Help Me Choose a Graphics Card !

[cadaveca]

Let me tell ya, anas, that xbox 360 and PS3 cores basically run @ 3.2ghz.

there's a very specific reason that you need more than 3.0ghz for gmaes, more often than not, and it's very much centered around the consoles, and thier cpu speeds. I recommend 3.6 or more for dual vgas...there is a real valid reason I have come to these conclusions, and why not many dispute them.

You really need a tri- or quad for decent gaming. WHY?

Most games are primarily developed for consoles, which are NOT dual cores...they are a tri-core, and the Cell broadband engine, which works out a to a bit more than 3 cores.

Yes, a dual core is sufficient, but to get the most optimized ssytem, you really need to work around the software you are going to use, and for games, that basis is very deeply rooted within console specs.

 

[filip007]

Radeon has faster memory that's my only argument...

GTX 460 86 GB/s
5850 128 GB/s
6870 134 GB/s

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=3

MAX TDP is about 150W+ for all so...take you pick

 

[prescient]

the impression i would to avoid ,is that if anyone here is thinking am trying to tell him
that worse is better than good , meanwhile i am trying to say i know better is better
but only and ONLY when you can pay for it , i dont have plans to upgrade this pc
any further before i send him to its grave in a year or 2 , the 9800 is dead already
i want a gpu that can keep me in the game for a while longer , without being a failure
or bottleneck . i dont want decent gaming and extra eye candy

pilip008 it says here gtx 460 1gb memory bandwidth 115 not 86 so that is not much
of a different also you cant compare 2 different architectures like that , for ex
look at stream processors in ati and compare it to nvidia you will find different measures .

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-460-us.html


also ati release date is somewhat 9/2009 that sound old to me , the fermi has
more fresh blood in it i guess , for the future , ill go tomorrow close my eyes and
let santa decide hehe

 

[jasper1605]

fermi has
more fresh blood

Note: this is not a hate quote just a logic quote

NEWER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

 

[prescient]

Note: this is not a hate quote just a logic quote

NEWER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER

yeah but it will live longer , see after a year the 5850 will be 3 years old and that
is obsolete in gpu world , you can still find some 2gb 8800gtx ultra that are more powerful than a gtx260 at stock but they still cant beat it, because their architecture and technology is older and cant process the newer features and functions used in drivers and graphics
engine and games coding ,ex... in this fast moving world of gpu business you need to move
forward not backward in time. even if the chip is not as powerful as the previous one ,
look at nvidia , what they just did by releasing the 5xxx series after 2 months of
the 4xxx series is just unbelievable . they have just finished the 4xxx mid range cards
only weeks ago , so when is the 6xxx series coming out ?? by new year
there is no time for the buyers to think , i dont think buying a 2 years old card is a good
move at this point .

 

[prescient]

well i got this one for about 250$

MSI USA ? Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

i am an nvidia brain washed i guess ,

looked good , i plugged it in and it worked , but there is something i dont
understand is those v voltage small cables and slots look there is 3 of them
look at 3rd pic near the power plugs . there is 3 small white slots .

do i need to plug them in for some reason ?

 

[LagunaX]

Too bad there is a great used 5850 for $150 in the for sale section...

 

[gvblake22]

...there is something i dont
understand is those v voltage small cables and slots look there is 3 of them
look at 3rd pic near the power plugs . there is 3 small white slots .

do i need to plug them in for some reason ?

No, those are for monitoring voltages running through the card and the GPU. You need to poke a digital multimeter into those and you get the readings. They just sit there and look pretty unless you really care what voltage your GPU is running at (in which case you could check it with the aforementioned multimeter).

 

[prescient]

No, those are for monitoring voltages running through the card and the GPU. You need to poke a digital multimeter into those and you get the readings. They just sit there and look pretty unless you really care what voltage your GPU is running at (in which case you could check it with the aforementioned multimeter).

well i dont even know what multimeter is but in my case i think there might be something
wrong with the voltages , cheer up ati users the card is faulty

just bought this yesterday

http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=130&prod_no=2035

seemed that everything was ok until the 3d applications kicks in like 3dmark vantage or kombustor
then the temp would rise in less than 4 seconds to over 104 c then the gpu close down .

here is a screen of afterburner showing the max 100c just before locking down while kombustor is on




installed latest drivers . should i go for RMA or there is something with the voltage ?

