please help with graphics decision for Oblivion

[jjknoll]

I am soon going to purchase Oblivion to play. I just upgraded to a nice rig but have yet to decide on which way to go graphically. (My x1600xt is not going to cut the mustard.) My current system E6600 oc'd to 3.0, 1gb ram, 74gb raptor, p5n32 se sli deluxe mobo, 750w thermaltake toughpower psu and the standard alotment of casefans and optical drives. I am running a samsung 20.1" lcd and want to be able to enjoy Oblivion at 1600x1200. While money is not a huge issue I don't want to piss it away either. I am going to stick with xp as my os until the last possible moment and since I can only game sporadically I likely won't see a dx10 game for a good long time. Right now I am considering a 7900gs sli setup which is cheapest but unsure about playablity @ 16x12 res or maybe a 7950gt sli setup. But at that point should I just opt for an 8800gts. (if I can fit it, it will be REALLY CLOSE) If I go with the 8800 though I heard they are going to do a die shrink in the near future and the benefit of upgrading later to an 8800gts sli setup would be unlikely. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sruane]

I run Oblivion on an X1900XTX. I've also tried it on a Nvidia 7800GTX. At 1280x1024. Both performed just fine.

 

[terror112]

I agree on the x1950xt for good quality oblivion graphics, but if you want future compatibility and outsanding performance in oblivion you should go with the 8800GTS. your choices of sli are fine but cost very close to a 8800GTS and do not deliver nearly the same performace.

 

[RyanMicah]

For the price of a high end DX9 card it's just not worth it with DX10 cards coming cheaper next year...at least for anyone budget minded.

You might want to just run out and get an XBox 360...

Oblivion looks a bit better on my X1900 AIW card and seems better lit...but it's still the same game. It also loads faster on my PC than it does on my Xbox. I have it for both and use the same 21.5" LCD screen. My screen has component jacks, which is a real plus. My 360 sound even runs through my Fatality sound card on my PC, so my PC is on when I'm playing Rainbow Six: Vegas. I love this game as much as Halo2, if not more.

 

[enforcerfx]

Agreed. A 8800GTS will destroy any of those cards you selected, even in a SLi setup. If you have the money, and like you said: Space. Then by all means go for it.

 

[hatsurfer]

Take a peek at this chart and make your decision.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=608&model2=583&chart=207
I want to point out the 7900GS in Sli did like 12 in this bench while the GTS did over 20 in case you missed it.

At the resolution 1600x1200 I would go no less than a 8800GTS. Newegg has an EVGA on sale for $399 w/rebate. This qualifies for the 90 step-up program too. The GTX looks to be the best solution for the resolution. You can play with an average frame rate of ~20, but it is optimal to keep it in the 30's or higher.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130071

 

[jonrem]

8800 GTS gets my vote. Oblivion looks really good on the Nvidia 8xxx series.

 

[jaguarskx]

Take a peek at this chart and make your decision.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=608&model2=583&chart=207
I want to point out the 7900GS in Sli did like 12 in this bench while the GTS did over 20 in case you missed it.

At the resolution 1600x1200 I would go no less than a 8800GTS.

I would have to disagree. Oblivion @ 1600x1200 requires a minimum of the 8800GTX. The jump from the 8800GTS to the GTX is 10FPS which is pretty substancial. But even at 30FPS outdoors I'm sure combat can be choppy depending on how many enemies there are.

 

[hatsurfer]

I won't tell him what to buy because dropping ~$600 for a video card isn't for everybody. That's why I said,

"The GTX looks to be the best solution for the resolution. You can play with an average frame rate of ~20, but it is optimal to keep it in the 30's or higher."

I've played many 1st person games in the past years with ~20 FPS. It's not the best and has a bit of sticky feel to it. I'm sure loads of other Oblivion owners suffer from low FPS, but still love the game.

He already mentioned that a GTS would barely fit in his case. So, a GTX would cost him the addition expense of a new case since that card is even longer.

Reasons to buy GTS vs GTX (Oblivion 1600 x 1200)
1. Save Money $399 vs $599
2. No case replacement (save more money ~$150 + time)
3. 21 vs 30 FPS(I believe his actual numbers will be ~25's with more RAM).
4. Buy 1 GB of DDR with money saved.
5. Pocket the rest of the money.
6. EVGA option - 90 day trade in - He gets full $ credit paid towards new GTX upgrade. Only needs to pay difference+shipping/tax.
7. lifetime warranty (again EVGA) some other vendors like XFX have double lifetime depending on where you live.
8. Both cards are DX10 compliant and visually display the same graphics.

