Upgrade Options please

[pgudge]

Hi all,

Well I just got my copy of BF2 yesterday from town and, to my horror, it dont work on my games box

Abit IT7 MAX 2 v2 (AGP 4x)
Intel P4 2.4GHz (S478)
GeForce 4 Ti 4600
512MB DDR 3200 RAM

BF2 spec says something like 5500 above.

So I thought I would splash out on a new card, even though I spent far too much on the Ti4600 years back. But the mobo is only 4x AGP. Would I be best getting a newer 8x AGP and save up more for a new mobo aswell (with 8x AGP) or think about PCI-e now? And is a P4 2.4 fast enough for the current games?

Thanks for any input

Paul.

[TheBuZZard]

Cheapest option would be to get yourself a 8xAGP board for you CPU and a new video card. Probably set you back about £250 for motherboard and a X800Xl/6800GT which ever you prefer.

You CPU should be good enough for most game still, your talking another £200 if you want to dump that and buy new CPu like an athlon 64.

Also for BF2 you want at least 1Gb to avoid going totally bald during loading.

[pgudge]

X800Xl/6800GT which ever you prefer.

I'm not wanting to start a nVidia / ATi riot, but which are the better gaming cards. The last ATi cards I have owned (Rage Pro 128, Radeon 7000, Radeon 8500DV) have been a complete pain in Windows for drivers, with blue screens and crashes, are these newer ones better?

I am totaly happy with the speed of the system (P4 2.4) so I think your probably right in upgrading the mobo to a 8x AGP one and a new card. This machine is purely for gaming and nothing else, is there a mobo brand or model that gamers prefer?

Yes I really dont have much of a clue, I have been out of the hardware for so long, I have no idea whats the buzz at the moment.

Thx

[Clstrphbc_donut]

I wouldnt bother with a new CPU, I'd just overclock your current one because (ram depending) they can go VERY far. 3GHz is easy for that CPU.

But i would buy another motherboard, Asus P4P800 is a great board, also theres an Abit one (cant remember the name, think its IC7) but due to me only using the P4P800, thats what I'd reccommend. 277FSB (about 3.5GHz) is as far mine would go, but was unstable. The P4's fly at high FSB.

Also (as said) BF2 likes a lot of RAM, so get another 512/sell your 512 and buy a 1GB kit.

[TheBuZZard]

I'm not wanting to start a nVidia / ATi riot, but which are the better gaming cards. The last ATi cards I have owned (Rage Pro 128, Radeon 7000, Radeon 8500DV) have been a complete pain in Windows for drivers, with blue screens and crashes, are these newer ones better?

Thx

Id say that has pretty much reversed. Ati now has the more reliable drivers set from my own experince I switched to Ati after owning a geforce 3 and now have an X800XtPE with very few drivers hassles where as my nvidia owning mates have lot more trouble. Either way both are great cards.

Most main brands motherboards are much of muchness in terms of speed/features/reliabity these days Im more of a AMD user myself so could recommend a particular S478 board. You cant go too far wrong if you buy an ASUS/MSI/Gigabyte/etc....

[directhex]

Would I be best getting a newer 8x AGP and save up more for a new mobo aswell (with 8x AGP)

um... you DO know you you can use an AGP8x card on an AGP4x board, right? no need for a new board at all...

[Spud1]

Id say that has pretty much reversed. Ati now has the more reliable drivers set

LOL no.

Nvidia all the way, I do own an ATI card atm but that was, in hindsight, a mistake.

Both Nvidia and ATI have similarly reliable drivers atm - the ati situation has much improved since their 8500 days of you having a 1 in 10 chance of a game working reliably. BUT here is the major difference. Nvidia LISTEN to what their customers want, and provide as such. ATI just ignore them compleletly and do whatever they like. So for example - the biggest difference is that Nvidia completely support Stereo 3D, and provide stereo 3D drivers for all their cards. If you don't know what stereo 3D is i'll briefly explain - its a technology that enables normal monitors (all CRT and a few high spec TFTs) to display 3D images with full depth - as opposed to the 'flat' normal 3D images. Currently you use a combination of some software (drivers) and some shutterglasses to achieve this effect. Now Nvidia were going to scrap the idea, believing it to be too small of a market, but their customers complained, and now we have full development of stereo3D drivers along with the detonators; there is even a dedicated Nvidia forum just for this. Nvidia also appear to listen to gamers problems more than ATI, fixing any compatability problems pretty quickly.

