Reccomendation for Oblivion

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Praxis1452
I just go oblivion and was playing and I seriously get 2 fps. maybe less especially during battle. I made it all the way to the death of the king -_- took forever. Was using my dad's comp as it's the only comp I can use at the moment. His specs are:
Pentium 4 oc'd from 3.0-3.3
1x512mb ram
FX5200 agp

Basically I'm wondering what video card will be able to make this game playable at around 1280x1024 or 1024x768 hopefully. But I can live with 800x600 if I have to. What vid card should I get and what would be the price. Also would the 1gb of ram help a lot too?

Oblivion is a terrible resource hog. Even nearly all high end cards can't run at high res and get 60+fps in crowded situations.

Upgrading AGP at this time is a waste. The AGP 7800GS has 8 less pipes and has a slower core than the 7900GT which pcie owners can get for about the same price ~$300. The minimum card for a reasonable 30+fps is the x800xl/6800gt/gs imo - at 1024x768 no hdr/aa, many settings reduced.

More ram would def help too.

 

[Praxis1452]

It just seems to me that Oblivion is really unoptimized. The graphics I was watching was beyond horrendous and I sitll got 2 fps :-(. My mom's comp which has a geforce MX2 and p4 northwood at 1.8ghz with 256mb of ram runs HL2 just fine.. Well HL2 runs on about anything lol.

 

[Munky]

Go to this thread
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=1829139
and click on the link that says Tweak converting shaders to SM1.1 to support older cards to convert the shaders to DX8.

 

[letdown427]

Get an Xbox360 lol.

As people have said, upgrading your AGP is pointless. You could probably easily get the same performance for the same price by buying a PCI-e card and a PCI-e mobo as opposed to a 7800GS.

 

[hans007]

man... i was considering buying this game for my pc, looks like ill just get the xbox 360 one.

 

[DaRkLoRd666]

Originally posted by: Praxis1452
I just go oblivion and was playing and I seriously get 2 fps. maybe less especially during battle. I made it all the way to the death of the king -_- took forever. Was using my dad's comp as it's the only comp I can use at the moment. His specs are:
Pentium 4 oc'd from 3.0-3.3
1x512mb ram
FX5200 agp

Basically I'm wondering what video card will be able to make this game playable at around 1280x1024 or 1024x768 hopefully. But I can live with 800x600 if I have to. What vid card should I get and what would be the price. Also would the 1gb of ram help a lot too?

your joking, right im suprised you even got 2FPS with a fx5200

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: AzNPinkTuv

Originally posted by: nitromullet
In that case, the best card you can get is the 7800GS, which is about $300-350. Honestly, nothing AGP is going to play Oblivion all that well at 1280x1024 with any amount of eye candy. If you're going to build a new system soon, skip the AGP upgrade and hold off until you can build a PCI-E system. All of the decent AGP cards are more expensive than many PCI-E cards that outperform them.

Edit: Oblivion just isn't a $50-150 video card kind of game at the moment. It is extremely graphics intensive. For that kind of money you need to think more along the lines of World of Warcraft.

umm my 7800gs can run oblivion fine.. dunno what your tlaking about

Apparently, "fine" is a relative term...

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_high-end_performance/page5.asp

13.2 fps with HDR and 14.9 with 4xAA/8xAF on a 7800GT (a superior card to the GS) isn't "fine" IMO.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: brainwrinkle

Originally posted by: dguy6789

Originally posted by: thepd7

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: allies
At this point, Conroe isn't 6 months away. And there are rumors that AM2 won't last, rather it will be akin to Socket 754. This puts you in kind of a predicament, because intel is known to change its socket with seemingly every revision of a chip.

Except socket 754 will outlive S939, so that argument doesn't make much sense.

Nat

What are you smoking? Socket 754 is pretty much already extinct except for really low budget buyers.

And to the OP, don't wait for AM2 socket 939 will last you 3 years if you go high-end. Maybe FX series, 2 gigs rams, asus mobo, x1x00 or 7900 series video.

