The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread

Nice
Ray: ping is the connection latency between you and the server, i.e. how long it takes for a packet of information to go from you to the server and back.

 

Hah - the web cam shots. Actually boozer, I know you prefer your GQ shot - "Does anybody remember where I parked the Lear?" - but the "rapist" shots are pretty nice actually (except for the fact that now that they have caught you, we won't be seeing you for a while lol)

One major difference is that you're smiling. That makes the picture look a lot friendlier. So they both are good. If you had a resume of shots, you would want to have both styles - the picture on your sig is yet another style that is good too. Like if some hot chick said - "send me some pictures" - you might want to include the whole set, not just Mr. GQ Lear Jet James Bond. Hahahaha!

Wow - estuansis is gearing up with virtually as much power as Sam. Yeah, I know, Sam, 4870x2 is better in your book than two 4870s, but come on - they're CLOSE! Congratulations, estuansis!

Speaking of crossfire - I ventured over to Newegg to see what I could see. It looks like all of you guys think well of Asus, including cheap Asus where I am right now on my budget. That Asus you saw at the fair was kicking ass, right Sam? You know, the fair where you were pwning everybody??

So, everybody, what about this brand new Asus board:Asus P5Q Pro crossfire $103 at newegg


That's $25 more than the used board, and I'll save on shipping by getting all the newegg stuff at once, and only $15 more than the original build, with the P45 chipset, rather than P43. (What are the advantages?)

Plus it's crossfire = I could add another 4670 someday for $80. At that point maybe I'd put the top vent in my case. In crossfire, what would that do to my 3dmarks, Sam?

Shaff, if you like this board, does that change any of the other items, like memory, or cpu?
-Rich

 

ASUS have been iffy as of late. They are somewhat buggy and any newer nVidia-based ASUS boards are generally bad news. But the higher end Intel boards from ASUS are pretty solid.

I never had a problem with my nForce 590 SLI based M2N32-SLI Deluxe. I never tried SLI with it. Perhaps I should have gone with 2 7900GTs instead of a single X1800XT 512MB. Oh well, I only had a 1280 x 1024 screen then anyway.

 

The P5Q system was the only one that crashed for any great length, but it was also the only one with an ATI video card, draw your own conclusions...

 

this boards even better. and simply put, in the UK, IMO (yes fanboy ism coming in) its the best board under £100.

the fact you can get it for $100, is FU(KING AMAZING!!

we pay so much

P45s are much better for OCing the P43 wernt so good.

tbh if you decide to go with the open box freezer 7 pro (which ull need TIM for) id go with PC6400 RAM aswell, and get the E6750 that boozer saw

 

(fanboy still on)

thousands of people on OcUK have the P5Q, and on OcUK, this is the first gen where only ASUS is being recomended by everyone for a chipset (P45)

what was the actual problem with the system?

i know people whos corsairs have blown up, but i havent stopped recomending them



sorry sam, im still in fanboy mode

hehe.

ooo also sam, can we use the labs for electronics projects, i need their soldering iron, im gonna be linking multiple fans to one header, and i need to sleave alot of things, including my PSU, you think they will let me?

 

I think so, depends on the scale of the project.
As for the P5Q system I don't think they're bad either, but that obviously is a bit weird.

 

What's a bit weird Sam? Were you talking about the crash? You said that before crashing it ran for 7 hours straight - and you liked the graphics quality the best. (I can stand a crash once every 7 hours lol)

Ok Shaff, you LOVE the new board. I like the crossfire capability.

And with THAT board, we're BACK to boozer's cpu - the 6750.

And yeah, I'm gonna get that freezer 7 pro. So, regarding the new style of memory you're recommending - what brand - got a newegg link for me?

 

It ran for a few hours, but a system shouldn't crash for no reason after a few hours, it should take days.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144237

but if you cannot stretch then this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134635

 

Yeah, I guess you're right - shouldn't really crash like that - but as scientists we really cannot draw any conclusions from one occurrence like that - weird I would agree.

Shaff, an extra $7 won't make any difference so I'll get the better memory - you like the Geil better than the Kingston I see. Also, I notice we've moved up to DDR800 with the Asus board, whereas before we were going to use DDR667. I know the 800 is faster - I use DDR400 now on my p4 - what does the 800 actually mean - clock speed?

Hey, check this out: I can get a 3870 for $70!!!

powercolor 3870 for $99.99 with $30 mail-in rebate = $69.99!!

