Doom 3 and Radeon X700

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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Hey guys,

My brother recently purchased Doom 3. He has an AMD XP 2600+, high end ASUS motherboard, 512mb of RAM (the kind with those copper metal things on them, not sure what brand), and an Nvidia 5600 Ultra. Doom played choppy on all the quality settings. I am thinking the game runs heavily on the graphics card, correct me if I am wrong, but do you think if he purchases the Radeon X700, Doom 3 will play well on at least medium quality. Thats what the game was set on default, on medium quality, and played choppy. Will Doom maybe require a better video card?

I appreciate all help.
Thanks. :)
 

Mik3y

Banned
Mar 2, 2004
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radeon x700 = radeon 9700

since a radeon 9800 pro ran a little bit choppy, i'd assume that would do worse. ati pretty much sucked on doom 3.
 

WW2Planes1

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Mar 11, 2003
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OK. First, the X700 is fast enough to play a good game of Doom 3, however, the X700 will not work with the Athlon XP, no matter what. The X700 is currently a PCI-Express only Video Card, and the only chipsets that support PCI-E are the very highest end Intel chipsets (925 series and 915 maybe?). AMD will soon have new Athlon 64 chipsets for PCI-E (NForce 4 and VIA K8T890), but to the best of my knowledge there are no plans to release PCI-E chipsets for the Athlon XP.

Also, the XP 2600+ is a little slow to be playing on the higher quality settings. I would reccommend these two articles:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2146
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuch...ts/showdoc.aspx?i=2149

that's Anandtech's Doom 3 Graphics shootout, and Anandtech's Doom 3 CPU article. My guess is that your brother will have to upgrade both his processor and his video card if he wants to play at really high quality settings
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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A 6600GT for $200 when the AGP one is out, or a $250 6800 now. Maybe also wait for "Black Friday" on 11/26 to see if you can score some insane deal on a 6800 or 6800 GT.

Note that the default settings for Doom3 on my P4 3.2C and fx5900 non-ultra are just 640x480 (gah!) medium quality, so expect to spend a decent amount of money for high resolution / high quality.
 

WW2Planes1

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Mar 11, 2003
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Originally posted by: Mik3y
radeon x700 = radeon 9700

since a radeon 9800 pro ran a little bit choppy, i'd assume that would do worse. ati pretty much sucked on doom 3.


you sure about that? The X700 is comperable to the new nVidia 6600s. you're thinking of the x600, which is the PCI-E version of the 9600XT
 

Mik3y

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Mar 2, 2004
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ww2planes1 is correct. the x700 is a pci-e card and is not compatible with any socket A motherboard. in fact, there is no amd motherboard out with pci-e yet. he is also correct as to how there will be no pci-e for socket A in the future.
 

Mik3y

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Mar 2, 2004
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Originally posted by: WW2Planes1
Originally posted by: Mik3y
radeon x700 = radeon 9700

since a radeon 9800 pro ran a little bit choppy, i'd assume that would do worse. ati pretty much sucked on doom 3.


you sure about that? The X700 is comperable to the new nVidia 6600s. you're thinking of the x600, which is the PCI-E version of the 9600XT

oops, my bad. you're correct. i was thinking of the x600. forget what i said about the x700 being the pci-e version of the 9700. *slaps myself*
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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however, the X700 will not work with the Athlon XP, no matter what. The X700 is currently a PCI-Express only Video Card, and the only chipsets that support PCI-E are the very highest end Intel chipsets (925 series and 915 maybe?)

Ok, thank you so much for telling me this, because he was so close to getting one. My brother was about to buy an Athlon 64 3500+ with the motherboard, the X700, and a gig of memory, I cant remember what it was, for about $1000 from Newegg. I dont think he wants to anymore. I will make sure I tell him all this info. I guess maybe upgrading his processor will help. We may check out the 6800 ultra. I appreciate the links too.

Thanks for the help guys. I will make sure I tell my brother all of this.
 

blodhi74

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
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I have a barton 2500+ on nForce2 with 9700 pro and am able to play doom 3 on 1024*786 on medium settings ..... it runs it smooth and get 30 to 60 fps ... a couple of screen shots

first

2nd
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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Thanks for posting. So maybe he doesnt have to upgrade the processor. I could have sworn the 5600 ultra would have been adaquate for Doom. My brother just said now, if he can find the 6800 for abut 250, he will buy it. But i did not find it. Cheapest on Newegg I believe is 275.

How is this video card?
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: Mik3y
radeon x700 = radeon 9700

since a radeon 9800 pro ran a little bit choppy, i'd assume that would do worse. ati pretty much sucked on doom 3.

