Graphics upgrade question

[Half-death]

I've heard about the game running better on ATI cards. I'm going to the army in about half a year. So I don't want to spend too much on a graphics card. And from where I am, the 5900 XT is quite cheaper than the 9800 PRO.

I've decided to go with the 5900 XT but since I hear so much about the game running faster on ATI... will 5900 XT be incompetent for playing this game? Thank you...

 

[oldagerocker]

ask in the Hardware Forums.

 

[Varsity]

It will be fine. Not good enough for full settings with AA and AF, but good enough to play.

 

[Gunner]

ask in the Hardware Forums.

For a detailed explanation ask Asus in the Hardware Forums

 

[czrsink]

Is it me, or are people just asking the same questions over and over again?

 

[Half-death]

Is it me, or are people just asking the same questions over and over again?

it's just you.

hehe, nah, actually i KNEW there is a post exactly like mine. and i'm being a hypocrite tonight since i always think to myself... "why won't they just use the search?"

maybe i'm just too hyped about getting the card tomorrow so...
i know, that isn't a good enough excuse... my bad.

 

[czrsink]

You can the 9800 Pro for about £140 in the UK, and it's a much better card, which will run HL2 like a dream. The 5900XT isn't anywhere near as fast, and costs more...I can't see the logic.

 

[Axyon]

You really are throwing your money away, the 9800 Pro is a significantly better card.

 

[Half-death]

yes, but the price here is different
i'm in asia... it is significantly cheaper here... the 5900 XT... so i just wanted to know if it is good enough to run hl2... i already know it runs slower than the 9800 PRO

 

[bosox188]

Well it's good enough, but you'll probably have to run in directx 8 mode for it to be playable.

 

[Half-death]

whoa... it's that bad? I heard Half life 2 having a lower requirement that DOOM 3... and people seem to play Doom 3 with all the effects on at a decent enough quality with 5900 XT. dat's confusing

 

[bosox188]

Doom 3 is an OpenGL game. It doesn't use directx for it's graphics it uses OpenGL. And Nvidia's always run better on OpenGL games, so yeah the 5900xt would be awesome on it. But the Geforce FX series ran bad on the newest version of directx, directx 9. The ATi cards ran better than the Geforce FX in directx games, particularly the ones that used a lot of pixel shaders, which are programs that add details to objects such as reflective surfaces, water, etc. Half-Life 2 is a directx 9 game that uses a lot of pixel shaders, so the FX series will not run well on it. In benchmarks from a while ago, most of the cards in the FX series ran well as long as the game was in directx 8 mode, which didn't use such heavy pixel shaders. It's not too bad of a difference, really the most noticeable difference is the water won't reflect everything around it. But I think the directx 8 water was more real because it doesn't reflect everything perfectly like a mirror. When's the last time you saw water that was a perfect color, was perfectly still, and reflected everything perfectly? So you'll still be able to play Half-Life 2 well and it'll still look good. Oh yeah and one more thing don't think Nvidia's are bad now because the new 6800's are awesome and run fine in directx 9 and stuff. K, hope that helped cause that was long.

 

[Half-death]

Okay, as long as it was, it helped alot. Now i understand what everyone is saying. Okay then, I guess I'll settle with directx 8. and who knows, the game my come out to be quite playable with good coding... here's to good hopes.

thanx everyone for the replies!

 

[bosox188]

No problem. Let us know how it runs.

 

[Half-death]

No problem. Let us know how it runs.

Sure thing. But that'll take quite sometime won't it? Like next month... hehe