Upgrade to Nvidia card

[xiphrex]

I would like your opinions and also some suggestions:

I have an ATI HD 4770 512mb slightly overclocked to 830/1000 core/mem.

I would like to upgrade to a nvidia graphics card. It has to be nvidia as Im fed up of the ATI-only bugs associated with pretty much the only game I play regularly (CounterStrike Source). ATI refuse to acknowledge that the problems are because of their lack of support in their drivers.

Ive always been confused with nvidia's naming scheme and I would like to know which of their newer cards is a sort of "mainstream" upgrade from a 4770?

I also have an older 9600GT 512mb, is it worth using that instead of buying a new card or would that be a significant downgrade from a 4770?

The cheaper this is the better.

Thanks

 

[Mojo]

CSS should work on pretty much any card you can buy today, as the source engine is over 6 years old and will run quite happily on very old tech stuff.
However, I would suggest keeping with the 9600gt if you want to stick with Nvidia, as although the GTX460 and up are great cards, Nvidia's current entry level range (less than £100 - £150) haven't been refreshed and are lagging behind ATI's offerings. Their main 80-100 quid card the GTS250 is based off the old 8800gts, which doesn't even bear thinking about =/

 

[Sunny Squash]

im running css max on a geforce 8500

 

[liquidex]

Gts 250 and the 9800s are around the same performance bracket as the 4770. Unfortunately there is a massive void between them and the gtx 460 while fermi filters down from the "high-end" segment.

The gtx 260 is a slight upgrade but again is not one of their newer cards.

Btw what problems are you having as I used to play CSS with a 4870 and my experience of it hasn't changed since I switched cards.

 

[Rroff]

9600GT should play CSS very nicely tbh as the card excels at old school pixel/polygon shovelling which is what CSS is heaviest on. Its a tad weak shader wise but the source engine is fairly basic in that department.

 

[cyclops12]

9600GT should play CSS very nicely tbh as the card excels at old school pixel/polygon shovelling which is what CSS is heaviest on. Its a tad weak shader wise but the source engine is fairly basic in that department.

Yep aint all the source games only sm2 ?

Only say that as i got that game + half life 2 free before relese with an x800xtpe back in the day , that card was the last of the sm2 cards and it ripped through the game.

So most cards after that and the 6800's will play it easy

OP you sure it's an ati bug ? i still fire up half life from time to time and tbh ive not had 1 problem with ati or nv over the years ( im about 50/50 with cards dont lean either way )

 

[PhoenixUK]

Im fed up of the ATI-only bugs associated with pretty much the only game I play regularly (CounterStrike Source).

I bet it's an ERROR 40.

 

[xiphrex]

Well the bug is very specific. I play CSS competitively and there is quite an issue with flashes and directx 9, so that has been banned. The flashes are weaker and dont last as long as they are supposed to. So we used to use directx 8.

This used to be okay but then the game was updated and now using directx 8 leads to another flash bug that wasnt present before - flashes are much stronger than they are supposed to. Pretty much pointless playing when any flash no matter how far away and no matter where you look gets you fully flashed. Ive raised a forum post on the steam forums about this but I doubt it will be fixed. They have yet to fix the dx9 issues with transparent 16-bit textures which, again, used to only affect ATI for the last 3 years but somehow since the update also affects nvidia in dx9.

Apparently though this most recent flash bug is exclusive to ATI.

I guess I could try my 9600GT and see if I still get the issue, but I was thinking it might be time for an upgrade anyway.

 

[Vince]

Ive been playing css for years with a massive array of cards, the worst thing I have noticed is the occasional missing texture (purple floors) after dropping to desktop. But that is on both nv and ati hardware.

Sometimes you just have to hold up your hands and admit that you are a noob

edit: I have just been thinking about this and flashes last a different amount of time depending on the angle etc they come in at and if you are face on or not. How exactly do you tell if this is a bug or just a player turning to the wall when a flash comes in?

 

[xiphrex]

edit: I have just been thinking about this and flashes last a different amount of time depending on the angle etc they come in at and if you are face on or not. How exactly do you tell if this is a bug or just a player turning to the wall when a flash comes in?

Because Ive been playing the game for 4+ years and know what to do to avoid a flash.

 

[MissChief]

The 9600GT is a great little card! I've got one in my second machine and have played everything on it the same as my main PC in my sig. It's only got a 17" CRT on it so it's 1280x1024 but MW2, L4D 1 & 2, Cod 4 all play very well on it so I'd imagine CS:S will also play very well and may even surpass your expectations.

 

[Vince]

Because Ive been playing the game for 4+ years and know what to do to avoid a flash.

That didn't answer my question, my question was how exactly do you test this? Ive also been playing well over 4 years. In fact since the early 1.6 days, and would like to know as I just can't see how you would prove this.

 

[xiphrex]

I would have to make videos of it with side by side comparisons to prove anything.

But if you are affected the difference is quite noticeable.

 

[Vince]

Interesting stuff and it's not that I don't believe you I am just curios thats all, I don't think I have ever come across any problems, then again I play in DX9 with both nv and ati hardware.

I currently have it installed on 3 machines, one with a 5850, one with a mobility 5650 and another with a 9600m gt. All play it silly fps and side by side look the same.