Buying a new graphic card for my "old" system

**kris23** · Aug 13, 2008, 05:53 PM

lol nice

sammorris · Aug 13, 2008, 06:04 PM

They used to belong in a Linux file server (well, 4 of them did) but the mobo on that has gone south (939) and I'm waiting to upgrade it to 775. Already sold the CPU for it, when I send that off, I'll try and sell the RAM and that'll pay for the 4870 I've just bought...

Then it'll come down to saving up the money for the server rebuild. I'm contemplating sticking my E4300 in it and buying something like a Q6600 for my main PC, still not sure though.

**kris23** · Aug 13, 2008, 07:22 PM

Q6600 is a real good value, always get a Quad Core, its just better

sammorris · Aug 13, 2008, 08:07 PM

"it's just better" - lol for what exactly? Still not found the quad cores to make much difference to gaming.

**kris23** · Aug 13, 2008, 08:13 PM

if you look at all newest games, quad cores ARE better a processor is not as obvious in terms of performance as a GPU, but everything feels better, just look at nearly all games released in the beginning of 07 till now, they all scale better with a quad.,,,

sammorris · Aug 13, 2008, 09:08 PM

Some examples? I'm keen to see if they apply to me - I scored the same frame rate in Crysis as someone with a 3.6Ghz Q6600 when we both had two HD3870s, so the difference didn't seem noticeable even in a game like that, but then again, Crysis doesn't scale well with dual graphics either, so maybe it's not a good example.

Rokkec · Aug 14, 2008, 03:09 PM

So I just got my HD 4850 working!=)
And it feels great!

I spent a couple of hours sweating my ass off to place my HDD that was interfering with the card, to a lower place..I still got one bolt left to go..So I can put it a little more down..but the card itself is great!Everything maxed out Cod 4, GRID and Flatout:Total Carnage..works like a charm!..A bit hot though! xD
In Devil May Cry 4 I tested the performance and got constant 150-200FPS

sammorris · Aug 14, 2008, 09:40 PM

Nice one, will have to try DMC4 at some point. My HD4870 is working pretty well too, doesn't seem to overheat, runs nice and quiet at idle, and pulls some serious frames in games.
3DMark06 a disappointment, as expected, but that's hardly the end of the world. IQ is fabulous as always.

Rokkec · Aug 14, 2008, 10:46 PM

Well..as it is I`m very pleased by the new radeon`s performance..Maybe some new drivers will even improve on that...but let`s not be too shabby

Ah..Its time for Vantage..3DMark06 isn`t good benchmark software for new technology `cause it doesn`t show the true power of the newer cards..=)

**kris23** · Aug 14, 2008, 11:05 PM

powerful isnt it ? lol

Rokkec · Aug 14, 2008, 11:52 PM

Heck yeah

I`ll download Crysis and Stalker again to enjoy them better

I could play Crysis in 1024x768 from low to mid settings..but gotta try it now to see the difference

**kris23** · Aug 15, 2008, 12:32 AM

try Very High

sammorris · Aug 15, 2008, 01:41 PM

Heh, I don't use Vista, so Vantage and Very High in Crysis are beyond my reach. In all honesty though, pretty as Vantage will be, it still doesn't really have much of a functional purpose, and sadly, I think all 'very high' settings in Crysis at 2560x1600 might be too much even for a 4870. Maybe I'll wait until I have two of them for that... haha
Very surprised though, I played the end 5 minutes of 'Reckoning' at all High settings. Yes, the frame rate dropped to 10-12 on a couple of occasions, but not often enough to make it unplayable actually. Watching the final scene at a good 20fps or so was absolutely mindblowing.

