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Geek Culture / Getting new graphics card

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bergice
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Location: Oslo,Norway
Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 19:09
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Hi, i have an ati radeon x1050 graphics card, i THINK my motherboard is PCI EXPRESS 2.0.

I want to get a good graphics card that got Shader 3.0 support, can run crysis smooth at medium/high settings maybe and dont cost way too much.

I am also thinking about getting some more RAM, if you can give me some thoughts about that too it would be nice


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Sasuke
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 19:23 Edited at: 23rd Sep 2008 19:26
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Before I go into detail, how much are you willing to part with cause when it come to graphics cards it's best to go for something thats going to last the next 5 years. It's all about future proofing, plus this save you a ton of money in the long run.

Just look at the nVidia Geforce 8800 GT, the best mid range card that ever existed in my opinion.

A dream is a fantasy, if you achieve that fantasy it was never a dream to begin with.
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bergice
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 19:33
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That looks nice, but now i need your opinion, where do you think i should buy it from?

And second, i need to find out i actually got the PCI E 2.0 motherboard.

And third, do you think i should get more RAM? Another guy said i should, i got 1gig ram.


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Lukas W
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 19:47
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I have a 8800GT and it's awesome.
I can play crysis on v. high but it is unplayable at resolutions higher than 800x600 (in my opinion).

Also if you decide to get a 8800GT bear in mind that the fan sucks and generate a large amount of noise.
I bought a zalman cooler to replace the old fan/cooler.
I also thought I destroyed the gpu processor when I washed it with alcohol. It was my first time replacing a gpu fan :S But it went fine.

Regarding ram, I am currently running 2x 1gb ddr2 bricks at 1066mhz (1.8v so it doesn't get too hot).
I've heard that you should buy enough ram to fill in for your processor L2 cache. For example if you have a processor with 12mb L2 cache, to optimize performance you need 2gigs of memory. But this was probably a false fact so forget I said it (I didn't follow this tip anyway).

Anyway with 2gig at 1066mhz you will do fine (even on Vista (but maybe that's just me)).

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Sasuke
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 20:13 Edited at: 23rd Sep 2008 20:13
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Just search the make and model of your motherboard, it should be written across it somewhere. Alot of cards these days are backward compatible so if you don't have 2.0 version of the PCI E 16x slot no need to worry. I agree with Lukas W on the RAM

You can actuall buy a Asus GeForce EN8800 GT 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI for £82.24 inc VAT for overclockers.co.uk which is insanely cheap.

A dream is a fantasy, if you achieve that fantasy it was never a dream to begin with.
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Sasuke
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 20:26 Edited at: 23rd Sep 2008 20:27
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On main thing here before you go any further with buying a graphics card is we need to know you general system spec. It's all well and good having a great graphic but if your system can't back it up you will limit the graphic card. So basically your processor is not strong enough to run the card at 100 percent. And another main bit of hardware info we need is your PSU, power supply unit, these graphics card need efficent power otherwise your strain your PC and damage the card and or motherboard.

A dream is a fantasy, if you achieve that fantasy it was never a dream to begin with.
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Lukas W
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 20:36
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Another point to make is to make sure you have enough room inside your case. My 8800gt just barely fits because of the hard disk and PSU PCI-E cable taking too much space.

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bergice
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 21:57
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Cool, thanks for info, i will look at all of it and find out what i should do, probably i get the 8800 gt and then consider buying more ram but i will look more into it first Thanks


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Mahoney
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 22:13
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Quote: "Cool, thanks for info, i will look at all of it and find out what i should do, probably i get the 8800 gt and then consider buying more ram but i will look more into it first Thanks"


I also recommend the 8800 GT: best deal for the dollar ever. I don't have one, but my 8600 GT can play Crysis on medium at 1440x900, so it should be awesome.

Windows Vista Home Premium Intel Pentium Dual-Core 1.6 Ghz 1GB DDR2 RAM GeForce 8600GT Twin Turbo
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bergice
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 23:20
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Btw, does it got DX10? I read that it did and doesnt that mean i cant use it for Windows Xp?


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Mahoney
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 23:25
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Quote: "Btw, does it got DX10? I read that it did and doesnt that mean i cant use it for Windows Xp?"


It supports DX10, but can be used on XP just like normal.

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bergice
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 23:57
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Cool


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Lukas W
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Posted: 23rd Sep 2008 23:59
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I'd say the dx10 performance is rather questionable though.. As stated in my first comment: Can't run Crysis "enjoyable" on very high settings at resolutions higher than 800x600. Same goes with Stalker: clear sky.
But I can play Thief, and that is all I need, which is a dx9 game.

