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The Official Graphics Card and PC gaming Thread
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 12:39 |
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Was at the fragsoc freshers' fair stand today, four PCs were setup playing UT3, three of them with 8800s, one with an HD4870. My god, the difference in graphical quality is night and day, the 4870 is streets ahead of the 8800s with colour accuracy...
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 15:00 |
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Sam, because of you, and your fine eye for detail, some of us, like me! are ATI fan boys. Good for you for making those side by side comparisons and keeping nvidia honest - well not really, but keeping us informed. LOL (So with my newegg 8% sales tax - I'm still ahead versus the 17.5% VAT - yeah, I guess I'll make it. :)
Ok, boozer, I'll go to the arctic web site - I've read the info before. So estuansis' sandpaper is overkill? Not really needed?
Hey, regarding this P43 mobo, unless I'm mistaken it won't support my storage devices. I have 3 ATA devices, two hard drives and a dvd burner/reader. Am I gonna have to pick up a Sata hard drive and ghost my xp drive over? How much will that run me?
Originally posted by Here's the problem:
The P43 specs talk about support for up to 6 sata devices of which I own zero, and an on-board ide port with support for up to two ultra ata - my two hard drives I guess. What about my DVD device? What motherboard different from this will support my 3 ide devices, and if not, is it cheaper just to pick up a different hard drive? I dual-boot and I like the two drive idea - but my drives are only 80 gigs. I see a seagate sata 250gb on newegg for $50. Is that my answer, and will norton ghost which I own ghost from an ata over to a sata?
-Rich
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. October 2008 @ 15:04
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 15:01 |
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Almost all new boards only support 2 P-ATA devices, it's just standard practice. Rather than shell out for a new S-ATA drive unnecessarily, you can just buy a cheap PCI IDE card to plug one of your ODDs into.
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Senior Member
2 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 15:08 |
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Maaaaaaan, did I miss alot
And only I email reminder (Grr)
@boozer - congrats on the new lappy
@rich - good luck with your build
@shaf - Fitting stuff into a budget can be hard, nice skill you got there
@sam (so you don't feel left out :P) Have you finished GRiD, or not yet, anyone else as well for that matter
PS - I was seriously thinking of a 360 around the same time I bought my laptop, dunno why I didn't go with it :P
Maybe because my laptop can do more............
(+[_]%) 1: 2.60 > 2.80 > 2.81 >3.03 > 1.50 > 3.52M33 > 3.52M33-4 > 3.90M33 > 3.90M33-3 > 4.01M33 > 4.01M33-2 > 5.00M33 > 5.00M33-3
My GAMING LAPTOP!! : Acer Aspire 5930G - P8400 2.26Ghz//4 GB DDR2//GeForce 9600M GT 512MB GDDR3
Ultimate Handheld/Portable Gaming Device :P |
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 15:09 |
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Well, that's an idea. A card like that is probably $10, right? But for the extra $40, maybe the $50 seagate is worth it - 250 gb up from my 80 - I'm running out of room for these new games.
So if I were to do that, does norton ghost care about ata versus sata - I might have to keep the FAT file system - yeah norton probably wouldn't like ntsf, but I am running FAT anyway on both drives. Have you guys ever used norton ghost for expanding hard drive size without re-installing everything again?
BTW a Sata 3.5" fits the same slots as a Pata 3.5", correct?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. October 2008 @ 15:15
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 15:16 |
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Don't really know much about ghosting to be fair, but I do know a S-ATA hard disk will yield speed benefits.
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 15:33 |
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Well, I'm looking at the hard drive prices - for the same $50 I can pick up a 320 gig Hitachi. But probably 250 would be enough - I only have 80gigs now on the XP drive (another 80 on the other drive.)
If I pick up a Sata drive (I really need it anyway since I'm running out of space - I have maybe 10gigs left and I'm going to be picking up new games with the upgrade, and I don't want to start taking off the old games) what drive does anybody recommend?
Regarding ghosting - I'll just check with PC trade Mo - he's the one who showed me how to ghost - I think the 80 will ghost over to the new 250 or 320 with no problems, as long as both are FAT.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 16:02 |
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 17:05 |
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18. October 2008 @ 17:06
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AfterDawn Addict
2 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:26 |
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Ray, I doubt gaming on a laptop would be as enjoyable as I enjoy gaming on my 360. Each to his own, I think consoles have thier own benifits. Sure it cant do all the stuff a PC can but it's fun as hell and I can play on the big screen ;)
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:29 |
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All laptops have VGA outs, so all laptops will work with HDTVs.
