How To Spend 90 Bucks On Nvidia

SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
Kay. So the Radeon 9800 Pro didn't work well with a single game I owned. Great.

Now, in the low price range, whats the best value you'd get off any NVidia card? I bought a Asylum 4000 MX for now, but I'm probably going to return it as soon as I figure out something better. And you, my fellow lifeless nerdlings, are here to help me with that.
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Comments

  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    edited May 2004
    <span style='color:white'>Keep that sarcasm in check.</span>
  • SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
    edited May 2004
    <span style='color:white'>Striiiike one.</span>

    Edit :
    And it was 170 bucks, a pretty damn good deal on a 9800 Pro.
  • CommunistWithAGunCommunistWithAGun Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
    ati_npatch 1 fixes ATI card based frame-rate problems :|
  • SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
    edited May 2004
    No it doesn't. I used npatch 0, subdiv 0 and every damn possible console command. I tried everything, every driver and every possible way to run the damn thing, same result.

    Oh, and npatch 1 is default anyway.

    <span style='color:white'>Striiiike twoooo.

    I won't take actions as I assume you are upset at this moment, but be aware that the next flame of yours will earn you a ride out of here.</span>
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    Wow, flame at all today?

    I know lots of people who have ATI's that run halflife fine, Oh well, I'm not your tech support guy. I just know that I would trade my gforce fx something in a second for a 9800 pro.

    Anyways, just a heads up, but the fans in Gforce cards last about as long as the batteries in a gameboy. Mine gave me nothing but hassles until it burnt up, now I have a 4 pin fan blowing into the heatsynche; all things considered it acctually works great.
  • CommunistWithAGunCommunistWithAGun Local Propaganda Guy Join Date: 2003-04-30 Member: 15953Members
    Sorry I was just trying to help
  • Leaderz0rzLeaderz0rz Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7847Members
    can't help certain people....
  • baconflapsbaconflaps Join Date: 2004-02-09 Member: 26314Members
    Jeez, I'd hate to see how he treats people that flame him back. I've got a 9800 pro and I have no problems what so ever, so that's pretty odd to hear. Maybe yours was just being rebellious.
  • eedioteediot Join Date: 2003-02-24 Member: 13903Members
    edited May 2004
    <span style='color:white'>Keep that sarcasm in check.</span>
  • TestamentTestament Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 4037Members
    I have issues with my 9600 Pro and HL too...can't even hit 60FPS, but I don't care cuz HL is getting old and crappy.
  • Paranoia2MBParanoia2MB Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7832Members
    Hmm, I have an ATi Radeon 9600 SE and I get 71fps max. I have increased the max fps in HL, but anybody know a way I can get it to increase? Drivers?

    I'm guess I may need a new processor. 128 megs of ram and a 1.4ghz processor is kinda old. =X
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    Indeed it is, but HL isn't exactly cutting edge thier either.
  • Leaderz0rzLeaderz0rz Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7847Members
    any over 70fps your eyes can't process anyways....
  • SwiftspearSwiftspear Custim tital Join Date: 2003-10-29 Member: 22097Members
    Ya, but if you drop below 35 you start to knowtice. The extra FPS are generally just a buffer so that you don't freeze up when you go into more FPS taxing areas.
  • panda_de_malheureuxpanda_de_malheureux Join Date: 2003-12-26 Member: 24775Members
    i think its lower than 70.. something like 40 fps. anywho whatever floats your boat.

    yeah it _is_ hl, a 5 year old game you know, be happy you can still play it at all <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
    Its a very common problem, reported by many users. In my case I'd just get ~15 FPS near structures. Anyway.. NVidia damnit.
  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    edited May 2004
    To answer the topic title, Buy a Geforce MX 440/460 or Geforce Ti 4400/4600

    Although I do not advice you to actually buy a GFX card for that money.
    (The MX's are actually upgraded Geforce 2's, and the Geforce Ti's are getting old FAST.