ATI on the other hand have stated that they have no interest in stereo3D (much to the annoyance of me and many other ATI owners who have to use frankly rubbish stereo drivers with their shutterglasses) - thereby ignoring a potentially huge market. They STILL havnt fixed the problems with Jedi Knight II/III which casues screen flikering with the series 5 of Catalyst drivers...

I know that went a bit OT but it helps justify that you should get the GT Apart from anything else you wont get a faster card for your money. Nvidias OpenGL drivers also exceed anything that ATI have produced. Don't forget that a GT will also give you the option of upgrading to SLI if you wish to in the future, and that (and correct me if i'm wrong on this) it has full 32point shader precison compared to ATI's 24bit (might not still apply to the x800 series but heh)

The number 1 upgrade you need is a new GFX card, 6800GT or 6800 vanilla that unlocks is best bang for buck atm.

If you cant afford that then you could do with some more ram - especially if you want to play BF2 which is bad enough with just 1gig, let alone 512

[pgudge]

I wouldnt bother with a new CPU, I'd just overclock your current one because (ram depending) they can go VERY far. 3GHz is easy for that CPU. But i would buy another motherboard, Asus P4P800 is a great board

Really? So if I overclocked to 3GHz I wouldn't get any major reliability issues, including heat? Obvously I would need to get a better fan, mine is upto 2.8GHz.

I can get a Asus P4P800-E Deluxe for about £65, is this worth it? or even a Asus P4C800E Deluxe for about £90

Also (as said) BF2 likes a lot of RAM, so get another 512/sell your 512 and buy a 1GB kit.

My bro just got a 2GB Kit for about £170 (ex) which I thought was a STEAL, so I might look into that, I can put the other ram into another machine.

um... you DO know you you can use an AGP8x card on an AGP4x board, right? no need for a new board at all...

Yeah I said in first post, just get a 8x AGP for now and upgrade mobo later.

[Clstrphbc_donut]

Really? So if I overclocked to 3GHz I wouldn't get any major reliability issues, including heat? Obvously I would need to get a better fan, mine is upto 2.8GHz.

Well, my chip stays at 29oC idle and max of 37oC full load @ 3.2GHz using the STOCK intel heatsink and fan! Theres also two 80mm fans in the case however, one blowing air into the case and one exhausting air out. Just make sure your cooling is up to the job.

My bro just got a 2GB Kit for about £170 (ex) which I thought was a STEAL, so I might look into that, I can put the other ram into another machine.

Well, I'd look at higher RAM than 3200. With 3200, mine was just about stable at 3GHz. I'm currently running 4000 RAM in mine so i can go past 250FSB.

[TheBuZZard]

LOL no.

Nvidia all the way, I do own an ATI card atm but that was, in hindsight, a mistake.

SO Im wrong about the fact that people I know with Nvidia cards have had lots of problems with drivers. And you havent had problems with them but dont have an nvidia card. OK.

[Spud1]

Sorry I should clarify

I have both ATI and Nvidia cards - just don;t personally have a 6XXX series Nvidia card - got a FX5700 here in one rig, an X800 in this one (big mistake) and did have a 9800pro.

My FX5700 doesnt have issues, mate mates 6800U and other mates 6800GT dont have any issues..whereas I do , and did with my 9800pro. Also read around the net, other forums etc..there are far more issues with ATI cards/drivers than nVidia...

I dont dispute that your mates might have problems, but there always will be with both types of card, just generally ati ones have more issues. And like I said Nvidia listen to their customers more..

[pgudge]

I knew this would happen. I just wondered if it was still very closely matched.

Everyone I know has a nVidia gfx card, except 1 mate who has ATi and he dont play games. Its just hard to make the jump and spend ~£200 on a ATi gfx card, when my previous dealings have not been that good.

I also struggled to just to a nVidia GeForce 256DDR from my ATi Rage Pro 128, but I did it, and never looked back.

ATi v nVidia over.

[Clstrphbc_donut]

Any card, X800XL or 6800GT. You choose, as they are both as good as each other.

[directhex]

My bro just got a 2GB Kit for about £170 (ex) which I thought was a STEAL, so I might look into that, I can put the other ram into another machine.

kits are very much overrated, something that you only need if you plan on winning some 3dmark contests. personally, i bought two 1gb sticks of geil pc3200 3-4-4-8 with bl00 heatspreaders, for £134 the pair, and i'm very happy. dual channel, 1t, sorted.

[Smokey21]

OCUK do 2 1gb sticks of Corsair with 2-3-3-6 timmings for 170Inc.

[pgudge]

i bought two 1gb sticks of geil pc3200 3-4-4-8 with bl00 heatspreaders, for £134 the pair, and i'm very happy. dual channel, 1t, sorted.

Where from? sounds a good deal.