Freshmixture Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 I'm in the process of upgrading my system from my current P4 2.0gb @ 400fsb to a P4 3.06gb with HT at 533fsb. My motherboard is capable of this upgrade, I've done all the research. My current video card is a EVGA 128mb AGP 6800 (specs in my sig) I'd like to upgrade my video card to a 256mb or a 512mb AGP card. Reading around, GRAW at high settings uses 350mb+ in video memory: I also have a widescreen monitor (specs in sig) and need a higher end card anyway to run GRAW in its native resolution. Please advise my in anyway you can. Thanks in advance mates for all your help. Laters! Fresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarlemKnight Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 I've been researching this all day and here is what seems to be the best AGP cards. - Gainward Bliss 7800 GS 512 MB AGP - BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 AGP I'm about to look into prices and such for these cards. I will still consider a 256mb card, if the price is right. I am saving my money to build a new dual core system when Windows Vista (DirectX10) comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pz3 Posted May 27, 2006 Share Posted May 27, 2006 (edited) Well your in luck theres 2 members I know of here that own them. Rocky with the 7800 from gainward and me with the BFG 7800GS OC but iv had a memory upgrade to 3gb lately so i dont know how much it would of actually helped in game since I no longer have the demo or the retail version. It could probly run GRAW fine at thoes resolutions... i Had it all maxed in the demo running 25-35fps at 1680x1050 BTW your pretty much doing what I am doing... Did a couple minimal upgrades lately... 2GB XMS DDR400 7800GS OC and a Samsung 21" inch widescreen lcd so it should hold me over for a little while atleast now. Edited May 27, 2006 by Prozac360 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshmixture Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 The 7800 seems to be the flavor of choice. Is the 3.06 CPU that I'm gonna install gonna bottleneck that card at all? The game looks so nice with the eye candy ya know. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to upgrade my PSU as well to run that card.(350w currently) I'll get a hold of Rocky and ask him how that card is working for him. Fresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 My full rig is in my link, but it is a 3.0Ghz P4 I have and I don't think there is any bottlenecking at all. I installed the 7800GS 512Mb Golden Sample card a few weeks ago now, so here's my impressions. The card is fantastic, hardly surprising really as it was the most powerful AGP card you could buy (I think there have been one or two "specials" released by Gainward recently that surpass it slightly), and has 20 pixel pipelines. I bought it primarily so I could enjoy GRAW at good frames and good eye candy. The secondary reason was so I could enjoy playing my other games at higher settings and still get better FPS. If I had solely bought it for GRAW I would be disapointed, to be honest. Reason being this is a damn expensive card, and to buy it on the strength of one game is a bit risky, and with GRAW you could debate whether the results justify the cost. Although GRAW looks great, explosions, smoke and fire/haze etc is the best I have seen in a game, I only average about 30FPS. That's (just) playable frames, but it is less than I would have hoped for from the most expensive AGP video card on the market. Of course people would debate this point about new games v current video card technology, but to me personally, a new game should run well on current technology, not next years - but that's another debate, and one I believe is also raging through the Oblivion community. So to summerise that bit of a rant, GR:AW looks impressive on this card, but it doesn't run as smoothly as I had hoped when all the eye candy is on. Of course, imagine how hacked off I would have been if I had settled for a lesser card. That 512Mb RAM really makes a difference, and in GRAW without it you just don't get some high end settings available. Where I am really loving the 7800GS though is for my "back catalogue" of games. Games like BF2 and Lockdown are simply awesome on this card, to the point where the gaming experience has really been moved up a notch. BF2 is on all high settings which offers some really great visuals, and yet it still runs way up in the high end of playable FPS, well over 40, probably around the 50FPS mark. R6:Lockdown blew me away on this card. I played some coop with Pave and T1, and when the first mission loaded both me an T were shot in 8 seconds as we were just standing still, looking at each other's character models in awe - it looked that good. As they crept down the corridor in the hospital in front of me, with their shadows fleeting along the floor and up the walls, it was remarkable. I especially loved the detail on the equiped weapons, hanging from hips of the characters, moving