Hey Guys... So my PC is fine for this game, but my graphics card either likes seeing me get pwnt in the face, or it is just a piece of junk. I have an eVGA 9800 GT Superclocked 512mb graphics card. Runs MW2 full specs like a dream. but it cannot seem to cut it for this game. I have every setting on low. Anti Aliasing off, anisotropic filtering off, but still only like 15-20 steady FPD. I've tried overclocking it and it will run the game a bit better, but eventually crashes...So! I got a few options for stuff I can sell, but I am looking for a new graphics card. I'd like to spend around 150-200 (Canadian) for a new card. Any suggestions? The rest of my PC is as follows AMD 2.6Ghz Dual Core 2 Gb DDR Ram 500 Gb Harddrive Windows Vista (what a betch)
I honestly don't know if its more your CPU and RAM than your video card.
I'm sure getting a better video card will help but I have a 9800 gtx (which I know isn't the game as a 9800 gt) and I can play the game just fine on medium with DX10/11.
But, I'm running quad core with 6GB of RAM and Windows 7 64 bit.
Have you tried updating your drivers to see if that helps? [ image disabled ]
Basically I ran into this situation myself with my 8800 gts. On low I would get 30-50 fps, which ws not bad, but not near as smooth as it should be.
You have a couple of issues with your system:
First off for todays games your processor is underpowered unless you are overclocking it. If possible look at moving to a Quad core, it will help with multiple processing.
Secondly 2GB is a bare minimum for Vista. Vista is known as a resource hog due to its abundance of processing running in the background. Try bumping this up to 4GB (either 2X2Gb or add 2X1 more to your current)
Reality is your video card is OK, but not what you want for quality fps in BC2. Even after optimizations, it can be very taxing. Now I went ahead and upgraded my whole system and got an ati 5870, but that may not be in your budget. There is no need to upgrade your video card if your motherboard can not use all of those new pipelines. The 4870 Alazar shows you is a nice card (never a fan of Sapphire), but it requires your MB to have a PCI-E 2.0 16X port. So if your MB does not have that than your just pissing in the wind.
Here is a chart on graphics cards, running high quality and at decent settings and on a graphically intense game Far Cry 2:
Always look for single cards, not those run in SLI or Crossfire. Difference between a 9800 gt and a 4870 is about 12 fps on the high setting, which means at lower qualities it will be even more.
Overall if you look to upgrade your video card you may end up upgrading your whole system, because of bottlenecks. IMHO look at a new cpu, mb, ram combo then use your existing card, if that does not help alot, then go for the new card because a video card is one of the most expensive items.
[ Edited Sun Mar 07 2010, 11:23AM ] Gary "N2DEEP" Owner/ Admin www.OnTargetLan.com OnTargetLan - "Lans that hit the MARK!"
I have updated to the latest drivers, and I used a driver cleaner on the old ones first like Erratik showed me. That side is good. I will definitely be looking into those cards you guys have recommended. And N2 I currently have a PCI-E 2.0 x16 graphics card, so that part is awesome. When I bought this new mobo I made sure it could handle the latest and greatest...that was last year however. Shortly after posting I was able to find three really good cards at a good Canadian price. Lemme know if they are any good.
[This is Canadian Pricing BTW...damn you Americans and you're cheaper prices]
I think I will let Erratik tweak my system, and definitely look into overclocking my cpu, I've wanted to anyways. Ram is not a bad idea either....and my dumbass Vista will have to stay, i definitely won't have enough for Win7 yet.
[ Edited Sun Mar 07 2010, 12:37PM ] [ image disabled ]
Echophox wrote ... I think I will let Erratik tweak my system, and definitely look into overclocking my cpu, I've wanted to anyways. Ram is not a bad idea either....and my dumbass Vista will have to stay, i definitely won't have enough for Win7 yet.
Get a new CPU. You can get a quad core relatively cheap nowadays (especially if you go AMD). For some RAM, look into getting 4GB worth, at least, for optimal use. You can download Windows 7 for free through a torrent if you are looking to upgrade.
I would agree with N2 and say you need to upgrade your CPU and RAM before you go for your video card. If you can the money, get these nice phenoms if they are compatible with your mobo:
After discussing this with Erratik I have decided the only way this will be worth the money is to buy a completely new mobo. So I'm looking into it with him. I got about 1000 Canadian to spend which makes it tough. Convincing the wife will be fun. Gonna be about a month before I figure I will be able to afford it after I sell off my current PC and some old goalie equipment. For the time being I'll be online if the mood catches me, but don't count on me for anything important in BC2. But definitely for Cod4 matches. I'm all over that. Thanks for the responses. Wish me luck convincing the wife haha. [ image disabled ]
I bought 9800 gtx, intel quad core, 6gb, vista ultimate 64 bit, and a massive case all for about $500.
If you are really trying to save money, see what you can find on craigslist for computers. That's where I got mine and I was completely satisfied with my purchase. [ image disabled ]
1. whats your exact CPU chip. you might be able to get the clock a bit higher without any voltage changes or cooling changes.
2. for the price nowadays, go with the 5770 card. 4870 only supports DX10.1 5770 supports DX11 I think. Plus you'll get about the same FPS with both cards. Also, if you're going to buy an ATI card, get a long time ATI distributor. I wouldn't trust an nVidia company like XFX. I'd go with Diamond, Sapphire, Visiontek, or even Radeon itself. To me it would be like buying a PC through Apple....just don't seem right.
