Folks,
I just ordered a new PC (Dell Precision 470), and it has a PCI-E Video Bus on it, and a crap nVidia card pre-installed. I was thinking of replacing it with this one (clicky-clicky) and I wanted to get an opinion before I pull the trigger.
Everyone seems to think this is the nicest card at its price point, and I can't justify the expense for a 6800 or other top-end card.
Thoughts/comments/lambasting? Looking to pull the trigger tomorrow, so I can configure this system over the weekend, and once and for all slay the Lag Monster in EQ.
Thanks,
Def
Mazia / Fulrach / <Insert Video Card Maven Here>
Moderator: Officers
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Angelsheart
- Posts: 1470
- Joined: Tue 10 Aug, 2004 12:06 am
Thanks for the suggestion, Angel.
This comparison seems to suggest that the 6600 GT will outperform an x700 Pro on most occasions, and the x700 XT cards currently available seem to be $50 more expensive, and even then, the 6600 GT seems to swap places in the rankings with the x700 XT depending on the benchmark/game.
If there's something I'm not considering here, just let me know.
Thanks,
-Def
This comparison seems to suggest that the 6600 GT will outperform an x700 Pro on most occasions, and the x700 XT cards currently available seem to be $50 more expensive, and even then, the 6600 GT seems to swap places in the rankings with the x700 XT depending on the benchmark/game.
If there's something I'm not considering here, just let me know.
Thanks,
-Def
Have a look at Sharky Extreme. The reviews/recommendations are designed with gamers in mind.
So much stuff on the market atm, it is hard to keep up. That being said, EQ does not require a seriously high end card to run well. I also currently use 9800XT, which seriously rocks EQ.
So much stuff on the market atm, it is hard to keep up. That being said, EQ does not require a seriously high end card to run well. I also currently use 9800XT, which seriously rocks EQ.
Sorry Defila, I have been rather busy with RL over the holiday period to even check the boards these days.
The current Vid Cards on the market (NVIDIA/ ATI) are very much on par with each other. Comes down to the games and who the developers are in bed with.
There are some great sites that have reviews and forums about Video Card technology and what is coming in the future.
Guru3d
Beyond3d
I just bought the 6800Ultra but wasn't over the top jumping for joy while playing EQ. Even with all the enhancements they have done, the engine still sucks. Turning on shadows still makes it unplayable in raids. Loading up current games like FarCry (optimised for NVIDIA) and HL2 (optimised for ATI) the card really shines. That said EQ lag has gone and load times are great even at 4xAA & 8xAF.
I waited for NVIDIA because I don't upgrade video cards often and wanted something that would last me for a few years. I would highly recommend 256Mb RAM on a video card for future gaming.
As a side note: Defila make sure that the power supply in the Dell is a good one. All these cards need good quality power supplies rating from 350W (6600) up to 480W. (6800ultra)
The current Vid Cards on the market (NVIDIA/ ATI) are very much on par with each other. Comes down to the games and who the developers are in bed with.
There are some great sites that have reviews and forums about Video Card technology and what is coming in the future.
Guru3d
Beyond3d
I just bought the 6800Ultra but wasn't over the top jumping for joy while playing EQ. Even with all the enhancements they have done, the engine still sucks. Turning on shadows still makes it unplayable in raids. Loading up current games like FarCry (optimised for NVIDIA) and HL2 (optimised for ATI) the card really shines. That said EQ lag has gone and load times are great even at 4xAA & 8xAF.
I waited for NVIDIA because I don't upgrade video cards often and wanted something that would last me for a few years. I would highly recommend 256Mb RAM on a video card for future gaming.
As a side note: Defila make sure that the power supply in the Dell is a good one. All these cards need good quality power supplies rating from 350W (6600) up to 480W. (6800ultra)
Fulrach (and everyone else),
Thanks for the replies. The Dell has a 550W PSU, as it's designed to be a dual-CPU workstation, so I'm not too stressed about that. I made up my mind after looking at the options and reviews a final time (and scouring the Web for a cheap plain nVIDIA 6800 PCI-e card) , and got the Chaintech 6600 GT card, as I've heard nothing but good things about the company since the GeForce2 days. I'll probably upgrade the card in 2 years, so it'll be fine for its useful life, I'm sure.
I'm sorry to hear the EQ engine leaves so much to be desired, but most of my problems with lag and speed in-game stem from the limitations of my current box (its wasn't uncommon for me to not have a screen refresh for 5-20 seconds in OoW zones -- NOT good when tanking or pulling).
In any event, the new box and card will be a massive upgrade from the 4x AGP card (running at 2x, thanks to my current computer's crappy PCI bus), so I think the Lag Monster will rest for now, anyway.
Def
Thanks for the replies. The Dell has a 550W PSU, as it's designed to be a dual-CPU workstation, so I'm not too stressed about that. I made up my mind after looking at the options and reviews a final time (and scouring the Web for a cheap plain nVIDIA 6800 PCI-e card) , and got the Chaintech 6600 GT card, as I've heard nothing but good things about the company since the GeForce2 days. I'll probably upgrade the card in 2 years, so it'll be fine for its useful life, I'm sure.
I'm sorry to hear the EQ engine leaves so much to be desired, but most of my problems with lag and speed in-game stem from the limitations of my current box (its wasn't uncommon for me to not have a screen refresh for 5-20 seconds in OoW zones -- NOT good when tanking or pulling).
In any event, the new box and card will be a massive upgrade from the 4x AGP card (running at 2x, thanks to my current computer's crappy PCI bus), so I think the Lag Monster will rest for now, anyway.
Def
After my first trip to WoS last month, I turned everything including sound off, with the exception of 3-4 race models. In all but OoW zones (and likely GoD), I run like a champ, raid or no raid.Curtis disabled a stack of models, reduced textures to low and turned off everythign but sound.
My problems are more that my current PC is crippled by its FSB (133 Mhz) and AGP bus (2x). With 512 MB of memory, zoning from Dranik's --> Bloodfields --> RCoD, my pagefile will balloon to ~900 MB. Half a gig of RAM should be enough for this silliness, but paging all that data across these slow buses hammers my available system cache.
By the time I'll zone into RCoD, I have 4MB of available system cache (down from the 200 MB I had when I started EQ), and I'm literally waiting for the pagefile to swap data into EQ, 4MB at a time, with 0% CPU utilization. Grats me on .001 FPS.
Did I mention how psyched I am to get this new machine?
Mine second box is 133 MHz set up with 1.2 GHz AMD with 512MB ram and a really shitty vid card, Geforce2MX. I turned everything down, usually run at clip plane of 10 to 15 percent, that still lag sometimes, but I rarely have issue with zone time, it is very regular at about 20 seconds for new zones.
If you have 512 MB of RAM, that should be enough to run EQ without much using of paging memory which is slow as hell.
The new box I got recently oviously beat the crap out of that, I actually start enjoy the scenary in EQ again instead of black mass 10 meter away from mine feet.
If you have 512 MB of RAM, that should be enough to run EQ without much using of paging memory which is slow as hell.
The new box I got recently oviously beat the crap out of that, I actually start enjoy the scenary in EQ again instead of black mass 10 meter away from mine feet.
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