Graphics card suggestion

[LokiHades]

First off, i'd like to state the specs, then the problem.

 

You see, I'm running a dell (I wanted to do bare bones, but my uncle who worked there got us a really good 40% discount on the pre-assembled), which means no overclocking from what I've heard. Here's the specs:

 

Graphics Card: 8800 GT 512mb

Memory: 4x 512mb Ram (I'm going to get some for my birthday, probably two sets of 2gb)

Processor: Pentium D 3.20GHz, and another 3.20GHz

Motherboard:Dell Inc. 0FJ030

Monitor:Samsung SyncMaster 2253BW/2253LW, or for digital (same monitor, different settings) SyncMaster CX2253BW/CX2253LW (Digital) (Native Resolution being 1680x1050, I use 1600x900 for Oblivion, I tried 1280x1024, which was my previous setting for my old monitor, to no avail)

 

The big problem I find, is that even after defragmentation, the use of Streamline (no adjusting of sliders), and another program (called Operation Optimization) that is made to enhance FPS, is that whenever I'm inside a city, my solid 60 fps (outdoors, with no actors, lowest but not no shadows, and no grass enabled), drops to 40. While thats not a problem, as soon as I start moving, it goes to 30-35, but once i look in certain directions (mainly where many buildings/actors/objects are found) it drops anywhere from 13-25.

 

Now, I don't mind this either, as it only happens in certain spots in cities, but as soon as I get into fights (with 2 or more opponents), it becomes problematic... 1 Opponent=solid 27-35 fps, 2 Opponents=18-25 fps (dramatic fall, without much lag, but can get hectic in lag if I spell spam, or my opponents use spells), and 3=7-16 fps (omg lol, how can I even play!), I do not dare go further (especially since I use FCOM, but use the mods that tone down the encounters so you usually end up with 2-5 actors at most).

You see, I had no problems with this in the past, (3 opponents rendered a solid 18 fps, which doesn't have any lag for me), but my computer isn't doing as well as it did around 3 months ago. So I'm open to suggestions of the nVidia line. I've also done tweak guides, but I refuse to set anything lower than with HDR, or 4 AA.

 

Well, I have 1000 SGD or 734 USD to spend.

 

I need some money for my RAM (which is cheap at my local place), should take around 170 SGD.

Now that leaves 830 SGD (609 USD), enough for a top end nVidia card (you know what I'm talking about, that sweet EVGA E-Geforce 9800 GX2 1GB), but I don't want to spend all thats left from my Savings on a single card (Or I could always ask it as a birthday present, but then I'll feel rotten for asking so much from my parents).

 

So any suggestions? Replies are appreciated :thanks: , and another possibility is SLI.

 

Note:I wouldn't mind ATI, if I didn't have problems with their cards, since my last ATI card had such horrendous errors, even with the right and latest drivers installed, and basically baked inside my computer, which I've recently installed a secondary fan, as well as the last couple which burned its way through my old PCs.

 

Edit:Added Monitor to specs, and what I used during my playthroughs

[Marcus Wolfe]

I recommend you save for a few months and get the latest graphic Ge force

[LokiHades]

I recommend you save for a few months and get the latest graphic Ge force

 

Yeah, but I'm going for a 2 and 1/2 week vacation (no PC :wallbash: , and I only recently fixed my baby too!), and I'll probably buy when I come back. I don't want to go for the latest coming up in the future, I know it will be horrendously overpriced, probably the E-Geforce 9800 GX2 would do, but it still is rather pricey... Maybe I'll ask for the Card as a present, and buy the Ram myself, so that I don't end up spending so much, and my parents don't have to worry about an expensive present for this year [seriously, I get my components for my PC, and I'm contented until my PC starts lagging behind, as in 3 years later, except for this case were I never ran into trouble prior to this).

 

Edit:Terminology and Grammar.

[macmert]

IMHO you dont need any upgrade...

 

I have slightly worse system then you, I have

 

Nvidia 8800 GTS OC edition with 320 MB which is worse then yours

2 gigs of hyper x ram

and dual core something which is worse then yours...

 

And I play oblivion on the highest settings possible, and it rocks, the problem is not your system but the software you are using... I am using xp with SP1 and until recently my machine was matching the speed of light... but I filled my HDD (250 GB and only 15 left :D) and has some trojan or something in it and I never did a defrag or diskclean now I have slight delays 3 or 4 in 6 hours of gameplay, so my suggestion will be to format your system, clean up your HDD and do a defrag and diskclean, scan for viruses, have the latest drivers for your hardware, maybe have a sufficient power supply for your machine...

