What is the best video card for half life 2?

[Qwertywasd]

Heres a good guide for graphics cards, even though the Nvidia cards listed are of a higher spec, they still perform worse than the ATI cards.

And yes i know this is from a few months back, but its a good comparison.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

And the new Nvidia cards may outperform the ATI, i'm not being biased at all.

I have both Nvidia and ATI cards, and hold both of them in high regard.

 

[deathryuu]

how bout my comp?

Athlon XP 1600+
512mb RAM
radeon 9800 pro 128mb


i ment to upgrade my cpu long ago but i have too many other things i need first.

 

[HeadcrabOnMyAss]

Represents best in class options:


0 - 100 USD : nVidia GeForce FX 5550
110 - 130 USD : Radeon 9600 XT 256MB
150 - 185 USD : Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
220 - 255 USD : Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB
500 - 600 USD : nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra
600+ USD : Specialty official overclocked water/specialty cooled GFX cards.
1200+ USD : Dual nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI setup with nForce4 Mobo

 

[clarky003]

myself, i'm going all the way, either a x800 or 6800 ultra, though i can't decide which 1.

if youve got the money , if its a stretch dont bother, you'll hardly notice the difference on high detail compared with the 9800 xt, thats really only a choice if you want

8x AA

8x AF

and something silly like 1600 x 1200

lol

the x800 and 6800 ultra are totally overrated, get one if your planning on playing it on a massive cinema screen , where a high resolution may be needed. but I wouldnt waste your time

U3 is perhaps the only reason to crack your wallet open for one of those baby's, and thats not out for aaagges.

 

[HeadcrabOnMyAss]

if youve got the money , if its a stretch dont bother, you'll hardly notice the difference on high detail compared with the 9800 xt, thats really only a choice if you want

8x AA

8x AF

and something silly like 1600 x 1200

lol

the x800 and 6800 ultra are totally overrated, get one if your planning on playing it on a massive cinema screen , where a high resolution may be needed. but I wouldnt waste your time

U3 is perhaps the only reason to crack your wallet open for one of those baby's, and thats not out for aaagges.

I beg to differ, the new cards have nearly twice the performance as the "old" generation of cards. However, if your talking about HL2 (and I think you are), then yeah, you wont notice much of a difference.

 

[blindvomit]

how bout my comp?

Athlon XP 1600+
512mb RAM
radeon 9800 pro 128mb


i ment to upgrade my cpu long ago but i have too many other things i need first.

Dude deff upgrade your CPU, you can grab the 2500 for $80 off newegg.com and after that I suggest another stick of 512.

 

[SFLUFAN]

^^^ Yeah - even if you got a higher end videocard, your CPU would bottleneck it something fierce.

 

[Vidrio]

I'm guessing a

radeon 9800 pr0 ......... most likely saphire
p4 2.4ghz
512mb ram


would be enough? ........ maybe I should up my ram to 1gb...

hmms

 

[urseus]

lol, the 9700 will do just fine mate. Seriously, it will look positively brilliant!!! :thumbs:

Oh rite reverse psycology...im hip to your jive

yeah yeah....9700 will do fine (tehe)

 

[blindvomit]

I'm guessing a

radeon 9800 pr0 ......... most likely saphire
p4 2.4ghz
512mb ram


would be enough? ........ maybe I should up my ram to 1gb...

hmms

Yeah your set dude.

 

[SFLUFAN]

I think to get the most out of HL2, you'll need a 9800 Pro at the least...

And 1 gig of RAM couldn't hurt either.

 

[blindvomit]

I think to get the most out of HL2, you'll need a 9800 Pro at the least...

And 1 gig of RAM couldn't hurt either.

Dude 9800 Pro is more then enough.

 

[clarky003]

I beg to differ, the new cards have nearly twice the performance as the "old" generation of cards. However, if your talking about HL2 (and I think you are), then yeah, you wont notice much of a difference.

, this is HL2.net, so yeh

they'll be so much cheaper anyway if we wait a few months, ,and more importantly in a year or so when you really need them, when games ask for more. like the U3 engine will.

 

[Vidrio]

yeh, people are over exagurating the graphics of this game, it was made to have good fps on lower spec machines, not LOW low.. but u know.. reasonable.

