Game Guides Archive
Thread: New Graphics Card
Netcore
Thu Aug 12, 2004 5:39 am
#14
I had a GForce4 TI4600 and bought an ATI 9800 Pro a few days ago...the game runs really great now, i had some troubles with the old TI.
And like some guys here already mentioned try to get at least one gig of RAM! SWG can´t get enough of it! 
DirthNader
Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:31 am
#15
Since I've got the tech guys in here, I have a question...
I've got an nForce2 w/ an Athlon XP (I think the 1.17GHz chip), a gig of ram at 266Mhz DDR FSB, and a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (128MB).
Would a better processor help here? I was thinking about bumping up to a 2GHz Athlon XP (I think a 2700+), which would also bump the FSB speed up to 333MHz DDR.
At first glance it looks to me (a former tech geek) that the video card is the bottleneck, but I really didn't see any improvement in SWG performance when I went from a GeForce3 Ti200 (64MB) to the current card. I'm starting to wonder if the processor isn't the holdup.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I run on a 15" LCD (small office, can't use a big CRT), so I'm locked at 1024x768 w/ Quinconx of whatever AA. Would turning off AA give me an idea of whether or not the video card is the bottleneck, or is AA something that can be held up by a weak proc as well?
Message Edited by DirthNader on 08-12-2004 06:33 AM
Fallsguy
Thu Aug 12, 2004 7:24 am
#16
DJODoc wrote:
Be careful with the Radeon 9600 and 9700 cards. Some versions of them do not work with SWG when you try to apply the latest drivers. In those cards you crash before ever getting into the game. This can very a huge pain if you play other games. I have a ATI 9600 256mb card and SWG will only run on the 3.5 catalyst drivers which are pretty old. My newer games need the updated drivers to make use of some of the DX9 specific stuff. So I wind up updating drivers then rolling them back to play SWG.
Reply - to solve this I ran the driver updates from the SOE - SWG support page not the ATI site, this ensured I was using the right dirvers for the game.
Of course, when I play KOTOR it completely screws up every 30 or 40 minutes. But I play SWG more.
Netcore
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:00 am
#17
DirthNader wrote:Since I've got the tech guys in here, I have a question...I've got an nForce2 w/ an Athlon XP (I think the 1.17GHz chip), a gig of ram at 266Mhz DDR FSB, and a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (128MB).Would a better processor help here? I was thinking about bumping up to a 2GHz Athlon XP (I think a 2700+), which would also bump the FSB speed up to 333MHz DDR.At first glance it looks to me (a former tech geek) that the video card is the bottleneck, but I really didn't see any improvement in SWG performance when I went from a GeForce3 Ti200 (64MB) to the current card. I'm starting to wonder if the processor isn't the holdup.EDIT: Oh yeah, I run on a 15" LCD (small office, can't use a big CRT), so I'm locked at 1024x768 w/ Quinconx of whatever AA. Would turning off AA give me an idea of whether or not the video card is the bottleneck, or is AA something that can be held up by a weak proc as well?Message Edited by DirthNader on 08-12-2004 06:33 AM
Bumping up your processor is a good idead...1.17 is not enough to run SWG smoothly i think, but stay at the 333 MHz Range for RAMs and the FSB, the 400 MHz Chipsets are still not stable enough and cause some troubles.
Try to get an Athlon XP 2600+ or better a newer one with a Barton core. They start at the 2800+ series i think.
When choosing RAM better invest a few bucks more into some quality RAMs like Kingston or Infineon that can also make a huge difference to no-name RAMs. Try to get 2x512 megs to get all out of the NForce dual-channel mode, this feature improves the RAM read/write time.
And the graphic card...well..a newer one would be better, SWG runs great on the ATI 9800 Pro. Especially if you want to use AA...man turn it off on your old machine, AA EATS resources like CRAZY...Funny thing is that AA needs much more resources on Nvidia card then on ATI cards.
K i hope this helps...if i can be of any assistance just ask!
DirthNader
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:27 am
#18
Netcore wrote:
K i hope this helps...if i can be of any assistance just ask!
Thanks for the help. The mobo is staying in, and the RAM is on dual channel, as well as name-brand stuff (I've been burned by "OEM" RAM).
I think I may order a new processor to see if that helps. I know turning off AA would help a lot, but at 1024x768 the jaggies are so bad!
Jabourn
Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:41 am
#19
With the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra (256 MB) same issue as someone posted above with the ATI - make sure you have a nice fat 450 watt power supply.
I was running my card in my Shuttle, and the lil Shuttle boxes you can only get a 250 watt max power supply.
After a short time, it wigs out bad, and displays a grid across the full screen, or makes it look like a tonado hit your HUD, and you can't see/read anything.
