Best under $200 upgrade card to play Tribes: Ascend?

[BallaTheFeared]

Just a little update, I forced 4xMSAA through the CP using a bit from the net and vram went up to 1058 MB peak. I don't think 1.28 v 2 is a factor here.

Also the game is pretty fun, played for a few hours it's a nice change of pace after all the total realism shooters I've been playing.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

don't go AMD for Tribes, T:A is DX9 based, an area where AMD can struggle pretty hard, and is particularly true for T:A

if Tribes is primarily what you want to play, even a 560Ti will effectively be as fast as a 7950

anything better than that and AMD can't compete

but that's only if Tribes is that important to you

it was to me which is why I never went with a 7970 and waited for the 680 to replace my 580s

 

[SPBHM]

don't go AMD for Tribes, T:A is DX9 based, an area where AMD can struggle pretty hard, and is particularly true for T:A

if Tribes is primarily what you want to play, even a 560Ti will effectively be as fast as a 7950

anything better than that and AMD can't compete

but that's only if Tribes is that important to you

it was to me which is why I never went with a 7970 and waited for the 680 to replace my 580s

looking at the test posted on the previous page, the 7850 is not far behind the 560 Ti, which is already quite good in this game, also the 7850 uses clearly less power (560 Ti uses 50, 60% more), and in other games the opposite will happen (7850 is faster), for the current price, you can't go wrong with the 7850, even for this game,

and the 7850 is cheaper!
it's a better choice imho

also that test was made with catalyst 12.3 (pretty old driver for the GCN cards), maybe it's better with 12.8

 

[bunnyfubbles]

looking at the test posted on the previous page, the 7850 is not far behind the 560 Ti, which is already quite good in this game, also the 7850 uses clearly less power (560 Ti uses 50, 60% more), and in other games the opposite will happen (7850 is faster), for the current price, you can't go wrong with the 7850, even for this game,

and the 7850 is cheaper!
it's a better choice imho

also that test was made with catalyst 12.3 (pretty old driver for the GCN cards), maybe it's better with 12.8

that's just an example of how far ahead nVidia is in this game, as others have already mentioned, the 560 Ti 448 would be the best option in the OP's price range as it would be at least 33% faster than the 7850 and ultimately faster than a 7970 GE.

merely averaging 60fps in T:A isn't exactly good enough for how fast the game is

a 2GB 7850 is definitely the better all-around card, but if the primary purpose of the card is to play T:A, the 560 Ti 448 ultimately can't be matched by anything from AMD

 

[Rvenger]

that's just an example of how far ahead nVidia is in this game, as others have already mentioned, the 560 Ti 448 would be the best option in the OP's price range as it would be at least 33% faster than the 7850 and ultimately faster than a 7970 GE.

merely averaging 60fps in T:A isn't exactly good enough for how fast the game is

a 2GB 7850 is definitely the better all-around card, but if the primary purpose of the card is to play T:A, the 560 Ti 448 ultimately can't be matched by anything from AMD

Plus if you check on several sites, you can probably get a good clearance deal on a 560ti. There are 2gb models available and if you can find one of those, I would snap on it

 

[SPBHM]

Plus if you check on several sites, you can probably get a good clearance deal on a 560ti. There are 2gb models available and if you can find one of those, I would snap on it

isn't the 2GB 560 Ti only the slower GF114 version!?
it's $ 200 for a card like that... I can't see it as a good deal with the 7850 for less money and outperforming it in 90% of the games while using a lot less power... (also the 7850 is probably better for OC)

as I said, I think the 7850 will deliver a decent result in this game, and when you consider price and everything else, I think it's the best choice... I doubt he will only ever play tribes ascend, and I think the 7850 will be enough to play it,

 

[T_Yamamoto]

7850 all the way.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Easy

Grab a 460 1GB and youll never look back. Youll get 60fps on that game high settings and be happy. gl

Seriously? No.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

7850 isn't any faster than the 448, even at max overclocks there is barely any difference. It's only advantage is in power consumption.

In the game in question the difference is quite large, overall the difference would be nominal, however in the case of the OP the 448 with 1.28GB of vram is faster than the 7970GHz edition.

So for the purpose of this thread, the 448 is not only better than the best AMD card on the market, it gives up nothing to the 7850 after that fact. The only downside is the 448 uses about 50w more power.


Edit: The 7850 is pretty overhyped for a card that competes against mid-range 40nm cards both in price and performance.

 

[SPBHM]

I would like to see some test with newer drivers,

also the 7850 is great for the price, I doubt that you can find a 40nm card for $165 with the same power usage and performance / OC... or $185 for the 2GB if you need that.