 

[prescient]

never mind , i took it back and it was faulty , i know you guys gonna like this
i got an radeon hd 6870 instead but now i need some help
finding the driver , i never used ati before . not that i am stupid but it
says here :

Previous ATI Catalyst

Note! AMD Catalyst™ 10.11 does not provide support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 68xx series of graphics cards. Full support for these graphics cards is targeted to be available in the AMD Catalyst 10.12 driver release.

then they have some drivers below , well which one do i need ? i know i have
the driver dvd but i want to learn to get the latest , thanks

 

[Altered]

Graphics Driver Installation Instructions for Microsoft Windows® 7 or try here Guide on how to install an ATI graphics card and / or its drivers

 

[wolf]

Note! AMD Catalyst™ 10.11 does not provide support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 68xx series of graphics cards. Full support for these graphics cards is targeted to be available in the AMD Catalyst 10.12 driver release.

LOL I hate it when AMD do that, of course the card is supported, but not to the extent they plan or something.

when I bought my 5870 in September 2009, I was met with this message on the official product page, and its still there on the product page for my Mobility 5650.

1. Driver support scheduled for release in 2010.

source

 

[MT Alex]

Note! AMD Catalyst™ 10.11 does not provide support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 68xx series of graphics cards. Full support for these graphics cards is targeted to be available in the AMD Catalyst 10.12 driver release.

This is posted right below that info:
In the meantime, the AMD Catalyst 10.10e Hotfix driver can be obtained here: http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/gpu88-catalyst-10-10e-hotfix.aspx

I would imagine that you download 10.10, and then apply the hotfix patch.

There are quite a few 6870 owners here, I'm sure they will chime in.

 

[wiak]

LOL I hate it when AMD do that, of course the card is supported, but not to the extent they plan or something.

when I bought my 5870 in September 2009, I was met with this message on the official product page, and its still there on the product page for my Mobility 5650.



source

thats becuse the OEM is a bitch for not allowing customers to install offical drivers from the designer of chips

 

[Thatguy]

Show me where the dual core is?
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpu-benchmark-highend_6.html

I voted for the GTX460 too. I guess I hate ATI because my 5770 isn't a great overclocker. Can't even OC the core by 25MHz wtf!

huh mine overclocks like a MoFo. maybe you have poor case cooling or a shitty power supply. I have several friends with 5770's. all overclock just fine. Lots of people overclock these cards. There are plenty of mods you can do and you can really push them hard.

if your having issues with overclocks, you have something else cuasing trouble.

 

[wolf]

thats becuse the OEM is a bitch for not allowing customers to install offical drivers from the designer of chips

tell me about it, I dont even remember what I did but now I can at least install official Mobility drivers, at first it wanted me to only install ones I downloaded from HP

if your having issues with overclocks, you have something else cuasing trouble.

it could just be a dud card/overclocker, it's happened before.

 

[Thatguy]

tell me about it, I dont even remember what I did but now I can at least install official Mobility drivers, at first it wanted me to only install ones I downloaded from HP



it could just be a dud card/overclocker, it's happened before.

then it would have been cut down and binned differently. Its incrediably uncommon. More then likely. the pc has other issues. I have been messing with the 5770 since release for both myself and a few others. Voltage mods etc. Clocks in the 1+ghz range. Never been a problem.

done it to more then one card now to.

usually when people get flaky overclocks. Its always cuased by voltage stability issues or poor current supply.

 

[wolf]

then it would have been cut down and binned differently. Its incrediably uncommon. More then likely. the pc has other issues. I have been messing with the 5770 since release for both myself and a few others. Voltage mods etc. Clocks in the 1+ghz range. Never been a problem.

done it to more then one card now to.

usually when people get flaky overclocks. Its always cuased by voltage stability issues or poor current supply.

don't get me wrong I agree that could well be the cause of his overclocking issues. I'm just throwing out the possibility it's a dud overclocker too. seems it runs fine at stock speeds to it made the right bin to be a 5770, just has no headroom. your explanation is more likely however, but all he has to do to know is test it in another system, preferably one with a reputable PSU over 600w too.