Aug 13, 2008, 05:53 PM	#31
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	lol nice __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 13, 2008, 06:04 PM	#32
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	They used to belong in a Linux file server (well, 4 of them did) but the mobo on that has gone south (939) and I'm waiting to upgrade it to 775. Already sold the CPU for it, when I send that off, I'll try and sell the RAM and that'll pay for the 4870 I've just bought... Then it'll come down to saving up the money for the server rebuild. I'm contemplating sticking my E4300 in it and buying something like a Q6600 for my main PC, still not sure though. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Aug 13, 2008, 07:22 PM	#33
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	Q6600 is a real good value, always get a Quad Core, its just better __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 13, 2008, 08:07 PM	#34
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	"it's just better" - lol for what exactly? Still not found the quad cores to make much difference to gaming. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Aug 13, 2008, 08:13 PM	#35
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	if you look at all newest games, quad cores ARE better a processor is not as obvious in terms of performance as a GPU, but everything feels better, just look at nearly all games released in the beginning of 07 till now, they all scale better with a quad.,,, __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 13, 2008, 09:08 PM	#36
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	Some examples? I'm keen to see if they apply to me - I scored the same frame rate in Crysis as someone with a 3.6Ghz Q6600 when we both had two HD3870s, so the difference didn't seem noticeable even in a game like that, but then again, Crysis doesn't scale well with dual graphics either, so maybe it's not a good example. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Aug 14, 2008, 03:09 PM	Thread Starter #37
Rokkec DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Slovenia Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	So I just got my HD 4850 working!=) And it feels great! I spent a couple of hours sweating my ass off to place my HDD that was interfering with the card, to a lower place..I still got one bolt left to go..So I can put it a little more down..but the card itself is great!Everything maxed out Cod 4, GRID and Flatout:Total Carnage..works like a charm!..A bit hot though! xD In Devil May Cry 4 I tested the performance and got constant 150-200FPS

Aug 14, 2008, 09:40 PM	#38
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	Nice one, will have to try DMC4 at some point. My HD4870 is working pretty well too, doesn't seem to overheat, runs nice and quiet at idle, and pulls some serious frames in games. 3DMark06 a disappointment, as expected, but that's hardly the end of the world. IQ is fabulous as always. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6

Aug 14, 2008, 10:46 PM	Thread Starter #39
Rokkec DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Slovenia Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Well..as it is I`m very pleased by the new radeon`s performance..Maybe some new drivers will even improve on that...but let`s not be too shabby Ah..Its time for Vantage..3DMark06 isn`t good benchmark software for new technology `cause it doesn`t show the true power of the newer cards..=)

Aug 14, 2008, 11:05 PM	#40
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	powerful isnt it ? lol __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 14, 2008, 11:52 PM	Thread Starter #41
Rokkec DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Slovenia Posts: 24 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Heck yeah I`ll download Crysis and Stalker again to enjoy them better I could play Crysis in 1024x768 from low to mid settings..but gotta try it now to see the difference

Aug 15, 2008, 12:32 AM	#42
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,013 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	try Very High __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Aug 15, 2008, 01:41 PM	#43
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	Heh, I don't use Vista, so Vantage and Very High in Crysis are beyond my reach. In all honesty though, pretty as Vantage will be, it still doesn't really have much of a functional purpose, and sadly, I think all 'very high' settings in Crysis at 2560x1600 might be too much even for a 4870. Maybe I'll wait until I have two of them for that... haha Very surprised though, I played the end 5 minutes of 'Reckoning' at all High settings. Yes, the frame rate dropped to 10-12 on a couple of occasions, but not often enough to make it unplayable actually. Watching the final scene at a good 20fps or so was absolutely mindblowing. __________________ Speakers: Logitech Z-2300 & Philips MC-70 [homebrew surround via ATEN CS1782 KVAM] for HTPC. Logitech Z-5500 for gaming PC. I/O: Razer Diamondback Magma, MS Intellimouse Optical, MS Sidewinder X6, Saitek Eclipse II, Pertelian X2040 USB Display DVD: As little as Possible (LG GH20NS15) Networking: Netgear GS105, GS605, GS608, WRN2000, Linksys WRT54GL [Tomato], DrayTek Vigor 120, yards of CAT6