GameAmp: Need Help

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captainkam

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Need Help On Video Card Selection

I am going to buy a new video card so I can play Bf2 I have 4 choices. They are listed from cheapest to most expensive:

1) 128MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X300 SE
2) 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory
3) 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
4) 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon™ X850 XT

I need to know which video card will work and if possible one of the cheaper ones.

Need help plzzzz

Captainkam out.........

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

08/16/05 19:31

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

For the love of GOD please pick an Nvidia Card....I have the Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra...AGP 8x...BF2 was designed to be played on Nvidia Cards so you cant go wrong with them....I get 90+ FPS on Hi settings with my card.

08/16/05 23:04

johnpenn

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Re: Need Help

Ok BigDawg you are starting to annoy me. You are not helping out a damn bit just by blabbing "nvidia is how its meant to be played". I have an x800xl 16piper, and 1.5gigs of RAM and I get 60fps on 1152x864 with settings maxed out and refresh rate on 90. And I paid 283.00$ for my card. You are not telling people what they really want to know. What is the cheapest they can go and still get high performance. Of course they are going to get high performance with a damn 6800ultra. But you got to talk about price too.

Now the good thing is that the prices, literally this week, have suddenly dropped on 16 pipe cards over night (but not on the x800xl's). A month ago I would have advised that the x800xl is the best price/performance solution on the market. But since the nvidia 16pipers have suddenly come down I would agree with BigDawg that now it is prudent to take a look at the 6800ultra's.

What you need to look for is this:
256mb
256bit
DDR3
16pipe

Whatever the cheapest card is that has the above specs will run the game maxed out with no prob(assuming you have more than 1gig of ram). If you are wanting 'smooth' high performance or what I call, 'performance with elbow room' then DO NOT get a 12pipe or lower card. 12pipe cards will play on high 'alright' but now maxed out with 'elbow room'.

08/17/05 13:24

captainkam

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Re: Need Help

Thanks both of you i think i am going to go with the 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800 just so i dont have to buy anouther one when anouther good game comes out.

Captainkam out.....

08/17/05 15:33

Thugsolo

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Re: Need Help

I think I jumped the gun because I've been so ready to play I got a ATI 9600XT pretty cheap it's ok I guess but I'd like the game to perform better.

So does that Nvidia card rock ? I'll have more money soon enough.

08/17/05 19:04

captainkam

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Re: Need Help

i herd it play flawless and i qoute "you will have lots of elbow room"

captainkam out.....

08/17/05 22:15

johnpenn

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Re: Need Help

Let me note this up front: 16x doesn't indicate the same thing as 16pipes. I will mention more on this later.

Listen, Listen... just go to newegg.com. then go to video cards. A menu of specification choices will come up.

http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCateg...?SubCategory=48

then select the following:

memory size: 256MB
memory type: GDDR3
memory interface 256bit
directX: directX 9
interface: (either AGP 4X/8X or PCIexpress 16x)

leave the rest on 'any'

When you hit 'GO' it will bring up a page that should start with 12pipe cards. Geforce 6 or x800 series cards. Scroll until you find the first cards that have '16pipes'. Generally this will be either the x800xl'S or the gforce6800GT'S. If I were in the market for a card I would not buy a lower card than the gforce6800GT or the x800xl.

DO NOT BUY A CARD JUST BECAUSE IT SAYS 6800, OR SAYS X800. There is a huge difference between the first generation (6800s,x800s) and more recent models. I think I saw someone who said they were going to get a 6800 basic. DON'T. The benchmarks show that it does no better than the 9800xt or 9800pro in BF2.

Now like i said, some of the 12 pipe cards will run the game well on high settings, but not with EVERYTHING maxed out, (resolution, aa & af, refresh rate, settings). If you want to play with totally everything maxed out you will without question need 1.5 or more gigabytes of RAM and at least a 16 pipe card.

NOTE: 16x doesn't indicate the same thing as 16pipes.

08/17/05 23:38

captainkam

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Re: Need Help

Thanks for that info now i know which card i will get

08/18/05 12:35

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

I didnt mean to offend anyone. I simply pointed out that the game was infact meant to be played on Nvidia cards. If you want to buy and ATI go right ahead. I myself had an ATI card at one time and I never had any problems with it. I apologize for not pointing out that I spent $450 on my graphics card. Unfortunately if you want to play BF2 with high settings and get good and consistent fps...you gota spend the money.

I get consistent 80 to 90fps with my settings on hi.

I also have 2 gigs of dual channel PC3200 RAM

08/18/05 13:10

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

Yes....that nvidia card rocks....I have never seen a card preform so well in my life. Its like having a blown 454 in your computer.

Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra

08/18/05 13:15

Thugsolo

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Re: Need Help

I want to get an Nvidia 6800 Ultra AGP 8x but have a 4x motherboard from a 2003 Gateway. It also takes Rambus PC800 RAM.....

Should I make the switch or will the card not perform as well on my older board?

Trying to decide whether or not to sink more money in this PC or is it a waste?

08/18/05 13:43

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

I myself had to upgrade my motherboard to support 8x agp. I spent like $87 and bought the MSI 865 Neo2-P...worth every penny. Also bought 2 gigs of dual channel PC 3200 RAM and used my old processor. 2.53ghz Pent 4. Slapped in my GeForce 6800 Ultra...and I had one hell of a BF2 Machine.

08/18/05 14:41

johnpenn

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BigDawg don't be naive. "The Way the Game was meant to be played" is a damn advertisement.

