The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

Ahem, 8800GTX. That is all.

 

and the 7900GTX before it, and the 6800 Ultra before that, and the FX5950 before that, and the 4Ti 4600 before that.

Account for inflation, and the price of graphics cards is steadily decreasing.

 

Probably because there's more demand for PC components in general, then there used to be More demand = fair prices.

 

Well, I hooked the Geforce 210 up to my secondary computer. No error codes, installed drivers and have it playing a High Def MKV file right now. So far I see no issues. So it's either STILL a Northbridge issue, or the power supply is beginning to fail. I certainly hope not. It's a 300W seasonic! Perhaps time will tell. The new board is on the way. At least this way, his HTPC will be more up to date. And the onboard Ati 4200 should be agreeable eh?

In any case, the 210 is staying in my secondary for now. To be absolutely sure of its reliability before I sell it for .05Cents, and my 8600GT may have a fan problem. The fan wouldn't turn to air pressure while blowing it off. Is this normal for a ~65mm fan? It seems awfully tight...

 

WTF is a Seasonic?

Only 300Watts, my gerbils put out more power.

 

300W could be considered Midgrade(Possibly more) for an HTPC though

Seasonic makes Corsair PSU's

 

yeah and Antic. amazing what you can learn in 3.5 seconds

 

A 300W Seasonic is equivalent to 500+ for any other brand

 

I really doubt that the PSU is the problem *knock on wood*. It's probably just the Northbridge close to failure. So routing GPU signals is too much hassle for it now Probably amazing it runs at all on the integrated graphics.

Can't wait to see how the Ati 4200 does by comparison

 

Yep your fan bearing is seized up. I doubt it's able to turn under its own power.

 

You're probably right. I just hooked it up to an ac - molex adapter. 6v barely moves at all, and 12V acts like it's only getting ~3v.
Here she is, for those curious.

 

The same exact thing killed my StealthXStream 600W. Normally a dead PSU after 2+ years of being on reasonable systems would mark it a bad unit in my book. But I can't fault the internal hardware for a seized up fan. It was a Seasonic unit too apparently so I can't really point at the OEM.

 

Ahh, but the 8600GT may not be dead just yet. I may be able to replace the fan. Since it will be a simple backup card, I'll probably just use what I have on hand Amazing it remained cool in that tower. Probably a good thing I did all of those mods that I did to it. Probably saved its ass! It really does have good air circulation in that tower

 

The OEM makes the board, not the casing and fan, so blame OCZ for that one.

 

Call of Duty Black Ops
Maximum detail, AA disabled

1024x768 M10: Radeon X1800XT/HD2900 series/3690/4650/5570, Geforce 7800GT/8600GTS/9500GT/GT220/430
1024x768 M20: Radeon HD2900 Pro/3850/4670/5570, Geforce 8800GS/9600GSO/GT240/430
1024x768 M30: Radeon HD3870X2/4830/5670, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT/GT240/GTS450
1024x768 M40: Radeon HD3870X2/4770/5750, Geforce 8800GTS 512/9800GTX/GTS250/450
1024x768 M50: Radeon HD3870X2/4870/5770, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260/GTS450
1024x768 M60: Radeon HD4890/5830/6850, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260-216/GTS450

1280x1024 M10: Radeon X1900XT/HD2900 Pro/3690/4650/5570, Geforce 7900GT/8600GTS/9500GT/GT220/430
1280x1024 M20: Radeon HD2900XT/3850/4670/5570, Geforce 8800GS/9600GSO/GT240/430
1280x1024 M30: Radeon HD3870X2/4830/5750, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT/GTS250/450
1280x1024 M40: Radeon HD3870X2/4860/5770, Geforce 9800GTX+/GTS250/450
1280x1024 M50: Radeon HD4890/5830/6850, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260-216/GTS450
1280x1024 M60: Radeon HD4850X2/5830/6850, Geforce GTX275/460

1680x1050 M10: Radeon X1950XT/HD2900 Pro/3850/4670/5570, Geforce 8800GS/9600 series/GT220/430
1680x1050 M20: Radeon HD3870/4830/5670, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT/GT240/GTS450
1680x1050 M30: Radeon HD3870X2/4770/5750, Geforce 8800GTX/9800GTX/GTS250/450
1680x1050 M40: Radeon HD4870/5830/6850, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260/GTS450
1680x1050 M50: Radeon HD4850X2/5830/6850, Geforce GTX280/460
1680x1050 M60: Radeon HD4870X2/5850/6850, Geforce GTX295/465

1920x1080 M10: Radeon HD2900 Pro/3850/4670/5570, Geforce 8800GS/9600GSO/GT220/430
1920x1080 M20: Radeon HD3870X2/4830/5670, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT/GT240/GTS450
1920x1080 M30: Radeon HD3870X2/4860/5770, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260/GTS450
1920x1080 M40: Radeon HD4890/5830/6850, Geforce GTX280/460
1920x1080 M50: Radeon HD4850X2/5850/6850, Geforce GTX285/460
1920x1080 M60: Radeon HD4870X2/5870/6870, Geforce GTX295/470

2560x1600 M10: Radeon HD3870/4830/5570, Geforce 8800GT/9800GT/GT240/GTS450
2560x1600 M20: Radeon HD4870/5830/6850, Geforce 9800GX2/GTX260-216/GTS450
2560x1600 M30: Radeon HD4870X2/5850/6870, Geforce GTX295/460 1GB
2560x1600 M40: Radeon HD6950(spec)/2xHD4890/5830/6850, Geforce GTX295/480
2560x1600 M50: Radeon HD6970(spec)/HD5970/2x6850, Geforce GTX580/2xGTX285/460
2560x1600 M60: 2x Radeon HD5870/6870, 2x Geforce GTX470

 

Wow,

I've been gone a bit - I'll try to catch up with a short (unlikely) post.

