Upgrading GPU for Street Fighter IV

[Wall7486]

I am a big Street Fighter IV fan and I have been playing it on consoles. However, I think I will be migrating to the PC version. I ran a Street Fighter IV benchmark with 1920x1080 setting with a few eye candies turned up and I just hung around 25-40FPS, sluggish.

Current set-up is as follows:

E3110 (E8400) @ 3.6Ghz
EVGA 750i FTW
4GB A-DATA RAM
9600GT SLI


I am thinking of getting 2x GTX 285 maybe? I just want to be able to run everything on max with 60FPS. Any inputs are appreciated. thanks.

 

[error8]

Just wait and see what the final game will bring you in terms of performance. 9600GT in SLI should be enough for it, as it's not a super demanding graphics hog, like Crysis.

 

[shangshang]

Get 2x Radeon 4890. I think this will be best bang for bux because currently there are lots of rebate deal for the 4890.

Edited:
have you checked out this Street Fighter benchmark thread?
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2311235&enterthread=y

user "Trident" has 4850 Crossfire, 1920x1200, 8xAA,,, and he's getting solid 59-60 FPS.

so with 4890 Crossfire... probably looking at 75-80 FPS minimum!

 

[Wall7486]

Shangshang -
I don't have a Crossfire Board.


Error8 -
You have a good point. Just that once I turned up the eye candy and upped the resolution the FPS dropped considerably, could be the 512MB on the 9600GT. Maybe the GTX 260 216 Core can be another viable option?

 

[shangshang]

duh sorry i didn't notice you have the NV chipset!

hmm then perhaps get 2x GTX 275! Since the GTX275 is on par with the 4890,... the framerate will still be insane for you. I say get the Gtx275 because currently there are some rebate deals on them. The Gtx285 is still too expnsive.


Edited:
GTX260-216 SLI is actually very good too. Recently I saw a rebate deal on one of them for like $139 after rebate. With next gen cards coming, expect more good rebate deals though.

But check out the SF4 benchmark thread, and you'll see that a GTX275 will be more very adequate for res. 1920x1200, max settings! In fact, even a GTX260-216 is adequate.

I'm a bit surprised that your 9600GT SLI can't give you at least 40 FPS average! Could be video RAM limitation at your resolution then. I would look to get GTX275 with a good rebate, and if you need another one down the road, no problem, pop in another 275 on the next round or rebate!

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
Maybe the GTX 260 216 Core can be another viable option?

That is what I have and at 1080p with 8xAA and everything else cranked I get a nearly perfect vsynced 60fps.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

When is the game coming out? Im not a big gamer but I've been waiting for this one for a while now. I should have no problem running this with my gtx 280.

 

[shangshang]

Originally posted by: OILFIELDTRASH
When is the game coming out? Im not a big gamer but I've been waiting for this one for a while now. I should have no problem running this with my gtx 280.

they say July 7

 

[Wall7486]

Originally posted by: kylebisme

Originally posted by: Wall7486
Maybe the GTX 260 216 Core can be another viable option?

That is what I have and at 1080p with 8xAA and everything else cranked I get a nearly perfect vsynced 60fps.

I assume this is SLI GTX 260 right?

 

[dguy6789]

The game is easy to run. You don't need two cards in SLI to run at 1920x1200 and never go below 60fps.

 

[thilanliyan]

I got an average of 92fps at 1920x1200 4AA on the benchmark with a single 4870 1GB so no you don't need SLI/Xfire to run this game.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Are you running 16x AA? HQ settings with 0x AA I'm @60FPS with a single 9600GT- the in game portion is a bit higher then that as the scene where they show all the original fighters runs quite a bit slower. Cranking the AA over 4x has almost no impact on this game.

Actual in game mechanics for SF4 are locked at 60FPS, anything over that isn't going to help you out(although a bit higher then that for average would be good as you want your lows to be at 60FPS obviously).

 

[TemjinGold]

OP: Just grab ONE 4890 (this card is roughly 2x the strength of your current 9600 SLI.) That will be more than enough to max the game out. GTX 285 SLI is insane overkill.