 

But if you are really eager to spend your money, I would suggest look for ATI for alternatives... they are quite powerful, in fact there is one ATI card that is used for animation movies like toy story and such but the price is around 2500 USD :D and as far as I am concerned there is no card matching that :D

[bluekatt]

dual core worse ? are you joking

a dual core is two cpu cores threaidng ath the same time against a single core pentium 4

with a wider and faster bus

the only real bottle neck ( onder then windows vista avoid that as if it were the plauge it self which it is ) is the bus no matter how fast its stil shared by two processors it would improve performance if each core had their own bus but thats not the case

they already have a monsterous 1 mb L2 cache which helps a lot

 

never the les is agree with macs comments clean your hd up the more free space you have left the better windows uses part of the hd as a swap file the less space you have free the more windows wil complain

 

and i also agree that you should look at ATI for alternatives

a 2500 card is abit too much though that can buy you a whole new pc

and are games really that much worth to you ?

if you want a perfect always the sam eno technical trouble gaming experience invest in a ps3 or xbox 360

you can afford them if you can or want to blow 2500 on a single video card

but somehow i doubt that very much

[Raikouh]

I have an 8800 GS. Apparently, Shadow's makes that happen, i've tried disabling them. I heard its a bug.

 

EDIT: Or it could be your RAM.

[macmert]

dual core worse ? are you joking

a dual core is two cpu cores threaidng ath the same time against a single core pentium 4

with a wider and faster bus

the only real bottle neck ( onder then windows vista avoid that as if it were the plauge it self which it is ) is the bus no matter how fast its stil shared by two processors it would improve performance if each core had their own bus but thats not the case

they already have a monsterous 1 mb L2 cache which helps a lot

 

never the les is agree with macs comments clean your hd up the more free space you have left the better windows uses part of the hd as a swap file the less space you have free the more windows wil complain

 

and i also agree that you should look at ATI for alternatives

a 2500 card is abit too much though that can buy you a whole new pc

and are games really that much worth to you ?

if you want a perfect always the sam eno technical trouble gaming experience invest in a ps3 or xbox 360

you can afford them if you can or want to blow 2500 on a single video card

but somehow i doubt that very much

 

 

Lol I thought Loki had a dual core too :D that is why I said it is worse :D... And yea I told about the uber vid card but that is just to make a point that you need a lot of money to have a high end PC :blink: but I think his system is alright and a little maintanance and the PC will be up and running fast :D

[evilkoal]

the best option right now is to get two of the 8800 GS, and put them in SLI. it will run better than a 9800, and a lot faster.

also, $200 for the reasons i just stated, or $500 for something crappier. :)

 

i might also suggest going to mineral oil in a fish tank for your heating problems... it works quite well for me :D ( just make sure not to put your HDD [unless it is solid state] into the mineral oil, and keep your disk drive out, or it wont work haha. also keep the oil constantly moving with some way to keep it cool)

[macmert]

the best option right now is to get two of the 8800 GS, and put them in SLI. it will run better than a 9800, and a lot faster.

also, $200 for the reasons i just stated, or $500 for something crappier. :)

 

i might also suggest going to mineral oil in a fish tank for your heating problems... it works quite well for me :D ( just make sure not to put your HDD [unless it is solid state] into the mineral oil, and keep your disk drive out, or it wont work haha. also keep the oil constantly moving with some way to keep it cool)

 

 

Yea I heard that a few years back... Does it really work? I mean it is not water so you dont need to be afraid of frying up or end up frying :D, is it really efficient? and how much did it cost you? Also you mentioned about keeping the oil moving, what do you do, stir it up with a spoon or something? :happy:

 

Anyway, for Loki's question again...

 

Dont go for a videocard, just clean up the mess from your system and start fresh, my machine is going a little down right now, a little stuttering in oblivion, which was working perfectly full detail, I think of formatting and reinstalling windows too, I will recommend that again :D

 

Anyway hope that helps

:D

[evilkoal]

yeah it works lol :)

 

it just depends on where you get the stuff at (do not shop at petsmart, they are ridiculous. try walmart for the fish tank if you are going to use one.) idr how much my mineral oil cost, but it was extremely cheap.

to keep it circulating, all you have to have is a fan, or two that has enough power to keep the oil moving :) i put about four metal mini fans in there, and they seem to be working well enough. you can also go for something to cool it off if you'd like. i heard some guy hooked the freezer up from a minifridge to his rig...

 

make sure you try it your first time with an older computer that you dont care about, but i doubt you can screw it up lol