GFX Card choice?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Hi Guys,

As revealed in a previous post I am shopping for bits for so I can run HL2
as well as possible.

The choice of gfx cards seems to be between:

1)XFX GeForce FX5700 256MB DDR AGPx8 DVI/TV-Out

or

2)Radeon 9800 Pro Atlantis 128MB DDR AGP DVI-TVout


Is there a natural choice between the two?

Or perhaps neither?

 

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:04:08 +0100, "Steve Wade"
<steve@destry.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>Is there a natural choice between the two?

Easily the 9800 Pro as it can play the game well in DX9 mode, whereas
the 5700 runs in DX8 and loses eye candy.
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

">
> Easily the 9800 Pro as it can play the game well in DX9 mode, whereas
> the 5700 runs in DX8 and loses eye candy.
> --

Thanks Andy,

So basically I should check that any card I consider runs Direct-X 9.

Cooked chips and over-heating seems a recurring theme on the NG.

Is there such a thing as a card that will run DX-9 but run cooler than the
9800 pro?

 

[Andrew]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:24:07 +0100, "Steve Wade"
<steve@destry.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>So basically I should check that any card I consider runs Direct-X 9.

The GF FX cards run DX9, but not at a speed that is worthwhile, which
is why HL2 defaults to DX8 mode on them.

>Cooked chips and over-heating seems a recurring theme on the NG.
>
>Is there such a thing as a card that will run DX-9 but run cooler than the
>9800 pro?

Just bear in mind that most people only come to newsgroups when things
go wrong, you don't often hear from satisfied users. The 9800 Pro is
still a good card.
--
Andrew, contact via interpleb.blogspot.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:24:07 +0100, "Steve Wade"
<steve@destry.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>
>">
>> Easily the 9800 Pro as it can play the game well in DX9 mode, whereas
>> the 5700 runs in DX8 and loses eye candy.
>> --
>
>Thanks Andy,
>
>So basically I should check that any card I consider runs Direct-X 9.
>
>Cooked chips and over-heating seems a recurring theme on the NG.
>
>Is there such a thing as a card that will run DX-9 but run cooler than the
>9800 pro?
>

The ram chips on my Connect3D were very hot in 3d mode and the card
eventually died. It was RMA'd for the HIS card which comes with arctic
cooler (very quiet) plus ram heatsinks. IME it's worth getting the HIS
card if you can find one, or fit additional cooling to one of the
other makes.


-
steve <AT> steveevans <DOT> org
-

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.half-life (More info?)

Steve Wade wrote:
> ">
>
>>Easily the 9800 Pro as it can play the game well in DX9 mode, whereas
>>the 5700 runs in DX8 and loses eye candy.
>>--
>
>
> Thanks Andy,
>
> So basically I should check that any card I consider runs Direct-X 9.
>
> Cooked chips and over-heating seems a recurring theme on the NG.

Not really, a few isolated cases as with anything. cooked chips will
be down to the individual card and not the chipset (I have a hercules
9800 pro which has quite a powerful if slightly noisy cooling fan on it)

> Is there such a thing as a card that will run DX-9 but run cooler than the
> 9800 pro?

I wouldn't worry about it. if you pick up a card which has a dodgy
cooler on it, it'll become apparent fairly soon after buying it, so
you'll be able to RMA it under warranty without a problem. Your best
bet is to avoid any brand which you've never heard of or looks like it
might be a 'generic' unnamed card. in other words, spend the extra 10
quid to get a quality brand named card

--
Ben Cottrell AKA Bench