GTX 560 TI 1GB (GF114) will normally cost as much as the 7850 2GB...

if the 560 Ti "384" can use 100w+, the 448 will use even more.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

No such luck thus far according to a post on tpu.

http://www.techpowerup.com/170556/AMD-Catalyst-12.8-WHQL-Software-Suite-Released.html

12.8 WHQL

Neat, downloading now. Where and how can we bug AMD for some Tribes: Ascend optimization? That game should be running much faster than it it now.

448 is 40% faster than the 7850 in TA, I see no reason to continue on as if that performance difference can be explained away.

 

[MrK6]

I'd try working with software first before spending any money. Just doing a Google search turns up more people with this same problem. For example: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2774436 . Clearly switching to a different GPU, even a different brand like a GTX 560, probably isn't going to fix this problem. Here's a thread I found on the Tribes: Ascend forums - http://www.ascendforums.com/topic/643-ran-out-of-video-memory/ . Try shutting down all other programs (especially your browser) when playing, or trim your processes from your task manager list. If you do want to upgrade to a new GPU, a 7850 is the way to go, especially in price/performance.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I would like to see some test with newer drivers,

1. T:A isn't exactly a game AMD would concern themselves with, its still too small and likely won't ever get big enough to get the attention it needs

2. the issue stems from an architectural weakness for DX9, much like how nVidia has had a pretty big weakness in OpenGL for years now. The difference primarily has been that most DX9 games would net 100+ fps so that even though nVidia would be faster, the AMD cards would be putting out more than enough performance for the issue to be moot (eg, Source games), or CPU limited (eg, SC2). This is simply not the case with Tribes as the game can be very demanding (the game can run slower than you would think even on a rig like mine) and needs all the help it can get to maintain the high framerates required (it can be pretty inefficient with the hardware it does have to run on) to give you the best chance to play at a higher level as it is a pretty competitive shooter.

also the 7850 is great for the price, I doubt that you can find a 40nm card for $165 with the same power usage and performance / OC... or $185 for the 2GB if you need that.

GTX 560 TI 1GB (GF114) will normally cost as much as the 7850 2GB...

if the 560 Ti "384" can use 100w+, the 448 will use even more.

there's no doubt that 7850 is great, but this all comes down to how important this one game is to the OP

if its just something he's just going to quit playing in a month, then by all means he should go with the 7850, if its something he sees himself playing until the game is dead then there really isn't a truly compelling reason to go with anything less than the 560 Ti 448 - the wattage issue isn't big enough to be a factor unless the two options are otherwise virtually tied, which is clearly not the case with T:A

 

[SPBHM]

DX9 weakness? how about how these cards perform on Witcher 2 or Crysis and many others,


if AMD is not concerned with Tribes, what is this:

- Tribes Ascend: Improves CrossFire performanceen running in CrossFire mode
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

so, I would like to see some tests with a newer driver than the 12.3,

I think the 7850 will be enough to play this game quite well, and the other advantages are quite clear, great price/perf/power, no way a 560 Ti better overall... now, if you only play this single game... OK I guess...

 

[BallaTheFeared]

the other advantages are quite clear, great price/perf/power, no way a 560 Ti better overall... now, if you only play this single game... OK I guess...

I already linked a user saying they hoped for improvements in 12.8, I haven't seen anything to state there were but obviously we can assume the updates prior to it did not help AMD's cause.


TF3 448 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Graphics-Cards

$180 /w MIR

TF3 7850 2GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Graphics-Cards

$218


448 is right around 570 performance, in the latest Matrix review by TPU using 12.7 Beta overall the stock 448 is faster than the stock 7850.

448 is proving better price/performance, and is also providing better performance out of the box. It doesn't offer better perf/watt however, which as I noted long ago was it's downside, though that downside is around 50w on avg.

I ran 8xMSAA forced max vram was 1253 mb, avg fps was 62 with a memory clock below the MSI TF3 448's . I don't know if it has FP16 but considering I can match the 570s performance at those clocks I'd say no.

 

[SPBHM]

I already linked a user saying no improvements made in 12.8.


TF3 448 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Graphics-Cards

$180 /w MIR

TF3 7850 2GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Graphics-Cards

$218


448 is right around 570 performance, in the latest Matrix review by TPU using 12.7 Beta overall the stock 448 is faster than the stock 7850.



448 is proving better price/performance, and is also providing better performance out of the box. It doesn't offer better perf/watt however, which as I noted long ago was it's downside, though that downside is around 50w on avg.

why are you only considering this super expensive 7850 when there are so many options? the 1GB will bet easily the 560 ti 448 in terms of price/perf, for $165 with not need for MIR

power usage difference is a lot higher than 50w, on their average test here is over 100 (over 100% increase for the 570), the 448 may use less power, but not much.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Club_3D/HD_7850_RoyalQueen/26.html

the quote you posted about performance gains with drivers is not saying anything.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I went apples to apples, TF3 vs TF3.