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AfterDawn Addict
2 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:31 |
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Yeah, try playing a 4 player splitscreen with a laptop though.
Speaking of which, you wanna play Halo?
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:32 |
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I'm about to enter another LAN Supreme Commander game... :)
Agreed on the split-screen, that's one thing consoles are good for.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:38 |
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PCs are better for widescreen. 24" of 1920 x 1200 glory that makes a 50" HDTV look weak.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388 |
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 17:47 |
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Hey estuansis,
But you liked hooking up your PC to your sister's 50" HD - I thought you said you noticed more detail.
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AfterDawn Addict
15 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 17:51 |
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For sure. But the overall image quality is much better on a 24" screen.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T 4GHz(20 x 200) 1.5v 3000NB 2000HT, Corsair Hydro H110 w/ 4 x 140mm 1500RPM fans Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 @ 1600MHz CL9 1.55v, Gigabyte GTX760 OC 4GB(1170/1700), Corsair 750HX
Detailed PC Specs: http://my.afterdawn.com/estuansis/blog_entry.cfm/11388
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AfterDawn Addict
2 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 18:17 |
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hehe, Well I do have a 65" LCD... :)
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 18:34 |
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Ahhh, the image quality. Ok. My first upgrade will be from the 17" crt to the kind of screen you have, 24" 1920x1200. Then one day in the distant future we'll all have to follow Sam, who is "gorging on pixels" in his words, at almost double the pixel count 2560x1600. But the gfx cards are going to have to be more powerful for that.
Sam, correct me if I wrong, but as I recall you were never quite able to run crysis ULTRA high, even cracked ultra high, at steady 30-40 fps, at your full native 2560x1600? Am I remembering correctly?
By the way, turns out the Norton Ghost I have is 2002, no upgrade available unless I pay $60 for the new program to get the Sata support that was added in 2003. But some forum said to get Maxtor MaxBlast. So I downloaded it - 126mb - to take my xp 80 gig disk, and put the entire thing on a new 250gig disk, including the operating system - everything. Nice xp based program, looks easy to use. You set all the parameters, then restart xp, and it does all the cloning. Cool!!!
-rich
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spamual
Suspended permanently
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18. October 2008 @ 19:10 |
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rich IICR the only difference is that its an open box, btu it is 100% working condition, so go for that.
i would personally take the E5200 over the E6750, due to its lower power requirements, high OCability (well the E6750 has this aswell) its penryn core, and 45nm proccess! :D
also i used that PSU with a Q6600 4GB RAM and a 9800GT!
get it!!
the AS5 is good, i prefer the non conductive pastes which dont need curing either, but its a very good paste.
as for lapping see tjharlow on youtube, he is brillaint, check out his guides:
part 1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sVXuZTuoEuE
part2
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5L1s1-nXj0o
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spamual
Suspended permanently
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18. October 2008 @ 19:12 |
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Originally posted by harvrdguy:
Ahhh, the image quality. Ok. My first upgrade will be from the 17" crt to the kind of screen you have, 24" 1920x1200. Then one day in the distant future we'll all have to follow Sam, who is "gorging on pixels" in his words, at almost double the pixel count 2560x1600. But the gfx cards are going to have to be more powerful for that.
Sam, correct me if I wrong, but as I recall you were never quite able to run crysis ULTRA high, even cracked ultra high, at steady 30-40 fps, at your full native 2560x1600? Am I remembering correctly?
By the way, turns out the Norton Ghost I have is 2002, no upgrade available unless I pay $60 for the new program to get the Sata support that was added in 2003. But some forum said to get Maxtor MaxBlast. So I downloaded it - 126mb - to take my xp 80 gig disk, and put the entire thing on a new 250gig disk, including the operating system - everything. Nice xp based program, looks easy to use. You set all the parameters, then restart xp, and it does all the cloning. Cool!!!
-rich
normally with a new chipset, you will need to do a fresh install, but i think that is only if the OS is an OEM version.
but personalyl i would fresh install, as alot of drivers etc will be completely different.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 19:51 |
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That's correct, 20 is about the max. However, Crysis is still almost the only game to be that demanding, games like COD4, Half Life 2 Episode Two and the original supreme commander all make silky smooth frame rates at that resolution, 4xAA included, 8x for Episode Two and Portal.
