Geek question

[psyktek]

Just picked up a copy of Doom 3, and while the AMD processor seems up to the task, the Radeon 8500LE is gasping for breath.

Anyone got any recommendations in the sub-200 buck level? I'd like 256 MB DDR as a minimum spec, but I"m woefully out of touch with the latest chipsets.

Hey Dave, are you listening?

 

[Robbmt]

The Radeon is from Nvidea? Yes? I think they have a 9600 out now. Not sure on prices.

 

[Roseysman]

Radeon is an ATI product, as for u/g I havent tried Doom3 but my 9700 works fine on any other games Ive tried from Farcry to BFVietnam.
you could try increasing your CPU Ram, I'm running a gig in mine

 

[Kryo]

Id require more info on your current system before giving a video card reccomendation. Exact CPU stats, RAM, and what chipset your running.

Considering you have a Radeon 8500 now the best you could probally do is a Radeon 9800 Pro... and it is available in 256MB versions but probally wont fit your price budget and it may be bottlenecked by your CPU/RAM/motherboard.

When I get Doom 3 in a few weeks (About to go on vacation.. YAY!) I will be running it at a High video setting on my PC.. stats are AMD 2500+, 1GB ram, Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB version, nVidia nForce 2 chipset.

 

[boeman]

my 9700 pro runs it fine... try turning of shadowing... that may help you out!

 

[StonyVision]

yupp ati herd your cry

Doom 3: CATALYST 4.9 BETA
ATI is providing an early version of CATALYST 4.9 to users interested in increasing performance of Doom 3.



http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4547.html


other wise here's some sub $200:

ATI Radeon 9600XT 256MB DDR AGP8X w/ CRT, TVO, & DVI - OEM
Sale price: $146.00

http://www.buyxtremegear.com/r9600xt256oem.html


or


Gigabyte GeForce FX5700 256MB DDR AGP 8X DVI/TVO (Retail)
Our Price: $149.00

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simprod.as...=8795&ad=pwatch

 

[psyktek]

Id require more info on your current system before giving a video card reccomendation. Exact CPU stats, RAM, and what chipset your running.

Considering you have a Radeon 8500 now the best you could probally do is a Radeon 9800 Pro... and it is available in 256MB versions but probally wont fit your price budget and it may be bottlenecked by your CPU/RAM/motherboard.

When I get Doom 3 in a few weeks (About to go on vacation.. YAY!) I will be running it at a High video setting on my PC.. stats are AMD 2500+, 1GB ram, Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB version, nVidia nForce 2 chipset.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.08 GHz, 512 MB DDR 333 Ram, nForce 2 chipset on an ASUS A7N8X board, ATI Radeon 8500 LE with 128 MB ram.

Does this give you enough information?

Thanks!

Bob

 

[StonyVision]

Id require more info on your current system before giving a video card reccomendation. Exact CPU stats, RAM, and what chipset your running.

Considering you have a Radeon 8500 now the best you could probally do is a Radeon 9800 Pro... and it is available in 256MB versions but probally wont fit your price budget and it may be bottlenecked by your CPU/RAM/motherboard.

When I get Doom 3 in a few weeks (About to go on vacation.. YAY!) I will be running it at a High video setting on my PC.. stats are AMD 2500+, 1GB ram, Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB version, nVidia nForce 2 chipset.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.08 GHz, 512 MB DDR 333 Ram, nForce 2 chipset on an ASUS A7N8X board, ATI Radeon 8500 LE with 128 MB ram.

Does this give you enough information?

Thanks!

Bob

I would upgrade your drivers, maybe turn down the detail on the game and try the CATALYST, that system more than meets what doom 3 needs. You may also want to try changing your resolution from 32 to 16. It’s not really noticeable while gaming.

 

[Lee]

I built a computer just for gaming and I'll tell you some myths as a good friend of mine is an expert at this stuff:

First of all, there's not much difference in 128mg vs 256mg DDR video cards. It's only going to perform up to the benchmarks of the GPU anyway, so why waste the money on DDR?

I researched cards like crazy and I came to this conclusion: I prefer Nvidia over ATI personally. ATI has way too many driver issues on the games I play like BF1942 and BFV, Quake, Elite Force.

I decided to go with the Chaintech Geforce 5700 Ultra and I'm hanging in there with some of the top radeon guys because I can overclock the hell out of the card!!! I'm running it maxed out at like 375/1031. It's no 9600 but it's close and do a search on google to check out the benchmark comparisons on cards, it's worth reading!

Good luck in whatever choice you make and have fun with Doom 3!

 

[txmatt]

I gotta agree with Leebo: save your cash on the extra video memory; you might wait a few more seconds for textures to cache as the level loads, but once it is loaded the difference will be negligable.

