Processor or Video Upgrade

[Gerald]

So have you decided what you want?

[antikristuseke]

Originally Posted by Reece

You are correct, I didn't know why I put that, it is clearly marked on the box the frequency, and I know it! also shown in PC Wizard/CPU-Z etc! I really don't know why I put that in, obviously typing without thinking, a moment of insanity!!

Heh, it happens, I may have overreaced a bit in my reply too.

[Reece]

Originally Posted by Vendor

So have you decided what you want?

At this stage I might wait for awhile and save some more money, the best move would be a new video card, but the new ones are based on DX11, I don't know if the 5850 would even run in XP with DX9, I suppose it would, just have some of the cool features disabled.

[HunterICX]

Originally Posted by Reece

At this stage I might wait for awhile and save some more money, the best move would be a new video card, but the new ones are based on DX11, I don't know if the 5850 would even run in XP with DX9, I suppose it would, just have some of the cool features disabled.

I got the HD 5850 running on XP,

you're not missing any cool feature because the card itself doesn't supply you with one. It's the DX11 itself that enhances some graphical features and with a DX11 card it just utilizes the feature a lot better.

I do however upgrade to Win7 as soon I get some extra cash to spend, but that's not only for the DX11 reason.

HunterICX

[Arclight]

Actually you are missing things like tesselation and improved support for multi-core CPU, along with stuff like support for higher shader-models and more advanced effects.

Though I've only seen 1 game so far use tesselation and just a handfull that sport DX11 features.

[Reece]

Hmm, well after Xmas I might look at purchasing the 5850, but at the moment $350 is out of my range! What do you think of the HD 5850 Wim?

[HunterICX]

Originally Posted by Reece

What do you think of the HD 5850 Wim?

What I find of the HD5850

My System Specs:

Intel Quad Core Q9400 2.66Ghz
2 x 2 GB Ram
500GB HD
Sapphire HD5850 1Gb GDDR5
Windows XP

So far the games I have which aren't that heavy on eye candy or the latest I've turned on max and it runs it smoothly. Games like DCS: Black Shark, Empire Total War, Mass Effect 2 and some outdated games like BoBII: Wings of Victory for that matter. I hope to put my system to the test when Storm of War: Battle of Britain is released. I'm pleased with the overall performance the card has shown me.

For me it was to ge a bit used to the CCC of ATI, but that's due beeing a long time Nvidia user and used to a different Control panel and ofcouse minor issues where I knew the work around for and had to learn those with ATI's CCC.

The temperature, on idle my card runs a 45ºC - 50ºC and under heavy load I haven't seen it going over 70ºC with the Fan settings on AUTO.
I've chosed for a open design of the card oposed to the default housed designs of ATI, mine is shown here:


The reason is that the housed in theory pushes the air out of the back, but it practice that doesn't really work that well and the bugger heats up a lot...with a open design you just have to make sure the airflow of the case is good so the heat can escape.

When my old Nvidia 8800GT broke down I was actually looking for the Nvidia 460GTX 1GB to replace it with but since I've seen the pricetag which was way over the limit I would like to spend on a video card I've chosen the ATI HD5850 as the runner up to replace it as the card fell in the same qualifications I was looking for in a Card
-Peformance
-Low Power input (watt)
-Low Heat
-The pricetag

and falls close to the performance range of the Nvidia 460GTX.

So far I'm pleased with the HD5850, an excellent card for its price.
it also made me look more in ATI's direction when in the future this card gives in or it's time for a upgrade.

Regards,
Wim

[Reece]

I was complaining about my card (HIS HD4850) heating up, playing Far Cry 2 it gets up over 50ºC, I thought that was hot, I didn't like the CCC so I uninstalled it (not the driver) and use ATI Tray Tools, this has an overclocker and you can set the fan speed for a range of temperatures, you may want to check that out.
Regarding Storm of War: Battle of Britain, I too am waiting eagerly for it's release, I understand that being online will not be a requirement according to OLEG, have you heard of it's release date, I haven't checked for a few months, been a little busy!

[HunterICX]

Originally Posted by Reece

Regarding Storm of War: Battle of Britain, I too am waiting eagerly for it's release, I understand that being online will not be a requirement according to OLEG, have you heard of it's release date, I haven't checked for a few months, been a little busy!

About the release date, they mentioned it could be the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain if not the latest would be the end of November.

Oleg himself is against DRM's he said in one of his interviews, so that's good news.

regards,
Wim

[Reece]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

About the release date, they mentioned it could be the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain if not the latest would be the end of November.

Oleg himself is against DRM's he said in one of his interviews, so that's good news.

regards,
Wim

This is exciting like SH3 was to me!! The only failing with BOBII was no multiplay, hope SOWBOB has coop lan play!

[Gerald]

Reece, you made a good choice for removing CCC and use ATI Tray Tools or Riva tools, has significantly improved