ATI Settigns and tools...

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

Didn't know they were bringing this board out for AGP.Anyone have a clue how the 3870 would compare to my X850XT? Maybe a fresh install of XP, an upgrade on the RAM, and a new 3870 would revive my pc for a while. :)

[Guest wayupthere]

Hey Chase,Just to correct you, its the 3850, thats currently out on using AGP, not the 3870. Whether the 3870 version will get the AGP treatment, for now anybody correct me remains to be seen.The 3850 will leave a X850XT far behind.. Is it for you, maybe. The thing you need to take into consideration also is your CPU, as its not really a fast CPU anymore.Getting a semi-HiEnd GPU might even cause more problems, as in system bottlenecks. What that mainly means is that your CPU most likely won't be able to send data fast enough, that your GPU is needing to operate upto it full performance.The other way round it could pose a system issue that your card is demanding so much data from your CPU that it can not deliver to the GPU..Hope you understand what I am saying, IMO it might not be the wisest choice pairing that card with your current CPU ..in any case should you still be interested in the 3850,report what resolution your currently running.Regards,

[geoffco 0]

>Didn't know they were bringing this board out for AGP.>>Anyone have a clue how the 3870 would compare to my X850XT?>Maybe a fresh install of XP, an upgrade on the RAM, and a new>3870 would revive my pc for a while. :)It's the 3850HD rather than the 3870, we AGP folks aren't quite that lucky ;)In terms of performance, I don't know the X850XT but I can tell you that this new card kick's the proverbial backside off of my previous one (nVidia 7900GS 512MB AGP 520/1400) in benchmarks, even with the rather ropey drivers that came with it!!The following benchmarks were using the free versions of the software and default tests. The card itself was set to factory defaults apart from its clocks which I set to the maximum that CCC would allow = 720/1900... I think it could do more but I'll wait for decent drivers and support in ATI Tray Tools before I really try how it overclocks! 3DMark03 = 30,000 (13,000 with the 7900GS)3DMark06 = 7,100 (4,200 on the 7900GS)Aquamark3 = 100,000 (88,000 previously)Cheers,Geoff

[geoffco 0]

Hah! I was too slow :)Geoff

[geoffco 0]

Hi folks,I have been a nVidia boy for a long long time but anyday now I'll be getting an ATI graphics card... it will be a new Sapphire HD 3850 on AGPCould those in the know please answer the following:What are the best drivers? The new Catalyst + AGP hotfix or one of the older versions?What is the best program to tweak the card - I heard that Catalyst Ctrl Ctr is not the best - what is?Which utility can best be used to overclock the card? I have read that the PCI-E version clocks comfortably to 850 core / 950 (1900) mem and I'd like to see if I can get the same...These are probably dumb questions since I can find answers all over the net - except that here I can get some more FS-oriented advice...Cheers,Geoff

[Trans_27 Pilot Chase 59]

The best thing for me to do is to build a new system. I just dont have the money to spend right now. I was wondering earlier whether to build a dual core or quad. From what I have read and seen through benchmarks, Dual Cores have the advantage over the Quads in gaming, for now atleast. I dont want to go with a dual now and in 12-18 months everything be optomized for quad. So Im stuck between the Q6600 and the E8500 if I was to do a build. Depending on what I see from Nvid. this week with their new 9k series, ATi looks like its my card of choice at the moment. Any opinions?Ugh, I miss the days when my A64 could chug along at 50 or so fps.