I built a whole new tower for my card, and downgraded my card in my Shuttle. I was just using the Shuttle at work anyway to play there (yes I know that's bad )
)
Otakahn
Thu Aug 12, 2004 9:52 am
#20
Well if ram is the most importaint I ask what brand would be the best? I was told that getting a generic type Memory Card is the worst thing you can do? I am running on an older computer. A compaq 5000T 1Ghz - 384mb of Ram - and a Geforce 4 MX 440 64mb PCI card slot. The computer does'nt have an AGP slot so I have to settle for any card with a PCI card slot only. I also use PC133 Ram types. Any idea on how I can upgrade my older machine without really getting a new system yet? I just want the game to run faster? Also is there any cheap place to get good quality ram to build up to 1ghz of ram?
xPREDATORx
Thu Aug 12, 2004 9:56 am
#21
yep it must be upgared time im upgrading now too
getting a radeon pro 9800 256mb
and 1gig of ram
plus in september there about a tonne of new games comin out gota be preped for these!
p4inkiller
Fri Aug 13, 2004 3:50 am
#22
Netcore wrote:
DirthNader wrote:Since I've got the tech guys in here, I have a question...I've got an nForce2 w/ an Athlon XP (I think the 1.17GHz chip), a gig of ram at 266Mhz DDR FSB, and a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (128MB).Would a better processor help here? I was thinking about bumping up to a 2GHz Athlon XP (I think a 2700+), which would also bump the FSB speed up to 333MHz DDR.At first glance it looks to me (a former tech geek) that the video card is the bottleneck, but I really didn't see any improvement in SWG performance when I went from a GeForce3 Ti200 (64MB) to the current card. I'm starting to wonder if the processor isn't the holdup.EDIT: Oh yeah, I run on a 15" LCD (small office, can't use a big CRT), so I'm locked at 1024x768 w/ Quinconx of whatever AA. Would turning off AA give me an idea of whether or not the video card is the bottleneck, or is AA something that can be held up by a weak proc as well?Message Edited by DirthNader on 08-12-2004 06:33 AM
Bumping up your processor is a good idead...1.17 is not enough to run SWG smoothly i think, but stay at the 333 MHz Range for RAMs and the FSB, the 400 MHz Chipsets are still not stable enough and cause some troubles.
Lol. the 200mhz chipsets are pleanty stable. If they werent stable, they wouldn't be in every oem's machines.
Try to get an Athlon XP 2600+ or better a newer one with a Barton core. They start at the 2800+ series i think.
The bartons start at 2500+
When choosing RAM better invest a few bucks more into some quality RAMs like Kingston or Infineon that can also make a huge difference to no-name RAMs. Try to get 2x512 megs to get all out of the NForce dual-channel mode, this feature improves the RAM read/write time.
Wow. Ram already reads and writes at the speed of elcetricity. Going dual channel only increases the total bandwidth that the processor can use. The athlon, unlike the pentium, isn't a bandwidth hog so running in dual channel will only get you a 2-3% speed increase.
And the graphic card...well..a newer one would be better, SWG runs great on the ATI 9800 Pro. Especially if you want to use AA...man turn it off on your old machine, AA EATS resources like CRAZY...Funny thing is that AA needs much more resources on Nvidia card then on ATI cards.
Anti aliasing takes the same amount of 'resources' (video ram) on both cards. The newer ATi cards (9700 and faster) processed AA better than previous models (8500 and below). The new geforces (5900 and faster) have about the same preformance hit as the ATi cards.
K i hope this helps...if i can be of any assistance just ask!
PhoenixOrion
Fri Aug 13, 2004 4:28 am
#23
THE very best card to get this next year will be the Geforce 6800 GT 256 MB Card for mid-range users. The 6800 Ultra for enthusiasts. Both own the ATI x800 and 9800's in all benchmarks at the moment.
Kyodor
Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:34 am
#24
The X800XT Platinum > 6800 Ultra
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=2044&p=12
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=2044&p=12
Janina
Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:09 am
#25
PhoenixOrion wrote:THE very best card to get this next year will be the Geforce 6800 GT 256 MB Card for mid-range users. The 6800 Ultra for enthusiasts. Both own the ATI x800 and 9800's in all benchmarks at the moment.
Oh please, let's not lie here shall we
My XT PE spanks 6800Ultra in everything except Doom 3, when applied 4.9 Beta Catalyst and the ATI tweak for Doom 3, it gives nVidia a run for its money.
/pointat the Anandtech test up.
SinR
Fri Aug 13, 2004 11:11 am
#26
I run... lets see here...
AMD Athlon 2800
ATI X800 Pro
1024 of 3200 RAM
and, i really havent played since i upgraded, just bought Doom3 (scary as hell sometimes). ive done a dantooine badge run, but thats it
AMD Athlon 2800
ATI X800 Pro
1024 of 3200 RAM
and, i really havent played since i upgraded, just bought Doom3 (scary as hell sometimes). ive done a dantooine badge run, but thats it