 

[Wall7486]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Are you running 16x AA? HQ settings with 0x AA I'm @60FPS with a single 9600GT- the in game portion is a bit higher then that as the scene where they show all the original fighters runs quite a bit slower. Cranking the AA over 4x has almost no impact on this game.

Actual in game mechanics for SF4 are locked at 60FPS, anything over that isn't going to help you out(although a bit higher then that for average would be good as you want your lows to be at 60FPS obviously).

I cranked AA to highest, texture filtering, shadows, and model details to the highest as well. I just want to max it out because if I just play at lower settings then I am just better off with playing it on my consoles.

So it looks like the consensus is I can just get 1 mid-high end card and it should suffice.

 

[Brunnis]

My stock GTX 285 scored an average of 77 FPS and never went below 66 FPS at 1920x1200, 16xQCSAA, 16xAF and everything set to max in the game. So, you only need a single GTX 285 to be able to max out everything and still stay above 60 FPS.

 

[imported_Shaq]

9600GT SLI should be enough for this game. It's nothing special graphically. Set a lower AA level and make sure SLI is working.

 

[shangshang]

Originally posted by: TemjinGold
OP: Just grab ONE 4890 (this card is roughly 2x the strength of your current 9600 SLI.) That will be more than enough to max the game out. GTX 285 SLI is insane overkill.

He should get one GTX275 instead of Radeon 4890. Reason is because he has Nvidia chipset motherboard, and he'll be able to SLI if need so.

 

[TemjinGold]

Originally posted by: shangshang

Originally posted by: TemjinGold
OP: Just grab ONE 4890 (this card is roughly 2x the strength of your current 9600 SLI.) That will be more than enough to max the game out. GTX 285 SLI is insane overkill.

He should get one GTX275 instead of Radeon 4890. Reason is because he has Nvidia chipset motherboard, and he'll be able to SLI if need so.

While that may be true, the 4890 deals are currently WAY cheaper than the GTX 275 deals for comparable performance. Judging from the fact that he currently has 9600 SLI and is prompted to upgrade by Street Fighter, it's probably safe to assume that he doesn't play anything super demanding. By the time that 4890 no longer suits his needs, he can just buy something that blows away GTX 275 SLI so the premium spent on a 275 over a 4890 is not worth it.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: kylebisme

Originally posted by: Wall7486
Maybe the GTX 260 216 Core can be another viable option?

That is what I have and at 1080p with 8xAA and everything else cranked I get a nearly perfect vsynced 60fps.

I assume this is SLI GTX 260 right?

Just one. Even at C16xQ it is mostly a solid 60fps, but drops into the 40s at particularly intense game play moments and during last bit with the circle of characters. It is an EVGA SE version for what little difference that makes.

 

[BenSkywalker]

if I just play at lower settings then I am just better off with playing it on my consoles.

If you already have one of the high def consoles, why don't you get it for one of them? Running at the absolute highest settings the visual differences between the PC version and the console aren't much, I honestly notice the difference in AF the most.

Also, your framerate seems to match up with mine- I hit just a hair under 40FPS with all details at max and 16xQ running one 9600GT, I don't think SLI is working for you atm in that bench.

 

[octopus41092]

I maxed out everything but at 1680x1050 and I got average 63FPS, never dropped below 60. I have a HD4850 and X2 6000+ both @ stock.

 

[shabby]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
I cranked AA to highest, texture filtering, shadows, and model details to the highest as well. I just want to max it out because if I just play at lower settings then I am just better off with playing it on my consoles.

Go one lower and try again.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: Wall7486

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Are you running 16x AA? HQ settings with 0x AA I'm @60FPS with a single 9600GT- the in game portion is a bit higher then that as the scene where they show all the original fighters runs quite a bit slower. Cranking the AA over 4x has almost no impact on this game.

Actual in game mechanics for SF4 are locked at 60FPS, anything over that isn't going to help you out(although a bit higher then that for average would be good as you want your lows to be at 60FPS obviously).

I cranked AA to highest, texture filtering, shadows, and model details to the highest as well. I just want to max it out because if I just play at lower settings then I am just better off with playing it on my consoles.

So it looks like the consensus is I can just get 1 mid-high end card and it should suffice.

Even if you turn a couple settings down 1 or 2 notches it will still look better than console