Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Widewing on June 30, 2008, 05:53:50 PM
-
I suffered a major system meltdown..Power supply suffered a fault and toasted the MB, ATI card and both drives.
Upgrade was long overdue anyway. All important and valuable files (many thousands of photos and a huge digital collection of historic documents) had been backed up to two external drives, so nothing of significant value is lost.
My new CPU is a AMD Athlon 5400+ and I'll be installing 4 gigs of RAM.
Old system was a P4 2.8, with an ATI 9600XT (128 meg) card, 1 gig of RAM on MB. It ran AH2 at refresh rate (75Hz) with some minor stutter when guys spawned. I have no doubt that the rebuilt machine will be much, much faster.
In the process of upgrading, I can get a Nvidia 8800 GT (512 meg) on the cheap. Can anyone provide some feedback on this card?
Thanks,
My regards,
Widewing
-
depending on the manufacturer that card will be okay. it will be more than sufficient to run AH.
NOT
-
Not that I'm the one to be offering computer advice. But thats the card I am going with when I finally get my new rig built. From what I have read in various magazines and online reviews it a very good card. I will probably go with the BFG 8800GT off newegg based on the reviews I read there.
-
This EVGA seems pretty decent too.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814130319
-
EVGA is a top notch brand, Im running a 8800GTS 512 from them and lets just say its more than sufficient to support an FSO event takeoff, where 50-75 people spawn on the deck of a cv at once. all at 60fps, so i think GT will be fine.
Also If you haven't bought the processor already, consider this one instead http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194) That's the one I'm running, and I overclocked it with a couple button mashes, runs beautifully, at stock voltage, and has no stability problems. The overclocking is alot easier than a normal processor, all you have to do is change the multiplier on it and BAM, faster. And for the price difference of the 2 processors on newegg you could buy 2 of these per one of yours.
I only dropped about $1200 for my computer and i don't think I'll ever get stutters in AH. so I bet it'd only cost you about 900 now to get the relative same power for a lower price.
-
I have the MSI 8800gt.It is an excellent card,and works well with AH.My system is close to what you will have.AMD 6000,4 megs ram,Gigabyte SLI MB, and 8800gt vid card.The 8800 gt is a large card,and takes up a pci slot.You will be pleased with you purchase,which by the way isn,t priced too high,at around $220,to $215.
Dobe
-
Widewing, I have always purchase BFG products because of their lifetime warranty. 24/7 tech support. My BFG 8800 GT OC works great.
-
Widewing, I have always purchase BFG products because of their lifetime warranty. 24/7 tech support. My BFG 8800 GT OC works great.
BFG, Nvidia, and Asus have great customer service and tech support. They also all have a great reputation as well.
-
Using an 8800GT EVGA myself and it works great for AH or anything else I've thrown at it (COD4, Crysis, UT3, ect). Should keep your FPS maxed in AH with no problem.
-
I've had excellent experiences with BFG tech support and multiple occasions. I now have an EVGA 8800 GTS 640mb and no had no problems in 18 months, but haven't dealt with their customer service. I would have gone back to BFG with this card but EVGA has the card for cheaper, similar warranty, and I was on a budget.
-
I've got an EVGA 8800 GTS 512 with the same G92 chipset. There is nothing in AH that will slow it down one bit. EVGA also has a lifetime warranty and a 90 day step-up program if you want a better card. You send in your's and pay only the difference.
-
Wide:
I have the same card as toadkill,the GT will run AH no probs but depending on the price I'd get the GTS.If you opt for GTS,make sure you check the clockspeed,as they differ slightly.
Personally I went for the 512mb version with the higher clockspeed,total overkill for AH,but
you should see how some of the latest games look on it.
I do have a question though??? why the AMD cpu??? I'd grab an E8400,saw some for 150 to 175$$ just the other day.
-
If he got the 5400+ Brisbane, they're pretty cheap, about $87. That's more than half of an 8400.
-
The 8800 GT (from pretty much any manufacturer) is a great card. One of the best, if not the best, bang for buck you can currently get.
Its main competition in bang per buck is the new AMD/ATI 4850 that came out a week or two ago. They're going for around $199 atm and they beat the 8800 GT by 10-40% depending on the app/game.
The thing is, both video cards are more than what is needed for Aces High... so from that perspective you can save the $50 and get the 8800 GT. If you play other games that have higher requirements, then I would spend the extra $50 and get the 4850.
Also considering that you're going with an AMD cpu, you might give extra consideration to the AMD video card. Some people have the belief that sticking to one manufacturer whenever possible leads to fewer problems. However I'm not one of them... I personally have never had problems mixing brands, and imo they probably want to sell their video cards to everyone.
