Author Topic: Old system, new vid card? (Read 685 times)

Toad · « **on:** January 16, 2007, 08:55:22 PM »

I've got an old system for AH and I'm not ready to drop major bucks on a replacement just to play the game. It does everything else just fine for my needs.

AH is the only game I play. If there were good fights on good maps every night, I'd drop $2K+ to get a new hot lashup with the latest stuff.

However, the fights just aren't good enough to justify that IMO.

So, since I still like bumping around in EW and MW and LW (if the milkers are dominating EW & MW), what agp card would give me a nice increase in frames (that's my big obstacle right now..frames dropping to the teens when buffs are around or in furballs)?

I would drop maybe $150-$200 if I could get a decent increase.

Right now I have a

Gigabyte GA-7VAX mobo with a gig of ram running an AthlonXP 2800+ (IIRC) and a BFG Asylum GeForce FX5900 O/C 128MB video card. The card is AGP, of course; it's old.

So would some better $150-200 Radeon or GeForce make a significant difference?

I still love the game when there's good fights... I'd drop some $ in this to keep playing but the slide show is starting to get to me.

Krusty · « **Reply #1 on:** January 16, 2007, 10:51:21 PM »

6800 might do well.

If you want to push it a bit (neither of these will be fully utilized with that older CPU) you can get a Ge7600GS (not GT) or an X1600 Pro for just under $150.

A 6800GTX would be a good deal as well, I'd wager. Probably better performance in some cases than the 7600GS. The 7600GT would blow it away, but there's only 1 of those available in AGP and it's perpetually out of stock because of this fact (and $190 because of this fact).

Click here

Let's see if that link comes through properly.

38ruk · « **Reply #2 on:** January 17, 2007, 12:23:06 AM »

Yep i had a reply all typed out then didnt want to post it cause its really hard to tell what that cpu can push and what it cant . He would still get the Anti aliasing benefit of the new cards but i wouldnt want to recommend anything on frame rates . One way to tell if your cpu limited is to overclcok the video card and see if your fps go up or not . If not ur cpu limited , if they do then you could use more card . I saw a 7800gs on newegg for 209 and a 7600gt for 200 . I didnt realize that ATI relased a new AGP card based on their X1950 Pro , looks like it's the new king of AGP. 38

airspro · « **Reply #3 on:** January 17, 2007, 03:08:30 PM »

I bought a 7600GT apg from Newegg for my system >

3.0 barton , 1 gig 3200 ddr ram , 7200rpm WD HD , Winxp sp2 , 450watt ps

I went from a FX5700LE to a 6600 in Dec. (plane jane card , NO GT or nothing) card and seen some improvement , the game "looked" better plus a few fps differace . I then sold that card to a friend and and got the one I have now three weeks agon .

I really didn't see much improvement at all , I can "NOW" run the my PC one step up from "Best Proformace" with the same FPS that I did before . I tryed 4 aa , and Quality and it really looked NICE ( sobs ) but soon as I got near 4 to 5 planes and ground the fps fell and I could feel (see) the game slow .

I run the game at

1024 by 768 , 1024 textures
I have the box check to preload textures , and don't have ANY of the downloadable skins .

I got 75 to 45 fps with all three video cards , but the 6600 and up looks better .

I am thinking that it's cpu bottlenecked .

I got this question though , why can you see the slow down at over 30 fps ??? Is the game hitting the HD or ? I just notice this in AH , only really happens when you come to ground range .

Roscoroo · « **Reply #4 on:** January 17, 2007, 03:34:00 PM »

im suprised your in the Teens with that setup ... it sorta points to sumting running in the background (maybe malware or some other bug), a overheating component , or a system that isnt optimized (dialed in) , or due for a format / fresh os install .

i never drop below the 30's on my home gamer in the nasty hugest furballs you can imagine .. (for comparison)
2500+ M barton @ 2.4ghz
asus a7n8x-e dlx
9600pro 128 (crucial card)
1 gig 3200 xms ram
W2K pro ,4.12 omega's .

nothing preloaded in AH, 1024 x 768 , hires pak 1024 tex running ...19in crt @ 85 hz , full distance ,,performance slider almost maxed .

Krusty · « **Reply #5 on:** January 17, 2007, 03:51:59 PM »

Skuzzy's said there is no way to avoid hitches with 1024 texture resolution selected. Not even on the best systems, if I recall his posts on the matter.

Turn it down to 512 and you should get rid of those.

Speed55 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 18, 2007, 07:00:14 AM »

I upgraded a while back to an ati x850. I don't remember the exact cost but it was within your price range with shipping, and it's made a world of difference from the 9550 that used to be in there.
I use 512, and max all sliders for detail, with 2x AA and run between 50-60 fps, 60 being the monitor max, pretty much at all times.

Sometimes i get shot down because i'm to busy looking at the skin of the plane i'm fighting.

Eagler · « **Reply #7 on:** January 18, 2007, 07:06:08 AM »

I'd get this one from newegg:

BFG Tech BFGR78256GSOC GeForce 7800GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

$159 after $50 rebate (from $209)

I have the evga version of this card and it is solid

Krusty · « **Reply #8 on:** January 18, 2007, 12:27:26 PM »

You won't come close to getting full performance out of a 7800GS on that CPU, though.

7800GS is the king of AGP. Probably the best AGP card that will ever be made, from what I've heard. That older CPU wouldn't handle it at all.

38ruk · « **Reply #9 on:** January 18, 2007, 03:03:59 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
You won't come close to getting full performance out of a 7800GS on that CPU, though.

7800GS is the king of AGP. Probably the best AGP card that will ever be made, from what I've heard. That older CPU wouldn't handle it at all.

Ahhh nope the 7800gs WAS the best , the new Ati X1950 Pro is now the king of AGP .

airspro · « **Reply #10 on:** January 18, 2007, 03:04:31 PM »

Quote

Turn it down to 512 and you should get rid of those

I hear ya's , will do .

Thanks

Toad · « **Reply #11 on:** January 18, 2007, 07:21:56 PM »

Roscoroo

I'm hoping you were addressing my problem.

Here's a shot of the running processes. Before AH, I try to shut down the ones listed as "John". There are a few that return immediately.

Are there others I should be closing?

This systems really chugs around a bomber flight and trees as well. I've had to really reduce the sliders.

Tell me about preloaded textures; I believe I have that checked and it is downloading. Should I stop that?

I can run hijack this and post a shot of that if it would help.

Thanks!

Roscoroo · « **Reply #12 on:** January 18, 2007, 11:12:17 PM »

ill look these up later tonight or tommorrow morn (the Little Roo and I are working on his 1st RC plane )

republic · « **Reply #13 on:** January 19, 2007, 08:33:08 AM »

7600GT AGP is your best bang for the buck, imo (I hate fooling with rebates)

7600GT AGP from Newegg

Newegg is the best place to order components online. Usually no questions asked returns, great shipping, etc.

Krusty · « **Reply #14 on:** January 19, 2007, 12:04:39 PM »

Funny thing about that card on newegg....

That card was (still is?) unatainable. I spent a couple of months waiting for it to be in stock a while ago, and the day it was in stock it would be out of stock within minutes. I waited for it to restock 3 times in a row and I never got the chance to order it. I ended up switching to a PCIe motherboard instead. This was some months ago. There are dozens of different 7600GT brands available in PCIe, only 1 in AGP. It also only costs about $120 for the same card in PCIe.