I hear what you are saying BigDawg but every(EVERY) benchmark test I have seen has the ATI x850xtpe outperforming the 6800ultra in battlefield 2. On every settings scenario.

I mean it is hard for me to argue with you because i dont own an ultra. But the benchmarks say something different than what you are saying. And another thing, don't be so naive. That advertisement that you see, "Nvidia, How the game is meant to be played"-- Don't you realize that that is marketing BS. The 16 pipe x8--'s play the game brilliantly dude. I mean I just got to disagree with you on your little mantra. The game was not MEANT to be played with NVIDIA. It was meant to be played on a graphics processing unit that can exploit the technologies the game offers. It just so happens that Nvidia and ATI are the main gpu's on the market. In fact, I have seen articles and hardware analyses saying that ATI renders some things better than Nvidia. That the image quality is actually better for a given hardware settup and game setting with ATI. Now of course the Nvidia7800gtx is the king of the hill right now. But a 'quality' gtx costs 500+ dollars. Of course ATI will come out with something before long that outdoes that. I am not biased towards either company either way. The fact is that when I bought my x800xl it offered the best graphics for the price at the time. All I go by is price per performance. Everything else is blowing smoke. I have owned many cards from both companies and have never been dissappointed by either. So there.

08/19/05 12:21

johnpenn

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SAVE MONEY THUGSOLO, no matter how long it takes, save money

Thugsolo I would definitely save money. Don't waste any more money on your current system. What is your money situation like? Is it reasonable that you would be able to save money in order to be able to play BF2 well. Or is that out of the question.

You would have to sink some bucks into your current system to suite it for bf2. You would have to get more ram, a new card, a new motherboard to suite an 8x card and probably a new power supply. Taht is basically a desktop right there.

If you are wanting to just play the game on med to high settings you can do so relatively cheaply. That depends on your definition of cheaply. But I would save money if I were you. The game is so incredibly worth it. You would be alot happier playing the game with a new system.

08/19/05 12:32

Thugsolo

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Re: Need Help

I hear ya John...I mean the game is still fun now but I know from the video on the EA site that I'm obviously missing alot playing on Low settings. My cpu is a mid 2003 and I know that is a millenium ago in video gaming terms. I should just play what I got until I can get a new system.

Now the question.....what new system? I'm not in the market to go crazy but I want to get something that will last a minute. Just to start planning ahead.....

08/19/05 13:30

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

LoL...I dont know why people have to get so pissy over graphics cards. I honestly dont care what the next guy has. If a person wants go buy an ATI more power to them....same with an Nvidia. I only am supporting my Nvidia because I have seen what it can do. If the ATI can push more FPS....good for it...I will stick with my 80 to 90 FPS and not complain. Yes I do know that the Nvidia thing at the begining of the game is some what of a marketing ploy. Its just cool that the best game ever is supported by....Nvidia. There will never be a final best Graphics card because Nvidia and ATI will just keep one uping eachother. I realize this completely. I dont wana cause any hard feelings twoard anyone in here because I enjoy reading posts and trying to help people the best I can. I have first hand knowledge of how well the 6800 Ultra runs and I will share that with everyone who asks for advice on a vid card. Just because I support Nvidia cards does not give you the right to yell at me for supporting them. Not once did I say that ATI cards are bad cards....Not once did I say that the new super duper ATI card sucked....I simply supported the Nvidia because I own one. If you cant respect peoples opinions then you have no right posting in these forums.

08/19/05 15:18

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

WoW...I just read a post in another area from johnpenn....it says something to the effect of his ATI card not preforming to his expectations....?????

Whats up with that dude....how you gona come in here and 2 face people like that....you yell about how the ATI Card is soooo much better than the Nvidia and then I find another post from you bitching about how your ATI card isnt preforming....get that beeatch some viagra bro.

His Post below

X800XL : Not getting performance I expected.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom line: CAN'T PLAY ON HIGH (even with AA off) @ 1024x res. 85refreshrate

Athlon64 939 Venice 3000+
MSI Neo4 Platinum
Radeon ATI x800xl
SATA ncq hd
430watt psu
1 GB Corsair (2x512) in dual channel
5.6 catalyst drivers

There is definitely something not right about this. All the research I did showed that my setup should be doing much better fps than it is. I am even noticing lag on medium.
I spent too much money for me to be getting not much better performance than my former setup:
2600+ barton
gforce evga 6800 basic 128 MB ram

And I've built tons of computers, so i'm pretty sure its not me.

I would even venture to say that they are performing about the same. Man I'm just really pissed right now! My initial goal was to play on high. In fact, before the game came out I kept saying, if I can't play on high then I'm not really interested in playing it.

08/19/05 15:27

johnpenn

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Re: Need Help

BigDawg your such a yahoo. Obviously you didnt read the whole thread. It would just seem to me that that would sort be a no brainer. Just read the rest of the thread. I mean if you are new to forums then okay but the point of opening a thread is to introduce a problem. If you read the rest of a thread you will often find that the problem has been resolved.

08/19/05 15:34

BigDawg

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Re: Need Help

Nahh...thats ok I dont need to read the rest of the thread....all I needed to see was that your ATI card gave you problems from the get go. Nvidia card....preformed like a champ right out of the box.

08/20/05 09:19

johnpenn

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Re: Need Help

there was never a problem with my card. i just thought there was. but since you're too thick to read the rest of the thread you will go on persisting in your delusion.

08/20/05 10:02

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