    Spent +/- 150 bucks, and you have something that is at least twice as good as above, and it can handle all games!
    (No, not on highest graphics!, If you want that, spent 150-300)

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->....And you, my fellow lifeless nerdlings....<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    <img src='http://gallery.cybertarp.com/albums/userpics/19537/thumb_nsmarinebigsmile%7E0.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
  • BigBullBigBull Join Date: 2003-04-02 Member: 15123Members
    Why dont you sell the 9800 for more moneys, so you can buy a nvidia for more moneys.
  • JediYoshiJediYoshi The Cupcake Boss Join Date: 2002-05-27 Member: 674Members
    <a href='http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/4280.html' target='_blank'> ?</a>

    Think the patch applies to all of HL. Hell, if you did a search I'd bet you might find a topic on this <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wow.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> any over 70fps your eyes can't process anyways....<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    *sigh* That's totally wrong when no motion blur is applied. It's EASY to see the difference between even 140 and 160 FPS(provided you have vsync turned on of course). People use this blanket statement all the time, the problem? It doesn't mean ANYTHING when taken out of context.

    Eyes see continually not in discrete frames. Wave your hand back and forth across the screen, whatever your framerate is you will see a bunch of discrete instances of your hand, it looks funny. Now wave your hand infront of a continous light source. Big difference huh? So you notice a big difference between high framerates and continous motion.

    When does your monitor stop flickering? That's around 70-80 Hz for CRTs. What if you increase the brightness and check it with the corner of your eye? You can see upwards of 90-100 Hz flicker then. What if you have a properly motion-blured movie? You can see that it stutters a bit around 24 FPS but not much more than that unless there is lots of movement.

    What about a still image? A framerate of around about 0 would surfice.

    What about a bright flash in darkness? If it's bright enough it won't matter if it's a pico second short you will see it.

    What about fast objects under a strobe light? You'll easily see a ping pong ball trace out a dotted line if you smash it even under a 200 Hz strobe, you can easily "see" more than 200 FPS, or maybe you are just seeing a dotted line?

    Without a proper definition and proper description of circumstances talking about a maximum framerate visible to the eye is useless. Games like HL(i.e. slightly twitchy games) look much better and much more fluid at high framerates provided you don't sit and camp behind a box. There is no motion-blur so framerate is much more important than for a TV and were not dealing with very rapid movement so it's much less important than for a smashed ping pong ball. 60 Hz looks MUCH worse than 80-160 as long as you can push your framerate that high and don't turn off the vsync.
  • GlissGliss Join Date: 2003-03-23 Member: 14800Members, Constellation, NS2 Map Tester
    <!--QuoteBegin-Soylent green+May 27 2004, 06:45 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Soylent green @ May 27 2004, 06:45 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> any over 70fps your eyes can't process anyways....<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    *sigh* That's totally wrong when no motion blur is applied. It's EASY to see the difference between even 140 and 160 FPS(provided you have vsync turned on of course). People use this blanket statement all the time, the problem? It doesn't mean ANYTHING when taken out of context.

    Eyes see continually not in discrete frames. Wave your hand back and forth across the screen, whatever your framerate is you will see a bunch of discrete instances of your hand, it looks funny. Now wave your hand infront of a continous light source. Big difference huh? So you notice a big difference between high framerates and continous motion.

    When does your monitor stop flickering? That's around 70-80 Hz for CRTs. What if you increase the brightness and check it with the corner of your eye? You can see upwards of 90-100 Hz flicker then. What if you have a properly motion-blured movie? You can see that it stutters a bit around 24 FPS but not much more than that unless there is lots of movement.

    What about a still image? A framerate of around about 0 would surfice.

    What about a bright flash in darkness? If it's bright enough it won't matter if it's a pico second short you will see it.

    What about fast objects under a strobe light? You'll easily see a ping pong ball trace out a dotted line if you smash it even under a 200 Hz strobe, you can easily "see" more than 200 FPS, or maybe you are just seeing a dotted line?