 

[LagunaX]

Hey Anas, this thread is for you:
"Flashing to the XFX Black Edition Bios"
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=134724

 

[Thatguy]

don't get me wrong I agree that could well be the cause of his overclocking issues. I'm just throwing out the possibility it's a dud overclocker too. seems it runs fine at stock speeds to it made the right bin to be a 5770, just has no headroom. your explanation is more likely however, but all he has to do to know is test it in another system, preferably one with a reputable PSU over 600w too.

odds of shitty PSU 50/50 odds of crappy silicone 1-100,000. I agree he just might have a bad overclocker. Usually those chips suffer from infant mortality as they are just garbage.

My bet is still on the power supply or some other problem.

if you really ever wanna overclock one of these cards, here the volt mods needed to do so.

You'd be suprised just how potent they can be with some solid OC

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=236781

 

[prescient]

Hey Anas, this thread is for you:
"Flashing to the XFX Black Edition Bios"
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=134724

thanks but am not a power user , and i dont want to go through the risk .
i want to thank all of you for the dear help and yes i saw that hot fix but
you guys just missed my question , i know haw to install the driver but which
one do i download ? the Catalyst Software Suite (64 bit) English Only 41 mb ?
or the AMD Catalyst™ Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) Technology Edition 91 mb ?
and what is that for? anyway ? thanks again
sorry 12 years of using nvidia , but we voted for ati
and looks like ati won .

 

[Altered]

Catalyst Software Suite (64 bit) English Only should be fine. However the second set that has APP that includes the OpenCL driver. Feel free to search the forums for OpenCL or Google for more details.

There will now be two variants of the AMD Catalyst driver package available:


AMD Catalyst (same driver package as in previous versions):
Includes the Direct3D, OpenGL, Display driver and AMD Catalyst Control Center components
AMD Catalyst Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology Edition:
Includes the Direct3D, OpenGL, Display driver and AMD Catalyst Control Center – Plus the OpenCL driver component

source

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) Technology

In the current day and age there is more to graphics cards than just playing games. More and more non-gaming related features can and are being offloaded to the GPU. ATI at first introduced ATI Stream, this is now renamed to AMD Accelerate. This is a software layer that allows software developers to 'speak' with the GPU and have it process data using your graphics card. This really is the most simple & basic description I can give it.

Currently it simply follows and believes strongly in open standards as OpenCL or for the easiest path to add compute capabilities, Microsoft's DirectX 11 DirectCompute. OpenCL is what AMD believes in the most and allows any developer to use code that scales well on both CPUs and GPUs.

To make things a little more clear for the end user, AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing, will and is used in software like Cyberlink MediaShow and power director, ArcSoft MediaConverter 4, SimHD (upscaling, H.264 encoding), Total media Theatre (HW accelerated MPEG4/MVC ), Roxio Creator 2010, Adobe Photoshop CS4 and so on ... where the GPU assists the software in certain functions, offloading the processor.

source

 

[wiak]

tell me about it, I dont even remember what I did but now I can at least install official Mobility drivers, at first it wanted me to only install ones I downloaded from HP



it could just be a dud card/overclocker, it's happened before.

my fathers laptop has offical mobility drivers from amd

 

[prescient]

well i wont be needing that openc because i dont use the mentioned programs ,

one more thing please before we go : what utility i can use to monitor the card hardware ?
i tried riva tuner but i cant find the hardware monitor were it used to be . its simply gone .
dose ati have a tool ? or should i try msi after burner ? its time to benchmark this card .
thanks

 

[prescient]

I think i like the cooling and noise on the Hawk. Mindyou, a single 5850 is quiet on a reference board. I voted 460 but I suppose you should get a 6870 instead

good idea .

Go for ati GTX 460 are shit on slower than i5 processors. They suffer from low gpu utilization. They need very powerful cpu not to be bottlenecked. We know that ATI have less shaders compared to NV but ATI don`t have problem with utilization because thay have have dedicated part of the GPU for shader Load balancing and you wont have any problem with gpu utilization.

is that why i cant see the shaders clock speed in msi afterburner ? in fact i dont see
anything about shaders in ati specs!