Graphics card (again)

[Guest Martin]

My system specs:P4 1.7 GHz, 256 MB RDRAM (just ordered another 256 MB), 60 GB HDD, and a GeForce 2 ProI'm going to get a new video card, and I've reached the conclusion that a GeForce 4 Ti4200 is the "lower limit" for the range of cards I'm looking at, and I think the upper limit goes somewhere "below" a Radeon 9700 Pro, because it seems a little too expensive for me, at least with the prices here in Sweden (it seems you can't get one for less than about

[Azapata87 173]

hi,you should get a Radeon 9000 pro or a Radeon 9500 pro both would do their job well I have a 9000 pro and it does its job very well. The 9500 pro is even faster and should run fs2002 and fs9 very very well. If you plan on overclocking your card make sure you get a pro version of both of these cards the non pro versions will not overclock because ATI locks their clock speeds. As for the mouse problem that happened to me tried to fix it and well.... I couldent. My advice on the Mouse is to get a new Optical mouse so youll never have a mouse ball or the mouse ball sensors fail on you again :-)AndrewPS. I think the 9000 pro has a good cost performance ratio its dirt cheap but has full Direct x 8.1 features I can run almost any game I have at 1600x1200 but fs2002 at 1280x1024 all sliders maxed.AGAIN dont get a non pro version of a a 9000 9500 or 9700 card because you won't be able to overclock. My final reccomendation 9500 pro :-)

[Guest FPSFREAK]

Who said you cant overclock a non pro version of those cards?. Take a trip over to www.Rage3d.com. Read some of the reviews. Have you tried pricing the card through mail order if that is all possible?. If I had my choice I would go 9700Pro. For less money I would go 9500Pro and mod it into what amounts to a 9700.Bobby

[Guest Martin]

Thanks for your advice guys.Just so you know, I'm not overly technical when it comes to computer hardware - I've never tweaked a video card or overclocked anything (inserting the new memory sticks will be exciting enough for me! :-)). What I'm saying is, I don't want to tweak stuff too much if I risk having problems with it.So, is overclocking the cards simple and safe or should I stay away from it if I don't have experience with it? And in that case (if I'm not going to overclock), do you suggest the same cards?Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Azapata87 173]

hello,My bad you can overclock the 9500 non pro but you can't overclock the 9000 non pro. At least not without some physical mods on the card and the technical "know how". Andrew

[Azapata87 173]

hello again,I recommend the 9500, 9500 pro and either 9700. I can no longer recommend 9000 or 9000 pro becauase although I know it would serve you well in fs2002 I can't say how it will handle FS9 I also don't think it will be able to handle FS9 with its increased I candy at 1600x1200 with all graphics sliders maxed as it can in fs2002. I also must say that the 9000 pro is very good for a budget card and has all directx 8.1 features but it will probably not be as good in the long run with games running Directx 9. So I say get a 9500 or 9700 (pro or non pro) because those have those Dx 9 features youll want in the future with Dx9 games like FS9. AndrewPS. Overclocking a video card is very easy but becareful and up the clocks by around 2-5 clocks and then run a game or 3dmark 2001 or 2003. Once you see artifacts in the picture (liitle dots or lines flashing on the screen) Back down the clocks or clock 1 or 2 clocks. Also I don't recommend you increase both clocks at the same time because once you see artifacts you won't know wheather to back down the core or the memory clock. Its hard to damage the card if you follow these instructions word for word but if you decide to over clock the card my increasing the clocks 30 clocks at a time then youll most likely have a damaged or dead card on your hands. Also most overclocking programs have a setting that if you overclock to far and your PC locks up then when you restart the card is back to stock speed. :-)

[Guest Tim13]

I just bought a Radeon 9500 Pro, and FS2K2 looked fantastic with it. Not only was the visual quality very good, but the sim was very smooth with virtually every slider to the right and all filtering on at 1024x768. Unfortunately I also spent the last 3 days(days off from work wasted I might add...LOL) trying to get the card to work with one of my favorite games; NASCAR Racing 2003 without any luck. So, yesterday I did the 'ol RMA with newegg.com, and ordered a GF4 Ti4200. Yes it's a step down in performance, but I do know that it will run all of my games.If NR2003 had worked, then I would have very happily kept the 9500 Pro. The only downside to the ATI cards is the little "dog and pony show" that you have to put on just to change the drivers. You have to use a driver cleaner, and a registry cleaner, as well as operate your OS in safe mode. You also have to unplug your internet connection so that WinXP doesn't go looking for new drivers during all of this.Tim13

[Guest Martin]

