Which graphics card?

[Jim]

I've been meaning to get a new one for while, mainly to be able to run Richard Burns Rally (I'm going to bid on the PC DVD version on eBay tonight for just £2!).

Anyway, I don't really know what to get. Looking to get something capable of running RBR smoothly.

What about a ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, I remember people saying they were good cards when Nicky started a topic on this...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/9700_to_9800_Series.html

What about the ones on this page, are they a good price for the spec, and which would be the best to get?

The only thing problem is, my motherboard is only capable of AGP 4x, but am I right in thinking the card will still work even if it is AGP 8x?

Thanks in anticipation.

[vrmx]

Ok. First it would help a bit if you'd list your other components like cpu speed and ram atleast ;).

9800 Pro is still an ok card if you don't need/want all the eye candy. If Nvidia cards are not closed down the 6600GT could be an option.

BTW. I just got myself a Radeon X800 Pro (new one of course) for 189€ :D.

[MudSnow]

I definitely prefer nVidia. I am still using a Gf4ti 4600 with no trouble. Available new for <$100 now. the 6600 and newer are great if you want to spend more.

I know that you can use AGP4x card in 8x slot, but not sure about other way. Doubtful. A fast CPU helps at least as much a graphics card.

And always remember the same card, like the same car, will be cheaper in 6 months. :D

[vrmx]

GF4Ti series is old and not really worth getting new nowadays.

AGP8x cards usually work with AGP4x and the performance hit is minimal, maybe 1-2%.

[Hakker]

6800 GT usually has a good price/performance tag and gives you nearly all candy.

[MudSnow]

Here is a good test, for people who are playing RBR.

Copy and paste this next line into file "RichardBurnsRally.ini":

:arrow: ShowFPS = true

Be careful and make a backup first. It is also case sensitive.


Post your fps here and tell what video card and CPU you have. Dan and vrmx, especially! (We already know your system :P ) Also say what screen settings you are using. For example: 1024x768x32

[Hakker]

Does that work on the RBR demo version as well?

[MudSnow]

Try it.

[Jim]

Ok my CPU is a AMD Athlon 2200+, and I have 512 MB DDR RAM.

So the 9800 Pro would give me good performance, but wouldn't run full detail etc. very well?

I don't think my budget will stretch to X800 etc. I'm only looking at spending £60 - £70.

I think its between:

GeForce 6800:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/GeForce_6800.html

or

ATi Radeon 9800 Pro
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/9700_to_9800_Series.html

So which specific one the best? :wave:

[MudSnow]

Just say your fps and copy and paste your file "RichardBurnsRally.ini".
And also basic specs. Don't care what fans you have :P

[Jim]

I don't have the game yet, but I know it won't run on my GeForce 4 MX440, which is why I'm getting a new card ready for the game.

Any recommendations to the cards of those pages MudSnow?

(P.S. Did you get the 131 Abarth pics ok?)

[vrmx]

Did a quick bench with Fraps and this is what I got:

2005-08-15 00:02:43 - RichardBurnsRally_SSE
Frames: 9575 - Time: 97628ms - Avg: 98.076 - Min: 78 - Max: 128

So 78fps min :). Oh and that's one run on the rally school stage.

PC specs in sig below and game settings as follows: 1280x1024x32, everything on max, aa&af on application preference so no aa but RBR's own af.

[MudSnow]

Here are my results: Using AMD 2400, 2x512 PC2700, PNY GeForce4 ti 4600: (no overclocking)

Four different settings:

[Settings]
ConstantForceMultiplier = -60
Depth = 32
ForceFeedback = false
Fullscreen = true
MinDepthBits = 24
MinStencilBits = 8
ParticleQuality = high
RenderQuality = high
RunIntro = false
RunStartup = false
ShowFPS = true
Sound = true
UseCubicEnvironmentMaps = true
UseEAX = true
UseSoftwareAudio = false
UseTripleScreenBuffers = false
WaitRetrace = true
XRes = 1024
YRes = 768

This gives me usually 31-38 and sometimes 26-44 fps.

__________________________________________________ __________


[Settings]
ConstantForceMultiplier = -60
Depth = 32
ForceFeedback = false
Fullscreen = true
MinDepthBits = 24
MinStencilBits = 8
ParticleQuality = high
RenderQuality = medium
RunIntro = false
RunStartup = false
ShowFPS = true
Sound = true
UseCubicEnvironmentMaps = false
UseEAX = true
UseSoftwareAudio = false
UseTripleScreenBuffers = false
WaitRetrace = true
XRes = 1024
YRes = 768


This gives me usually 34-43 and sometimes 29-52 fps.