One final recommendation... check www.hardocp.com for their power supply reviews and pick a good one.
-
I run that card now it is fantastic it can outperform the game you can overclock allot but do not have to, I'm running at full quality setting and slightly overclocked and have rock solid frame rate. So any game program upgrade that would affect your frame rate are not a issue with right processor and power supply behind it, I would also recommend a separate audio card. :salute
-
Wide:
I have the same card as toadkill,the GT will run AH no probs but depending on the price I'd get the GTS.If you opt for GTS,make sure you check the clockspeed,as they differ slightly.
Personally I went for the 512mb version with the higher clockspeed,total overkill for AH,but
you should see how some of the latest games look on it.
I do have a question though??? why the AMD cpu??? I'd grab an E8400,saw some for 150 to 175$$ just the other day.
Amd MBs and Processors tend to be cheaper.
In regard to the clock speed on Video cards, the only difference in the card is the stock clock speed. (that sounds redundant but some people would think the ones with higher clock speed would have higher quality parts.) There are programs out there that let you adjust the clock speed of a video card, such as Riva Tuner(www.Guru3d.com). If you do that it isn't any harder on the video card than if the factory overclocked it, and you can in fact make it easier on the card. Stock fan speed on an Nvidia card is 37% which lets it get pretty hot before it speeds up, But with Riva Tuner you can speed it up and keep the card cooler in the first place, which helps extend the longevity of the card. So to sum that up, don't waste money on Factory overclocked cards, do it yourself and save your $$.
-
I have an 8800GT-OC which is similar to what your looking at..
If I turn off Vsync I get between 200 and 300 fps at 1920x1200 with with high res texture pack, "high quality" set in nvidia control panel and 4x FSAA, antistropic filtering... the whole 9 yards..
im running a AMD 64X2 6400+ and 4GB of OCZ ram..
-
Toad:
I wasn't suggesting the OC version,but if you check there is a difference in clockspeed between some of the 8800 cards{GTS} the 640 mb version has a lower stock frequency than the 512mb card,same for the 320 mb card.I wouldn't pay extra for a factory OC card either.As you said rivatuner will do it for free and allow for higher fanspeeds.
Sry if it came across that way,btw I saw an 8800gt OC for just 129$$$ up here in Canuckville
-
Video card update:
ATI RADEON 3870(512) may be the best bang for the buck. It was around $200 now cheaper! ATI just introduced a 4870 for around $300. It is supposed to be better than 9800. The 1 meg 3870 x 2 i saw for $270 at new egg this is best bang for buck.
I have 2- 3870 ati cards srossfired and am running 120 to 350 fps with a quad core processor. The 350 fps is in naked sky with most ani alias off or low. Lookin to get a 3rd card and crossfiring it,,,,,,, lol. would love to see the fps with 3 cards.
The only negative about ati 3870 is its damn gc bios needs to be updated due to locked low core speeds and locked fan. It took me days of reading to figure it out but all.
the fps second are getting insane on some games
Drdeathx :devil
-
Video card update:
ATI RADEON 3870(512) may be the best bang for the buck. It was around $200 now cheaper! ATI just introduced a 4870 for around $300. It is supposed to be better than 9800. The 1 meg 3870 x 2 i saw for $270 at new egg this is best bang for buck.
I have 2- 3870 ati cards srossfired and am running 120 to 350 fps with a quad core processor. The 350 fps is in naked sky with most ani alias off or low. Lookin to get a 3rd card and crossfiring it,,,,,,, lol. would love to see the fps with 3 cards.
The only negative about ati 3870 is its damn gc bios needs to be updated due to locked low core speeds and locked fan. It took me days of reading to figure it out but all.
the fps second are getting insane on some games
Drdeathx :devil
you wont see very much difference with 60fps or 350fps.
-
you wont see very much difference with 60fps or 350fps.
Your ego make go up about 50 FPS.
-
350 FPS is pointless, also not having V-Sync on is just going to cause screen-tearing, not to mention I've heard it can lead to "rubber bullets" in AHII. 60 FPS is an excellent and won't cause any issues, I really don't see the difference between it and the 150 I get if I turn off my V-Sync.
-
the average human eye can't tell the differance between 60+fps.
-
im running the evga XXX 8800gts 320meg i love it
-
So what did you end up getting? Btw... cheap power supplies don't end up being cheap: http://corsair.com/cinema/movie.aspx?id=622747 .
-
Interesting movie and I can attest to the popping noise. Actually the cheap PSU I had years ago sound more like a gun shot.