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Mahoney
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 00:05
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Quote: "I'd say the dx10 performance is rather questionable though.. As stated in my first comment: Can't run Crysis "enjoyable" on very high settings at resolutions higher than 800x600. "


That's because it's DX9 based engine with DX10 extensions. So, it's less than optimal. Besides, there is quite a large difference between High and Very High.

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Sasuke
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 00:21
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I would also look into the 9800 GT which based of the 8800 GTX, 9800 GT is newer than the 8800 and better, I managed to get around 21-25 fps on Crysis very high at 1280 x 1024. It also costs nearly the same aswell.

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Mahoney
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 00:27
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Quote: "I would also look into the 9800 GT which based of the 8800 GTX, 9800 GT is newer than the 8800 and better, I managed to get around 21-25 fps on Crysis very high at 1280 x 1024. It also costs nearly the same aswell."


I've looked at the specs, and it's almost exactly the same as the 8800.

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Sasuke
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 01:03
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True, it is. Though it has had some improvement in some games due to newer vesions of the internal software like PureVideo etc. Anothing is the 8800 gt is stuck with dx10 and won't or can't be updated. The 9800 gt has dx 10.1 which will see newer version and a newer version of openGL, though I'm not sure on the plans for dx 11 still. Best to do more research I think.

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Mahoney
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 01:09
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Quote: "True, it is. Though it has had some improvement in some games due to newer vesions of the internal software like PureVideo etc. Anothing is the 8800 gt is stuck with dx10 and won't or can't be updated. The 9800 gt has dx 10.1 which will see newer version and a newer version of openGL, though I'm not sure on the plans for dx 11 still. Best to do more research I think."


Purevideo won't affect at least 90% of customers, and DX10.1 is all but a useless support. Also, OpenGL 2.1 is the highest support for the 9800 and the 8800 (though OGL3.0 might support both of them already; not sure).

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Sasuke
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Posted: 24th Sep 2008 01:38 Edited at: 24th Sep 2008 01:41
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Ok, been on a ton of sites, there are the same. Only difference was something about 9 series cards use hybrid power and have a smaller die. So it would be cooler and less power hungry. Stuff it, 8800 fine anyway, I'd go with that, just thought I'd mention the 9800 GT. Another great card would be the ATI Radeon HD 4850. 4850 is round the same price as the 8800 GT but is 20% faster in most cases until you start getting into high resolutions.

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bergice
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 19:57
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Lol, i decided i didnt want to wait anymore when i got Leadwerks which also required shader 3 so i though, "Hey, its only physically to big for my computer!" so i started modifying it XD
I had no idea what i was doing but i removed parts that to me looked like they where unuseful. When i was finished i plugged it in, turned on the computer, downloaded drivers and guess what... IT WORKED!! The card is sticking 5 inches out of my computer but hey, it worked!


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 20:46
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You did what?

Should I continue coding or focus on my art? Vote here:
http://www.polldaddy.com/p/953461/
NeX, the creator of a billion failed projects.
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bergice
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Posted: 3rd Oct 2008 23:59
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A stunt.
I dont know anything about how things work inside computers but i though it was a shame to just let the nice graphics card lie there and gather dust.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 00:02
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You REMOVED components from a graphics card then put it in your PC?

ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

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bergice
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 00:05
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Just the metal thing on the end.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 00:21
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Ah, I see. I'll bet it's a bit wobbly now though.

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Aaron Miller
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 03:14
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If money is an issue, my nVidia GeForce 8400 GS only cost me about $30 total and it's at least 10 times better than my previous card, and runs Vista's aero interface quite nicely. If you can afford a better card, get that.

PS: My old "card" was just an integrated ATI x1950.

Cheers,

-naota

I'm not a dictator to those that do stuff for me by will. Only those who don't.
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bitJericho
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Posted: 4th Oct 2008 04:01
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the 8400gs kicks quite a bit of butt for the lowend market. It's what I recommend whenever anyone doesn't wanna pay the big bucks. It gets by quite nicely. It's relatively cool but still powerful enough to play a lot of games. I can play cod4 on lowish settings, and I bet it'd run spore at medium to high graphics, at lower resolutions (1024x768) of course.


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bergice
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Posted: 5th Oct 2008 01:07
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For me, the geforce 7900 gt is awesome.

It runs grid on high online without any lag

Quite a new experience for me.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 5th Oct 2008 01:14
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Meh, my Intel GMA does Fallout 2.

What, that's not impressive?

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