Graphics cards

[Swoosh So]

Ok time to buy a new graphics card soon http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-confused.gif

So whats it going to be?

Geforce FX 5700 128MB

or

ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB

[RisingSun]

Radeon. ATI is always a step up from Nvidia.

[Ashen]

Radeon 9600 XT. Thats what I have. Can run Max Payne 2 at 1024 resolution with Anisotropic Filtering and AntiAliasing on. Thats definatly good enough to run R:TW :D.

Besides Geforce FX's suck in Directx9 which is what Rome is written for. non DX9 card means uglier and slower.

[Sir Moody]

ok from my expert opinion (having tested both cards) the standard 5700 aint anything to write home about the 9600XT should wipe the floor with it in most tests - on the other hand the 5700 Ultra geneally performs equal or above the 9600XT BUT is more expensive (in England a 5700 ultra is £130+ where as a 9600XT is £95+ - my old Geforce 4 ti packed up on me last week (i was hoping it would hold out till may when the next set of card come out from both companys) and i did some practical tests to buying a mid range card to tide me over - the 9600XT is far far better value for money - generally tho this isnt true with the High end cards where the 5950 is cheaper than a 9800XT and of comparable quality

[RisingSun]

Actually, once the cheating software was changed, the 9800 mopped the floor with the 5950.

Go ATI. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

Not to mention- Look at the label on all your consoles and see which company makes the cards. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[The Wizard]

... and then to think that nVidia mopped the floor with everyone some time ago...



~Wiz

[Basileus]

I would suggest the ATI aswell, even if Nvidia has better support for drivers, in most forums when you start discussing graphics cards you´ll end up in a war between fan boys hehe http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-argue.gif

[Sir Moody]

Quote[/b] ]Actually, once the cheating software was changed, the 9800 mopped the floor with the 5950.


from the tests ive seen the 9800 is either equal or better than the 5950 in al ltests but the 5950 is on average £40 less in price so its better value for money... - to be honest id prefer a 9800 pro to either a XT or a 5950 they are vertually mid range in price now and out perform most the cards - great value for money

[The Wizard]

This is a good thread... I'm thinking of changing my graphics card myself, and I'm looking at something that can handle the likes of Half-Life 2 and Far Cry... not my crappy GeForce 3 lowest-priced ti... ;)

[Ashen]

All I can say is check benchmarks on Splinter Cell (Dynamic Lighting Galore) - ATi Clean the floor. Check Benchmarks in Halo (Specular DX9 effects) - ATi Clean the floor. Max Payne 2 ramped up full details - ATi clean the floor yet again.

Considering 2 of those games are directX9 reliant and one is just a very heavily detailed game, and Rome should be both..

Anyways. My mate has a 5700 Ultra. and Like I mentioned, I have a 9600XT. Try running a 3Dmark 2003 benchmark. ATi wins in his PC (2600+ Athlon) by about 900 marks. Quite a difference. Plus it benchmarks everything but Counter-Strike, Call of Duty and Jedi Knight 2 faster. I admit, you will find that Nvidia cards get on well with the Quake series. Normally I would have said Unreal aswell, but the ATi did better on the Botmatch and Flyby demo's :o

[TosaInu]

Hello Swoosh,

I've had serious problems with an ATI 9700pro and TW games.
A shame, as it is a superb piece of hardware. Perhaps related to a wrong hardware mix and windows 98se.

It seems a bit pre-emptive to buy hardware for RTW now: it's still far away, cards will drop in price, features increase and there are no guarantees that RTW won't require DX 10 (DISCLAIMER: not saying it will or is likely, but it could). I have a cheap NVidia TI 4800SE in my system now. It's slower than the ATI 9700 pro, but no driver/hardware problems and runs any game fine on max 1024*768 details (including the FarCry demo). I expect that I want to upgrade it next year. There are hopefully better deals around than last summer.

Don't invest in the best as it will be outdated tomorrow, don't buy the cheapest either as you'll be constantly upgrading. The best means that you'll have to spend '50%' more to gain '10%' extra.

[Sir Moody]

Quote[/b] ]All I can say is check benchmarks on Splinter Cell (Dynamic Lighting Galore) - ATi Clean the floor. Check Benchmarks in Halo (Specular DX9 effects) - ATi Clean the floor. Max Payne 2 ramped up full details - ATi clean the floor yet again

im not argueing on quality the 9800XT rules supreme all im saying is the "wiping the floor" you speak of is at most a 20 fps difference and still MILES above the point human eyes can tell the difference and the NVidea top end cards are far better value due to their relative cheapness - i say relative because some of the producers (cough gainward cough) still charge stupid prices

[AqConsul]

I have that same NVIDIA and the problem is that people suspect that it is only compatable with the DirectX 9.0 and that when 10.0 comes out that it will be obselete. If I were you I would certainly go with the Radeon

[Mithrandir]

Krae,Lam and the others will throw all sorts of technical terms at you http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif