My experience: 7600GT -> 3870

Hi folks, thanks to the fuzzy and warm CooperXS I am now the proud owner of a 3870, and wanted to share how my first night has been with my new partner.
Oh, sure, both me and the Radeon have been around a bit, we're not exactly 'virgins', but i like to think of us as both having experience and knowing what our roles are.... :)

My 7600GT, currently waiting for some future home (like a media centre? not sure yet) did well 2 ish years ago and does in fact play Crysis, albeit at 1024 x 768 with most settings on low and a couple on medium. Battlefield 2 (still a favorite) ran nicely, CIV 4 worked perfectly (until the very end stages), and i've enjoyed Bioshock and Oblivion too. Trackmania is also worth a download via Steam, it's free and legal, and good for throwaway fun with mates.

I swapped in the 3870 last night (a proper dual slot thing, which i'm quite happy to see ventilates air out of the back rather than recycling it inside) and after 5 minutes of panic (no working machine, then remembered that i'd unplugged the 4 pin extra power connector) it booted, and 10 more minutes of slightly fussy driver installs.

First of all, Crysis.
Wow.
I can now play this at 1680 x 1050, with most settings medium and about 4 on high. And it's silky smooth. And it's looks great. (Although the game still gets rubbish once you get to the alien floaty lair).

Battlefield 2 - well, i can now run all the settings on the very highest settings, but in truth nothing really is that different. A bit prettier.

Trackmania Nations - hmm, i turned the settings up but then found some juddering. Need to experiment more with this.

Guild Wars - Exactly the same. Probably a higher frame rate?

That's it so far with games, i might add to this post over the next day or so.
In terms of anything else, Windows of course works exactly the same, havent booted into Ubuntu yet.
It's a bit noisier though - i certainly wouldnt call it loud, but in my Antec P180 case, going from a Zalman VF900-CU to a stock cooler is noticeable.

Regrets? None. I'm a happy bunny, although am actually glad that i didnt spend more money on a 4000 series, since i now have 'enough' power. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MSIC

since i now have 'enough' power. :)

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No such thing. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MSIC

Guild Wars - Exactly the same. Probably a higher frame rate?

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lol, i changed from a X1300 Pro to a 4850 and the only change i have noticed is being able to turn AAx4 on. And frame rates are still capped at around 60...

What CPUs are you using?

E6600 at stock

actually, when i upgrade from a intel P4 at 3ghz to this E6600 the frame rates doubled from 30 to 60 (still using the X1300Pro)

you must be using a very low resolution to get that fps with a x1300 :p

15" crt monitor ftw ^ ^

when i change to a 22" fame rates were pushed back down to around 40

My HIS X1300 Pro was awesome, it had one of those ICEq coolers by HIS/Arctic Cooling and could play CSS on full with no AA/AF full res on the 22" moniter =P

Guild wars is it DX8?

Dx 9

It requires 9 to be installed, but works on 8 level hardware (ie just needs hardware T&L).

More details on the card you opted for?

I play the same games and can't stop oggling other cards :(

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Originally Posted by mycarsavw

More details on the card you opted for?
I play the same games and can't stop oggling other cards :(

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It's a standard, stock Radeon 3870. No modifications to clock speed, fan etc.
See here:
http://forums.hexus.net/classifieds-...hd-3870-a.html

What i would say is that, as with many of these things, modify your expectations.
I.E. Will you be able to play something new with card ABC that you can't play with a 7600GT? The answer is no.
You can play Crysis with a 7600GT.
Will the experience of using card ABC be a better one? Well graphically yes, and so it's arguably worth it.

HOWEVER you know (maybe, depending on age) when you had to watch films on a small black & white portable TV? Well after a few minutes of being annoyed, you actually adjust to what you have and quickly ignore the visual stuff and concentrate on the content.
Of course, computer games are often as much about the visuals as the content, so it all comes down to the games in question and what you want from them.