Two statements for you.

1. AMD has confirmed that socket 754 will be in production for a period of time even after socket 939 has been canned.

2. This refers to the bolded statement. It would be quite probable of being true, to say that more than 90% of all pc buyers fit into that category.

I think allies was referring to the fact that S754 wasn't the high-end socket for very long.

I am just saying early S754 adopters got:

The most bang for their buck. Hard to argue with $150 3400+ @ 2.4 ghz.

Great mobo support. NF3, NF4, all sorts of via and SiS chipsets to choose from at great prices.

And, as the value socket, will continue to get mobo chipset upgrades, etc.

If AM2 is the new S754, history says it will get a longer and more stable life than the S939 platform.

Lets face it, AGP S939 was horrible, it didn't get really good until NF4. S754 had really good mobo's like the DFI boards that were much more stable and provided better performance for the dollar.

AM2 will be fine as you should get to use your DDR2 for a very long time to come

S939 is basically dead in 6 months, kiss it goodbye. Next time, thrpd, have a clue about you are talking about before spouting off. Anyway, this thread is about someone wanting a new video card to play game, not buy a $3000 PC.

 

[gramboh]

I recently upgraded from a 9800 non-pro 128meg to a eVGA 6800GS CO edition. Unlocked the extra 4 pipelines and I have an effective 6800 Ultra (400/1100 speeds). I run Oblivion at either 1024x768 or 1280x960 with everything maxed and HDR on. It drops into the teens outside in battle but inside it is very playable and it looks amazing. It is much smoother with HDR off but I am willing to suffer the frames for how good it looks.

I recommend either finding a used 6800GT or a 6800GS and trying to unlock (softmod in RivaTuner) the extra pipelines/vertex units and overclocking. You will get good enough performance. The upgrade was worth it because I don't want to build a PCI-E system right now, this will tide me over as Oblivion is really the only game I can't play with everything on high smoothly.

 

[professor1942]

I bet you could hit 3 fps with some extreme overclocking.

 

[PingSpike]

I don't know whats worse. That nvidia released the massive turd of the fx5200, or that it sold so well. The game might run ok if you can force it into the older shader mode. But the whole fx series was directx9 in name only, and oblivion pulls no punches in the directx9 department.

 

[IlllI]

FX5200


theres your problem right there

 

[Praxis1452]

thanks guys I think I'm going to try to get that 6800nu 12mb apollo as it seems the best at the moment unless someone can reccomend something cheaper.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Praxis1452
thanks guys I think I'm going to try to get that 6800nu 12mb apollo as it seems the best at the moment unless someone can reccomend something cheaper.

My wife's PC runs a 6800nu and she plays oblivion at the default (high) settings pretty well at 8x6. It seems a little rough outside for me, but not bad. With some tweaking I'm sure it will play fine. But get 1gb of ram because I've heard its a nightmare with less.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: hans007
man... i was considering buying this game for my pc, looks like ill just get the xbox 360 one.

Best idea i heard yet.

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
I don't know whats worse. That nvidia released the massive turd of the fx5200, or that it sold so well. The game might run ok if you can force it into the older shader mode. But the whole fx series was directx9 in name only, and oblivion pulls no punches in the directx9 department.

I remember back in 2003 or so, I was at a local computer shop getting a power supply or some such. Some kid was writing a check for the retail price ($200-ish) of a 256 meg FX5200 plus $100 install fee for them to 'upgrade' him from a 128 meg ti4200.

I wish I could have seen the poor kid's face when he got his rig home and tried gaming on it, only to see how much of downgrade his $300 got him. At that age $300 is a lot of dough to flush down the toilet.

Since I deal with that local shop pretty often, I kept my mouth shut. Doing no research means you DESERVE to be worked by marketing & sales.

 

[Praxis1452]

$100 install fee!? you just take it out and push it in... lmao

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Praxis1452
$100 install fee!? you just take it out and push it in... lmao

$100 is insane for a video card install, even compusa will do it for $30.

http://www.compusa.com/tech_services/hardware_install.asp

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: hans007
man... i was considering buying this game for my pc, looks like ill just get the xbox 360 one.