So on the one hand, the high end Radeons are very good cards, but on the other hand they might not work with some games... Doesn't exactly make it easier to decide what card to choose.But on the third hand, practically all new games should work with the Radeons, shouldn't they?Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Azapata87 173]

hi, If I had any problems with my radeon I wouldent have recomended it ;-) just make sure you get the catalyst 3.2 drivers from Atis website. Btw Tim I have N2003 and havent had any problems with it or any games. It could have been a compatibility with your motherboard. I also think all new games should work with the new radeons, even the old games as I have and still play old games with my radeon. BTW Tim I have never had to do all that when changing the drivers... maybe with the old ATI graphics cards and drivers. Quite frankly I think ATI has finally brought their drivers up to par with Nvidias. I go through the same procedures for changing the drivers as I did with my old Geforce all I do I click on the newly downloaded drivers .exe and it automatically installs them with no problems. AndrewBtw Im not trying to say "oh you should have kept the ATI card" as some people just prefer nvidia over ATI or just have bad Windows instalations. OR just have a system that arent compatible for some odd reason with an ATI card. :-)

[Guest Tim13]

I'm not sure what the problem was. This was a brand spanking new system that I put together, and other people that I know of that have the same mobo, processor, ram, etc... were able to run NR2K3 just fine. It truly stumped me, as well as frustrated me. I really liked the card, and if it ran that game on my system I would have been in vid card heaven. I didn't want to take a chance on a 9700 pro because if it didn't work, then I would have had to send it back and take another hit on the 15% restocking fee. So, that's really why I went with the nvidia card. It was actually a process of elimination. Oh well, I guess that this is part of the "fun" associated with PC gaming...LOL.My current system:Asus P4PE/L moboP4 2.53 processor512mb Crucial ram PC2700 DDR 333ATI...errr...GF4 Ti4200 128mb vid cardI/O Magic 52x24x52 CD-RWWD 80gig HDD with 8mb cache350 watt PSU3 case fans and an Intel approved cooling duct.

[Guest Martin]

That's soothing to hear. Looks like a Radeon is good choice. :-)Martin767 fetishistIt's a lot like life and that's what's appealing

[Guest Tim13]

Well, the FedEx driver pulled up to my house today and dropped off my new vid card; Asus GF4 Ti4200 128mb. I promptly removed the ATI 9500 Pro along with it's associated drivers from my machine and installed the nvidia card. Satisfied that all traces of anything remotely related to ATI were gone, I did a thorough uninstall of NASCAR Racing 2003, and then installed it again. Confident that my problems were over, I booted up the game. The Sierra logo and Papyrus logo played fine, the boot screen came up...looking good....uh-oh, no dice; my computer crashed to the desktop. Now I have an ATI card and a nividia card, as well as the same problem occuring.With the vid card ruled out as the culprit, I started swapping out components looking for a conflict. First a different monitor--same CTDT. Then I swapped the CD-ROM--CTDT again. Hmmmm....I'm running the mobo onboard sound, I'll try disabling that. The game booted right up! I played around with it for about 20 minutes, and the game ran great, and looked great. Now I didn't have time to swap out the GF card and put the 9500 back in because I had to go to work. When I get home this morning, I'm going to put the 9500 back in and see if the game works with the mobo sound disabled. If it does, then I'm going to pick up a PCI sound card and test that. If the game runs with the sound card, and the 9500, then I'm keeping the Radeon and returning the Asus.I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to keep the ATI card and run this game (as well as FS2K2).Tim13

[Azapata87 173]

hi tim,Now that I think about it I remember having simular problems back in Nascar racing 4 with my Geforce 2 I ended up buying a new mobo and that fixed the problem. I still don't know if the problem was the onboard sound.Andrew

[Guest Tim13]

I got home from work this morning, and immediately cracked open my computer. I swapped out the GF4 card and put in the ATI 9500 Pro. After disabling the mobo on board sound, I gingerly launched NASCAR Racing 2003. Surprise, surprise! It booted right up, allowed for the graphic card setup, and then took me right to the main menu! I played around with some racing for about 20 minutes to make sure, but everything went well. I had most options turned on at 10xx by 7xx resolution along with 8X filtering and 8X AA, a 43 car field, and running at the back of the pack in Daytona. The lowest frame rate was 28fps, and as the racing got underway, the frames moved up into the 50's. This is great considering that NR2K3 is as big or bigger a resource hog that FS2K2 is. Needless to say, I will be keeping the Radeon because the games look so good with it, and the performance is quite good as well.I plan on picking up a sound card this weekend, and that should wrap up my little saga.Tim13