Video Card Thread (Mostly Gecube x1950xt)

That's not entirely true. The 9800GX2 will beat the HD3870X2 no questions asked, but in games where crossfire actually does work, the 3870X2 is faster than any single card. Nonetheless though, I'd have the 9800GTX over it because I get a guaranteed performance in games that didn't - and overall that probably means a higher average frame rate. It'd also be a lot more stable and use less power - plus you can't attach a third party cooler to a 3870X2 or 9800GX2, it's stock cooler or WC only.

 

im sure a coupls of 3rd part cooler came out....or am i just talkign about one s thatare to come out???? (im confusing my self xD)

with the 9800GTS being a £200 and the 3870x2 being £250, they are in differnt price brackets, and most of the GOTYs work with xfire.

for £300+ there is 9800GX2, for £250+ there is 3870x2 for £200 there is 9800GTX/8800GTX for £150 there is 8800GTS, for £120 there is the 8800GT and 3870, for about £100-£110 is the 9600GT and for about £85 there is the 3850

IMO for price to performance, the 8800GT and the 3850 and the 8800GTX arnt to be beat

 

Nothing by Zalman, Thermalright or Thermaltake currently supports the cards that I know of.

If only that were true...

 

cod4 and UT3 do.

and cod4 is a shoe in for GOTY

 

Those two do I agree. I wasn't trying to disprove you, I was more venting my disappointment about my experience of this.

 

ahh i see. fair enough m8. i do feel sympathy for you that xfire was utter sh!t for you.

 

well, it works. Sometimes, but I'll be honest it'd only be a viable option if there was no other way of getting the level of performance it achieves. Since that's not the case, it's pretty naff.

Update: I managed to break my record for crossfire at 3 1/2 minutes before shutdown. That's the longest I've managed so far, using a 2000rpm Antec Tricool 120mm fan blowing directly on the cards. I'm off to bed now as it's late, but tomorrow I'm going to see if I can break 4 minutes... Wish me luck!

On a more serious note, with no manufacturer's warranty on the Powercolor card, I can't afford to replace it, so I think I may have to just throw it away, as £40 for a proper cooler that won't guarantee to solve the problem isn't something I can afford right now. If anyone from the UK is interested in a faulty 3870, I'll happily sell it on for a small fraction of retail.

 

Hi,

I'm one of the guys that posted here about the GeCube thing a long time ago.
Well, I'm still dragging around with my old AGP-system, or actually never really touched it.
I've only been looking around to get an affordable PCIe-system together, without much luck.

Now, again I found a new AGP-card, which would be ATi's Radeon HD3850.
Apparently it's a very good card, all good reviews and good prices.
It's fast on about every specification, it also has 512MB, they aren't huge, etc.
They are full HD3850's in AGP...
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=546&card2=550

My question is, could I get it to work unlike the GeCube last time, it wouldn't do much.
Well, I could get it to work, only funny enough for it's specifications, the performance sucked.
But then again, that GeCube-thing was a quite special and rare case, so it's probably better this time.
The system I would put it in would be the following:

- Gigabyte GA8IPE100Pro-G (or something like that)
- Intel Pentium 4 - 3GHz - Zalman Cooled
- 2GB RAM - DRR SDRAM PC3200 - Single-Channel
- Running on WinXProSP3

What else... I feel like I forgot a couple of things...
CTR-monitor still... the rest is clean and maintained...

Also, I think my current ASUS 6800XT has been broken for a long time already.
And later I also overclocked it a bit, I believe making it worse, but nothing extreme.
But could this have broken something, like also the GeCube didn't work.
Note that I tried the GeCube before oveclocking though.


Please let me know your thoughts (or rather facts) about this card.
Oh, by the way, it's more specifically about Sapphire's version.
That one seems really nice for about €130,-:
- http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=227&grp=2
- http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4979&Itemid=34
- http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01/07/sapphire_takes_radeon_hd_3850_to_agp/1


- - - - - - - - - -


Edit:

Please also let me know if this card would be suited for my gaming.
I play games like Battlefield, Rainbow Six Vegas, Company Of Heroes, Crysis (yeah, I know...), DiRT, GRID, Tomb Raider, Team Fortress 2, etc.
Also want to try other games like Assassin's Creed... just assume I need a lot of power.
Well, some games already run OK on my current system.
Like Call Of Duty 4 is one of the smoothest on nice settings.
And TF2 runs nice too, but those are some of the lighter games.
Like I've also seen reviewers mention a lot of simpler games.
But one even said he could run Crysis at Medium on a 24" widescreen.

