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Recommendations
Recommendations
#1
I'm getting a nice new LCD monitor as a belated birthday present and I decided I might as well get a new video card to go with it -- and max out my COH experience. Now I know that (at least according to my COV box) the recommended chipset is the nVidia GeForce 6200, but that doesn't say anything about manufacturers. Who's got the best 6200-based card out there?
And does anyone know anything about the PhysX 3D coprocessor? Has anyone tried it and can make a recommendation?
Thanks!
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Recommendations
#2
PhysX: Don't waste your money. Honestly. All it will do is add more particles to explosions and stuff, which will only slow you down more. Also, it's pretty doubtful if this is going to be a really persistent item in the gaming community - Ageia's competitor, Havok, has NVidia, ATI, and Microsoft on-line to come up with a solution that doesn't require extra HW. Besides, it's $300!

As for manufacturers:
Asus: Never a bad choice IMO, but a bit pricy.
BFG: Decent, their OC line is slick.
XFX/MSI/PNY/EVGA: Not bad, I've had minor issues with their parts - they tend to use lower-end fans and stuff.
Leadtek: Used to be great, but seems to be losing quality.
Powercolor/Connect3D/anyone-else: Avoid them.

Now, the more important question (IMO) is how much you want to spend. Personally, I'd aim for a 6600 minimum, a 6800 if you can get it. If you're willing to go with ATI, I belive you can get all the way up to their X1600 card in AGP, which is what I'm guessing you have.
If I'm wrong, and you can get PCI-E, get the biggest card you can afford - 7600 minimum.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
[Image: Con.gif]
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Re: Recommendations
#3
Thanks for the advice, Chris. I'll scamper off and do price comparisons forthwith.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Recommendations
#4
I recommend newegg.com, buy.com, or ncix.com.
Newegg is always popular, and ncix gets kudos from me because they have a Canadian outlet.
I particularly liked buy.com when I was in the states because sometimes they have some truly ludicrous deals, and their shipping department is a thing of wonder.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
[Image: Con.gif]
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Re: Recommendations
#5
Thanks again. My shopping will probably have to wait until my connection at home is a bit more reliable, though...
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#6
...because I can't seem to figure this out with the manufacturers' website(s). Peggy and I have settled on a monitor -- but the one we're looking at has only analog inputs. Do I need digital inputs to use the Asus GeForce 6800 card?
Thanks.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
Reply
Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#7
No. Practically every video card comes with digital outputs now, but they all should come with an adapter to convert that into an analog signal.
As for monitor, what are you looking at?
I swear by my Dells, although I'd wait until they come out with the next revision of their FP series (they're currently on the 7 series, i.e. 1907FP) because the bases on them suck if your desk isn't rock solid. I ended up taking a base from a 1905 we had at work and modifying it (older Dell LCDs supported VESA mounts, but the Dell mounts weren't quite VESA compliant - newer Dells are completely compliant) to get the stability I needed.
And really, in the dozens upon dozens of them we buy at work, we've had 1 reported dead/bad pixel. That's a quality you don't get with *anyone* else.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
[Image: Con.gif]
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Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#8
After staring at monitors in various stores for several nights in a row, we decided on a Samsung Syncmaster 215TW -- but I can be convinced otherwise.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
Reply
Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#9
That's a great monitor, but I'll tell you my concerns:
1) Resolution. 1680x1050 is nice and high (whee, 16x10 ratio, too), but make sure you set whatever video card you have to support it properly when feeding it lower resolutions (you want sidebars, not stretching).
2) For CoH, to *really* get the most out of your monitor, you'll want to run it at native resolution (assuming you don't play in a window, that is). That means you'll need a video card that can support playing the game at that resolution - I'd bump up your spending expectations a little. Assuming you're AGP, think 6800/X800, or PCI-E, think 7600/X1600.
3) OTOH, if CoH lets you drop the resolution a little (ie to 1440x900 or even down to 1280x800) you get free antialiasing. Seriously, you can use 2x in game and that will balance out with the monitor's scaling to give you an impressive effect.
4) Check the vertical viewing angle, assuming you've seen one in stores. Probably my biggest complaint with my 1907 (except the base) was the vertical viewing angle. It claimed 130 deg, but in practice I found it much lower than that, and the way the color distortions cropped up were downright bizarre.
5) Assuming it's got the same limitations as most other LCD monitors, you'll want to make a decision on whether the imperceptably better image you get from the digital input is worth the loss of screen controls you get on an analog input.
6) Be prepared to screw around with the brightness. 1000:1 contrast with 300 cads/m2 is damn bright, you'll want to cut it down. On a similar note, expect CoH to look downright goofy for a while - by their nature, LCDs tend to show colour differences more clearly, and you'll notice some weirdness you didn't before. For me, it was some cement textures - I was like 'why is there green and purple in those?'
7) Check the warranty/return rules! I can't stress that enough. Some companies require a significant number of dead pixels before you can return. I don't know what Samsung's policy is.
--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
[Image: Con.gif]
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Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#10
Thanks for the advice, Chris.
Quote:
but make sure you set whatever video card you have to support it properly
I've been assuming the ASUS geForce 6800 -- which is what it looks like I'll be getting -- will be able to do this. Was I wrong?
Quote:
Assuming you're AGP, think 6800/X800
Like I just said, that's what I have in mind already.
Quote:
Check the vertical viewing angle, assuming you've seen one in stores.
Mm. I don't think I've done that specifically. The monitor we looked at on display was a bit below eye level, and looked good with the panel perfectly vertical, and when it gets on my desk it'll be right at eye level (naturally enough), so I think I'm okay there.
Quote:
Assuming it's got the same limitations as most other LCD monitors, you'll want to make a decision on whether the imperceptably better image you get from the digital input is worth the loss of screen controls you get on an analog input.
I wasn't dead set on a digital connection; I was just worried that it was mandatory with the card, that's all.
Quote:
Check the warranty/return rules!
I'll be doing that some time today if all goes well.
Once again, thanks for all the help and advice.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#11
Yeah, a 6800 is good.
Although, I've noticed EVGA has a 7800 AGP card, XFX has a 7600, and Sapphire has a X1600.
Any of those would be superior, and the XFX7600 and the Sappire X1600 are probably cheaper by a good margin too.
(I didn't list Sapphire in my manufacturer roundup, but they're a top-notch ATI company - they're one of the companies who manufacture cards for ATI itself.)