Best idea i heard yet.

yeah i have a 6800 nu 128mb right now and a pentium d 820 ... i figured that'd be enough for 1280x1024 even without fsaa and such.

apparently i figured wrong. insane.

 

[LiekOMG]

Originally posted by: gramboh
I recently upgraded from a 9800 non-pro 128meg to a eVGA 6800GS CO edition. Unlocked the extra 4 pipelines and I have an effective 6800 Ultra (400/1100 speeds). I run Oblivion at either 1024x768 or 1280x960 with everything maxed and HDR on. It drops into the teens outside in battle but inside it is very playable and it looks amazing. It is much smoother with HDR off but I am willing to suffer the frames for how good it looks.

I recommend either finding a used 6800GT or a 6800GS and trying to unlock (softmod in RivaTuner) the extra pipelines/vertex units and overclocking. You will get good enough performance. The upgrade was worth it because I don't want to build a PCI-E system right now, this will tide me over as Oblivion is really the only game I can't play with everything on high smoothly.

I made the same upgrade, and i'm very happy with the performance. On a 6800Ultra i'm running at 1280x960 w/ 4x AA and bloom with ~30fps outdoors and 40-60fps indoors. Just make sure to turn off the grass, shadows, and HQ water. Those 3 are the biggest killers. Especially the grass.

 

[Praxis1452]

Originally posted by: hans007

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: hans007
man... i was considering buying this game for my pc, looks like ill just get the xbox 360 one.

Best idea i heard yet.

yeah i have a 6800 nu 128mb right now and a pentium d 820 ... i figured that'd be enough for 1280x1024 even without fsaa and such.

apparently i figured wrong. insane.

I'm thinking about getting the 6800nu 128mb what is your fps? I'm gonna try to unlock the extra pipes too though have you?

 

[Praxis1452]

Well just to update I've bought an X1600pro and 1 gig of ram :-D along with AOE III which was $20 at monarch. I'll tell you guys what fps I get. I've actually been able to play using the FX5200. Doing pretty well. Only thing that's at max is view distance. Though during any fight scene I go down to like 2 fps -_-. I think I'm getting 10fps? maybe 7 heh

 

[Praxis1452]

Well I just received my X1600 pro yesterday and installed it. I got the IceQ version made by HIS. My little mini review.

The good:
1) It's pretty damn silent but then again I'm running a p4 and the fan is sooo f****** loud ugh lol.
2) For oblivion I can turn on HDR and run it just fine maybe it drops down toe 15fps? or less but most settings are at medium/low with HDR on. If I turn on bloom I can turn most of the settings up. HDR looks amazing but really I'd rather have the other settings pretty high. Also 6xAA kills performance like a mofo even without bloom and medium/low settings. Well I have Adapative AA on in CCC so....
3) I like all the options in CCC compared to the fx5200
4) AOE III looks great too and runs damn well
5) well ATI tool can be sued on nvidia cards but I've got to say it's an awesome program. Can I change voltages for the X1600 pro though since i can't find any. I'm pretty sure uppng the core voltage won't matter much as the cooler is ppretty good.
6) Runs well and it was pretty cheap
The bad
1)CCC really is bloatware in my opinion. I got 1.5 gigs of ram and am nowhere close to using it all but it takes so long to start up -_-. I've got the catalyst 6.1 drivers
2) The IceQ doesn't cover the ram ugh which I thought it did. Do you guys think tif I bought ramsinks I would be able to oc more? I've gotten a 14/28mhz oc. I'm pretty sure I'm bandwith limited as my core goes up to 595mhz without artifacting.
3) I would download ATI Tray tools but I'm on 56k at the moment otherwise I would download the 6.4's too heh.

How am I supposed to delete drivers? I'm a noob at that. I was trying to download Driver Cleaner but really my download speed slowed down to 1.78kbps and so I was like f it.