Just purchased new card. Need input.

[Banditman]

Originally Posted by simple_inhibition

the 7800GS is a cut down 7800GT with only 16 pixelpipes compared to the GT's 20. i know that with my 7800GT i can play BF2 with everything maxed at 1280x1024 (including AA and AF) and get a minimum of 60FPS. i suspect you should be able to do the same at 1024x768 and quite possibly at 1280x1024

AWSOME!!! The waiting is driving me crazy!

Originally Posted by Hitman

I am curious since you bought a new MoBo, CPU and Video Card why didn't you go with PCI-E? I am also curious what combination you used to get 1.25 GB of RAM.

Well Hitman, when my cpu, ram, mobo and modem got fried by a lighning surge in phone line, I only had $300 limit on my upgrade. I knew I would not have enough cash to replace my video card at the same time. As it was The Zalman cooler put my budget over 50 dollars so I had to scrimp. The CPU, Mobo, RAM and CPU cooler al together including shipping was $350 so I was stuck with old video card. Even with old video card, this rig smokes my old XP Athlon 1.8 ghz system. The K8 Triton Mobo I chose allows me to upgrade to a dual core CPU if I later decide to and also has SATA as well as IDE. The board has alot of nice options.
To get the ram I used the new stick of 1gb pc 3200. I also had a stick of 256mb pc2700 laying around so I stuck that in hopeing to get the dual channel effect in which case I think it did but the ram is only actually running at the lesser of the two at 2700 speed. The next RAM upgrade will fix that though.

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Banditman

AWSOME!!! The waiting is driving me crazy!




Well Hitman, when my cpu, ram, mobo and modem got fried by a lighning surge in phone line, I only had $300 limit on my upgrade. I knew I would not have enough cash to replace my video card at the same time. As it was The Zalman cooler put my budget over 50 dollars so I had to scrimp. The CPU, Mobo, RAM and CPU cooler al together including shipping was $350 so I was stuck with old video card. Even with old video card, this rig smokes my old XP Athlon 1.8 ghz system. The K8 Triton Mobo I chose allows me to upgrade to a dual core CPU if I later decide to and also has SATA as well as IDE. The board has alot of nice options.
To get the ram I used the new stick of 1gb pc 3200. I also had a stick of 256mb pc2700 laying around so I stuck that in hopeing to get the dual channel effect in which case I think it did but the ram is only actually running at the lesser of the two at 2700 speed. The next RAM upgrade will fix that though.

You might try taking out the 256mb sick of 2700 and try it with just the 1gb stick. You may see a performance gain running the ram at 200fsb instead of the 166. It might be worth a try.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Banditman

Well Hitman, when my cpu, ram, mobo and modem got fried by a lighning surge in phone line, I only had $300 limit on my upgrade. I knew I would not have enough cash to replace my video card at the same time. As it was The Zalman cooler put my budget over 50 dollars so I had to scrimp. The CPU, Mobo, RAM and CPU cooler al together including shipping was $350 so I was stuck with old video card. Even with old video card, this rig smokes my old XP Athlon 1.8 ghz system. The K8 Triton Mobo I chose allows me to upgrade to a dual core CPU if I later decide to and also has SATA as well as IDE. The board has alot of nice options.
To get the ram I used the new stick of 1gb pc 3200. I also had a stick of 256mb pc2700 laying around so I stuck that in hopeing to get the dual channel effect in which case I think it did but the ram is only actually running at the lesser of the two at 2700 speed. The next RAM upgrade will fix that though.

If your "Stuck" with AGP, then the 7800GS is a fine choice.

The RAM configuration however, isn't the best combination. You are actually taking a performance hit paring that 1gig with that 256. Not only is your 1gig stick running slower, but you aren't running Dual Channel at all. Both RAM sticks have to be the same speed and the same size. You would be better off pulling that 256 stick out. To get Dual Channel you will have to buy another 1gig stick of the same speed.

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by stinger608

You might try taking out the 256mb sick of 2700 and try it with just the 1gb stick. You may see a performance gain running the ram at 200fsb instead of the 166. It might be worth a try.

You won't get dual channel from running a 256mb stick and a 1Gb stick. You have to have two sticks of the same speed, and for the large majority of mobo's the same size. Like Stinger said, you will have better performance from taking that 256Mb stick out and running the single stick at its full speed. The extra 256Mb of ram isn't worth the performance decrease IMHO.

[Lead Head]

Another Option would be the x1950 PRO AGP, which has a significant performance increase over the 7800..

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Lead Head

Another Option would be the x1950 PRO AGP, which has a significant performance increase over the 7800..

The x1950 is quite a bit more expensive, and I wouldn't consider the performance increase significant, not for the price anyways.

Not to mention he already bought the 7800gs.

[Banditman]

Well thanks for the info on the ram. I will have to try that out. I think I am going to do a memory benchmark to see just how much it changes. The other 1 gig stick is just a month or two away.

7800 GS finaly got here. Got it installed with no problems (very heavy card). Set all advanced serttings to on in the performance settings in Nview. Started up BF2142 and set ALL settings to high including AA. All I can say is WOW!!! I never thought games could look so good. No hick-ups, slowdowns or lag even with duel monitors!!! Just nice crisp beautifull graphics even in intense battles. I think my money was well spent!!

Also, my pc did speed up a bit after I pulled the 256 stick of ram out. Together with the rams speed increase and the new Video card, the pc has more pep in it's butt.

[fps justin]

Originally Posted by Banditman

7800 GS finaly got here. Got it installed with no problems (very heavy card). Set all advanced serttings to on in the performance settings in Nview. Started up BF2142 and set ALL settings to high including AA. All I can say is WOW!!! I never thought games could look so good. No hick-ups, slowdowns or lag even with duel monitors!!! Just nice crisp beautifull graphics even in intense battles. I think my money was well spent!!

Also, my pc did speed up a bit after I pulled the 256 stick of ram out. Together with the rams speed increase and the new Video card, the pc has more pep in it's butt.

nice to hear that you enjoy your purchase.

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by Banditman

7800 GS finaly got here. Got it installed with no problems (very heavy card). Set all advanced serttings to on in the performance settings in Nview. Started up BF2142 and set ALL settings to high including AA. All I can say is WOW!!! I never thought games could look so good. No hick-ups, slowdowns or lag even with duel monitors!!! Just nice crisp beautifull graphics even in intense battles. I think my money was well spent!!

Also, my pc did speed up a bit after I pulled the 256 stick of ram out. Together with the rams speed increase and the new Video card, the pc has more pep in it's butt.

Gotta hate it when dual monitors start dueling it out right in front of you. The worst part are the sparks at the end.



Glad you're diggin the new gear. I was pretty amazed at the difference between a 6800GT and the 7800GS. I can't imagine what going from a 5200 to that would feel like!

[Banditman]

Honestly, it feels like a totaly new system.