9800 pro I think should be getting at least 90fps .. surely?

 

[Axyon]

9800 pro I think should be getting at least 90fps .. surely?

Not on the highest settings, nope. I'm a total graphics freak, so I'll be picking up an x800 XT/XT-PE so I can enjoy the game at high resolutions with lashings of AA and AF poured on.

 

[Vidrio]

Not on the highest settings, nope. I'm a total graphics freak, so I'll be picking up an x800 XT/XT-PE so I can enjoy the game at high resolutions with lashings of AA and AF poured on.

Well at an average setting it should be ok? radeon 9800 pro is a pretty decent card :>

edit: is ther benchmarks of how much better the x800 is?

 

[Axyon]

Well at an average setting it should be ok? radeon 9800 pro is a pretty decent card :>

edit: is ther benchmarks of how much better the x800 is?

At average settings, I'd imagine the game would positively fly, yeah.

There's a benchmark or two around, but they're fairly old and aren't totally reliable. By rule of thumb, the x800 cards should be getting around twice the performance out of Half-Life 2 than the 9800 pro card.

 

[blindvomit]

Dude just flash your 98Pro to a 98XT.

 

[Qwertywasd]

Heres a benchmark between the two.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20040504/ati-x800-12.html

 

[^Ben]

6800GT is where it's at my freinds

Along with my sekshy system! that i am getting within 3-4 weeks

(Because the GT's are only just started coming into the UK in bulk)

 

[Gunner]

Here we are, almost a year later, and people are still asking "will my kommputaarr run HL2?!".

 

[clarky003]

Not on the highest settings, nope. I'm a total graphics freak, so I'll be picking up an x800 XT/XT-PE so I can enjoy the game at high resolutions with lashings of AA and AF poured on.

well atleast 40 or 60 then.. at high settings? I mean thats perfect really.

and dont forget game optimising is a continuous process, so you know it may end up being better at performance , come the release.

 

[SFLUFAN]

"I'm a total graphics freak, so I'll be picking up an x800 XT/XT-PE"

My advice to you will be to wait until closer to HL2's release...by that time, supply should have caught up with demand and prices should have declined somewhat.

Also, depending on when HL2 is released, the next batch of ATI/Nvidia cards might have been released (rumor is in the autumn) and those might very well be 512mb cards which you'll get for the same price (probably) as the 256mb versions now. Also, by then the ATI cards might have PS3.0 support.

 

[urseus]

Here we are, almost a year later, and people are still asking "will my kommputaarr run HL2?!".

Well thats because of

"wharn the fook is this god dam gAme cumoing oUt?!/"

 

[hegele]

I just put int a Radon 9600 se last week. I hope that will do it.

 

[Warbie]

By rule of thumb, the x800 cards should be getting around twice the performance out of Half-Life 2 than the 9800 pro card.

Only if you've got the system to back it up.

There's no point in buying an x800 xt unless you have a A64 or 3 gig+ intel (unless, of course, you're planning to upgrade soon)

If you have a Barton or 2.4-8 intel, and aren't planning to upgrade or wait for pci-e, then a x800 pro/6800 gt will be a better choice imo.

(at the moment the 6800 gt is looking mighty fine - best bang for your buck imo ..... i'll obviously wait untill HL2 and Doom 3 come out before making any final decisions though)

 

[Vidrio]

Here we are, almost a year later, and people are still asking "will my kommputaarr run HL2?!".

why the hell not ask? :|

 

[Axyon]

"I'm a total graphics freak, so I'll be picking up an x800 XT/XT-PE"

My advice to you will be to wait until closer to HL2's release...by that time, supply should have caught up with demand and prices should have declined somewhat.

Also, depending on when HL2 is released, the next batch of ATI/Nvidia cards might have been released (rumor is in the autumn) and those might very well be 512mb cards which you'll get for the same price (probably) as the 256mb versions now. Also, by then the ATI cards might have PS3.0 support.

I could bother waiting, or I could potentially pick one up for ~£250 now (not from shops, no). Besides, the next iteration of cards are probably going to be the PCI-Express versions of the x800 series, which I'm not interested in. Anyway, 512mb versions are pretty useless at the moment, since we've not even passed the usage of 256mb on a card yet, seems that 512mb is just for futureproofing right now.