    Without a proper definition and proper description of circumstances talking about a maximum framerate visible to the eye is useless. Games like HL(i.e. slightly twitchy games) look much better and much more fluid at high framerates provided you don't sit and camp behind a box. There is no motion-blur so framerate is much more important than for a TV and were not dealing with very rapid movement so it's much less important than for a smashed ping pong ball. 60 Hz looks MUCH worse than 80-160 as long as you can push your framerate that high and don't turn off the vsync. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    pawnz0r3d.
  • romanoromano Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 4296Members
    Pick up a used GeForce 3 (reg, ti200, ti500, whichever).. the GF3 series does an amazing job with Half-Life.. most of the time better then any other card out there. In USD, you can probably pick one up for $30-40.

    I haven't upgraded my video card from this GF3 for 4 years simply because it does Half-Life so well, and really is the only game I play. I get 100fps <u>constant</u> w/ a 2.2ghz AXP... CPU power has a ton to do with Half-Life performance as well...
  • TalesinTalesin Our own little well of hate Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7710NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators
    I'd recommend going through actual fixes, rather than blaming the card.

    1) Is it a Built By ATi? What third-party if no?
    2) What are the specs of your machine, component by model number?
    3) Did you run Detonator R.I.P. after taking out your old nVidia?
    4) When did you last format/reinstall?
    5) Are *all* of your drivers current? Even the motherboard drivers?
    6) Are you certain?
    7) Make sure. They most likely aren't, even if you think they are.
    8) Turn off fast writes.
    9) Read the bug list and possible fixes.
  • SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
    edited May 2004
    I repeat : <b>I was not using the card as a suppository for two weeks straight.</b> Take an example from Romano, whose being all constructive'n'stuff <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    1. ATI.
    2. K7S5A Motherboard, Athlon 2000+ Thoroughbred CPU, salvaged no-name CD drive, salvaged 40GB harddrive (maxtor i think, can't be bothered to look), 512 MB noname SDRAM, 250W powersupply run externally (ontop of the case) for better airflow, case runs open.

    Everything (modem/sound) onboard except LAN and USB is disabled. Its not the 250w powersupp either, it runs flawlessly in games that are not HL (mostly SC PT demo).
    3. I used driver cleaner and followed the instructions. I manually hunted down and eliminated everything that said "nv..." in my registry (with the obvious exceptions).
    4. A few months. I'll probably do it again once I get my hands on a new Win98SE CD.
    5. All current drivers that I could find are installed. Nothing really useful was to be found though, except AGP VxDs. BIOS is not flashed, because a) I'm poor and this is my only machine and b) its unlikely thats causing a problem with HL exclusively.
    6. I'm not certain I've found every driver there is, but I've spent about ~20 hours on just hunting for drivers for every last thing in my system. If you find something I've missed go ahead.
    7. Yada yada.
    8. Always off.
    9. ATI addressed the issue somewhere, with a few useless tips. Most users that tried ATIs suggestions are still having problems too.
  • Leaderz0rzLeaderz0rz Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7847Members
    i stand corrected by the almighty FPS Man. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • RellixRellix Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13572Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    I get a much lower frame rate in steam with my 9800 pro i just assumed it was because my CPU was capping out because of steam and that in turn lowered the CPU available for HL.

    That and i think my AGP speed is really really low.

    /me kicks old motherboard
  • SaltzBadSaltzBad Join Date: 2004-02-23 Member: 26833Members
    Your AGP rate shouldn't make a big difference, aside from voltage between AGP 8X and AGP 4X. Generally the card ran fine in other games though, so eh.
  • IsamilIsamil Join Date: 2003-11-25 Member: 23552Members, Constellation
    Saltz, it might be the CPU. When I got my Radeon 9800 Pro I still had a (some number, it was 1.2ghz) Athlon Thunderbird. It sucked for every game I had, my FX 5200 was better. I then went through a bunch of upgrades(Athlon XP 2800+, new RAM, etc). 9800 Pro now works. Perfectly.
  • WheeeeWheeee Join Date: 2003-02-18 Member: 13713Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I've heard of problems with nVidia drivers remaining on the system if you use driver cleaner...my suggestion would either be to reinstall the nVidia drivers and use Talesin's suggested cleaner, or formatting.
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    You can buy my Canopus (sp?) TNT2 for 90 bucks lol :-)

    TNT2 ROXORS!!!!!!
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