LimaBeanMage Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 I suppose this is less technical support than it is ignorance on my part. After my main computer died I decided to buff up another computer to handle oblivion while I was wading through this pc fandango. I got more memory and another graphics card. I'd figure I might as well make it better but a problem makes no sense to me what-so-ever and I wonder if it has to do with oblivion specifically. My old rig: Pentium 4 3.2 ghzNvidia 6800 pro ultra go 256 MB1 gig of ram Semi-new rig: Pentium 4 3.0 ghzRadeon x1650 512mb1 gig of ram Nearly identical, except my old rig was a desktop replacement notebook. With the tiny exception of the processor the graphics card is the only thing that stands out. When I first booted oblivion it recommended straight medium settings while on the nvidia it took it straight to high. The radeon can hold the same settings at only half of the fps as the 6800 and I do not know why. As far as I know the x1650, much less a 512, is superior to the 6800pro. But I cannot even go outside with medium-high settings on without being brought down to 10 fps. I have the latest drivers for both and neither is overclocked. The last time I checked, 6800 pro was competing with x800 pro. If someone can make me look like a fool and point out an obvious detail that I missed then I would be elated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switch Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 I would have thought the 6800 Ultra would be more powerful than the x1650, despite its 512MB of VRAM? But I'm no expert really, I know very little about Radeon cards. It could simply be because, as I recall, Oblivion is built more with NVIDIA in mind than ATI. It's a silly bias, but it is there. I would think you'd be able to get some more juice out of your x1650 than that though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimaBeanMage Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 Well, I think toward the end that I misjudged the card generations. I already sent that card back and I am trying to get a handle back on the graphics card scene. Though, what I could use help on at this point is which card to go to. I am probably going to stick with Nvidia unless Radeon really "wows" me. While I'm on the subject, I wouldn't mind getting advice if anyone would be willing to give it. Of these three cards, which one is the best for the price? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130274 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161064 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150174 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switch Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 It's a little hard to tell, but I would say probably the X1650XT... the clock speeds and pixel pipelines are higher, and the VRAM is the same. I don't know how significant the fact is that it has a 128-bit memory interface as opposed to the 256-bit of the other cards though... not sure what difference that makes. I can tell you that before I switched to PCI-E though that the 7800GS was quite a good card... I could run Oblivion on Ultra High with it with just 1.5GB RAM and an AMD 64 3000+ processor with some stutter in the exterior, which wasn't bad going. You'd need to keep your processor and amount of RAM in mind when buying a new card, as it could well bottleneck it - the X1650XT may be your best bet as it's cheapest and more or less the same spec as the 7800GS, if not better. I would think you wouldn't get the full potential of the 7900GS with your system setup. I'm no expert though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LimaBeanMage Posted April 16, 2007 Author Share Posted April 16, 2007 It seems that I am relearning about the entire video card realm yet again. I'm not even sure how important RAM and my processor are to the video card. I know that I would not get the full potential out of most of the cards I buy but I think it would still perform better than previous cards if not still on a leash due to my system specs. The next problem I have is the interface type. Unfortunately I found out that AGP cards, despite declining into obscurity, actually cost more than pci-e cards. Though, on the upside, I found a Nvidia 7950xt AGP card for only $180.00. I think I'll start searching for a video card guide, if I find out I'll be sure to post it for others use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vagrant0 Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Silly question... But are you running the catalyst for the ATI card? There's two seperate things, the drivers, then an interface that lets you tweak the card. While notmally the interface is good, with ATI it tends to bog down your system, while latest versions are slightly better, it can still cause difficulties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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