However, this is our PC for about anything, so it's pretty much a media-computer.
But I just wanted to make sure this card is suited for gaming specifically.
With all the HD-naming and stuff...
Also the price is kinda strange, it's so low.
I've seen XFX struggle with the AGP 7950GT for about 250+ Euros.
And now this even better card comes out for just €130,- including shipping.
Even that GeCube was like 200 Euros over here I believe, and that was also a Radeon.
I know it was BY GeCube, but still... suspicious stuff...

Just mention any disadvantages I could have, for which I shouldn't buy this card.
Before I get it and spend money on something that isn't working for me again...

 

Yes you could get a 3850, but the P4 would limit performance a LOT. Honestly, it's not worth upgrading a system that old.

How much do you want to spend on a PCI-E system? These parts are low prices and give EXCELLENT performance.

Intel E2180
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
Get 2GB of DDR2 PC2-6400 cas4 they are dirt cheap now
something like a 8800GS
A corsair 450vx will run something like this
the CPU will OC to about 3.2ghz

 

Well, I'm not sure if I even have a budget for a full system at the moment anymore.
Since I have to spend 3000+ Euros on musicianship soon and also some other stuff.
I used to be OK with like... I don't know... 600-800 Dollars tops.
That could be even too much.

But the thing is, I've been looking for more than once.
And every time I would run into a part that would push the price beyond limits.
Like the worst culprit is the god damned monitor.
It's hard to find an acceptable LCD for under say 250-300 Dollars over here.
Some are cheap or you know, just affordable.
But they either are too small, have a bad resolution, have a bad contrast-ratio or a high response-time.

Then not to forget I would need a nice hard drive, a good cooling case, some controllers like a keyboard and mouse.
Probably some aftermarket cooling especially if I'd want to overclock anything.
Oh yeah, also a power supply, and maybe I forgot something else.
All these parts don't have to be too expensive, but everything added up is going to cost me, I have found out...
And then make sure everything is cooled well and not being to loud at doing so.
And don't forget the OS, I can copy software, but I'll need a valid key to not get any bullcrap from Microloft.


By the way, I know a system on itself doesn't have to be much of a problem to get together.
But as I mentioned, this thing I'm typing on is the "family-computer".
So first of all, if I'd buy myself a gaming-system, I'd have to put it in my room.
That's no problem, but I'll have to get all the other stuff like the monitor and such too.
Because that will all have to stay here, I wouldn't even really want it, plus this fatazz DELL-CRT would break my Ikea-desk.

Tip: Remember, everything is more expensive in The Netherlands/Europe.
You can easily add 19-20% to about any US-price to get what I'd have to pay.
I've tried TigerDirect as an alternative to Newegg though.
But they charge about... I don't remember exactly, like around $100,- or more to ship a small plastic camera.
PLUS $25,- FEE FOR NOTHING!
That while other US-stores I bought big and heavy guitars at, made of wood and metal, shipped those for about 40-50 Dollars.
What's up with those ripoff electronics-stores while their prices are low?
Trying to rip off foreigners?! *frustration*

 

Wait, are you in the US?About 600 dollars will get you a very good gaming system here in the US, but that is JUST the tower.

Honestly, if you are on a huge budget, I would just suggest getting a xbox 360 and flashing it.

 

IMO, buying an HD3850 for AGP is ludicrous, if you run a system that's old enough to still have an AGP slot, the CPU, memory etc are going to render that graphics power all but useless.
Every single one of that list of games you provided will run badly because of the speed of your CPU. Upgrading to a new system to play most of those is mandatory.

Going with Abuzar's recommendations to the letter you will be able to play those games, and for a very reasonable budget too.

 

No, I'm in The Netherlands. XO
I have a tight budget. XO
And I don't love consoles, I like them, but I'd only want one to sell.

But I guess I have no choice then.
I just wish TigerDirect or Newegg wouldn't be retards and sell me stuff for normal prices.
Then there would be no problem...
Or even better, I would have already had a new computer with those prices! :O

I also found out my CPU just "expired", because I updated PowerDVD to be able to use HD and stuff.
Anyways, apparently it requires a P4 of about 3.4GHz as the bare minimum.
And any "current-gen" processor recommended of course.
Also the GPU had to be a minimum of about any nice GeForce 7.
So our system can pretty much not handle HD stuff, and it doesn't.
Except when it's completely doing nothing else than playing video and the 720p stuff (also called "HD" or HD-ready?) runs fine though.

