Which video card for SH3? | Forums

[shaggyofwv]

I am looking to upgrade from my Nvidia FX 5200 and am considering the ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 MB.. Anyone use this particular edition of the 9800?? How does it work with SH 3?

[shaggyofwv]

I am looking to upgrade from my Nvidia FX 5200 and am considering the ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 MB.. Anyone use this particular edition of the 9800?? How does it work with SH 3?

[InfectiousDust]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by shaggyofwv:
I am looking to upgrade from my Nvidia FX 5200 and am considering the ATI Radeon 9800XT 256 MB.. Anyone use this particular edition of the 9800?? How does it work with SH 3? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

This is just a point of advice, but it's probably not a good idea to go out and buy a card just because it works with one particular game. You'll likely be disappointed down the road. Do some research (which I'm sure you've done) and buy a card that is in your budget and will best suit your needs now and in the near future.

[shaggyofwv]

Thanks for the advice, I have done quite a bit of research and price comparisons and the Radeon 9800XT seems to be the best for the price, that is why I was wondering how it works with SH 3 as this is one of the few games I play on the computer.. This is the first PC game I have purchased since IL2: FB. I usually stick with my Xbox.

[TheRealWulfmann]

I have 2 PCs and the bigger one has the X800SE 256MB VC and the smaller one has the 9800SE 128MB. The game runs at full settings on the smaller one and in normal situations is the same as the X800.
It is when the flames and smoke appear the extra punch is a little better.
The 9800XL 256MB VC was a $500.00 card a year ago and was pushed down in price because of the X800s. It is likely the best bang for you dollar at around $175.00 and certainly ATI cards are better for SH3 at this point.
But, I must assume that will be patched as that is hurting them on sales and am sure that will change.
By the time you need to up the 9800XL you will want 64Bit PCIE system anyway but I agree the 9800 is a super card expecially at the current price.
Wulfmann

[microamp]

I use 9700 Pro myself, slightly less ponies than the 9800. It runs acceptable for me with 4xAA/4xAF.

The only times I get any slow downs is when there is massive amount of fire coming from an oil tanker. Other than that, once in a while it'll slow down at 1024x time compression at certain times of the day. But starting off 2048x time compression works fine.

The 9700 Pro is also being fed by an Athlon 64 2.0 GHz, so it's not starving for information.

[LW_Seekuh]

Hi i use the ati radeon 9800xt 256 meg card i have no problems what so ever it great for game graphics rock hope this helps.

[richbrant]

Dunno what budget your considering, but I just got an X800 XL 256mb and it runs 1280x1024 4xAA 8xAF with great frame rates even with loads of action and the Smoke Mod

[rabu2u]

I had a Nvidia GForce FX5200 that came with my Dell 4600, same as you. I found is really lacked the muscle for a lot of the newer games, in SH3 it bogged down quite a bit and was a hassle until the solution to the UZO whiteout by hitting crl + P was announced.
I just upgraded to an XFX Nvidia GForce 6600 GT and I am really happy with this card... I also did a lot of research and watched comments and this brand seems to be one of the best. Very quiet fan and it really performs. I can set all card settings at max and get hardly any frame hits at all in SH3 or any other games I have.
Also, it seems that more and more most games are targeted at the Nvidia cards and take advantage of their features.
I got the 6600 GT at Tiger Direct for only about $160 with the rebates, not bad.
Tom's Hardware has some good charts on card performance:
Tom's Hardware Guide
I have no slowdowns on ship fires, etc. that I got before with the FX5200

P4 2.3ghz, 1gig RAM, SB 5.1 Live, XP home SP2

[Supr]

9800xt are still pretty pricy aren’t they?

I have a 9800 pro AIW, and it it works great. but if i was shopping, i'd look at the newer generation models. There are some "lite" model x800 like the x800se which is probably close in price, but with better performance. If you're just looking for the best bang for buck, most say that crown goes to the 6600's now. You might want to look into those. Personally, since I've gone over to the ati camp, in particular to the All In Wonder side, I don’t think I'll ever go back to a card that doesn’t have video in and out, plus the tv tuner. My pc is now my PVR, and I am in the process of converting vhs tapes to dvd's. All of that is only possible on the AIW card unless you want to buy an additional tv/video capture card.

Good Luck