__________________________________________________ _________

[Settings]
ConstantForceMultiplier = 40
Depth = 32
ForceFeedback = false
Fullscreen = true
MinDepthBits = 24
MinStencilBits = 8
ParticleQuality = off
RenderCarShadow = false
RenderQuality = low
RunIntro = false
RunStartup = false
ShowFPS = true
Sound = true
UseCubicEnvironmentMaps = false
UseEAX = true
UseSoftwareAudio = false
UseTripleScreenBuffers = false
WaitRetrace = true
XRes = 640
YRes = 480

This gives me between 49 and 61, and usually 55-59

__________________________________________________ _______________________

[Settings]
ConstantForceMultiplier = -60
Depth = 32
ForceFeedback = false
Fullscreen = true
MinDepthBits = 24
MinStencilBits = 8
ParticleQuality = high
RenderQuality = high
RunIntro = false
RunStartup = false
ShowFPS = true
Sound = true
UseCubicEnvironmentMaps = true
UseEAX = true
UseSoftwareAudio = false
UseTripleScreenBuffers = false
WaitRetrace = true
XRes = 1600
YRes = 1200

This gives me between 19 and 38, and usually 24-35

[MudSnow]

To Jim: I like the nVidia, excellent driver support.

Thanks for the pictures! I got them.

[vrmx]

Don't know if this will be any help fo you Jim but take a look.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html

Note that most of the tests are OpenGL where Nvidia is faster as in D3D Ati is maybe slightly ahead and RBR is D3D.

And MudSnow there's nothing wrong with Ati drivers either. If there's something it's a user error :P.

[Hakker]

AMD 2400, 512 Mb
Geforce FX5700VE 256 Mb
1024x768 32b
all max

RBR DEMO RUN RBR DEMO RUN RBR DEMO RUN

.ini:
ConstantForceMultiplier = -60
Depth = 32
ForceFeedback = true
Fullscreen = true
MinDepthBits = 24
MinStencilBits = 8
ParticleQuality = high
RenderCarShadow = true
RenderQuality = high
RunIntro = true
RunStartup = false
Sound = true
UseCubicEnvironmentMaps = true
UseEAX = true
UseSoftwareAudio = false
UseTripleScreenBuffers = false
WaitRetrace = true
XRes = 1024
YRes = 768
ShowFPS = true

That all makes the DEMO run at 25-35 fps on a quick rally

[vrmx]

Any update here Jim?

[MudSnow]

vrmx, you have AGP 8x or PCI-Express?

[vrmx]

AGP 8x. I had PCI-E but there's really no difference between them in performance yet.

And in general PCI-E chipsets are hotter and consume more power :). See here (http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20050713/energy_crisis-15.html). What I had was nForce4 SLI which is comparable to nForce4 Ultra and now I have VIA K8T800 Pro.

[JamesGT]

You're not going to see much of a difference going from 4x to 8x or vice versa as far as the AGP architecture is concerned.

You're better off getting the best GPU and fastest memory you can on the video card.

If you have two identical cards, and one runs at 4x and the other at 8x, you're not going to see twice the performance. It will be barely measureable.

You get what you pay for.

[Jim]

Any update here Jim?

I ordered a Leadtek WinFast GeForce 6800 128MB DDR with TV-Out/DVI

It has a 325MHz core, 700MHz DDR memory, a 256-bit interface, 12 pipelines and dual 400MHz RAMDACs.

Its due to come tomorrow (well this morning - just got back from the pub! :smash:)

I just hope my PSU is upto the job, its a pretty average 300W one. I also read that CPU can effect performance, and I'm only running on a AMD Athlon 2200+ @ 1.8 Ghz, and 512 DDR (not sure what speed) RAM...

Hopefully I'll be able to run RBR ok, I'll let you know how it goes! Thanks for all your advice! :D :wave:

[Rallyfan]

Hopefully I'll be able to run RBR ok

I can say surely that RBR will run well. It runs just fine even in my not-so-high-end-pc
Some things i have there for example: Radeon 9200, Celeron 2600Mhz,512mb of memory, VIA AC'97 Audio Wave.
And RBR runs very well :)

[vrmx]

6800 should be enough to run RBR.

It all depends how you look at it. I myself like to keep all details to the max and still be able to get smooth gameplay like I do now :).

Once you get a high end card and get used to all the eye candy there's no going back...

[MudSnow]

Well, today I am hearing more terrible things about ATI installed in work stations.

So I definitely recommend nVidia cards for computers that are running lots of software besides games, especially OpenGL applications, such as 3dsMax. Maybe some of the new cards such as x800 are better now.

[Jim]

I've had the card about 2 weeks now, and it worked for the first 2 days, but suddenly Windows didn't start, and so I had to go back to my crappy, pathetic Gainward GeForce 4 MX440. I think the problem is my 300W PSU isn't up to the job. I want to order a new PSU, but my mum won't me use her credit card to get one online (for a good price), as she thinks I've wasted my money (£127) on a graphics card which doesn't work and I'm spending so much for a game which only cost me £5. :argue:

There are no good PC hardware shops in my town which sell any decent PSUs either! :argue:

[MudSnow]

Ya, why waste money on fuel when the car won't run. Nevermind WHY it won't run. :P