8800GT on XP

[trigun500]

I know I won't be able to use DX10; however I still would like to upgrade my video card. I plan on going to Vista eventually, however, I would like to have some more video power. Any thoughts?

 

[fk49]

A good card is a good card, regardless of XP/Vista. If you have the cash to spare and a last gen card or lower, I say go for it. Just wait 2+ weeks for initial price gouging to dissipate.

 

[SRoode]

Well, I don't know what CPU you have, but I have a crummy old AMD X2 4400+ and I just picked up the EVGA 8800GT at Fry's today ($269 for the 650/950 version) to replace my 7800GT (with a Danger Den Water Block... The card and block are going on E-Bay tonight). I went from 4065 (1619 SM2, 1606 SM3, 1708 CPU) in 3D06 to 8475 (3751 SM2, 4458 SM3, 1707 CPU) without any over-clocking. I had my old card OC'd to 450/575 with the water cooling. The minus is that my old card would max out at 46C due to the water-cooling. This one hits 86C on air when the fan is in auto (it's keeping the speed around 30%). It drops temps a bunch when I swing the fan speed up to 100%, but it's just too loud there. At 30% I cannot hear the fan at all.

I'm still benching now, so I haven't played any games yet, but I can tell the difference for sure. For $269, this is probably the biggest no-brainer out there.

 

[n7]

If you're not in a rush, i'd likely wait until we see the new GTS, & HD 38xxs from AMD.

 

[fk49]

Also, just an FYI, I found this posted on Dailytech
http://www.crysis-online.com/f...ndex.php?topic=11837.0

Someone found out how to enable DX10 effects in Crysis while running XP (!) Granted, you still need a DX10 card, but I suppose performance will be better.

 

[SRoode]

Again, the CPU you have is important, as is the rez you game in. I upped the speed to 700/975 and had almost no change in 3D06 running at 1280x1024. At low rez, I am CPU bound with an AMD X2 4400+. Since I game at the native rez of my screen (1600x1200), and I want to turn on all the eye candy, this card made sense for the price.

 

[sandman9]

Originally posted by: SRoode
It drops temps a bunch when I swing the fan speed up to 100%, but it's just too loud there. At 30% I cannot hear the fan at all.

I always keep the GPU fan at 100 % while gaming and switch to Automatic control when I'm not.
Oh, I can hear the fan at 100 % if I listen for it..... but really, it shouldn't bother anyone playing a FPS with all the shootin' and blastin' !!

 

[vanvock]

Originally posted by: sandman9

Originally posted by: SRoode
It drops temps a bunch when I swing the fan speed up to 100%, but it's <just too loud there. At 30% I cannot hear the fan at all.

I always keep the GPU fan at 100 % while gaming and switch to Automatic control when I'm not.
Oh, I can hear the fan at 100 % if I listen for it..... but really, it shouldn't bother anyone playing a FPS with all the shootin' and blastin' !!

What do you use, Ntune?

 

[customcoms]

Rivatuner. PERIOD.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: fk49
Also, just an FYI, I found this posted on Dailytech
http://www.crysis-online.com/f...ndex.php?topic=11837.0

Someone found out how to enable DX10 effects in Crysis while running XP (!) Granted, you still need a DX10 card, but I suppose performance will be better.

This has nothing to do with 'enabling DX10 effects'. It unlocks the game's highest detail settings, period. Crytek restricted the hightest detail setting in XP because of potential performance issues (whether actual or imagined). You're not getting DX10 or even DX9.5 with this 'hack'. Its pure DX9.0C goodness, baby.

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: fk49
Also, just an FYI, I found this posted on Dailytech
http://www.crysis-online.com/f...ndex.php?topic=11837.0

Someone found out how to enable DX10 effects in Crysis while running XP (!) Granted, you still need a DX10 card, but I suppose performance will be better.

This has nothing to do with 'enabling DX10 effects'. It unlocks the game's highest detail settings, period. Crytek restricted the hightest detail setting in XP because of potential performance issues (whether actual or imagined). You're not getting DX10 or even DX9.5 with this 'hack'. Its pure DX9.0C goodness, baby.

and you thought it looked good now =)

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: videogames101

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: fk49
Also, just an FYI, I found this posted on Dailytech
http://www.crysis-online.com/f...ndex.php?topic=11837.0

Someone found out how to enable DX10 effects in Crysis while running XP (!) Granted, you still need a DX10 card, but I suppose performance will be better.

This has nothing to do with 'enabling DX10 effects'. It unlocks the game's highest detail settings, period. Crytek restricted the hightest detail setting in XP because of potential performance issues (whether actual or imagined). You're not getting DX10 or even DX9.5 with this 'hack'. Its pure DX9.0C goodness, baby.

and you thought it looked good now =)

It does look really nice 🙂 But I agree, it's still the DX 9.

 

[sandman9]

Yes, nTune . I find it quite sufficient for my needs.
I just make it a habit to do 2 things before launching a 3D game.... go into nTune and increase the Core and Memory Clocks speed to whatever I desire AND increase the fan speed to 100%.
After gaming, I set these 2 things back to default levels.
It doesn't take any time at all.... I find it a lot more easy than doing a lot of fancy tweaks with RivaTuner !