay in game with occasional stuttering entering a new area/level. It looks more realistic/ vibrant but Im playing it on high with 2X AA as gameplay is smoother. The other thing Ive noticed is that it looks better on a CRT than my TFT. I guess <16ms just doesnt cut it with this game.
Its the first game that I can really see some fault with my TFT Nec 17 incher , 17XX-nx)

Have you tried Far Cry yet? That game just looks so much better with Shader 3 implemented.

 

[Jonty]

I never really 'got into' Far Cry that much, but I may try and grab a copy if it's come down in price a little. You're right that with Shader Model 3.0 enabled, it does look gorgeous (not that it was bad before ). Hopefully the v1.3 patch will help bring these nice effects to SM2.x cards, such as ATI and GeForce FX owners.

Kind Regards

 

[Gray]

right then, lets see, im probably gonna get about £250 to get myself some kit for Half Life 2 (CS: Source), but as its only the Beta atm, im not gonna splash the cash just yet until we get a definate date of when its released properly and i get it in my hands.

The current setup consists of...:

AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (266fsb/Thorton)
Abit NF7-S Mobo
128mb Nvidia Geforce FX5600
2* 512mb PC3200 DDR (DDr400)

--

Now i know the graphics card is to change, but im thinking the CPU also maybe? the board should be ok mind

?

 

[Tom]

Thats quite similar to what I had Gray. I stuck a 3000 XP in there, and got a 6800GT. Cost was closer to £300, but you can recoup some of it by selling the bits you don't need on Ebay.

 

[smurkin]

Smurkin, if you've bought the Geil value stuff (and I assume you mean £50 a stick, or you have a bargain) manually set it to 6, 3, 3 in your bios. It auto detects at 8, 4, 4. I have the value stuff and it works fine for me, got the tip from the geil forums.

Thanks...I had 2,3,3,7 so now I'm on 2,3,3,6. I also tried 2.5,3,3,6...but no magic banana...still cant exceed the 10k 3dmark. Time to oc the fsb

 

[Ch3tan]

Mine refuses to run at cas 2, have you run any tests on it to make sure its performing ok? At cas 2 mine failed the prime95 torture test at the first hurdle.

 

[smurkin]

pfft...pesky 10min rule.

Sawtooth I got 55.7 fps - same res/settings on my MSI nx6800 TD128 (381/949)- no fsb o/c - same RAM, Athlon 3200 512 cache & no d3 tweaks

 

[smurkin]

Mine refuses to run at cas 2, have you run any tests on it to make sure its performing ok? At cas 2 mine failed the prime95 torture test at the first hurdle.

I just tested d3 with cas 2 & 2.5 - 2.5 was consistently about a frame per second lower - I aint going to be torturing anything tho (last time I tried torturing my system a HD failed ;/ )

 

[Ch3tan]

Yeah, 2.5 is slower, but if your memory isnt working properly you'll just end up damaging it. The torture test just tests your cpu and memory to make sure its not failing.

 

[RandomBastard]

Torture test?

 

[SawTooTH]

ive read you cant oc A64s much using fsb. I think up to 210 before nasty stuff happens but ive only pushed it to 205 so far. saying that only a benchmarking tool would notice really so whats the point ?

 

[Gray]

Ordered myself a BFG 6800 GT, with Doom3 and Farcry.. for under £300...

Should be arriving in next 2weeks or so

 

[NaveT]

Where did you order that from?

 

[Jonty]

Where did you order that from?

I believe it was from eBay.

Kind Regards

 

[Gray]

indeed,

Ebay's ok for some things, i wasnt even really expecting to get it from there.

I was gonna wait it out for a few weeks when PCW gets it in, but i thought "what the hell", and when it offered Doom3/FarCry too, i just went straight in before someone else did.

Dont intend to play Doom3/FarCry tho, just gonna sell em on