I'm getting a bit tired of the crappy FPS I'm getting on higher settings, so I've decided to (finally) upgrade my graphics card. I'm not buying a new rig until UT2007 has been out for at least a couple weeks, that way you have solid info re hardware specs, and the longer you wait the cheaper it gets...

Anyway, my current config is:

Dell Dimension 4600
P4 2.8 Ghz CPU
120 GB HD
1.5 GB RAM
128 MB NVidia GeForce FX5200 GPU

What I'm looking for is a -preferably NVidia- graphics card that will help squeeze every last ounce of performance out of this aging rig (without frying it, obviously). I was thinking something like the 6800 Ultra... But I know jack shit about GPUs, so tips welcome!

What is your price range?

wow that almost totally like my rig, besides mine being an Dell ( HELL ) 8300 and having only 512 ram. I want a better video card to keep me happy through 1st quarter of 2007 Oh and not much for me, don't want to waste too much on it. just a GPU and gig or 2 of ram is all.

Oh, I dunno, let's say ~$200 max. Yeah, that kinda eliminates the Ultra (just checked, thought it would be cheaper by now), but one of the lesser 6800's should be ok, at least price wise.

The 6800 series are much faster than FX 5200, even Geforce 4 Ti series are...

I'd look for a 256 Mb Geforce 6800 GT.

I'd love to get that and a gig of ram.

whew.. yes.. Epic said (last i saw) that a 6800 was what 2k7 needed to run somewhat decently, like on medium settings.. i'd say a 7900 maybe, if u can afford it

our work demands decent PC's and unfortunately, we dont have decent rigs.. For UT2k7, and the programs to develop it, i'd say we need: (at least)

p4 3.2ghz
2 GB RAM
nVidia 7900 GT 512MB
HDD 200GB

DC at least has a P4 3.2..
I only have a Celeron 1.1ghz!!

I will. Checked some reviews, and the GT seems to be a solid card. Not too expensive, either.



Well, when I buy UT2007 I want it to run smoothly (with BW on full candy!!), which means new (dual core or whatever) CPU, 7900 or so GPU, new board, more RAM... Basically a new rig. But right now I'd be quite happy if I could run BW2K4 on full settings with 50 or higher FPS, hopefully that 6800 will do the trick.



So how much does this kind of stuff cost down under?

Why do you even set poop like that as your minimum specs?

Lots... that geforce is R3000! (~$400)
And we need a ton of RAM, thats R900 a gig (~$120)

Hows the 7600 GT? anyone know?

p4 3.2.. poop?? ookkk....

i dunno... what we need as developers, is far outta reach.. how in the hell are we supposed to get rigs like game devs have! i'm sure Epic didnt make stuff on a celeron 1.1GHZ.. what would everyone recommend?

Trust me on that one, because it does 3.2 billion operations per second says little about the process speed and the programming architecture. If you want a decent processor, either get a Core 2 Duo or AMD64 X2 series of processor, anyone with common sense would stay away from the Pentiums as much as possible.

Fancy weapon pack...



Somewhat fancy gun or feature...



Have you tried selling your souls to Satan? Nah, didn't work for me either...

One thing's for sure though, that 1.1Ghz rig will be utterly useless for 2K7 (well maybe you can still develop some stuff on it, but I don't think it will run the game). You guys need to do some serious fundraising!

I tried selling my soles once, unfortunately he was intereseted in shoes.

Hmm... I wonder how many people would spend $400 for a weapon pack...

Not me, that's for sure. It is just too much money to be worth it, but I do think that it is ok in this case since I would be helping a group of guys that want some grounds under their feet to start a gaming career.

thats true

yes.. we definetly need some serious cahs to get working on 2k7.. Our sponsored pack help so far, we just need to work out how to get our hands on the money.. CYBERAX!!

afaik, AMD's are more prone to overheating, and aaround here, overheating is a bad problem!! we have PC's resetting left and right

Yeah, should be enough in there for a decent graphics card, at the very least...



Maybe you could slap together some kind of custom (liquid?) cooling system? Take some shit from an old fridge, whatever. You certainly seem to have the skills...

I'm checking right now if there's some sort of custom cooling systems they might be able to use that's cheap...
Used fridge for cooling... I like that idea.

I don't know where you got that from, but Pentium 4 runs much hotter than any AMD since the beginning of computer-age. Currently my AMD runs at 28°C under heavy stress.

Yeah, me too... I'm in a helpful mood today, lol. Here's some general watercooling gear, some of it reasonably affordable:

http://www.xoxide.com/watcoolkit.html

And from a SA based store:

http://www.comx-computers.co.za/extreme ... php?page=5
http://www.comx-computers.co.za/extreme ... php?page=6
http://www.comx-computers.co.za/extreme ... php?page=7



Well they like to make stuff from junk, so might as well make a cooling system.

What about using liquid gas? Better cooling than a fan spinning at 400,000 RPM.

everyone i've talked to about such things, says AMD's are hotter.. and from experience

we also know how to put PC's together, and such.. it's helpful to know how yo PC works internally

Any processor can run hot, they just don't buy good cooling, that's all. But if you'd slap the exact same cooling solution on both brands, Pentium 4 would be the obvious temperature king.

Now, I should correct myself above, it runs 28°C when idle, since I think it is currently impossible to run it so cooly when at full stress...

Hm, ok, my card (the FX5200) just died on me... Again! This is the second one, also happened about a year ago. F00king piece of junk.

Anyway, I haven't upgraded yet because it turns out my Dell has a feeble 250 watt PSU and +12V rail amp rating of 17.0, way below what a 6800GT would need. I'm not going to change the PSU, too much wires sticking out of it and if you mess up you could fry your rig or something. Also I don't really want to invest more than absolutely necessary in this old rig. So basically I'm looking for a graphics card that's better than the 5200, but still has power requirements that fall within the 250W-17A range. Tips, anyone?

Geforce 4 Ti series, better than FX 5200 and even cheaper I think. There is a reason the FX 5200 is the worst GPU product in the history of computer technology.

GF4 Ti... isn't that thing ancient, even compared to the 5200?

Btw, just found this nifty page that lists GPU graphics requirements: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/forums.asp?s=2&c=7&t=9354

According to the chart the FX5700 only uses 24W, that's actually 10W less than the 5200... Would this be a decent choice? Or maybe the FX 5700 Ultra, which uses 46W (no idea what the rail requirements are, though).

Blame nVidia for giving the FX 5200 crappy technology. The Geforce 4 Ti's have much faster clock speeds, more pipelines, etc. etc.
So in older games like UT2004 they perform better, same goes for demanding ones Serious Sam 2 or Doom 3.

As for choosing a card; a Geforce 7600 GT is available for around $120 nowdays, maybe that is inside your budget, and gives nice performance too. If there is an AGP version of it that is, maybe 7600 GS exists.

Spending $120 or so on a new card wouldn't be a problem, but most cards, especially the newer / fancier ones, would be too harsh on my PSU, and the +12V rail in particular. So it's very important that the (actual) power requirements are in the same neighborhood as the FX5200's. That's the main issue here.

Why don't you just get yourself a new PSU then? Even the good ones are pretty affordable.

Because I'm pretty much a n00b when it comes to replacing non-plug & click components, and if you choose the wrong PSU, or hook it up incorrectly (etc.) you could mess up or even fry the whole rig.