New System VS New Video Card?

[mersenary aka MinisterofDeath]

I FORESEE AN INCREASE IN BANKRUPTCIES IN '08 THANKS TO NEW GAMES, AND EVERYTHING REQUIRED TO PLAY THEM!

[Damnidge]

Toxic - does this mean that going for the ATI Radeon HD 2900Pro 512mb card might be a better choice over the Nvidia 8800GTS 320mb? I know they score similarly in tests, but I am also reading the 2900pro is very overclockable (since the pro is the demoted 2900XT). This article seems to say the more ram would be better for UE3, which is most of what I play.

I also found a few review sites that seem to say that the 2900 is better than the 8800 gts, except on AA. Most of them also say that upcoming driver updates could resolve that. Is that true? Can drivers make OpenGL and AA run better, or is that locked up in hardware?

[DW_Hornet]

This game isn't openGL it's direct X. Also AA is out of the question for UT atleast at this point. There is no way to enable it.

As far as your other question, Yes there are performance increases with driver updates. As an example Not to long ago (about the time when people realized q4 sucked) ATI updated their driver that was responsible for a ~30% increase in performance in openGL based games. However, this isn't the rule but the exception. Most performance enhancements from drivers come with in the first few releases (of drivers) after the game. Changes are usually marginal (with in a few percent).

However, Upgrading to the 7.10s gave me a pretty high performance increase in general. I'm not sure if i screwed up the old driver install, or it's truly the wondrous nature of these drivers. However I don't expect much more out of this card.

Regardless from what I read, you should wait till next month.
http://www.dailytech.com/Clash+of+the+S ... le9180.htm

[emailbo]

Alpha,

Im running the 7800gt as well, but ive got it overclocked to 470 with stock fan. Runs very well at 1600 res but i backed off the textures for online play.

Think ill wait till the retail hits and then see if im frustrated enough to buy a new card.

[d2frob]

Hornet you can enable it by renaming the exe to bioshock and using that...might wanna do a quick search though as it's just what i remember

[Tazcrosblade_]

emailbo has the right of it. lots of things will be streamlined come ut3's final set so just hold off till then

[DW_Hornet]

So in short, when it comes to titles powered by Unreal Engine, there is only one word: money. More of it, that is. µ

Fixed

[DW_Hornet]

Rumor around the block is....

Epic compressed the textures to reduce file size of the actual demo. So expect more detail when the game hits, and it may actually stress out your machine more then it currently does.

[Namu]

I recommend building a new PC, and taking what parts you can from your old one, such as HDD, monitor, DVD drives..etc. If possible. I don't think you want to invest in a new video card that is AGP, b/c it is dead technology for the most part. I just priced out a new PC today on newegg, and had it under 500 with no video card. Core 2 duo 6600, 2 gig corsair ddr2 800MHz, any decent mobo, case... etc. I really just think that buying and AGP card would be a bad move, b/c you are loosing out on the benefits of a dual core CPU.

My 2 cents... or get a crappy PS3 :cheers: