SHIV Help Needed
 

Ok, this may be the wrong place and if so, would a Moderator please move it...

OK, it is time for me to make a decision – keep my wife or do a computer upgrade.

Here is what I got.

MB – NF7-S Socket A
AMF 2400+ CPU
2 Gig DDR Memory
GeForce FX 5200 card (AGP)

Here is what I can’t run.

SHIV


The only way I can figure out how to do both is to spend $200 or less on an AGP video card that will run SHIV well.

Suggestions on what card to get?

Frankly Id go for the wife. :smug:

Yeah, keep for the wife... You'll pay MUCH more than $200 for the divorce...

Hello,

I can recommend the card I recently got although I would really only recommend it for folks with a CPU speed rating similar to what mine is, which is 3.4 GHz. My CPU is already quite a bottleneck for this card, a 2400+ CPU would be a very serious bottleneck for this card I would think.

Anyway, the card is an ATI 3850 HD 512 MB. The card I got is actually an HIS brand variation, changed from ati reference design with a two slot design, an IceQ3 Cooler fan, and slightly overclocked stock. Here is a Newegg link for it, $229.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161226



The card I replaced it with was no slouch and was the prevoius King of AGP, an X1950 Pro. And again it was the HIS brand with IceQ3 Cooler and slighty overclocked out of the box. Since I already had an X1950 Pro it was not easy for me to justify upgrading to a 3850. But I heard they ran cooler and used considerably less power, and so I thought it might be good to have even if just for those reasons.

Coming off an X1950 Pro I really didn't expect much difference, so I was surprised to get a very nice fps boost in SHIV... a more than 50 percent but less than 100 percent increase in fps.

I consider my HIS(ATI) 3850 HD 512 MB AGP to be a great card and the 3850 will probably be the final King of AGP and AGP's final farewell.


I hope this helped. And again, not so sure how well this card would fair on a CPU with a speed rating of say, less than 3.2 GHz.


System Specs:

Intel P4 3.4C Northwood Core with Hyperthreading on Asus P4C800-E Deluxe(Intel 875P + ICH5R Chipset), Zalman 7000a-Cu HS/Fan, Enermax EG651P-VE 550W PSU, 2 GB Mushkin eXtreme Performance(2-2-2) Dual Channel PC3200 RAM, Samsung 214T MultiSync 21" Digital LCD Monitor(1600 x 1200 native res), HIS(ATI) 3850 HD 512 MB AGP Videocard with IceQ3 Cooler and Catalyst v8.6 Hotfix Driver, DirectX 9.0c v9.21.1148(November 2007 update), Creative Audigy2 Platinum Soundcard with Driver v02.09.0016, Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speakers, Western Digital 250 GB w/8 MB Cache 7200 RPM Parallel ATA HDD, Norton Internet Security 2008(Firewall and Anti-Virus), Comcast Cable Internet Connection, WinXP Pro SP2 32-bit

And guys, I think what he's saying is he can keep the wife and run SHIV, as long as his upgrade budget is $200 or less.

Can't reply. No info on the wife!
:D

@OneTinSolder

You hit it right on. She is not very computer literate and would not tell the difference between one card and another...as long as I don't change the case and operating system and programs or take a long time to do it, I could do both.

Thanks for the input so far...

What are the spec's on that system... frankly I don't know any such brand or system.
Maybe you can upgrade on that and see how SHIV runs with it. ;)

Get her a very nice romantic card....and a dozen roses. Then she won't be so mad if you go over $200. :/\\k:

oneTinSoldier is correct. The best AGP card you can get is a 3850. Frame rates with your CPU and ram should run from15-18 in port to 25+ at sea. 25 with several ships and over 30 with only one or 2. Figure 19-22 in the palawan passage mission. There are a LOT of polygons there due to all the warships.