Which AGP vidcard for HTPC + Oblivion?

[bigjer76]

Hey there,
I have a little Asus Spresso(small form factor Pc and proprietary sized mobo). It is now doing duty on the living room 36 in samsung LCD. What I would like help with is picking an AGP video card to play Oblivion with.Specs as follows:
2.4 Pentium 4 Socket 478
1 gig 3200 ram
120 gb HD
currently Nvidia 5700 le

Would the 7800 gs on sale here do it.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=2001398&enterthread=y

Any comments appreciated.

 

[KutterMax]

The 7800GS will be ok - depending on your resolutions.

The x1950Pro is faster and may be a better option, if it fits in your case. It will definitely be faster for Oblivion.

You may be somewhat CPU limited though.


I ran both the 7800GS and x1950Pro AGP and definitely noticed a boost with the ATI card, but I was running at 1920x1200. However I had some problems with instability with ATI drivers and ultimately RMA'd the x1950. A lot of people are running x1950's without any problems though.

 

[DaveSimmons]

The 2.4 GHz P4 CPU is going to be a bottleneck. You might just get a 7600 GS for $100-120 or 7600 GT for $145 (after $30 MIR) instead. (prices at www.newegg.com )

 

[bigjer76]

Forgive me, I've been out of the loop for awhile. Is it because the CPU is a little weak that I should get the "7600 GS for $100-120 or 7600 GT for $145 (after $30 MIR) instead. (prices at www.newegg.com ) ". If I understand you, the Video card would help compensate for that? BTW, I appreciate the feedback and suggestions. Please keep them coming.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

I believe the 7800GS is 160 dollars AR. Why not get that, it's just a little more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

 

[bob4432]

is that a 1080p or 720p lcd?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: bob4432
is that a 1080p or 720p lcd?

I could be wrong, but I don't think there are any 1080P screens below 37" in size, and OP specified a 36" screen. That means what, around 1366x768 or something resolution? Not too terribly demanding.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
I believe the 7800GS is 160 dollars AR. Why not get that, it's just a little more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143046

I missed the rebate, at $160 it makes sense to buy either this or the $100 7600GS rather than a 7600GT.

The 7800 specs say the power supply needs "12V current rating of 20A or more" so buying it might mean you need a new PSU too.

Is it because the CPU is a little weak that I should get the 7600 GS for $100-120

Right, I was saying that with a 2.4 GHz P4 it might not be fast enough to get the full value from the 7800GS. $160 is much better deal than $210 though, so it could be worth it if you don't also need to buy a power supply.

 

[bigjer76]

ZAP,
You are correct it is 1366x768 resolution. I am outputting video to the LCD with a DVI-to-HDMI cable, and it looks great.

DaveSimmons
I really didn't want to spend anymore on this rig bcs I just got the mobo RMA'd.I just cobbled this back together with all the old parts from after the mobo crapped out on me. I'm also trying to conserve the money to bring my main rig up into dual core land. The specs on the main rig aren't much better than this one, but it is very cool to surf the web on the living room TV. Another good point you made was the power supply issue. This case's power supply wasn't under warranty anymore, so I have got an antec 500W tucked into the entertainment system. So I don't believe power would be an issue, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Now that I have more properly disclosed the specs, ***which would you suggest so that we can play Oblivion in moderate settings.******
7800GS is 160 dollars AR or 7600 GS for $100-120 or 7600 GT for $145

We mostly want to play the add-on mods for longer play.Again,Thanks everyone.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Oblivion really stresses the video card, so the 7800GS is probably worth the extra money even if you don't get full value out of it.

On a faster CPU, the 7600GS only got around 20 fps at an Oblvion gate at 1024x768 while the 7600 GT got 30 fps, a huge jump, and the 7800 GS should be a little better.
Video tab - Oblivion

 

[Blain]

The 7800GS is fine if you don't need Inverse Telecine (IVTC) or Bad Edit Correction in HD.

 

[R3MF]

while i am normally a nVidia man, for oblivion you would best be served by the 1950.

 

[Slammy1]

HD is (mostly) a non-issue at that CPU speed. Standards for HD like H.264 require a beefy machine, as I read, for broadcast it's dual core minimum and standards such as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray you need a similarly spec'd machine. It seems a shame to put too much into an AGP card when, if you upgraded, you won't have a use for it. There are several compromises to consider in building a gaming and HTPC. First is that it will take a while to balance things between the desire for stability and speed. It is achievable, but often it means running older drivers (esp NVidia) and while newer tech favors gaming more mature technology is preferred by HTPC. The other issue, which is long-term, is the dB level of the card. GPUs run really hot, and even 720p is demanding on newer games(and I assume you want lots of eye candy...).

It is a compromise you should recognize. Your decision will come down to how much you use your machine for each tech. If you want an HTPC you can game on some, a 7600-series card would be preferred (it's cheaper, easily integrated for that type of viewing). The noise of the 7800 or x1950 is going to vary between manufacturers, make sure you look for a quieter version if you're going more for gaming. I'm not as tech savvy as many here, but I believe your CPU will still be aided substantially by a faster card despite being the limitation of your system. You might consider a cheper compromise and plan on a future system upgrade.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ good point on noise. If you don't mind playing Oblivion at 800x600 the $100 7600GS card will be quieter than the 7800GS.

That's not important for games, but might be if you want to use the PC to watch movies or play music.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
^ good point on noise. If you don't mind playing Oblivion at 800x600 the $100 7600GS card will be quieter than the 7800GS.

That's not important for games, but might be if you want to use the PC to watch movies or play music.

but with a 1366x768 lcd how good will 800x600 look?

 

[bigjer76]

bob4432
I don't think I understand the question."but with a 1366x768 lcd how good will 800x600 look?"

Do you mean the difference between the cards at that setting? As in, which will render better, or do you mean it would look bad to play the game at this resolution on this monitor(1366x768)? Thanks

 

[bigjer76]

Sammy1,
I follow you on the upgrade idea. To be honest I just needed a job for this little computer and it wound up as an HTPC. If I find that we are actually using it more and more , I will definately build a better one. Possibly upgrading this instead of the main rig downstairs.

R3Mf
I will check on deals and do a little research on the 1950. I have over the last couple of years shyed away from ATI because of a lot of driver issues and compatibility probs I had with an AIW, but it may be time to let bygones be bygones. I appreciate all of the advice that i have so far received. Did you mean something like this?

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=326860

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: bigjer76
bob4432
I don't think I understand the question."but with a 1366x768 lcd how good will 800x600 look?"

Do you mean the difference between the cards at that setting? As in, which will render better, or do you mean it would look bad to play the game at this resolution on this monitor(1366x768)? Thanks

i am concerned about how the tv will bring in the signal and whether you put it in via vga, dvi(hdmi) or component. will the tv stretch it to fit? will it be 1:1 so there is a 800x600 box in the middle of the screen?