realistically and looking extremely detailed. Other games that were total frame killers on my old card can now be played with settings that were simply impossible before, i.e. NFS:MW. So that's why I am loving this card My PSU is only a TruePower 380W, but it seems to be handling this 7800, soundcard, and 4 HD's alright, even though the 7800 used two molex connectors to run the fan. I would probably say a 450W unit would be be safer though. Hope that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarlemKnight Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 (edited) ... I bought it primarily so I could enjoy GRAW at good frames and good eye candy. The secondary reason was so I could enjoy playing my other games at higher settings and still get better FPS. ... If I had solely bought it for GRAW I would be disapointed, to be honest. Reason being this is a damn expensive card, and to buy it on the strength of one game is a bit risky, and with GRAW you could debate whether the results justify the cost. ... That is the situation that I am in. I would basically be buying this card to play GRAW. The only other game that I play is John Madden football. My current system is old (2002) and I will be building a dual core system once DX10 come out. I have P4, 2.4 Ghz, 1 Gig RAM (MAXIMUM), Geforce4 (STOP LAUGHING!) Problem is that I have a brand new 1680 x 1050 LCD monitor that is just begging me to splurge on a video card. My only justification is if I purchase a new card for this old system, then I will be able to use this old system as a secondary computer for my cousin to play coop GRAW. It will also make this "old computer" suitable for most Vista tasks. Is that enough justification? I already have GRAW, but it wont work at all with my Geforce4 (64 MB video ram). Could I get away with purchasing a cheaper AGP card for this game? Edited May 28, 2006 by HarlemKnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viiiper Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 That is the situation that I am in. I would basically be buying this card to play GRAW. The only other game that I play is John Madden football. My current system is old (2002) and I will be building a dual core system once DX10 come out. I have P4, 2.4 Ghz, 1 Gig RAM (MAXIMUM), Geforce4 (STOP LAUGHING!) Problem is that I have a brand new 1680 x 1050 LCD monitor that is just begging me to splurge on a video card. My only justification is if I purchase a new card for this old system, then I will be able to use this old system as a secondary computer for my cousin to play coop GRAW. It will also make this "old computer" suitable for most Vista tasks. Is that enough justification? I already have GRAW, but it wont work at all with my Geforce4 (64 MB video ram). Could I get away with purchasing a cheaper AGP card for this game? As you know the only way is PCI-eXpress... but for now the best AGP performers will be the ATi X850 PE or just X850, other contender [cheaper] but not as capable is the ATi 9800XT [85GBP e*way]. Nvidia, the 59xx Series but all lack 512mb memory. If you want to hold off for July-Dec 2007 for possible DX10 and Vista slip slip slip.... then I'd go ATI X850 Platinum Edition. Best of luck..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshmixture Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 Rocky: Thanks for responding about your video card. I'm really loving GRAW. I also play BF2, Delta Force BHD, and [GR]. I also read that the 7900 version is gonna be out soon. The CPU that I'm upgrading to is identical to yours except mine has a 533 fsb. My other issue is that the card isn't available here in the States. So I'm gonna have to front some extra change to pay for shipping. As for my PSU, I'm gonna have to upgrade mine. I've been doing a lot of research and "under-powering" video cards is a very common underlying issue that rinders the cards performance that many people seem to miss it.......so I've read...... So in closing, once I upgrade my CPU, PSU, max out my memory to 2gb, and maybe upgrade my sound card to something from Creative, that will do it for my rig......and that should hold me over for a few years...... Fresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshmixture Posted May 28, 2006 Author Share Posted May 28, 2006 If I had solely bought it for GRAW I would be disapointed, to be honest. Reason being this is a damn expensive card, and to buy it on the strength of one game is a bit risky, and with GRAW you could debate whether the results justify the cost. Although GRAW looks great, explosions, smoke and fire/haze etc is the best I have seen in a game, I only average about 30FPS. That's (just) playable frames, but it is less than I would have hoped for from the most expensive AGP video card on the market. I really hope something in the June patch fixes this issue.......you should be running high FPS, especially when you rig is above recommended specs. Fresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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