Graphics Card Ram

[Chicken #16]

Hi....


What difference does 512mb of ram make over 256 on a card like an ati 1950?

Also, will I be able to play directx 10 games without windows vista if I have a directx10 gfx card?

I have a c2d running at 2.17ghz with 1gb ram and a nvidea 7600 with 256mb

I would do a forum search but I seem to be even more short sighted than usual and can't see the search box.

Cheers

 

[semi-pro waster]

Search has temporarily disappeared so don't worry about it, it isn't just you.

More Ram is better for higher resolutions in general, if you have a 19" monitor or under then 256mb will probably do for the moment.

You can't run DX10 games without Vista, there have been rumours that there are workarounds but nothing concrete yet so just assume that you need Vista if you want a DX10 game.

 

[Duff-Man]

Hi....


What difference does 512mb of ram make over 256 on a card like an ati 1950?

In places where the texture size goes over 256mb, you will get paging from system memory to video memory with th2 256mb card. You will see this as brief pauses in the gameplay (rather than a smoothly lowered framerate as you would from having a slower card). These days, there are quite a few games that will use over 256mb at reasonably high res, but the higher res you play at (and the more AA you use) the higher the texture memory requirement for a given game scene.

Also, will I be able to play directx 10 games without windows vista if I have a directx10 gfx card?

No.

I have a c2d running at 2.17ghz with 1gb ram and a nvidea 7600 with 256mb

I would do a forum search but I seem to be even more short sighted than usual and can't see the search box.
Cheers

Search is disabled for a few days.
If I were you, I would look at the 320mb 8800GTS. Also - overclock that c2d!

 

[Chicken #16]

Cheers...all my questions answered

now for some more...

I am overclocking the c2d but it seems pretty hot atm
prob not the place to post but in the bios it says the cpu is about 47....its a 6300 oc'd to 2.17....how far on an intel cooler would you recommend

I was thinking of a 1950 cos I ain't going to fork out for vista for prob a year or so....we were testing the cheapo version of vista in the office...seemed nice enough.

I tend not to play many gfx intensive games but its nice to try the demos and have something to show off on the comp (s.t.a.l.k.e.r was decent)....I play Civ 4 and that seems to get really slow at the end...and the gfx aren't at their highest

what 1950 would be a decent buy....I'd quite like to play supreme commander...my monitor is a phillips 26" lcd with pretty rubbish speakers, low contrast ratio and fairly low resolution....but it doesn't take up much space....at work i have a 24" dell which makes the phillips think of England

 

[semi-pro waster]

Is the 47C idle or load temperature? I know that bios doesn't normally slow the CPU down any but it isn't the same as it being properly loaded. With that being the case I don't think I'd suggest pushing any further on the stock cooler, if you wanted to get an aftermarket cooler (Noctua NH-U12F, Scythe Ninja or Tuniq Tower) and some decent thermal paste (Arctic Silver 5) then you should be able to take it further.

The Sapphire X1950pro 512mb should cope with pretty much anything you throw at it and is a good stopgap until you upgrade to Vista or decide you want a faster card.

//edit 2gb Ram would also help in general.

 

[Chicken #16]

yeah....not a bad price...just have to prise my claw like grip away from my hard earned pennies now hmmmph

was thinking of getting extra ram....geil 6400 or crucial ballistix 6400?

If you had to make a choice between more ram or 1950 which would be the better option for something like supreme commander (also...would you keep the ocuk 2x512 6400 and new 2X1gb 6400 sticks or just use the new stuff?)

I know in an ideal world no one would ever have to make such defining choices, but thats life son

how much do you reckon a second hand 7600 would go for....it has a heatpipe rather than a fan so it is silent..which I like about it but bit of a downer when you have to lower the gfx settings in civ4

My c2d is 47 when i boot up and go into the bios, no load about it....

 

[semi-pro waster]

At the moment you can pick up 2gb of Geil PC6400 C4 for around £65 so that seems like a good deal. 2gb ought to be enough so I'd get rid of the other 1gb. I don't know know what Supreme Commander benefits from most although I think it is a fairly demanding game with the options turned up.

As for secondhand prices, it isn't really my area of expertise but you might make £25-30 from the Ram if you are lucky since Ram is so cheap just now. Maybe £40-50 for the 7600 but that is assuming it is a 7600GT, if it is a 7600GS then a bit less.

I wouldn't push the CPU any further at present then without a new heatsink and fan or failing that if you have some thermal compound spare you could try cleaning it and reseating it to see if it was just making a poor connection.