The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

And now an inverse chart, by card this time.
http://pastebin.com/fd323c61

 

It makes me chuckle to see my GTX 260 score so low. I wouldn't believe it a moderate card if I were not subscribed to this thread It runs like a complete champ. Guess I'm gonna need to upgrade, and perhaps sell my card Probably give ati a shot, since my newest board supports CF!
Why do you suppose Bioshock 2 favors Nvidia? Coding I'd imagine...

 

on a single player game to have a 25minimum is perfect, for the 5870 to haev a 40 minimum maxed out at 2560 is insane! and shows how powerful the GTX285 is still (which tbh it should be) garnering a 34minimum.

 

I've never played the First bioshock. I just watched the first trailer I've ever seen of it. Impressive! I just may buy it. Given its age it probably doesn't cost much either

 

I'll tell you what I've been doing the past few days. Playing the AVP multi-player demo on the PS3. Cool stuff

 

I see. Anyone here plays left 4 dead???

 

BTW, I found a great deal @ tigerdirect! Check this out! It's basically the same price as the 550w corsair (cheaper by 2 cents lol) but it is 750w!!! Great deal or what? I'm really excited. But I'm a bit worried about its size. It looks slightly bigger than the 550w. And it kinda frustrates me on how they don't put the psu's dimensions =( Coz you know, I don't want to buy it and then find out later that it won't fit in my cpu. That will really blow!

Comments guys....

 

LOL! they beat newegg by .02 whole cents LOL!

I don't think that's gonna fit in your cpu It might fit in your case/tower though

 

Hey I play Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 if anyone wants to play.

 

Because of its nonmodular cables? And yea, I only have a standard size CPU. But essentially, the 550w and the 750w corsair has the same dimensions.. Or so I think :\ Also, I can't resist the temptation since the 750w is the same price as the 550w!!! And whats good is that it's from the same company corsair! Plus, there's a warranty and so I can return it if it doesn't fit in my cpu.

In addition, I only have a 1gb ddr2 memory atm. I definitely need an upgrade for that right? I'm planning to buy 2 1gb memory cards to make it 3gb in total. I heard this will increase the smoothness of a max out game settings. Is that true? Does the memory play an important part for game speed?

If so, can you guys suggest what brand is good to buy a 1gb memory card. Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Is TX a good version of Corsair? Coz I noticed that they have VX,TX,and HX.

 

kk, I change my mind again. lol! I'll just stick with the 550w =)

 

get which corsair is best for your money, if that means 750W then why not if you can get it as cheap as the 550w.

dont worry ALL corasir PSUs are rock solid.

as for ram, why not go 2x2GB for 4GB total? and yes gamign on 1GB is very stingy lol. even going to 3GB will help alot.

 

Omega: Remember these are stricter settings than those used by game developers, as this is a minimum frame rate not an average, requires maximum detail to be used, and Anti-Aliasing as well for higher settings. Essentially, the game needs to look its best and run its best to be given a good score. Harsh, but fair.
Bioshock 2 is an Unreal Engine 2.5 game, and that engine has always favoured nvidia hardware. It is often CPU intensive as well, so that's something to be aware of. However, in the example of Bioshock 2, even a stock Phenom II X4 940 will qualify for extreme status.
While I wouldn't say 25fps minimum is perfect (especially if it occurs often), perfect frame rates aren't as necessary in single player games than multiplayer, and receiving 'Good' status is likely to run the game very well at 1920x1200, and 'Optimal' will run fine at 2560x1600 for the most part. Extreme is just the absolute guarantee, that you can sit back and enjoy not lagging even slightly, which is ultimately what top-end graphics cards are for.
Keith: I found the AvP Demo very disappointing. Free-For-All deathmatch doesn't suit the type of game at all, and the matchmaking system is horrendous at the moment, with permanently enabled voice chat and poor server finding. Hopefully the team modes will play better and the SP campaign will be good, else that's a pre-order wasted
Schwaber: A hell of a lot, I play Left 4 Dead 2 Versus several times a week, and harvardguy plays campaign mode often as well.
The 750W Corsair is an interesting find from Tiger Direct. The 750 unit is not especially quiet, but it is still relatively compact. and of course, vastly powerful.

 

well tbh id expect a 940 to do well in gaming, its a flagship quad core, you say that liek the 940 is a bad chip.

 

Not at all, but the CPU ceilings of CPUs in that range is often below 60fps minimum, which would fail the 'extreme' certification, but not so in the case of Bioshock 2 though.
A 3.4Ghz Q9550 (ironic, same CPU as me for the short term) pulls above 120fps minimum with no sign of a CPU limit at all, so it could be 150+. On that basis even a stock Athlon II X4 620 should be able to pull off a minimum of 85-90fps. Scaling that down, even if we use a very generous figure of 50% benefit from quad core CPU, an X2 240 is still going to pass the 'extreme' threshold.


Compare this to Fallout 3, not an especially renowned title for crazy hardware demands, yet a heavily overclocked i7 is needed to pass 'extreme'.

 

If I go with 2x2GB for 4GB total, I have to remove my old 1GB since it will just hinder the overall performance? But I'm also thinking that I am just gonna add 2x1GB for 3GB in total(including my old 1GB ram) coz it's cheaper. And if I go with this option, will I still notice a big difference? Coz I already updgraded 2GB of ram. Which option is better?

 

Schwaber,
C.P.U. Central Processing Unit. Also known as simply Processor. Or what I call god. Just kidding LOL! CPU is NOT to be mistaken with Case Or tower, which is what is used to house all of your components

Also, You wanna use all like ram modules in a motherboard. While you can run mixed modules, It is FAR from recommended. What is recommended is buying kits of 2x2 Gb, 4 x 1gb, etc, etc. Your motherboard will thank you for it.

Sam, the GTX 260 scored low in the minimum frame rates. That's why I commented. What I mean is, if I were not subscribed to this thread, it would surprise me to see so many cards fairing better than mine. Since my card performs without hitch. That's what I meant Don't get me wrong. I still have a great deal of respect for my card LOL! Perhaps it will remain with my Nvidia build. For the nvidia games

 

Alright, got it. Hey, I found this 2x2gb=4gb and I need your feedback on it. It's really pricey and I was just wondering if you guys know something similar to that one but much cheaper.

 

Schwaber: It is typically better to have less RAM than it is to mix different brands/speeds/sizes or have an odd number of sticks installed, as this compromises memory bandwidth (and therefore performance) or worse, stability, and you'll start seeing random crashes.
If you are using a board with only two RAM slots, never mix memory, at all.
You should only be considering it if you have four slots, and you are using two different pairs.
Omega: Of the games played, one at least scores very poorly for minimum frame rates with Geforces when AA is used, I forget which ones, leading to everything up to the GTX2956 but not beyond limited to a Moderate rating, as that's the highest bracket that doesn't require AA to be used.
Keeping the GTX260 as an nvidia build PC sounds like a good plan to me. After all, it's in such titles that the card would do best, negating the issues mentioned here.

Schwaber: Really pricey? I don't recommend OCZ memory to people because it's cheap and potentially troublesome, you should be spending more not less. If 4GB for $82 seems expensive, I just paid £100 ($157) for 4GB of Corsair DDR3, and that too was cheap, 10% less than other stores and other brands, and it's the basic CAS9 stuff, you can get far better, but it will do fine for me.
800mhz DDR2. That is compatible with what you've already got, right? I'm guessing you're not into overclocking, which is fine, and 800mhz would be fine for you under the circumstances. If you do want to overclock and have an Intel CPU with a high FSB, you should consider 1066mhz (but if you don't understand any of what I've just said, while I can explain more, it would be safer for you to ignore it and buy 800mhz)
Here's what I'd be buying:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4631346&CatId=3412

 

LOL memory prices hit rock bottom here for a while. One of my friends got the 2 x 2GB OCZ Fatal1ty PC6400 for $34. Brand new at the egg and not the cheapest kit available either. He showed me the receipt and it blew my mind! I paid over $100 for both of my current memory kits. And the kicker is he's been running it for about a year and apparently it's great stuff.

I'll stick to my Mushkin Xtreme Performance though, thank you. lol