AGP Cards

[Sailor Steve]

I'm finally running into the problem that my computer not only has trouble with SH4, it's starting to crash due to mod overload in SH3. I'm looking at buying a better card, but my slots are AGP. I've found some 1-Gb ATI 4650s in the $80-90 range.

I'm also thinking of trying to get the financing for a whole new computer, but that's a bit of a stretch at the moment.

[Bubblehead Nuke]

Depending on your processor, memory and how you use it, sometimes it is more economical to just keep an old beast running.

I have a working machine that is a 2.8ghz P4, 2 gigs of RAM, and a HIS AGP 4670 1gig card.

Unless I throw something monsterous at it, it does just fine on good old XP Windows.

[Sailor Steve]

Cool! I have a 3-Gig P4 and 2 GB RAM. You're making me happy.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead Nuke

Depending on your processor, memory and how you use it, sometimes it is more economical to just keep an old beast running.

latest PC (2yrs old) broken down twice in 2yrs far as i care it can stay like that - played SH5 for about a week before her last death been sitting there in pieces since.

2nd pc (6yrs old) KT600-A motherboard, AthlonXP 2.6ghz, 2.5gig ram (DDR), recently brought a HD4650 1gb - AGP. Runs SH3 and 4 like a dream. Ran SH3 & 4 perfect with the 7600gs card only upgraded cause Battlefield 2 stutters a lot when playing unless i went down to 1024x768 res which was too ugly so upgraded to a 1gb card. Oh and this beast has never broken down on me in the 6yrs its been running. I clean it once a year - dust, fans and reformat the OS etc.,

Only thing i had to replace when adding the 1gb card was the PSU. 450watt to a 750watt. With the 450watt the 1bg card acted strange bsod, one of the hdd refuse to run - wasn't getting enough power. 750w fix that.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Cool! I have a 3-Gig P4 and 2 GB RAM. You're making me happy.

Then I'll make you even happier.

Though repeatedly thinking in the past two years that my system was about to collapse, I am still with the same old system right now, the only things that changed when they had technical failures, are the monitor, the RAM, the PSU once, and the graphics cards. It's a P4, 3 GHz, 2MB RAM, WinXP, Asus P4P800SE, which is AGP. I have repeatedly upgraded the graphic card every 1.5-2 years, and by doing so for around 90-100 bucks per item I have increased the longevity of the overall system by several years so far. In the end it was far more cost-efficient than if I would have bought a new system at some time in the past. But I do not want to buy new games anyway, so I do not need the latest technical tricks and kicks.

I have used nVidia 7800GS (256) and now have reached a 7950 GT with 512 MB. System runs smooth with all my stuff, which is older titles anyway. American Amazon lists such a board for 120 dollars currently.

I have had bad experiences with ATi drivers in the past, and thus I tend to recommend nVidia, always. I do not like Ati, it gave me nothing but troubles both with native and 3rd-party drivers. But that is also a longer time ago, I admit.

AGP has been declared dead since several years now, but good cards for it still appear on the market, though the 7950 range of nVidia boards seem to be the limit for it.

It's like with tape cassettes. They are still there, and tape decks still are on offer.

P.S. keep in mind that if you suffer from mod-overload, you likely will gain something from a new graphics card only when the mods you use are graphics-heavy. If that is not the case, or the sim is CPU-heavy instead of gfx-heavy (telling from FS9-experience), then you probably waste your money when investing into a gfx-card for your old system. However, for me it payed off to upgrade the old system with gfx-cards, with the noted exception of FS9.

[Castout]

Umm I'm saving up to get a new rig sometime next year. It was ArmA 2 that made me realize I need a new rig.

I'm tightening my purse.

[stabiz]

Steve, how long has it been since you did a fresh format and reinstall of OS? You computer might need a "shower".

Other than that you can safely buy ATI, I am on my third in a row since switching from nVidia due to (wait for it) ... driver issues. So yeah, buy the card that meets your requirements, you will find people who love/like/dislike/hate both brands.

[Jimbuna]

IMHO Steve your getting the benefit of some real quality advice here....I've been going to renew my system for over two years now (even set the money aside then) but constantly found myself pondering over whether to go dual or quad core, then pondered over leaving my XP Pro for Vista (heaven forbid).

Along comes the much needed Windows 7, yet still sitting on the fence undecided.

The problem I have (if you could call it a problem that is) my 3.2GHz Athlon, XP Pro, 2GB, 900watt PSU, nVidia 7800GS (BFG lifetime warranty) AGP system runs SH3 and 4 quite happily so I have difficulty in convincing myself to part with the Pesos atm.

One day graphical requirements etc will force a system renewal but until then I'll keep what I've got thanks.

I've never believed in trying to fix something that isn't broken.

Oh and I'm on the fence regarding graphics cards, I've tried them both without any hiccups or complaints

[NeonSamurai]

quad core and dual boot if you want xp functionality, also defiantly go with 7.


As for upgrading. The big question is if it is worth it. If your old system does everything you want it to, then save the money. If it is lagging behind and not up to the task, then upgrade if you can afford it.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by stabiz

Steve, how long has it been since you did a fresh format and reinstall of OS? You computer might need a "shower".

Umm...never? I don't I'm not sure I know how to do all that. I'm still working on doing a real registry cleaning.

Other than that you can safely buy ATI, I am on my third in a row since switching from nVidia due to (wait for it) ... driver issues. So yeah, buy the card that meets your requirements, you will find people who love/like/dislike/hate both brands.

I went ahead an bought the ATI 4650. I've had both, and I've had good luck with both, so the only issue was money, and this 1-GB card was only $60.

Thanks for the advice, guys, and somebody tell me how to do the needed stuff to speed everything up again.

[Sailor Steve]

OH!

MY!

WOOHOO!!!

I actually got the card yesterday, installed it per the instructions and ran into a world of trouble. The computer kept freezing. The drivers wouldn't load from the disc. Nothing seemed to work.

I finally reinstalled the old 256 card, and went online to ATI's website. Downloaded the latest 10.5 drivers and installed them manually. Shut everything down, put the new card back in, and I can't believe the things I've been missing.

When I played SH4 my best framerates in the harbor were around 8-10, and that was with every graphics function disabled. I lived with it because the game was still pretty.

I started SH4 with the new card, enabled every single function, and I'm getting 'only' 30 fps in external views! I can't believe the difference.

Now I have to go back and enable/disable graphics functions according to my taste, rather than necessity. I'm glad SH4 lets you do that on the fly, while playing.

Next I need to enable the SH3 mods that have been causing my computer to crash.

I'm loving this!

[Jimbuna]

SINK EM ALL!!

[Arclight]

Something that makes your favorite game even more enjoyable. Best kind of upgrade.

[THE_MASK]

A good program which i use and is easy and actually speed things up is norton utilities . You have to buy it but it shouldnt cost much in the US .

[THE_MASK]

Originally Posted by sober

A good program which i use and is easy and actually speed things up is norton utilities . You have to buy it but it shouldnt cost much in the US .

How is it all going steve . How is the card holding up .