Graphics power - unimpressed

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by peaz

There's a tab in nTune for overclocking quite a while already. Even in the Vista 64 version. But i've to say that I've never tried it before yet. DIdn't have any reason too. haha

Yeah, but you have to install it separately. nTune was originally designed for nForce motherboards. The Windows XP graphics driver have the CoolBits hidden overclocking tool built right into it.

[Chai]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

Yeah, but you have to install it separately. nTune was originally designed for nForce motherboards. The Windows XP graphics driver have the CoolBits hidden overclocking tool built right into it.

I think even new XP drivers do not have Coolbits anymore.

[goldfries]

btw NV just released new driver.

from what I tested - i get performance boost across the board!

I was testing an 8600GT the other day, it didn't run STALKER well. So I downloaded new drivers and the framerates for that 8600GT on High were higher than my 8600GT OC Edition on Medium.

I was like WTH?!?! Did the test a few times, results same. Then I remember the driver upgrade, so I tested the rest of the stuff again - wow........ all FPS boosted.

[goldfries]

Originally Posted by bluesman737

With regards to PCI Express v AGP, the numbers as I understand are that AGP can kick out 1GB of inf per second whereas PCIE can give 4GB at max. Call that bandwidth if you want but it should mean a faster throughput, excepting of course the system bottlenecks.

I understand that the 7500LE is not top dollar here and is probably the bottleneck, however it appeared to be the best thing on offer when I bought the rig. Note that it is unlikely that I'll be changing it anytime soon as the rig carries a 12 month warranty and is sealed against invasion by any unauthorised source. I'm tempted, but if the mobo or CP were to blow in the next 11 months or so, I'm the fall guy!

you shouldn't be so concerned over the PCI-E vs AGP, the most important part of the graphic card is the core.

I've tested the 7100GS and it wasn't a screamer. I've tested the 8400GS and it isn't a screamer either but at least it could do full-details on 800x600 / 1024x768.

if you're looking for nicer graphic details, get at least a card based on nVidia 8600GT or ATI HD2600XT.

[bluesman737]

Er need to slow down a bit now given so many replies.

With regard to PCIE v AGP I'm only quoting the figures on the AMD site and that clearly says that the PCIE throughput is upto 4 times faster than AGPx8.... I know the GPU will slow it down - but hope that there might still be something of a boost there. In fact, the more I play COD2, the more the performance doesn't seem so bad.

Installed latest NVidia drives on the Acer website (as it is an OEM card) - these were lreeased Dec 06.

I now have ATI Catalyst and NVidia drivers running - not sure what is handling what - to the person who said you could not install ATI Catalyst with an NVidia card - clearly you can. That said I can't do anything in Catalyst other than view the make and model number of the Graphics card. NVidia Control centre is offering me performance/quality options etc.

Not sure I follow the overclocking debate. Guess I go looking for NTune in Vista? Please confirm if this is right?

To the member who suggested downloading the latest drivers - is that worth it with an OEM card? Does he mean those on the NVidia site and should they be the '7' series ones?

[Chai]

Originally Posted by bluesman737

Er need to slow down a bit now given so many replies.

With regard to PCIE v AGP I'm only quoting the figures on the AMD site and that clearly says that the PCIE throughput is upto 4 times faster than AGPx8.... I know the GPU will slow it down - but hope that there might still be something of a boost there. In fact, the more I play COD2, the more the performance doesn't seem so bad.

Installed latest NVidia drives on the Acer website (as it is an OEM card) - these were lreeased Dec 06.

I now have ATI Catalyst and NVidia drivers running - not sure what is handling what - to the person who said you could not install ATI Catalyst with an NVidia card - clearly you can. That said I can't do anything in Catalyst other than view the make and model number of the Graphics card. NVidia Control centre is offering me performance/quality options etc.

Not sure I follow the overclocking debate. Guess I go looking for NTune in Vista? Please confirm if this is right?

To the member who suggested downloading the latest drivers - is that worth it with an OEM card? Does he mean those on the NVidia site and should they be the '7' series ones?

Yes, you need nTune to overclock.

Theoratical throughput is 4 times higher. But it's like driving a small car on an autobahn.