** Official ** Upgrade, 3D card, Hardware Tech Questions **

yup. should i wait a while though? Until the next geforce etc, and amd fx-59 (supposed to be dual core 3.0 ghz)?

 

If that's your budget, there's no need to wait. I just priced a machine for my dad that came in well under $2000. It was for the fastest CPU AMD makes with an Asus deluxe motherboard, 2 gig of RAM, 500 gig of hard drive space, DVD burner, and a 7800 GTX video card. It's a heck of a machine that I wish I could build for myself. I can post the detailed specs if you like. Of course, all the parts were going to be purchased from NewEgg, so the price is considerably lower than going to Best Buy or somewhere like that. I think the video card alone was $500 though.

 

No, I agree, no need to wait. You're looking at a 64FX CPU? Wow, man, I envy you for having such $$$. Go for one of those would be my advice, and it'll leave you open to easily upgrade to dual-core once it becomes a bit more useful (IE. when Windows Vista comes out, and when games like UT2K7 start being multi-threaded. Get yourself 2 gigs of RAM from a decent brand, like OCZ. Big, fast SATA hard drive. As for the video card, well as you may or may not have heard, ATI's new generation cards are in the process of (very, very slowly) launching. The bleeding edge, top-of-the-line model, the X1800XT, outperforms the 7800GTX by a reasonable margin. However, I would still recomend you go with a GTX. The XT won't be out for another month, and even when it is, if you're even able to find one (there are going to be very small numbers available, as with other recent high-end ATI cards), you'll be paying quite a bit more than for a 7800GTX, for a performance increcase that probably isn't worth the price, which is $50 to $100 more. The X1800XL, which is out now, performs equal with a GTX, or slightly lower, generally. It's up to you, but my recomendation would be nVidia. Another advantage is that, if you want to go dual video cards (hey, you've got the money...) you can get SLI right now, as opposed to waiting for whenever the X1800 Crossfire cards come out. And when nVidia release the official 81 series drivers, there will be lots of enhancements and new options for SLI. So unless you want to do the early adopter thing, and want the absolute best you can get, price be damned, go for the 7800GTX. I've got one, and I love it like crazy.

 

Bumping as we've gotten a few threads on the topic recently.

 

im going to be getting the ati x1800xt 512 meg card when i get home.... 299$ at newegg.com, all good reviews except for its size. Plays oblivion better than the GTX nvidia card, more fps, and the card i have right now is only an ati x700pro 256 meg card. An insanely good upgrade, i think. Now i'll be able to play oblivion at highest settings yay!

 

Order processed in about 4 or so days i will be the proud owner of an ATI x1800xt 512MB graphics card yay!


EDIT: BTW, anyone want to buy my x700 pro card from me for 90 bucks? Its a good deal. It works well so far. any takers?

 

Don't buy that. You don't have a PCI-X slot, so that card won't fit in your computer.

 

I currently have a ATI RADEON? X300 256MB and I'm thinking of upgrading to this...

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4154&v=2#infoarea

Is it worth it?

 

Thanks T2Q, I thought someone would have had the idea to do something like this a long time ago

 

So I got myself a new graphics card and a copy of Fallout 3. BUT, no matter what I do to my graphics settings, it looks like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wotMN1wEtlo (not my video but it looks just like that for me)

Flashing/Jumping textures. Anyone have any suggestions? Here's my dxdiag info...

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 6/3/2009, 23:51:33
Machine name: LCARS_ALPHA
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit (6.1, Build 7137) (7137.winmain.090521-1745)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: P35C-DS3R
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 4300 @ 1.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.8GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 870MB used, 5268MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7137.0000 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4650
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x9498)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9498&SUBSYS_24511682&REV_00
Display Memory: 2298 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1019 MB
Shared Memory: 1279 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: DELL 1707FP
Monitor Id: DEL4013
Native Mode: 1280 x 1024(p) (60.020Hz)
Output Type: DVI
Driver Name: atiumdag.dll,atidxx32.dll,atidxx64,atiumdva.cap,atiumd64,atiumd6a,atitmm64
Driver File Version: 8.14.0010.0662 (English)
Driver Version: 8.612.0.0
DDI Version: 10.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 4/28/2009 20:52:02, 3082752 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes

 

I checked around on the internet a little, and I noticed a similar problem here, which suggests it could be a problem with some Radeon 4xxx series cards.

Have you fully updated your graphics card drivers from the Radeon website? If not, I'd email AMD/ATI/Radeon tech support.

 

Yeah the drivers are all up to date. I'll try ATI for sure, then. Bethesda wouldn't help me because I'm running Windows 7.

 

have you checked the comments here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-ul0uMV29o&feature=related

Some say it's the graphics card running too hot, some have the problem disappear after switching off anti-aliasing.

 

Yeah, I have an extra fan on my graphics card, in addition to the one on it's heatsink.

I do think it's related to anti-aliasing because it does get better if I turn it down, but turning it off doesn't solve it, just makes it not as bad.

 

Bump.

 

Thanks for upping the thread zacparis.

I'm thinking about a new computer with Windows 7, and I'm wondering what brand to go for. Or should I just grab the first DirectX 11 card available?

 

Think I'll ask another question: how long will DirectX 10 last for, now Windows 7 is out?

 

I would wait and definitlely not get the first DX11 card, DX 10 wasn't widely utilised so I would wait and see what happens.

The brands themselves produce cards that vary hugely in quality, which is another reason I would wait, pick up the odd PC magazine like Computer Shopper, or CustomPC, and wait for their reviews (or a reliable online site if you know one).

What sort of setup do you have in your mind for the computer?

 

CPU: Core i7 920 $399
Mobo: Gigabyte Ex58 UD3R $279
RAM: 6GB DDR3 OCZ 1333Mhz $159
Video: Powercolor CD4890 PCS+ 1GB $345
Power: TAGAN TG800-U33 IT2 Series $250
Speakers: Logitech X-530 5.1 $150
Optical: Pioneer Dual Layer 20x SATA 217BK 4$5
Storage: Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM SATAII $85
Display: AOC 416V 24" 5ms Widescreen LCD
Case: Coolermaster CM690 $119
Keyboard: Logitech G15 $200
Mouse: Logitech G9 $200

Total $2661

I'm thinking about a better CPU, one closer to 3Ghz. Having two 1TB hardrives, and a water cooling option. Plus drop the pricey Keyboard and mouse. What I can't decide is get a CUDA Nvida card or the new DirectX 11 (it's tempting). I'm fairly prepared to go to $5000 for the whole rig.

 

$400 on a mouse and keyboard?

 

$2500 for the expensives ones. I might skip those as well.

 

Lucky mofo!

Well...

I would wait until DX11, I don't see what harm it can do, the cards are hardly going to be slow.

Why not go for a SSD to boot from? With the money your spending its certainly within budget.

Also, for the screen, what's the price on that? For 24" monitors, HP recently released one which was designed specifically with Dreamworks Animation studios in mind, it's $2k though , otherwise, believe it or not but BenQ do an absolutely awesome 24" monitor with many inputs, as does Dell, picture quality for both is meant to be great. Have a look at trustedreviews.co.uk for the reviews, I don't know if there's a US equivalent website.