Not really, Sam. Nvidia has a wizard.

Before you guys say, "Wizard shmizard" let me describe it: The wizard gives you a huge color band going across the screen, with a box inside that you drag back and forth, attempting to match the hue of the dithered areas above and below. It does this separately for red, green and blue. The instructions tell you to unfocus your eyes, lol.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Ati has no wizard. From what I have found, Ati has a place to adjust gamma, with a range of colors - but not color by color on the primary colors. It seems to me that what the Catalyst Control Center comes with is not as good as that wizard.

And I have to say, that World at War, which I just finished, was an unbelievable visual treat, the whole way through, at full 2560x1600 and 4xAA (about 30-33 fps which works for me.)

Here's how much I loved it:
At one point, I realized that I had lost my front speakers in my 5.1 headset. I had already finished the game, and I was showing somebody the episode in the flying boat gunship (did we really have aircraft like that in WWII - that thing was AWESOME. I'll google it one day.) I have the old style Medusa 5.1 headset with the amp that lets you plug in another headset, so somebody can watch you play and listen through the own headset.

I realized that there was a lot of chatter "Wow, look at those propane tanks explode!" Etc Etc But I hadn't heard anything when I played it through the first time. This made me check - and I ended up reloading my chipset drivers which fixed the problem.

After replaying that chapter, I think the next one was Okinawa, and I was on the Expert setting, but I just kept going. (And it had been a huge hassle playing it through the first time on one setting below expert.) But anyway, the guns sounded so much better, and that's the chapter where you carry the SAW, that I just kept going. Plus I had a good night's sleep under me. Still - between burning down the bushes - dodging grenades by camping out in the spider holes a lot of the time - blowing everybody away with the SAW, it still took about 10 frustrating rounds to get to the first checkpoint. It's amazing what a good night's sleep, beautiful graphics, and lush 5.1 sound, can do to give you the patience to get through some tough expert levels. I played all the way through the Okinawa, loving it even more than before because of the repaired sound.

Anyway, what can I say - for a Treyarch game - I actually loved the damn thing!!!

And I blame most of that on the nvidia color and gamma wizard, which allowed me to create a lush visual experience - better than I have ever had before.

I sincerely believe that I have never had my color gamma corrected the way that I did this time, in 8 years of gaming. Some people say gamma is contrast. Apparently if you get the gamma correct on the primary colors - it makes a huge difference!

(You guys have said that COD4 is even better, so I'm going to be playing that through again, and I'll be finishing up Hells Highway too!)

So my main point is, the damn wizard seems to have really opened my eyes to the importance of gamma.

I don't think it's the 8800GTX card itself - I just think that the wizard allowed me to actually get the gamma straight for the first time - that's my whole point. So I will be looking for an equivalent - when I get back on an ati card maybe with this 6000 family.

Sam, check your L4D again. Left 4 Dead - on the audio control - allows you to select Always On. That is a great thing - you don't have to look for your mic button while you are running from the tank, lol.

Hmmm. Yes, I guess you're right. I do plan on getting back into COD4 mp, but the maps ARE pretty small. And I totally hate the Shipment map, with those big containers. Still - the map called Bog - I love that map. And the map called Rain is kind of nice. And I like the crossroads map - the one with the burned out tank on top. I guess I like most of the COD4 maps, actually. (Except Shipment - hate it!!!)

So when you say BC/2 uses the squad more - I guess that's the BF2 influence. BF2 to me is much larger maps - NOT non-stop action. You might go a while before running into anybody. And it pays to be on a squad, especially when there are no spawn points left except for your squad.

True true true. I'll make this one shorter.

Hmmmm. What single card will turn in the same performance - 6990?

Well, I like the cross hairs.

I know what you mean - BUT - with a real rifle in your arms - you can point it - and some people are damn good at "firing from the hip" without having to actually sight down the barrel. So let's face it - we aren't holding a rifle, our hand is on a mouse. Taking those floating sights off the screen doesn't make it all that much more realistic to me.

By the way, congrats to Red and to Jeff, on developing their high and improving skill levels.

Wow - 6970 - maybe that's my new card (if I sell a house.)

Rich

 

After about 8 hours of crunching in a warm room my 5850 didn't get over 85C with the fan barely over half speed; sapphire's vapor-x stuff might actually be what they claim lol.

 

ATI have the exact same software that nvidia have -individual adjustment of red/green/blue and hue/saturation.

The HD6990 is not a single card. It is a dual GPU card based on two HD6870s (midrange), which is why it is not going to be very good compared to the 6970.

 

The 76C stated at 2300rpm is ok-ish, but if it's reaching 85C at that fan speed that's very poor. The ATI stock cooler has a quieter fan to begin with, and cools to lower temperatures, at lower fan speeds.
Sapphire Vapor-X stuff is really terrible quality anyway, not that I knew any of this until a few months ago.

 

its called the PBY Catalina think of it as the A-10 of WW2.