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 19:53 |
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And have to reinstall ALL OF MY PROGRAMS AND GAMES!!!!!! :(
I was just reading the maxblast manual - I am going to add a second partition to the 250gb for vista - I'll set aside 20gb.
You know what, I just realized, XP doesn't like you to take a hard drive and put it on another motherboard, without calling the factory to get an unlock. Typically XP just won't boot. It checks the motherboard identification. I am screwed!! I can't call the factory for reasons known only to myself. :P
So maybe I'll be forced into re-installing xp no matter what I do. What a pain!! I better make sure I have all of my Saved Game folders for all of my games saved on my external hard drive.
BUT WAIT!! If I install XP over on top of the other XP, using the Repair option, that might work, if XP sees the existing XP when I put the CD in. I know you want me to do a fresh install - but XP on top of the old XP might save me from reinstalling all my programs and data.
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spamual
Suspended permanently
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18. October 2008 @ 20:05 |
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im sure you can install XP over XP, but programs will ahev to be installed and games, but atleast you wont loose them so to say,t he data will eb there. ideally for vista, with a few programs you want 30-40GBs.
i reinstall my OS every few months, so what i have done is making a partition for games, one for my docs, my pics, my music, etc, one for other storage such as torrents, one as a back up of the applications hidden folder, and one 50GB for vista.
the apps folder and games one is very very handy, as when i reinstall my OS, i just gotta renistall my programs, but bookmarks, and settings are all there, and i can just copy to the new apps folder. also games dont need to be reinstalled this way, the only thing needed is to install DX and thats it. oh and boot up the game, then close it, go to the registry and add the key for it.
320GB:
50GB 0S
rest for storage games.
but with my new 640 i am going to buy soon, this is what i will want.
50GB OS
20GB Pagefile
20GB Apps Folder
100GB Users folder (this has my docs, my music, my videos, my pics etc)
150GB games
60GB Essential Progams/driver install files
rest for storage.
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harvrdguy
Senior Member
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18. October 2008 @ 20:50 |
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Shaff, thanks for the lapping videos - I started watching the first one - WOW! I see some related videos - applying artic silver, etc. FANTASTIC!! I never would have thought of going to you tube - but so much better to watch a video than read an article about it! THANKS!
Man, shaff, that is one lot of partitions you have there. I don't quite see the advantage of all those partitions. For a second OS on the same physical drive, YES one does need another partion, but other than that, I don't see the point.
I normally just like to have one giant partition, but in this case I want to add a second small partition for Vista - just the operating system, no programs or data. This big 250gb will be my D drive (C is W98 boot) so the Vista partition will be E. Any programs I install when I am in Vista I will install to D, so I just need the Vista guts - will 10 gigs be enough, or would 20 gigs be better? (I like having one big partition, because then I don't have unallocated space floating around.)
Normally the repair method of installing xp over itself, means you DO NOT have to reinstall programs. It doesn't tear apart the registry. I've done it a couple of times. It works well. I just read a post of a guy who says if you take out some of your settings, like agp, etc, before you remove your old mobo, XP will boot per usual???!!! Originally posted by some random guy named daniel:
March 28, 2006 - A note from Daniel on improving/modifying the above procedure. I was taking a look on your procedure to "Replace Motherboard on a Windows XP System" and I think I could improve it. While the old motherboard was still usable, I used the following procedure - I changed the IDE+AGP controller driver to the Windows default driver (Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller and PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge respectively)- Uninstalled the VGA Card drivers- Changed the motherboard- Reassembled the pc again with all the cards and cables that were previously attached - At this phase, I could boot Windows without any blue screen and also without making an installation repair! - Next step: install the new chipset drivers and VGA drivers. One more note: I had success with this procedure with Windows XP Pro, Windows XP Home, Windows 2000 Professional and also a Windows 2000 Server Domain Controller (changed a P3 board with damaged capacitors to a new P4 board) all of them with full success! This Windows 2000 Server is running for more than 7 months without any problem! I hope you find my real world experiences" of any use. Many thanks!
Lastly, Shaff, I see you like both cpus, but we're sticking with the 5200 sound like, and I didn't quite get the top part of your post about open box - you mean the new mobo from newegg? - so are we staying with your build and the msi new board or going for boozer's used Asus board for $80?
-Rich
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AfterDawn Addict
2 product reviews
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18. October 2008 @ 21:21 |
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The E6750(4MB of cache) outperforms the E7200, and the E7200 has that Penryn core and 3MB of cache. The E5200 has even less, 2MB. IMHO, cache is very important these days.
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