• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Video card to pair with AMD 5800+ for TF2

O

OoteR02

Senior member
My personal computer is a beater, it's a Dell e521 with a 305w PSU. It currently has an EVGA 7600GT in it, I started with a 3800x2, and just spent a whole $40 upgrading to the 5800+ a bit ago, it didn't improve framerates much at all.

Would anyone here agree that it is the GPU? What is an upgrade card that would a) make a difference and b) be easily found used/cheap on newegg/zzf?

Thanks for any help!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look at those.

Anyone have anything against 9600GSO's?

LINK

$~35 shipped after rebate.. Would this be too power hungry or any better/worse than a 3850?
 
For TF2 it'll be a about the same as the 3850, assuming of course that 9600GSO really does have 96 shaders and not the now-typical 48.

Although I'm a bit surprised you can't manage more than 30 FPS with the 7600GT. What resolution and settings are you using?

A GPU upgrade would give you better framerates and make the game look better at the same time.
 
I'll check it when I get home.. I know it's 1440x900? or whatever the horiz res is.

I knocked it down to dx81 and have AA off, and low/medium on all shadow/detail settings.

In open spaces it drops to 20 something with people around. In closed spaces it's 35-40 with SOME action nearby. (10 or more people and it's tough to hit anything but the floor/wall)



 
That's odd, I think you should be getting better framerates than that.

First I'd defragment the game files and your hard drive.

Then I'd make sure you turned AA off. Turn HDR/Bloom off. Put the model details to low. Put the shader details to low. Put shadows to low. I think you can get by with textures at medium or high. I wouldn't use past 4x AF. And make sure you enable "multicore rendering". The game should look alright. Honestly, to me I do not notice a huge difference at all between all low and all high settings in TF2.

With some tweaking you should be able to get 30 FPS out of the 7600GT at that resolution, although I will say there will be special times where the framerate will drop. But most of the time you should be golden.
 
Originally posted by: Udgnim
TF2 is a CPU limited gain

if you haven't done so already, enable the Multicore setting
Click to expand...

Is that easy to find? I knew there was one for multi-GPU, wasn't aware of a multi-CPU cvar

 
Originally posted by: cusideabelincoln
That's odd, I think you should be getting better framerates than that.

First I'd defragment the game files and your hard drive.

Then I'd make sure you turned AA off. Turn HDR/Bloom off. Put the model details to low. Put the shader details to low. Put shadows to low. I think you can get by with textures at medium or high. I wouldn't use past 4x AF. And make sure you enable "multicore rendering". The game should look alright. Honestly, to me I do not notice a huge difference at all between all low and all high settings in TF2.

With some tweaking you should be able to get 30 FPS out of the 7600GT at that resolution, although I will say there will be special times where the framerate will drop. But most of the time you should be golden.
Click to expand...

I know HDR is off, and AA is as well. I honestly would blame the card, I have reason to believe it is the issue that causes an occasional BSOD (it whines about NV_ something each time it does it, so, bad memory or GPU is my guess, I've updated drivers lately and no difference).

I guess I didn't notice the multicore rendering option (as I just quoted the last reply.. oops). I'll check it all out tonight.

Thanks guys.
 
Originally posted by: Fox5
A 4650 would do well in that game.
Click to expand...

Seconded. Although I was running a Opty 165 @ 2.5 GHz and was severely CPU limited in TF2. Took my FPS into the low teens sometimes, and that was paired with a 4850.
 
I picked one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/product/...x?Item=N82E16814121319
as an upgrade for my parents' computer over the Summer - was $35 with free CoD5, fantastic price... and it handles TF2 at 1600x900 with everything maxed out and (if memory serves) 2xAA/4xAF - this with an Athlon X2 4850e. Assuming the 9600 you linked really does have 96 SP's, that'd be a good choice.
However, reviews I had read recommended a 450W power supply for the card. I'm squeaking by with a 350W unit - a card like this on a 305W and with a more power hungry processor might not work.
 
I'll double check the MultiCPU settings when I get home at lunch. See if the stress tests run any better.

I may have to go with that 9600GSO, it'll hold me out til after christmas (probably new computer time) and will be a decent upgrade for my wifes machine at that point too.
 
About 2 years ago I did some testing / benchmarking with Source games. IIRC the E2180 was the frame rate limiting factor from stock speed until about 2.8 ghz when paired with an 8800GT 512 @ 1680x1050, no AA, medium-ish settings. This was just benchmarking -- real gameplay takes more of a toll on the CPU. Even at 3.2 ghz there were occasional minor slowdowns. That'd be roughly the equivalent of an AMD x2 7000 or thereabout.

Feeling no pain with a 2.8 ghz i7 though. =)

All that said, a 7600GT is both a memory bandwidth and rendering limited card. It was a low end solution in 2006. You can't expect a satisfactory game experience from it, even in an aging engine like Source.
 
Well,

I enabled the multi-cpu as well as turned it back to dxlevel 90. Everything is on low except textures, and the thing still will lag when say firing the rpg to under 20 fps, pretty much makes my shotgun useless.

I'll play around with it some more tonight. May have to go back to dx 81 until I get a new card in that thing.
 
I agree with the person below me about the 7600GT.

If you have all your details on low and aren't getting acceptable framerates, I think your resolution is too high. I'm willing to place a mild bet that if you lowered your resolution you can get 30+ fps.

But if you don't want to hassle, just upgrade the card. You'll see huge gains. And for that resolution, there's no need to get a card faster than a 9600GT.

Originally posted by: v8envy
About 2 years ago I did some testing / benchmarking with Source games. IIRC the E2180 was the frame rate limiting factor from stock speed until about 2.8 ghz when paired with an 8800GT 512 @ 1680x1050, no AA, medium-ish settings. This was just benchmarking -- real gameplay takes more of a toll on the CPU. Even at 3.2 ghz there were occasional minor slowdowns. That'd be roughly the equivalent of an AMD x2 7000 or thereabout.

Feeling no pain with a 2.8 ghz i7 though. =)

All that said, a 7600GT is both a memory bandwidth and rendering limited card. It was a low end solution in 2006. You can't expect a satisfactory game experience from it, even in an aging engine like Source.
Click to expand...

Nah, at 3.2 GHz an Pentium E2180 would be close to the 6400+ Windsor. At 2.8 Ghz it would be close enough to a 5800+ or 6000+ Brisbane, generally speaking. I think Source likes Intel processors, but I know it also likes larger cache sizes.
 
Originally posted by: dguy6789
Radeon HD 4670 would do the trick.
Click to expand...

I would go with a 4670 also. I play the game with an E4500 and a DDR2 4650 without problems. But he 4670 is quite a bit better, so I would suggest that instead of the 4650. I wish I had got the 4670 instead of the DDR2 4650. (A ddr3 4650 however would be nearly as good as the 4670).

With only a 305 watt PSU anything higher than a 4670 would be borderline without also upgrading the PSU. The 4650 and the 4670 do not even require an external power connector.
If you use any of the other suggested cards, make sure you have the proper connectors, but as I said, I don't think I would want to use a higher power card with that PSU.

If you are gaming at 1440 x 900 (which I game at also) the 4670 should be more than adequate.
 
Originally posted by: Udgnim
TF2 is a CPU limited gain

if you haven't done so already, enable the Multicore setting
Click to expand...

hey, thanks. I didn't know about that setting. I just enabled it and it made a major improvement in the frame rate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top