My problem with vertical viewing angle is you really see it when you're walking up to the desk and sitting down. Freaks me right out.
--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
[Image: Con.gif]
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Re: Okay, Stupid Question Time...
#12
Cool. I'll look into those ... um ... when I have a working connection at home.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Recommendations
#13
After checking out the bad pixel policy, I went ahead and ordered the Samsung monitor two nights ago.
It was on my porch when I got home from work today. I haven't installed it yet -- I'll do that tomorrow -- but it sure looks good even without an image on it.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
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Re: Recommendations
#14
If you haven't bought your video card yet, I can offer a little input. I upgraded from an Nvidia 6800 GT to 2 7800 GTs in SLI mode. The speed (whether SLI was enabled or not) and image quality improvement was easy to see.
The 7800 GS AGP goes for about $260-270, about the same cost as a 6800 GT AGP (which are rapidly disappearing). "Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will RogersGlobal: @Jimmy Amp

"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers
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Re: Recommendations
#15
Thanks, Mekadave. I'll keep that in mind. Last time I looked on a price compare site, I could still easily find Asus 6800 cards, which is my current choice, for about $165. Is the performance improvement between the two worth the extra hundred bucks?
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
Reply
Re: Recommendations
#16
Yeah, for a difference of only $100, I'd say it's worth it, definitely. For one thing, figure that this is probably the last AGP video card that you're ever going to buy, as AGP is being phased out for PCI-Express. You're going to want to get as much life out of it as you can.
I moved my 6800 GT-Athlon64 3700-1 GB RAM over to be my utility PC when I put together my current gaming rig. I still have CoX installed on it (with a fresh Win XP install), and you can tell the difference between the two. It's not close, especially in the system-intensive areas like Mercy Island and Grandville. I have to bring down the graphics settings significantly in those zones to keep the framerate playable on the 6800. When the server is yellow, Mercy can still be almost a slideshow on the 6800. (My god, that's gotta be frustrating for new players, now that I think of it)
I'm not getting much, if any, benefit from running SLI in CoX. CoX isn't optimized for SLI, so whether I have it on or off, I'm not seeing much of a framerate difference. Of course, I haven't tested that in a full-team battle on Invincible either, so I don't know if that would help when the effects are REALLY flying. Just that I attribute the performance difference to the card being a 7800 vs a 6800.
The level of detail difference was a big thing, too. After I upgraded, I noticed that FF's Dispersion Bubble basically looked like a giant swirling soap bubble in its effects. Lots of little things like that look cooler now. I had to turn down the World Detail on the 6800. Keeping it at default 100% on the 7800, I see lots of cool stuff. For example, when I'm swimming to the submarine in Port Oakes for the Atlas mayhem mission, I can plainly see the distinctive mountain peaks of Cap Au Diable far, far in the distance. (I know that's basically just eye candy, but I still enjoy it.) Didn't see that on the 6800 with its turned-down settings.
"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will RogersGlobal: @Jimmy Amp

"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers
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Re: Recommendations
#17
Oh, also, I got a PhysX card, too. It's way too early to get one, though it sure is freakin' cool. Wait til the price comes down a lot. "Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will RogersGlobal: @Jimmy Amp

"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers
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Re: Recommendations
#18
I'll look into your recommendations, thanks. The only problem is that while I can buy the 6800 card right away, my budget won't let me get something 50% more expensive for a few more weeks.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...
Reply
Re: Recommendations
#19
Ouch, that sucks.
Well, the best price for one currently is $259.99 with free shipping:
nvnews.pricegrabber.com/s...tby=priceA"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will RogersGlobal: @Jimmy Amp

"Broad-minded is just another way of saying a fellow's too lazy to form an opinion." -- Will Rogers
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