We are talking about the difference of $400. In my opinion he'd be better off saving some money and purchasing more DDR since that is going to bottleneck him no matter what video card he is using in Oblivion.

BTW Happy New Years!

 

[Valtiel]

For the price of a high end DX9 card it's just not worth it with DX10 cards coming cheaper next year...at least for anyone budget minded.

It is next year. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

May DX10 cards fill your systems.

 

[jaguarskx]

I won't tell him what to buy because dropping ~$600 for a video card isn't for everybody. That's why I said,

"The GTX looks to be the best solution for the resolution. You can play with an average frame rate of ~20, but it is optimal to keep it in the 30's or higher."

I've played many 1st person games in the past years with ~20 FPS. It's not the best and has a bit of sticky feel to it. I'm sure loads of other Oblivion owners suffer from low FPS, but still love the game.

The OP stated the following:

I am running a samsung 20.1" lcd and want to be able to enjoy Oblivion at 1600x1200. While money is not a huge issue I don't want to piss it away either.

I suppose "enjoy" is open to interpretation. If I wanted to "enjoy" a game, then getting ~21 FPS would be a huge disappointment to me. While the OP doesn't want to piss away money, he also stated money is not a huge issue.

1600x1200 is a pretty demanding requirement for Oblivion and at that resolution this would be the first time where I would actually recommend an SLI setup of either the 8800GTS or GTX if money is truly not the issue. Normally, I recommend a less grandiose GPU solution, but this is a different situation.

 

[NumenorLord]

Dunno what you guys are talking about. With the specs in my sig @ 1680x1050, I get anywhere from 45-60 fps (60 seeming to be the max - I'm sure it's an option I can turn off somewhere) in Oblivion with... how do you put it... 8xQ AA, 16x AS, all distance sliders turned up, HDR on, and all shadows, reflections, etc. on.

Here is the chart you want to look at:

That must be with 16x AA on. I believe 16xQ AA has less of a performance hit. Maybe it's just me, but at high resolutions, I don't believe you can honestly tell a difference between 8x AA and 16x AA.

At this point in time, I'd just wait a couple weeks to see how the R600 performs and if NVidia will release a G80 high-end refresh.

 

[seinat]

If you're not sold on 16x12 then you can get by much more cheaply and wait for the dx10 cards to refresh. I just built a new rig very similar to yours and just last week bought Oblivion. I use a 7600 GT that cost me around $100 after the rebate and I play at 1024x768 at pretty high quality with no framerate issues. This card runs everything else I throw at it without a glitch and for another $100 I could add another in sli. Next year I can upgrade to an 8800 when they are cheaper and perhaps smaller.

 

[ArbY]

Take a peek at this chart and make your decision.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=608&model2=583&chart=207
I want to point out the 7900GS in Sli did like 12 in this bench while the GTS did over 20 in case you missed it.

At the resolution 1600x1200 I would go no less than a 8800GTS.

I would have to disagree. Oblivion @ 1600x1200 requires a minimum of the 8800GTX. The jump from the 8800GTS to the GTX is 10FPS which is pretty substancial. But even at 30FPS outdoors I'm sure combat can be choppy depending on how many enemies there are.

My friend bought an XFX GeForce 7800GTX 512MB in the first half of 2006, he runs Oblivion at 1600x1200 with HDR (no AA), highest settings and it runs pretty well. There are parts that it chugs, which is why I feel my friend is being too optimistic when describing his card's performance in Oblivion. Approaching an Oblivion gate, or getting in combat with several enemies will choke his machine. Combat is really when you need the most FPS, as opposed to frolicking through the forest...so yeah I can't recommend a 7800GTX 512MB for 1600x1200.

I have a Radeon X1950XTX 512MB, so I'll give Oblivion a try without AA in a sec here.


EDIT - can't display 1600x1200 on my LCD. If anyone knows how to force a display res. in Oblivion, please let me know!

 

[jaguarskx]

EDIT - can't display 1600x1200 on my LCD. If anyone knows how to force a display res. in Oblivion, please let me know!

Sorry, but that's not possible.

 

[jjknoll]

wow! thanx for all the info. it looks like it will probably be a gts (so long as the final measurements allow) you guys have been a great help.