delta63
To start off, I recently revamped my entire computer and built it from scratch. Fedex and UPS trucks brought me:
From http://zipzoomfly.com:
Athlon 64 3400+ Processor Retail
Corsair TWINX1024-3200LLPRO 1GB Kit DDR400 XMS3200 Ultra Low Latency Proseries Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail
MSI K8T Neo-FIS2R Via K8T800 Athlon 64 Skt754 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail
From http://gameve.com/gve/default.aspx:
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB OEM
Service/delivery from both of these companies was outstanding. I installed all parts and used my current Western Digital 1600 HD with XP Proffesional installed. Let me just say that mobo rocks! It picked everything up on first boot and Live Update 3 and Core Center absolutely are great tools. I downloaded latest Catalyst driver and was playing FC on 3rd reboot! There are many posts here praising FC on 9800 Pro, so I won't go on (lemme just say, WOW, I agree, and I will NEVER go back to nvidia.)
While I was talking to one of my clan members about 64bit applications and how FC was going to have a downloadable version, we found the downloadable version of Windows XP-64bit Edition http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/. After only having my system up for about 3 hours I decided to download and install it. It's a free .iso download with a 360 day lock. I didn't do a clean install, rather, choosing to overwrite XP Pro. All went smooth, but I lost my profile and all my data was lost (for all intensive purposes formatted my hard drive.) Now I had errors all up and down my Device Manager. Now, this is a warning to those not technically proficient with drivers: DO NOT INSTALL THIS EDITION OF WINDOWS. All the drivers for thes OS are in beta and some are VERY hard to find. Regular WinXP drivers DO NOT WORK. It took me 2 hours to find the proper driver for my onboard NIC and get back on the internet. Over the next 5 hours or so, I hunted and pecked all over the web finding drivers for my system. Results:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>Via K8T800 Chipset (partial driver) (no more Live Update or Core Center)
<LI>Viewsonic VX-900 monitor (no driver: using Plug and Play default)
<LI>Audigy 2 ZS (beta driver with EAX HD support)
<LI>Realtek AC97 (beta driver)
<LI>ATI 9800 Pro - XP 64-bit now downloads with 6.14.10.6374. There's a beta Catalyst driver available but only being release on a limited basis to the general public (I applied.)
<LI>old vid card nvidia FX5900 (Forceware 57.30)[/list]
Now that the tech stuff done, let's talk results. First the ATI card:
After a fresh install of FC and patch 1.1, the game correctly detected everything on Very High except textures, which I bumped up to Very High and water to Ultra High. All other settings were maxed out including sound with EAX. The game runs absolutely beautifully in most areas. I average about 35 fps and spike up to about 55 in some areas. There were some spots (when I killed multiple enemies in close proximity) when the game dips to under 10 fps as I go to pick up their gear from their corpses.
After playing for about 3 or 4 hours, I took a break. Found the Forceware driver and decided to throw my old vid card in. Install went smooth and driver loaded properly. Next reboot the familiar yellowish-white N was in the systray. I fired up FC and after seeing the FC 1.1 screen, the screen went black and FC quit. I tried to start the program again with the same results. Just for shi*ts and giggles, I decided to try running the game in Windows 95 compatibilty mode. Same results. (It did play NFSU and RVS/AS just fine though.)
Conclusion:
1) nvidia is still getting it's azz kicked in the 64-bit enviroment
2) I can't wait for the 64-bit version of FC to come out!!! http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...?redir=IEGFC01
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