Only if you've got the system to back it up.

There's no point in buying an x800 xt unless you have a A64 or 3 gig+ intel (unless, of course, you're planning to upgrade soon)

If you have a Barton or 2.4-8 intel, and aren't planning to upgrade or wait for pci-e, then a x800 pro/6800 gt will be a better choice imo.

I have a 3.0Ghz processor, 1Gb of RAM , so I'm fine for a card of this calibre.

 

[Tarkus]

why the hell not ask? :|

because if a 9800pro was good then, it will be good now... even though the price is lower, wich is good

 

[Warbie]

I have a 3.0Ghz processor, 1Gb of RAM , so I'm fine for a card of this calibre.

We'll see - I doubt you'll see any more frames in game with an x800 XT than you would with a PRO (except in 3dmark of course - but that's a load of bollox )

I've a similar setup (2.5 gig Barton, which is on par with a 3.0 - 3.2 intel imo, roughly) I'll see how HL2/Doom 3 run on a 9800 pro first, and wait for some decent benchmarks, before upgrading.

 

[Axyon]

We'll see - I doubt you'll see any more frames in game with an x800 XT than you would with a PRO (except in 3dmark of course - but that's a load of bollox )

I beg to differ, the XT will be able to put a few more frames than the Pro no matter what... those 4 extra pipelines and higher clocks will make a difference. Besides, I said I'm itching for an XT-PE, which is an XT but with higher memory and core clocks. No doubt that I'll be getting higher frames with that.

 

[Warbie]

As far as i'm aware there's no difference between an XT-PE and normal XT (just marketing blurb )

Those four pipelines will only help with high res and all the fancy extras - but not if your system can't keep up. Under 1600*1200 the there's a only a few frames difference between the XT and the pro (if recent benchmarks are to be believed)

It's great card either way, and only costs a little more than the pro HL2 will fly \o/

 

[Axyon]

As far as i'm aware there's no difference between an XT-PE and normal XT (just marketing blurb )

Nope, there's a difference. A 20mhz Core clock and 120Mhz Memory clock difference.

Those four pipelines will only help with high res and all the fancy extras - but not if your system can't keep up. Under 1600*1200 the there's a only a few frames difference between the XT and the pro (if recent benchmarks are to be believed)

I'd say they start to merge together under the 1280*960 mark, really. Besides, the XT(-PE) will allow me to stay at decent frames for a bit longer. I have a 9800 Pro at the moment that seems to be working a little badly, so I do need a new graphics card before Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, among other large graphics-intensive titles coming out soon.

 

[Warbie]

Nope, there's a difference. A 20mhz Core clock and 120Mhz Memory clock difference.

That suprises me - u have a link?

 

[Vidrio]

because if a 9800pro was good then, it will be good now... even though the price is lower, wich is good

when the hell was 'then' ? .... I'm sure theres a lot of people who didnt signed up last fecking year? ... and theres no point me searching for the old one, theres one right here and its newer. :hmph:

 

[Ashbery76]

The highest settings for farcry show ATI are the fastest.
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_sm30/images/t1280.gif

 

[Axyon]

That suprises me - u have a link?

Anandtech have been testing with the XT and XT-PE, at the bottom of the page you can see the specs here.

 

[Warbie]

Anandtech have been testing with the XT and XT-PE, at the bottom of the page you can see the specs here.

I stand corrected.

(the 6800's seem to pull away with AA/AF, which is a bit of a turn up. The GT looks even more tempting now. HL2 and Doom 3 benches will be very interesting)

 

[Axyon]

I stand corrected.

(the 6800's seem to pull away with AA/AF, which is a bit of a turn up. The GT looks even more tempting now. HL2 and Doom 3 benches will be very interesting)

I don't want to turn this thread into a huge debate about Far Cry's SM3.0, there's already a thread on it elsewhere anyway. What I will say though, is that the majority of those tests came from nVidia, so it does seem like there is a little bias involved there.

 

[blindvomit]

Hah yeah you can't trust nvidia OR Ati to make benchies, you have to get it from an open source i.e toms hardware, anandtech etc...