1GB you might as well get a GTX 460 for $100 or less and call it a day.

How do you figure? The 448 is 40% faster in this game and is only $15 more than the 1GB version.


I'm figuring it's below the 570, above the 560Ti, so around 165~, which is around 50w less than a typical 7850. I'm not trying to cherry pick to further a cause that does not need further, the 40% performance advantage and subsequent overall performance advantage carries it's own weight.

 

[SPBHM]

I went apples to apples, TF3 vs TF3.

1GB you might as well get a GTX 460 for $100 or less and call it a day.

How do you figure? The 448 is 40% faster in this game and is only $15 more than the 1GB version.


I'm figuring it's below the 570, above the 560Ti, so around 165~, which is around 50w less than a typical 7850. I'm not trying to cherry pick to further a cause that does not need further, the 40% performance advantage and subsequent overall performance advantage carries it's own weight.

that's interesting, so you think the 560 Ti 448 performs around the same as the 570 but uses a lot less power, even when it's based on the same GPU and PCB? it clearly uses a huge amount more than the 7850 for the same performance in most games... the real 560 TI "384" is already using clearly more than 50w.

the 2GB 7850 also only costs $20 more,
well, if you really want a "TF3" card, than... OK.


GTX 460 is much slower, I don't know why you are mentioning.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

that's interesting, so you think the 560 Ti 448 performs around the same as the 570 but uses a lot less power, even when it's based on the same GPU and PCB? it clearly uses a huge amount more than the 7850 for the same performance in most games... the real 560 TI "384" is already using clearly more than 50w.

the 2GB 7850 also only costs $20 more,
well, if you really want a "TF3" card, than... OK.


GTX 460 is much slower, I don't know why you are mentioning.

Yes, I'd say it uses about 15w less for almost exactly the same performance.

Let's not be over dramatic. Huge amount more, same performance, logical fallacies are these.

You seem to be going hard on the power, even though you can't formulate how that negates the 40% performance advantage as it pertains to the OP. I can't wait to see you in the next 680 vs 7970 thread.

It's $38 more and slower.

It's also much cheaper.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Stop bickering about what card he should buy when that won't even address the problem he's having - out of memory crash. The solution to this has already been posted, twice. He says he's still on Windows XP - which also means 32 bit (likely). His first upgrade should be to Windows 7 64 bit, foremost because it's a better OS, and he'll get to use RAM he just has lying around, and it'll fix his out of memory crash. He can worry about the video card only after doing this, because right now he's not complaining about performance; he's complaining about crashing.

 

[SPBHM]

every review shows the 448 using power more than the "384", and the "384" is already 50+ higher than the 7850, so it is a huge amount (comparing 100 to 150+), if the performance is the same (which is the case in most games but probably not for "tribes ascend" OK)


again, it would be good to have more testing done on this game, with newer drivers.
and again, if your only choice is the "TF3 card" than the 560 448 with MIR is perhaps cheaper, but if you can buy the other options is not so simple, also this is only a single game, and the 7850 is already looking fast enough, and I can't recommend a card based on a single game.



I tested tribes with XP and had no memory issues, but as I said, it was 6 months ago,

 

[Rezist]

I'd still recommend the 460 1gb. the cpu will probably hold it back alot of the time as it is. And there's no point in spending over 100$ on 40nm parts at this stage.

 

[Ajay]

I've updated to the Geforce driver version 306.97 and tested in game on high/high settings. The latest driver did mention updates for T:A and it show, frame rate are just as smooth at the higher settings than the lower setting with an older driver.

 

[KingerXI]

I just got a HIS IceQ 7870 for $199 after $20 rebate with free shipping from Amazon. The price has gone back up in the last two weeks http://www.amazon.com/HIS-Mini-Dipla.../dp/B007HYIRES. It is an awesome card for $200 if you can find it on sale. It runs so much cooler and quieter than my old 6950, and it has 2GB of ram (vs. 1GB for my old 6950). Good luck.

 

[NTMBK]

If you aren't willing to play the silicon lottery or want to purchase from a company whose future isn't in question I'd suggest the TF3 GTX 560 Ti 448.

Are you for real? AMD aren't going anywhere any time soon, and there are no known reliability issues with a 7850.

For what its worth, I play Tribes:Ascend at 1080p on a HD7770, and it seems just fine to me. (Although I suspect I have lower standards than most gamers on here.)