Question for Weaste or any other PC hardware know-it-all

Kaos

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My current PC rig is as followed:

Intel Quad Core Q6600 at 2.4ghz
4gb ram (only comes up at 2gb since I have 32bit vista)
GeForce 8800GTX
Windows Vista home premium.

I was contemplating swapping the graphics card for one of those Ati 4870 HD 2gbs or whatever they are. If I do so will I see a significant increase in fps for demanding games?

If not what other parts should I look to improve on?
 
Not sure about the graphics card, but you should see at least 3GB of that 4GB in 32bit Windows.
 
RedKaos said:
I was contemplating swapping the graphics card for one of those Ati 4870 HD 2gbs or whatever they are. If I do so will I see a significant increase in fps for demanding games?

If not what other parts should I look to improve on?
Click to expand...

ati 4870 is miles ahead of 8800gtx.

its a fecking beast i tell ya...buy this version though asus 4870 1gb dark knight

asus_eah4870_box.jpg


http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...sk=view&id=252&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=0

p.s make sure you have two 6 pin power connectors (from your power supply), most of the latest power supplies have them though.
 
Yeah what Vida said, the 4870 is a lot better than the GTX, you should see a big improvement in FPS
 
I don't know how I got into this, really I don't.

I like PS3 because of the Cell processor, I do not like the PS3 because it's a PS3 or a Sony product.

I'm also not that bothered about frame rates where you need to add hardware to accomplish that, rather than the developer actually being arsed to optimise what he/she is doing.

In reply to the OP, I'd stick to what you already have and just enjoy it.
 
Dan said:
Not sure about the graphics card, but you should see at least 3GB of that 4GB in 32bit Windows.
Click to expand...

Yeh sorry I meant to say 3GB, wo will me getting 64bit vista fix that then?

VidaRed said:
ati 4870 is miles ahead of 8800gtx.

its a fecking beast i tell ya...buy this version though asus 4870 1gb dark knight

asus_eah4870_box.jpg


http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...sk=view&id=252&Itemid=72&limit=1&limitstart=0

p.s make sure you have two 6 pin power connectors (from your power supply), most of the latest power supplies have them though.
Click to expand...

Why that one, isnt the 2gb one more powerful?... I assume anyway.
 
The 2GB one? isn't that the HD4870 X 2? I'm not too up on my ATI cards....If it is its essentially 2 X HD 4870's on the one card....and yes thats will piss all over an 8800 GTX.Can you post a link to the card your thinking of?

Yes 64Bit Vista will be able te see way more than 4 Gigs of ram....I have it and have 8 gigs of Ram fitted(don't ask)
 
Stemmy said:
The 2GB one? isn't that the HD4870 X 2? I'm not too up on my ATI cards....If it is its essentially 2 X HD 4870's on the one card....and yes thats will piss all over an 8800 GTX.Can you post a link to the card your thinking of?

Yes 64Bit Vista will be able te see way more than 4 Gigs of ram....I have it and have 8 gigs of Ram fitted(don't ask)
Click to expand...

Ahh is that what it is? Never actually knew tbh, just saw it come under people's super-rig, so its just two cards run on SLI? I think im going to need a stronger power supply then. So either way will one HD 4870 1gb still shit over an 8800gtx?
 
RedKaos said:
Ahh is that what it is? Never actually knew tbh, just saw it come under people's super-rig, so its just two cards run on SLI? I think im going to need a stronger power supply then. So either way will one HD 4870 1gb still shit over an 8800gtx?
Click to expand...

Well the HD4870 X 2 is two 4870 GPU's on the one card and its through Crossfire which is ATI's version of SLI.This card only only takes up one PCI-E slot the crossfire is all done inside the card...How many Watts does your power supply give out? It should be able to run it if its a half decent power supply.
Similarly NVidia's GTX 295 is 2 GPU's on the one graphics card but thats the benchmark card atm

Yeah a single 4870 is quite a bit more powerfull than an 8800GTX
 
Stemmy said:
Well the HD4870 X 2 is two 4870 GPU's on the one card and its through Crossfire which is ATI's version of SLI.This card only only takes up one PCI-E slot the crossfire is all done inside the card...How many Watts does your power supply give out? It should be able to run it if its a half decent power supply.
Similarly NVidia's GTX 295 is 2 GPU's on the one graphics card but thats the benchmark card atm

Yeah a single 4870 is quite a bit more powerfull than an 8800GTX
Click to expand...

So its like having two graphics cards on SLI, except its only one graphics card? Sweet!

Cant remember how many watts I have, anyway I can check this without opening the thing up?
 
RedKaos said:
So its like having two graphics cards on SLI, except its only one graphics card? Sweet!

Cant remember how many watts I have, anyway I can check this without opening the thing up?
Click to expand...

Yep thats correct, like having 2 graphics cards on the one card.

Yeah there should be a sticker somewhere on the power supply giving details on the psu unit.....common sense would have it on the outside maybe check along the back of your computer and see there but thats usually where the vent is so you might have to open up the side of the pc to find the sticker

Use this link http://www.journeysystems.com/?power_supply_calculator

basically you to enter in the specs of your pc and anything aditional that might use power and it will calculate how much power your pc is using....if you want to check how much extra power it will use then put in a HD4870 X 2 instead on an 8800GTX.....then if this power consumption is lower than what your PSU can handle your golden....Only thing is im not entirely sure if this guage gives the max power consumption for your graphics card under stress so take that into account.

EDIT : Just had a check, for refernence ATI recommend a minimum of 600 Watts PSU to run a 4870 X 2
 
Stemmy said:
Yes 64Bit Vista will be able te see way more than 4 Gigs of ram....I have it and have 8 gigs of Ram fitted(don't ask)
Click to expand...

:eek: im using 4gb in vista 64bit and it seems to run fast enough....how much of those 8gb do you actually utilize ?
 
Oh i have had well over 6 even 7 used on it numerous times before.....sometimes i have a lot of things running at once....A game sometimes twice(2 accounts), Stream, Converting a VOB to AVI or vice versa, Photoshop, GIF animator etc. I've a bad habit of not closing programmes down unless im shutting down the computer.
 
"C:\Windows\system32\MMDevAPI.DLL is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try reinstalling the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support"
Click to expand...

I am getting this error message, right now I have no sound, I can't get into IDT to tinker with it and to top it all off my computer doesn't think I have a disk drive. I know the speakers are fine because when I ran diagnostics it bleeped when required. In my task bar I don't even have a volume icon, if I press the mute or volume buttons nothing happens or is recognised.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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