Curse

Sir Skullcrasher · Aug 31, 2005, 05:18 PM // 17:18

I have a ATI x800 xt Platinum Edition videocard, and it runs the game well. I don't see all the fuss about shader model 3.0, i mean what does it do exactly?

nailz · Aug 31, 2005, 05:27 PM // 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by sir skulkcrasher

I have a ATI x800 xt Platinum Edition videocard, and it runs the game well. I don't see all the fuss about shader model 3.0, i mean what does it do exactly?

you can find more information about Shader Model here

that site compares 2.0 to 3.0 and gives a brief description of what it is. It's not terribly important right now as I don't think any games have been released that take advantage of 3.0 yet. I'm sure by the time they are releasing games that take advantage of this technology ATI will have a line of cards that support it.

Old Dood · Sep 01, 2005, 01:47 AM // 01:47

I just purchased and installed an ATI 800XL with no problems at all. I never knew that Guild Wars could look that darn good. I ran around looking at everyones armor. They must of thought I was some n00b.

Rasstir · Sep 01, 2005, 10:06 PM // 22:06

Well I built my computer last month.

My video card: Connect 3d radeonx600pro, cost me around 86 dollars. I play max settings 4xaa (although not super high res, hurts my eyes). I've had bad experiences with nVidia cards, ATI is the way to go. Maximum PC did a "head2head" comparing ATI's Radeon x800 pro platinum to nVidia's Geforce 6800 Ultra. ATI won due to the 6800's noise level, 2 slot required. and redonkulous power supply requirments. They knocked off a point from the radeon for lack of pixel shader 3 support but that's fine, that tech won't be seen for a while. I guess it's too late buy my advice is, buy an x600pro (under 100) AND a new motherboard with pci express x16, PCIx16 is new tech but it is definitly something you need to consider, almost all new cards will use it's formfactor. It provides double the bandiwith of 8xAGP.

Also if this helps my friends all run it on max settings with these cards

1. crappy dell with x300se
2. athlon xp1700+ with radeon 9800pro

Old Dood · Sep 01, 2005, 11:55 PM // 23:55

Yes I am pretty surprised at the lack of noise from the ATI 800 series. I had the case opened today installing another hard drive and booted it up while the side was off. I could hardly hear the video card. (In fact the whole darn computer is quiet.) Must be because of the lower power requirement that keeps it quiet. The Nvidia cards need extra power cables hooked up to them. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Just there way of doing it. I suppose that is why they have the King Card in the 7800 series.

Rasstir · Sep 02, 2005, 09:02 PM // 21:02

yup, nVidia's "power cards" have 2 slot fans that sound like a leafblower. My pc has one of the quietest HDs you can buy but that doesn't really matter because in total I have 9 fans on it (motherboard fan, HSF, GPU fan, top side two front and one 120mm back one) so it's loud anyway. You can still get the x800's in AGP formfactor which is good. One of my friends has a newish built computer but the videocard is a 9200 pro so he's upgrading to an x800pro AGP. It's really up to you to choose what brand of card to get but my 2 cents is ATI.

Old Dood · Sep 02, 2005, 10:54 PM // 22:54

Yes it always boils down to personal preference. I have no loyalties with either company. Both companies have dropped the ball in recent years. I use to have(well I still do in a computer that is collecting dust) an ATI All in Wonder Pro 8 meg card. It was not very good as a 3D card but I shared it with a Voodoo 2 3D 12meg card. I could go into a game and choose which card I wanted to use. Different, but it had it's uses. Back in those days Broadband was not available to me, so having a TV Tuner on the AIW Pro was cool. I could at least watch some TV while it took forever to download anything.

As for quiet computers, my Dell Dimension 5100 is so quiet I have to lean over to hear it. I really expected to get allot of noise from the X800XL. Nope, just the start-up rush sound, then shhhhh! I see allot of people here trashing pre-built systems like Dell. But I am really happy with their new box design and new PSU (BTX over ATX). Also Dells will limit you on their BIOs. You can not change/overclock them like you can when you build your own. I like that too. I like stability compared to a overclocked system that can crash or plain fry itself. However, you can just write over the Dell BIOs with an Intel BIOs if you want to really make some changes. Voids your Dell warranty, but then again how many of us actually buy the warranty? I paid $22.00 for a limited one for one year on this new one. That is just in case something major dies soon. I figure if something is gonna break then it will do it in 12 months.

Bast · Sep 02, 2005, 11:45 PM // 23:45

You should also make sure your power supply can handle a new video card. Bad power supplies are responsible for a lot of computer weirdness, and an overdriven PS can die in a spectacular fashion and take all the other hardware with it. I believe you need like a 350 watt PS at least for the 6000 series cards. What's important really is the 12v rail(s) since the CPU, video, all motors, and many other things run on the 12v. Try to get a PS with at least 30 amps total output on the 12v rail. Better yet, get one of those newer ATX12V 2.0 ones that have 2 smaller (typically 15A and 17A) 12v rails. They're much more reliable and give cleaner power, so you are less likely to get owned by the power supply.

Old Dood · Sep 03, 2005, 01:21 AM // 01:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bast

You should also make sure your power supply can handle a new video card. Bad power supplies are responsible for a lot of computer weirdness, and an overdriven PS can die in a spectacular fashion and take all the other hardware with it. I believe you need like a 350 watt PS at least for the 6000 series cards. What's important really is the 12v rail(s) since the CPU, video, all motors, and many other things run on the 12v. Try to get a PS with at least 30 amps total output on the 12v rail. Better yet, get one of those newer ATX12V 2.0 ones that have 2 smaller (typically 15A and 17A) 12v rails. They're much more reliable and give cleaner power, so you are less likely to get owned by the power supply.

Yes! Good Point. With Dell computers they underate their PSUs. So a 250w PSU can handle a 300w card. Still you should like you said watch for what you have drawing power. Mainly on boot up. My Dim 4600 has a 250w PSU. The ATI 9800pro vid card in it requires a 300w PSU. However, since I am not taxing that PSU that much I can get away with it. Been doing that for two years on that computer.

My New Dim 5100 has a 305w PSU. My new vid card requires a 300w PSU and since I have added 2 hard drives,2 optical drive and 1 floppy I figured I would go with the X800XL vid card. This way I know I am not over taxing my computer. Also it is real good to clean it out once a month of dust. Trust me on this. Dust and dirt will kill a computer FAST!

Krank · Sep 03, 2005, 02:38 AM // 02:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pharoke

The reason I said make sure it is nVidia is because I have never in my life gotten an ATI to install easily. I used to manage a computer store and me and all the techs hated ATI anything as it was at least 2-3 hours to get the video card to work right. To this day I still cringe at the idea of ATI video cards, even though my friends say they are really easy to install now. Not once has an nVidia card ever given me problems.

Wow 2-3 hours.... to install a video card? i think you guys needed to go back to school...
15 mins tops, and most of that is just blowing dust out of PC and driver install... hours....thats rediclous man