The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

Power consumption of xbox 360 + 30" HDTV: 270W
Power consumption of Gaming PC (HD3870 GPU, E6750 CPU stock speeds) + 24" monitor: 260W.

I don't put consoles down, I co-own a 360 (which I will probably be the full owner of when we part ways), and own a PS2 and N64 as well, and like them a lot. However, they are used for entirely separate purposes as my PC. Games that can be played on PC are, as it's so much nicer to do so. Owning a 60" TV will obviously skew the experience for you, but for those who don't feel like spending thousands on a TV, the situation's different. If you can't tell the difference between 1024x768 you're either visually impaired or have a really bad monitor! Lmao - don't you own a CRT though?

 

Yeah CRT, and I had a Dell 24inch LCD. Never getting one of those again. Next time it's NOT going to be a TN panel.

The Xbox is 'funner' because I have friends over a lot and we like playing Halo. None of them have gaming PC's. Plus it's one xbox hooked up to one TV. No need for more unless we do system link.

 

Consoles are certainly of much more use if you have mates over, but similarly, playing games online with mates and chatting to them over skype provides a similar experience on the PC, and you get the screen to yourself...
To someone that doesn't appreciate PC games, it's not really a very convincing argument.

 

I have a PS2, a Gamecube, and an Xbox classic. I like them all pretty equally. Gamecube has Nintendo exclusives, Xbox had better graphics and some AA, and PS2 has a huge library of games.

I think the Gamecube and Xbox have better graphics than the PS2. Sometimes the jaggies are horrible.

That's why I do the majority of my gaming on the PC. The image quality of high resolution with heavy AA makes a 360, even in HD, look sick.

Plus, if I had a 360 any more, I could plug it into my monitor. This is the sweetest monitor EVER.


Also, I'll be doing some game tests with the 4870 whenever my Q6600 arrives.

 

Yeah, but I just said my friends don't even have computers that can run Doom 3 much less the games I would like to play.

Single player gets boring after a while. I like to have physical buddies here.

 

Don't game online then?
Yeah the jagginess of PS2 graphics was pretty awful, but hey, a lot of the games were fun... Of course, a lot of them weren't, as is the curse with popular consoles.

 

I play TF2, CS:S(or at least I did before it got overrun with bots and hackers), Battlefield: Vietnam(not a big community but there's always someone playing), FEAR Combat, Various RTS's, Diablo 2.

I really liked Battlefield Vietnam online when it was more popular. And I still play it once in a while. It's like 1942 with superior AI, weapons, maps, features and graphics. It looks almost glorious in 1920 res. Character/Vehicle models resemble that of Far Cry but the water, while pixel shaded, isn't done very well. The lighting could also use some bloom or HDR badly. The levels are generally very large and look pretty good, but the thick fog on some jungle levels makes it look like crap. Geometry wise, it's very close to Far Cry.

I'm a decent helicopter pilot too, so I rack up kills with the Huey Gunship

The 4870 will get some extended time with Battlefield Vietnam. This was one game where I noticed a real IQ difference between ATI and Nvidia. ATI cards make this game POP! Take my words with a pinch of salt though, it's a pretty old game now.

 

Interesting point, just tried Bioshock, and performance with it on the 4870 is disappointing at my res, the game noticeably lags, possibly moreso than Crysis does on high. Considering I played it at 1920 fine with my X1900XT, clearly ATI have made no gains in this game whatsoever since the HD3000 series, and unsurprisingly, CF doesn't work with the game either.

 

That may just be due to incompatibility with Crossfire. Sometimes it can cause hitching and microstuttering. Hopefully a future driver will allow you to disable Crossfire and see if it's any different.

So, what's the Verdict? Are you keeping the 4870X2?

 

Crossfire is disabled - you disable it by disabling Catalyst AI.

I'm keeping the X2, as I've since sold the 4870...

 

Well, hopefully my quad will be here Wednesday or so. So we can do some comparisons.

 

Sorry for the double, but I read further back in the thread.

Harvrdguy,

This is POM. Notice how the rocks in the ground texture are 3D? If I didn't know better, I wouldn't be sure if this was actual 3D models or not. The effect is that good.

With the TOD lighting mod installed too, FYI. Taken with the 8800GTS 512MB on my 17":




Sorry if the file is a bit big for those with dialup...

 

ok slackers. heres the deal. i think im gonna lay down some funds for a GPU..i have now $100 should have about another 75 shortly.so a total of $175. whats a good GPU to get....

ive been looking some myself. i see all name brands have the same type model...4850,3850,8800gt,8800gtx,8800gts.

what the difference and which route shouldi go...as you know ive gotten hooks on COD4 and am wanting to try other shooter type games...
any kinda list to choose from would be nice....

 

4850 FTW!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102760

 

I know that boozer knows more than I do about these cards and gfx cards in general but getting FREE shipping on anything is always good.

link to HD4850 gfx cards at the EGG w/ FREE shipping

oh btw... I've been looking at these too but it seems for what I do they might be overkill. lol. well at least boozer thinks so...

....gm

 

HD4850 for the win (in case you're unfamiliar with the acronym).

 

I didn't pick those other two because of the better fan on the sapphire and that 150 one with a good fan was out of stock.

GM, for what you want, yeah a 4850 is overkill.

 

TBH i agree with you 100% GM. but i have noticed since ive been educated a bit about them. that in my gpu now it does slowdown a bit in certain parts of the game. it looks good, and i know it can look better with the right card. if i can come across one that smacks me in the face and says this is a deal/steal i will get one..lol

FTW....yea im hip to the lingo...well most of it.

 

HD3850
HD3870
8800GS
9600GT
8800GT
8800GTS

The difference between different brands of the same card is packaged connectors, free games, factory overclocks, coolers. Some brands use the reference coolers while some use an aftermarket cooler or design their own.

This a what I'd get on a budget. 8800GT. It will play almost anything well on even a 1920 x 1200 monitor.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133232

Or an HD3870 if you prefer ATi to nVidia. Though I don't see why you would get this when the 8800GT is faster and cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125231

Or for a bit more, this is even faster than an 8800GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500004

Any card on the list will laugh at Call of Duty 4.

 

The 8800GT is also less buggy. I'd go 8800GT or HD4850, nowt else.