Basically, I am doing more with my system then I though I would originally. My (incorrect) assumption was that the Radeon HD3450 PCI Express 16X would be just as good as my old AGP GeForce 7800GS CO. Part of the original choice was based on cost. I like 3D screen savers, stupid over glorified 3D screen savers. Sometimes I play a game, and I might eventually play something like Cryses or The Witcher. Again, no moding. I will need a PCIE Power adapter, so I would prefer it to be included with the card. So, I want the fallowing features minimal: 1GB Video RAM, 128bit GDDR2 RAM, and HDCP. I don't want the fan to blow air to the front of the case. Cost is limited to $150, but I expect to be able to play the games, not max everything out and see everything in 16X FSAA. In general lower is better. I am looking at the fallowing cards. ECS 9600GT EVGA 9600GT
Again, I don't expect to be able to max it out. With a game like Crysis, I expect to get settings at low/medium at best. Forgot, my board supports CorssFireX. If getting a cheaper or 2 cheaper Radeon cards would be better, I am open to suggestions. But my board did not come with a bridge connector. After (finally) finding the system requirements for Crysis, it seems the recommended Video is only NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/640 or similar. Link to official site.
Any Radeons 4850/ Geforce 9800 GTX+ will do OK in Crysis. If you can shell out a little bit more, you can get the 4870.
Crysis on low/medium is a waste of money IMO. Would suggest a Radeon 4850 as well. Quite affordable and should last you a while
Yeah, the ATI Radeon HD 4850 will be a good choice. The important thing is it will last you quite a while, even with the newer games that are coming up in 2009.
hmm, a 4830 might be ok too..since somewhere i did read up that CF 4830 is faster than a single 4870 O_O...
Gaming is not the primary purpose of the system, just something I will occasionally do. But not having to worry would be nice... One concern I have with ATI is the whole "Optimised for NVIDIA" and some of the technology they have. For instance, the PurevideoHD, CUDIA, and the PhysiX. IF I am able to go up in price, it won't be much. Might not even be $50 USD. However, it it's worth it I will get a card with un-preferred cooling.
Might, I repeat MIGHT be able to get this one HIS Hightech H485QS1GP Radeon HD 4850 As from what I can tell that will get everything to medium in Crysis with some AA and AF at 1680x1050. Seems to have solid cooling that's also quiet and it has a little overclock already done. Just to make sure I have enough power, I have a ThermalTake Pure Power PSU at 560 watts. +12 has 22A and +5 has 40A. All other info is listed in my sig. On a side note, every time I come here, I always get good clear advise. It's still one of the best places for information IMO. Thank you all!
HIS has many good cooling solutions on their graphics card . Also, You can put all Maximum with 0xAA and 2xAF at 1280x1024. That's what I tried - it looks good. I bet those AA are framerate killers so turn it off if you want max detail.
Well, that's NVIDIA marketing... hehe... PurevideoHD and CUDA are good, but most of the apps that support them are not free. You have to fork out quite a lot of money for apps like Badaboom. That's why they are still niche apps. As for PhysX, there may be some support for it in the future, but game developers are unlikely to cripple their sales by supporting only PhysX. It's likely ATI will have something similar out soon.
Forget about AA in Crysis. I won't bother with AA in Crysis, even with a Radeon HD 4870!! It's just that crazy on hardware. Take a look at this review - Tech ARP - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Graphics Card Review Rev. 2.0 and you will see that it trashes even the GTX 280/260 and is only playable with a GTX 295, when AA is enabled. Your PSU is more than good enough.
Ok then, I will see if this can be worked out. That card bumps the total cost to $200 with shipping, so I will be looking for deals at other places. With me going from a Redeon card to another Radeon card, is it safe to leave the drivers alone? As in no un-install and then re-install.
4850/4870s are a good deal, so take opportunities of the discounts and rebates when you see one! Also, you might need to reinstall the drivers most of the time.
To put it simply, I will be able to get that card. Now it's a matter of where. I found one on EBay that might work, possably cutting the price down a lot.
ATI ASUS HD4850 TOP Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E OC - eBay (item 320340798957 end time Feb-22-09 13:23:43 PST) or HIS Radeon HD 4850 Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, HDMI Support, VGA Support H485FN512P at TigerDirect.com
This one is $114 after rebate: Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