Ain't that a friggin beauty for $70!!! (I always get the rebates and they always eventually arrive, so other than the free game, that's $70 versus $65 for the 4670.)

Anandtech shows 10 more fps - almost 30% more power at high res for $5!
-Rich

 

If you want all the 3870's crappy driver bugs, be my guest.

 

Oh yeah, that was the board that gave you grief!! I forgot about that!! No, you're right - forget it. No way!!

 

u hated urs that much sam? lool

i wonder if the new drivers are good for them, if so, the 3870 is a beat for $70, infact thats how much WE pay for it but with a £.

 

I'm going to push myself to a 4870 if I don't watch out - especially since estuansis just got his second one. I'm looking at the 4850s right now.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500019

$70 with rebate for a 9600GT

 

Wasn't THAT bad, but not being able to play old games sucks.

 

Haha, So I ended up winning in the End? My board and the CPU?

Loved the pic hahahaha. made me laugh. Although my friend was there and he asked whether I was creeped out by people on the internets editing my pics and saving them from WEBCAMS(SHAF!). lol I said no.

 

well not your board, but your CPU yes, i was trying to maximise his budget, but since rich can stretch, then why not

also rich i have geil black dragon 2x2GB PC8500. i love them, they have a little gold dragon aswell, which has 2 red led eyes, so cool

 

I'm glad you liked the picture, James 007.
Yeah you won!! Your board and your cpu!! Smart guy hahaha!

I'm getting the p45 board (the new crossfire version for $103 from newegg) and the 6750 cpu if the dude doesn't sell it in the next week or so until I get my check. His cpu is already lapped and maybe I'll take it to that mirror finish level watching "shaff's" videos.

Sam threw some rain on my parade about that $70 3870 I found - I remember when he almost cured himself of being an ATI fanboy with the troubles he had with that board. I can laugh about it now but it was shocking at the time! Hahahaha.

Speaking of being an ATI fan-boy, which I am, I appreciate the 9600 suggestion, Shaff, but the idea of leaving the ATI camp right now would rock my world too much. That is the whole other world of nvidia, and I am having a hard enough time just keeping up with ATI - plus I am kind of convinced about the quality of image and shadow rendering issues.

Sam and Estuansis have to be two of the most detail-oriented dudes I have ever come across in terms of appreciating the subtle essence of the graphic renderings - I want to do more of that and less worrying about having my ass handed to me when you come around the corner with your shottie. Hahahah. Anyway, they are both solidly in the 4870 camp, so that's where I'll stay, with a weaker version of that card for now.


HOWEVER . . . . . . on the other hand, the new thought I am having is this:

You got me out of the idea, Shaff, of investing in a dead-end, the P4, when you came up with that amazing build at such a bargain price of $307. It absolutely didn't make sense to put almost that much into the P4. Plus I have modded out my case ventilation-wise so much, why not stay with this case that I have bled over (literally - those case cut edges where the new mods have gone are SHARP) and enjoy it much longer?

Since I am moving my case and some of my hardware - not much - to the new world, perhaps I should open up my checkbook a bit and think in terms of something more solid.

Maybe I should make even make the whole jump by throwing in an extra $150:

newegg 4870 - same as above pic - $219.99 after rebate

That would still leave me in the $500 to $600 range. Of course now it occurs to me that maybe I WILL need a new psu after all, but at least there is nothing dead-end about this investment.

I could actually play the cracked crysis, especially on my 1600x1200 monitor, and crank up the settings where I could start appreciating the images and the artwork the way that sam and estuansis do.

Then later - I could put out another $500, and get a decent 24" lcd display with 1920x1200, and finally another 4870 in crossfire the way estuansis just did.
$70 more, $289, 1 gig gddr5 powercolor 4870
Continuing down the newegg list of ATI graphics cards, I come to this one: Is it worth the extra $70 to have the 1gig GDDR5 memory? I know that if I did this, when I went crossfire, I would need to get another 1gig card.

I remember Sam saying it helps on the really high resolutions, 2560x1600. But here's a guy who says he sees a performance boost at 1920x1200:

So..... ok, all of you guys, I'm going to see how big my check is, and I might just go for the 1 gig 4870. If that means I have to get another PSU I might as well get the one that will eventually handle two 4870s in crossfire. So how much wattage do I need, how many amps on the 12 volt rail, and what PSU should I look at? Thanks for the help!
-Rich