You should be able to find a 9800 Pro 128 meg card for under your $200 price as I got mine 4 months ago at that price (updgraded for UT2K4). You may be able to get a 256 for that price if you watch for a deal. Check the Geek bargain forums: [H]arcOCP [H]ot Deals and AnandTech Hot Deals. Both of these are full of penny pinching geeks, so they tend to stay on computer stuff unlike FatWallet and Bargain$hhare.

That A7N8X supports Dual Channel memory, is your 512 MB RAM in one bank or two? I would look into 1 Gig of Dual Channel PC3200 memory (2 512 MB sticks). CORSAIR XMS if you can swing it. If you don't want to spend the money on Corsair, get some that specifies its Dual Channel capable.

Matt

PS get rid of that sKerry photo in your sig

 

[psyktek]

So I turned off shadowing and specular (think that's fog effect?). Now running at 1024x768 and it's plenty scary at these settings!!!

Guess I can hold off on the video upgrade for a while longer.


Now a new HD with an 8MB buffer......................

Or another 512 Megs of RAM.................................


Reply to Matt: The current 512 is a single stick, and I don't recall if it's dual-channel, but I doubt it.

I'll check out the Corsair RAM. Thanks for the tip!



Whattaya mean, skerry?!? Ain't nothin' skerry about it (unless your a Republican in November. )

 

[txmatt]

Reply to Matt: The current 512 is a single stick, and I don't recall if it's dual-channel, but I doubt it.

Hey Bud,

to utilize Dual Channel you need at least 2 Sticks

The memory controller can access the 2 banks independantly - so you can get double the throughput: 6.4GB/s. (With one stick you can only get 3.2 GB/s.)

Dual channel also helps with latency in that one bank can get ready for access while the other is reading/writing. This is very good if you don't have the money to spend on CAS2 latency memory.

At the very least get yourself a second 512 stick of PC2700 (DDR333), I have seen those as low as $50 recently. I think that will help you out considerably.

Matt


flush both Johns 11/2/2k4

 

[Lee]

Definitely right about the dual channel mem, I have 2 512 chips of PC3200 DDR Corsair in mine and what a difference.

These newer games are so graphic intense that you really need at least a gig of ram to keep up.

I also went with the Athlon XP2500+ Barton and it's running at 3200+. Mine kicks butt now.

Check www.mwave.com and newegg as well, I've found some good deals at both!

GL

 

[psyktek]

Thanks for all the help, guys! Once again, I'm amazed at the breadth of knowledge here, along with the friendly attitude. Will definitely go with the additional RAM. I'm also gonna dig out the MB manual and see what the max processor speed is.

Checked the ASUS site and unfortunately, this board is too old to do a BIOS upgrade to allow the FSB 400 spec.

 

[vewyphishy]

These newer games are so graphic intense that you really need at least a gig of ram to keep up.

Haven't played a 1st person shooter game since Quake2. It's mainly because of that... and of course other hardware requirements. I'm still sitting on a 64mg geforce2. SCORE! Looks like if I want to play the newer games, I got to overhaul my whole system. Memory channels are too slow, processor is just an Athlon 1800+...

So sad. LOL.

 

[Lee]

PT, I went with the Shuttle AN35N MB and it has dual channel ram capability and a FSB of 400 and it's only $55!! It also comes with audio built in and it's better than some of the sound cards I've had!!It will run up to an Athlon XP3200+ I believe.

I bought Corsair but it wasn't the XMS, it was a dual channell kit and it works fine. I have talked with folks about the XMS and it's really pricey and not that big of a diffence. Some think it is so it comes down to preference I guess.

I'm very happy with the way my machine performs and it didn't bust the bank building it.

Hope that helps you out!

Lee

 

[Kryo]

psyktek sorry in taking so long to get back to you...

#1. Try it with the 8500 first. From what I have been reading from sites on game performance you might be happy with the results as is.

#2. If you can swing it get another 512 stick of ram and go Dual-Channel... will help the system overall across the board as much as 20% :thumbs:

#3. If the 8500 isnt enough video power and you want more, I suggest ya view the following pages to get an idea exactly what level of performance you want to upgrade to.

Hard-OCP, Athlon Doom 3 low end video card stats
Hard-OCP, Athlon Doom 3 high end video card stats

Personally.. there isnt enough performance increase at the 9800 Pro level to justify a 256MB card, and any video card listed on the second link is definitly good enough for high quality game settings (execpt the Radeon 9600).

 

[psyktek]

Ordered a 512 stick of Crucial memory today, seeing it as an overall boost rather than just a video boost as a card would be. Besides, it helps support the local economy (Micron has a HUGE plant in Utah.)

Thanks for all the great advice from everyone! Now if you all were as reliable with cigar recommendations!! :sign: