The Oblivion challenge

Aloha specialists and enthusiasts,

I'm having a conundrum: I'm not sure which graphic card I should chose for my next home-build system (should it ever happen, I'm more of a dreamer than a builder and notoriously frugal, haha).

I'd like to be able to play Oblivion on a 24" screen (1920x1200), but I'm not sure whether a HD3870 or a 8800GT would be the better choice. Is it actually worth playing with AA on at this resolution?

Do you have any monitor recommendation for the smaller wallet?

Many thanks,
Cistron

Product review: The AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 (page 8: Oblivion) - BeHardware

Thank you! Appears as if a cheaper HD3850 will do so as well.

I have no clue about the monitor though. Do HD-encoded films require the monitor to be HDCP compatible as well?

I believe if your monitor isn't HDCP compatible you don't get the full resolution on playback, not sure what it gets down-scaled to though ..

Well, I play Oblivion at 25% grass, full settings otherwise at 1680 x 1050 using an 8800GT. If I was at a higher resolution, I'd consider getting a meatier card if you want ALL the eye candy turned on to full, like the 8800GTS or the HD3870X2.

I play it higher than that lucio :p

Grass past halfway, full settings, 8xAF and 4xAA with HDR @1680x1050.. on just a x1950xt.

Oblivion *loves* ATI cards, especially as they can do AA at the same time as HDR on this game.

Doing full settings with an HD3850 on everything as well as a few distance settings bumped up with the config file, 4xAA, 4xAF. Mind you; this is at 1440x900.

For the OP's intended resolution I'd recommend a 3870.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wyoming

Doing full settings with an HD3850 on everything as well as a few distance settings bumped up with the config file, 4xAA, 4xAF. Mind you; this is at 1440x900.

For the OP's intended resolution I'd recommend a 3870.

---

Okay, so I'll go for an 3870.
The immediate follow-up question (of course) is how much load the CPU has to take and whether I'd get away with a slightly over-clocked E2xxx model, or any other budget CPU?

For the monitor: I heard the OcUK 24" value model is very good, but the stand is just horrible. Still a good choice?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cistron

Okay, so I'll go for an 3870.
The immediate follow-up question (of course) is how much load the CPU has to take and whether I'd get away with a slightly over-clocked E2xxx model, or any other budget CPU?

For the monitor: I heard the OcUK 24" value model is very good, but the stand is just horrible. Still a good choice?

---

Can't answer the monitor question, but yes the CPU does load up in Oblivion a bit, however a slightly overclocked E2xxx model should still be fine - it's single core or pentium D chips that struggle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kalniel

Can't answer the monitor question, but yes the CPU does load up in Oblivion a bit, however a slightly overclocked E2xxx model should still be fine - it's single core or pentium D chips that struggle.

---

That's good news! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kalniel

I play it higher than that lucio :p

Grass past halfway, full settings, 8xAF and 4xAA with HDR @1680x1050.. on just a x1950xt.

---

Me too at 1920x1200 on a 640MB 8800 GTS. I would have thought an 8800GT would be fine then as it's better than my card.

I use a 8800GT on a 20" widescreen @ 1680x1050 and Oblivion is dreamy smooth :)

You could take a look here at the Fujitsu Siemens shop. Their monitors are v nice.

Thanks!

Can anyone confirm that Oblivion would run smoothly on an E2160 at let's say 2.5-3.0Ghz?

With which graphics card?

Would have been the HD3870, but I think I changed my mind. The monitor prices are not really justified, given that playing on a smaller monitor is probably almost the same joy for less money. I can still buy a second screen later, should I want a bigger desktop for work. I probably won't jump onto the the HD-train to quickly either, so it doesn't make a big difference for me.

Okay, so the new scenario is basically an HD3850 256MB and probably a 19" widescreen monitor (1440x900, yes?).

I have no idea where to find a nice 19" monitor though. Seems like the general trend is the bigger the better, which goes hand in hand with low value TN or PVA panels... help, recommendations please.

Feel free to give me other comments as well, I appreciate all oppinions :)

I would say you might as well go for the 512MB 3850 not a lot more money and will potentially offer you better frame rates even on a 19" monitor, you can also get 19" or 20" widecreens at 1680*1050 which may be an option how much are you planning to spend?