VC Test
ATI did get it's butt kicked by NVidia on DOOM 3 due to the game engine DOOM uses.
But I have a 9700 pro/XP 2200+/512 MB 2100 (not exactly a high end system) and was able to play the game at 1024X768 on medium.


 

imported_whatever

Platinum Member
Jul 9, 2004
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if you have the money, get one of the nvidia 6800 series video cards. 6800GT>6800Limited Edition>6800>6800LE.
btw, the x700 is pci-e only, and faster than the 9800xt. also, a 9800pro should do fine on doom3, i am running a (heavily oc'd) 9700 and it runs fine.
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
Thanks for posting. So maybe he doesnt have to upgrade the processor. I could have sworn the 5600 ultra would have been adaquate for Doom. My brother just said now, if he can find the 6800 for abut 250, he will buy it. But i did not find it. Cheapest on Newegg I believe is 275.

How is this video card?

That's a good card, but I'd advise him to go ahead and get the GT version.
6800 GT
Not in stock right now, but it will be worth the wait.
 

blodhi74

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
Thanks for posting. So maybe he doesnt have to upgrade the processor. I could have sworn the 5600 ultra would have been adaquate for Doom. My brother just said now, if he can find the 6800 for abut 250, he will buy it. But i did not find it. Cheapest on Newegg I believe is 275.

How is this video card?

the card should be adequate but to unleash the true potential of the card you will have to get a higher end CPU ... but again you should be able to play D3 with better frame rate ( 30 to 60 fps )
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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Hi,

Thanks for your help. I think he is going to stick with his current CPU. He wants a high end video card. I told him about the 6800 with the 128mb of VRAM, but said he wants one with a 256. I am trying to convince him he doesnt need that, because I told him that the Radeon 9700 runs Doom very well. I'm not sure if he will listen to me. :p We will see what he wants to do. I dont want him to spend too much on a very high end video card when he can get a lower end video card that will run Doom very well, and I dont think he will be running the game at Ultra, probably high or medium.

I dont think he will be willing to pay almost 400 dollars for that 6800 GT. He does want a graphics card with 256mb of VRAM, but they will be pricy. I'll try to convince him to get like a Radeon 9800XT or Pro.

I'll see what he says about the 6800 GT though.

Thanks guys.
 

blodhi74

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2003
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let him get the card he wants ( 6800 128/256mb ).... in the long run when he updates the rig he will be happy .... getting a 9700pro or 9800 will cause him to upgrade the vid card in the near future
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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Hi,

I hope he does make the right decision. He really wants a 256mb graphics card, so maybe the 6800 GT will be good. My brother is asleep right now, so I will ask him what he wants to do tomorrow. I will keep you updated and let you know what he decides to do.

Thanks so much. :)
 

imported_Computer MAn

Golden Member
Sep 30, 2004
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I would not get that card as it is not a true GT but rather a little faster 6800 NU. If he can't get the GT I would get this almost as fast as that card you listed but $75 cheaper
 

imported_Lucifer

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 2004
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Hi,

Thanks for letting me now. I'll tell him about that one. He was still looking around for a card, but he had his eyes on the one I showed you. He didnt want to spend much anyway, so he may want the card you showed me.

Thanks!! :)
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
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Originally posted by: blodhi74
let him get the card he wants ( 6800 128/256mb ).... in the long run when he updates the rig he will be happy .... getting a 9700pro or 9800 will cause him to upgrade the vid card in the near future

How so? The game developers have thrown ALL they have at us, doom3/farcry/hl2 ect..... and the 9700s play them all just fine at max settings. The next thing is unreal engine 3 based games, which wont be out till 06 at earliest.
 

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
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Originally posted by: dguy6789
Originally posted by: blodhi74
let him get the card he wants ( 6800 128/256mb ).... in the long run when he updates the rig he will be happy .... getting a 9700pro or 9800 will cause him to upgrade the vid card in the near future

How so? The game developers have thrown ALL they have at us, doom3/farcry/hl2 ect..... and the 9700s play them all just fine at max settings. The next thing is unreal engine 3 based games, which wont be out till 06 at earliest.

Huh????????
I have a 9700 pro, and DOOM 3 is choppy on medium, and Far cry is about the same. No way a 9700 can play either at max or even close to amx video settings.
 

Gothgar

Lifer
Sep 1, 2004
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Originally posted by: Mik3y

since a radeon 9800 pro ran a little bit choppy, i'd assume that would do worse. ati pretty much sucked on doom 3.

9800pro 12x10 res @ high quality, no hitches, low 40's to 60 FPS all the time...

or I can run 10x7 4x AA and get mid 30's to 60 FPS constantly

Doesn't sound like ATI sucked that bad... Much better than the last gen nVidia if you ask me.