 

I ran 720p not long ago on my old system, an Athlon XP 3000+ with 512MB of RAM, it ran alright but not perfectly - and 1080p stuff I can imagine would really pose a problem - to run High def on systems of that grade you really need to look at using Linux.
Have you tried local stores for components?
Nexus list numerous shops in the netherlands on their 'where to buy' page...
http://www.nexustek.nl/contact_netherlands.htm

The UK store Novatech appear to also offer shipping there.

 

Well, to be honest I already searched through many many stores over here.
Also using this website that finds the lowest prices you know.
But even adding up all the lowest prices, for acceptable parts, just adds up a lot.
Those stores in that list seem interesting, but not unfamiliar.

Let me ask you this:

I want to build a system for the long run, so that I can also keep upgrading it.
Which would need features like PCIe 2.0, you know all the right features so that it doesn't get outdated too soon.
First of all, what kind of motherboard would I have to be looking at for example?
I really like nForces, or are those already too expensive to look at for me period?

Then if those would also be good for me, which ones should I be looking at?
Because nVidia came rushing in with all kinds of new boards, new series. etc.
While I was after the n680i I believe, this specific one by EVGA or another similar brand.
Well, it wasn't too expensive, but I already couldn't find it anymore.
Did they stop making those months ago already?

 

nforces aren't really worth looking at - never mind the cost, they're just not very good, reliability, compatibility, all of them except the latest and greatest have been pains in the proverbial - the last good nforce chipset was the nF4 ultra...

EVGA have also had their fair share of issues lately, indeedone of my mate's PCs that uses an EVGA 680i board has just had it fail on him, so needs to get a new motherboard.

So far the stellar performers for reasonable outgoing are Gigabyte's P35 offerings like the P35-DS3L.

 

*looking*

You know, Gigabyte's website drives me nuts with their many products.
And I mean, just look at their lists of motherboards only.
All the series, models and revisions (whatever that means).
How can anyone ever pick the right one without looking at every page?

But the one you mentioned seems like a nice board.
As you might know my current one is a Gigabyte too.
And I never really had a problem with it as far as I know.
Unless something inside broke somehow, that I cannot know of.
But this board at cheapest is €80,- over here.
Which would be about 125 Dollars.

 

It's about 100USD or £60 over here, but trust me, most people here use boards that cost twice that much, it's a good value board!

 

Sam, you're a silent PC enthusiast!

What do I need to look at to keep my PC quiet.
Cause my current one, despite buying as "quiet" products as possible, is humming my ears off.
I'll describe anything that has fans or makes noise in it:
- Zalman heatpiped PSU: very low-noise as far as I know of with the combination of low-speed fan and heatpipes.
- P4 with Zalman cooler: I can hear "which noise" it is when changing the speed, which isn't that loud.
- ASUS G6800XT with stock fan: This one could probably be the noisiest?
- 2x80mm Arctic Cooling suspended fans: At full speed though, but very quiet, I can keep my ear against them and enjoy the silence.
- 3 HDDs: 2 Maxtors and a Western Digital, at the more standard 7200-7500rpm I believe.

Still, it is making a LOT of noise, what is causing this?
It sounds like there is 1 part making too much noise.
Is it my case just amplifying it a lot or...
It's just so annoying buying all that "low noise stuff" and still having too much noise.

 

The top end Zalman PSUs are the best quiet PSUs money can buy. The normal Zalmans such as the ZM-600-HP are nothing exceptional but still very much within tolerable noise levels.

Zalman's CPU Coolers however are very poor for quietness unless on very low speed, which unsurprisingly impacts the temperatures. The main problem with them is they have a complex noise signature, which means all sorts of different tones, whines and buzzes.

Graphics card fans are usually the biggest contenders for high noise level, along with PSUs. Asus make exceptional coolers these days, such as the one I posted earlier in the thread, but the one on the 6800XT may not be as good, especially if it's the reference design.

Using Maxtor hard drives is a big nono in a quiet PC, as they are double the noise level of current-gen drives due to their antiquated design.
Arctic cooling case fans are usually very good for noise (if mediocre for airflow) - are they your only case fans?