Low Power HD 7750 video card Review

[Randy1]

It took a bit to figure out how to disable the onboard video but after that the installation was easy.  As warned since I was not going to use the TV/monitor's speakers, I did not install the audio drivers.

 My on board video processor in the offline practice area with graphics in the advance off and everything else disabled except Horizon got me 26 fps at best in the tower, and sitting on the field in a P38.  Oddly enough the fps in the hanger was 22.  In the air near the ground it would go as low as  16 fps and in clear air as high as 30.  With the graphics setting in default, it would not run but a short while once I took off before it turned off the advance.  Oddly again the fps in the hanger was lower than the tower of the field.

After installing the HD 7750, with the Advanced graphics off, I had 60fps in the tower, 60 in the hanger, 60 on the field and yeha, 60 in the air no matter where I was.  The I turned on the Advanced default graphics and I got 60 fps everywhere I flew.  Then I went on line to test the fps in the smoke at the field and it still was 60 fps.  turned on bump my plane and still 60 fps.

i think that is pretty doggone good.

The only problem I am having is getting the brightness and contrast and gamma set.  They are very touchy.  All the outside the plane graphics are good but the dash on the P38 is too dark and the outer of edges of the gauges looks wrong almost graniny.  I have a setting off somewhere or tic that should not be checked or something. I tried the highest setting in the Video setting that I understand it just effects the cockpit and turning off and on the bump my plane and that did not help.  The gamma seems to make the most difference.

Thanks everyone for the help on selecting a video card especially Titanic and Bizman for getting me going in the right direction and Skuzzy for the word on the audio drivers.

I would have been lost without all the help.

[titanic3]

Good to hear. 

Check not only the gamma settings in game, but also the monitor itself. If that doesn't work, go into your Catalyst Control Center, under video, and change the brightness/contrast settings there.

[Bizman]

Thanks for your kind words 

As titanic3 said, check the monitor settings. You know, the little buttons on the frame. You might want to use some calibrating aids with them, like http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/ which you can run online. Changing the brightness/contrast through the control panel of your GPU is the last option, only to be used when you can't get the settings right via hardware.

[morfiend]

 Do you have the hirez texture pack installed?  What size max texture are you using?


  I ask this as the cockpits can look drastically different depending on texture size.





   

[Randy1]

I got it squared away.  Looks perfect now.  One of the auto tics was throwing everything off.

Morfiend thanks for asking . Yes I do have the high res package installed.  It is set at 1024.  I did try the higher setting but not sure I could tell the difference.

One more question.  If I cut off say the shadows, will the video card draw less power?  I am guessing the high graphic setting the higher the power usage.   I was thinking of the power supply.

[titanic3]

I got it squared away.  Looks perfect now.  One of the auto tics was throwing everything off.

Morfiend thanks for asking . Yes I do have the high res package installed.  It is set at 1024.  I did try the higher setting but not sure I could tell the difference.

One more question.  If I cut off say the shadows, will the video card draw less power?  I am guessing the high graphic setting the higher the power usage.   I was thinking of the power supply.

It does but it really shouldn't be a problem. If it was, you would already be seeing crashes, stuttering, or artifacts. If you're curious, download MSI Afterburner. It has an on screen display that shows you everything about your GPU while playing games. Usage, temperature, frame rates, clock/memory speeds, and lets you overclock if you feel like you need it (not recommended though).

EDIT: it looks like this while running games.



Hard to see, but in the top left corner, I set mine to only show frame rates and GPU usage. Useful to see bottlenecks in games. My GPU in AH stays around 25-40% with 4096 shadows.

[bj229r]

Cool....so of the modern video cards (my box is 4 years or so old, using a 8800 GT, which still runs the game with everything maxed, save animated water) a 1 gig card is more than sufficient? Am contemplating building a machine I can take on the road with me, hopefully in a small case, such as you'd see on a workstation. This answers a question or so

[Bizman]

A 1 gig card would suffice, but look for one with fast memory lanes.

[Randy1]

Titanic, thanks for the explanation on the power usage.

[lulu]

I have this:

packard-bell ixtreme j9403  bought in 2007.
Do you think that I can install the hd 7750?


 

[Bizman]

Yes, I do. It might shorten the expected lifetime of your PSU, though. Read Randy1's first thread about the subject, lots of information in only two pages: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,344302.msg4545510.html#msg4545510