New Game

Greyrhubarb · 10-16-2009, 02:13 PM

Hi guys,
So Dragon Age comes out in a few weeks. This is the first game I have gotten this excited over a game in a while. So when I get it installed I want it to run on super high settings and I want it to be flawless. What do I need to upgrade on my computer to ensure that I can.

Built my my current system about 1.5 years ago:
Monitor: 1680 x 1050
OS: Vista 64
CPU: E6850 3.0GHz
Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L
RAM: GeIL 4GB
Power: Antec 650 Blue 650W
GPU: BFG Tech GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB
Pretty sure that is all the important stuff I need to include here, let me know if I missed anything.

I have also been putting off getting a second HD, something smallish that I can install my games on so that Vista and the game I am playing are not running off of the same HD. (Heard that it can make a difference, is that true?)

Well that's that, thank you guys for reading.

Fozzik · 10-16-2009, 02:35 PM

You are already meeting the recommended specs for the game in all areas...they do call for a quad-core CPU at 2.4 GHz, but I find it kind of unlikely that they are making heavy use of four cores. It's possible they are, but more than likely your CPU with two cores running at a higher clock speed is probably even better than a quad-core at slower speed. *shrug*

If you really have money burning a hole in your pocket, probably a video card upgrade would be the best option. Without getting basically a whole new computer, upgrades to the CPU or RAM don't make a lot of sense.

It is true that you might get a very SMALL performance improvement by moving applications to a second hard drive, but it's not likely to even be enough to be noticeable. Probably not worth the money.

If you want to upgrade the vid card, probably a ATI Radeon HD 5850 would be a good option.

Greyrhubarb · 10-16-2009, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fozzik

If you want to upgrade the vid card, probably a ATI Radeon HD 5850 would be a good option.

Thanks for the feedback Foz!
I used ATI once about 5 years ago and the driver issues I had have made me use Nvidia ever since. I'm guessing my driver issue was probably my fault but never-the-less ATI still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Could I get either some re-assurance on ATI or an Nvidia counterpart? (sorry , I'm feeling high maintenance today.)

Dragon-RD · 10-16-2009, 06:11 PM

While I'd probably still go for the 5850 if I was in your position, I brought a 4870x2 a while back and not only was the card faulty but the drivers were awful (launch month though so that probably isn't the case anymore).

rabb1t · 10-16-2009, 07:10 PM

The 5850 is king right now in terms of price to performance. Reviews often put it close to / beating the Nvidia GTX 285.

I'd say take a look through the following...

Evga GTX 260, Core 216 $160 post rebate

Evga GTX 275, Superclocked $245 post rebate (the best power to performance for Nvidia. This gets like 90% of the FPS as the GTX 285.)

BFG GTX 285, overclocked version $335 post rebate (for some reason none of the Evga GTX 285s appear on NewEgg right now.)

XFX 5850 $280

As mentioned many reviewers place the 5850s performance close to, if not beating, the GTX 285. Remember though that Nvidia has Cuda and PhysX, so if those are important you'll be missing them going with ATi. Note that you can always use NewEgg's customer satisfaction policy to return any item (though they'll hit you with a 15% restocking fee), and XFX has a "double lifetime" coverage policy, meaning you and the next owner are covered. If you must buy a card right now (you can't wait to see what Nvidia's series 3 has to offer in the early part of next year) the 5850 really is the best deal in terms of performance per dollar. Plus, it's got DX11, which Nvidia doesn't have yet.

rabb1t · 10-16-2009, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greyrhubarb

Could I get either some re-assurance on ATI or an Nvidia counterpart? (sorry , I'm feeling high maintenance today.)

No worries. I'm sure everyone feels that way.

I had a similar thing back in the day. It wasn't really 'game breaking', but the ATi card I got had a fan that just made a horrid plastic buzzsaw noise. And the drivers, while I'm sure fine now, made everything overly brown in several games. After a while (like 9 months) even though I didn't really need to I made sort of a side-step change back to Nvidia and havne't had an ATi card since. (I started getting Nvidia cards back with the series 2, and took that short break for ATi sometime around CoH's launch.)

The important things to remember though are;
- Do you really care about the best price to performance ratio?
- Does something like 150 FPS really matter (to you) vs. 120 FPS when 60 FPS is all your monitor is going to show?

According to the numbers, you should do just fine with a GTX 260 Core 216 and you'd have Cuda, PhysX, and roughly $100 more in your pocket. With a single GPU slot you don't have the option to go dual card later on if you want more power for teh cheap, but you would have the option to upgrade in trade if you go with Evga or BFG due to their upgrade policies. (90 or 100 days respectively.) So, is it really worth it to spend more? Do you really want the most FPS for the money? Only you can really answer those questions.

Always follow your heart though. If you have any hesitation that's probably a good sign you will have a hard time really feeling comefortable with your choice down the line. Switching something you are sensitive about (which costs a fair bit of monies) isn't something like trying on a different brand of underwear.

Greyrhubarb · 10-16-2009, 07:52 PM

Thanks Bunny buddy!
Any reason not to get this one?

Amsra · 10-16-2009, 08:42 PM

The system you have looks like it would do a fine job with DA:O.....If it handles current FPS's well, it will certainly not have a problem with DA. I do agree with Fozz about the "recommended" quad core... I tend to think my E8500@3.5 is gonna do better than a quad at 2.4

I would not really buy a top card right now til Nvidia releases the 3 series, regardless of what they come up with, it will be some competition again anyway

I would honestly wait and see how it looks with yer current machine first, unless you just need to stimulate the economy

rabb1t · 10-18-2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greyrhubarb

Any reason not to get this one?

The main reason not to get a Giga one would be due to the series 3 launch. With Evga you can send in the card and pay the $ difference to upgrade within 90 days of purcahse, BFG has a 100 day deal. Giga has zero.

While it's unlikely the series 3 would launch within that window, you'd at least have some chance of it. Unless, of course, you don't care about hopping right on series 3. Then the primary difference is that the Giga only has 3 years of coverage vs. lifetime.

darkarius · 10-18-2009, 11:40 PM

All this talk about Nvidia removing the ability to use Physx on Ati cards got me to searching and guess what I found

. A Hacker that was able to successfully enable the feature we all want. I haven't tried it myself seeing as I don't currently own a Nvidia card. However tell me how it works, because if it does then I will buy one.

Anyways heres the link:

http://www.ngohq.com/graphic-cards/1...html#post82812

With Nvidia on the hunt this may not last long so get it while it's hot.

Edit: This patch is only for those using Windows 7, he says that is the only way you can configure it to work.

Greyrhubarb · 10-19-2009, 11:53 AM

Thanks a ton for all your replies/advice guys. You have all talked me off the ledge and I will wait till I actually get the game and see how it plays before I spend money. If your interested I'll post a review in this thread when it comes out in case any of you were on the fence and debating weather or not you were going to spend the money on it.

AsheMan · 10-19-2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greyrhubarb

If your interested I'll post a review in this thread when it comes out in case any of you were on the fence and debating weather or not you were going to spend the money on it.

Or better yet, post your review in our several page long existing Dragon Age: Origins thread.

rabb1t · 10-19-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkarius

All this talk about Nvidia removing the ability to use Physx on Ati cards got me to searching

Um... not quite. It's that PhysX has code calls that work with Cuda. PhysX could be enabled on ATi if they had drivers for it.

Quote:

and guess what I found

. A Hacker...

It's been done before and Nvidia sort of turned a blind eye to it. I don't know if that's the same person as before, didn't check the link.

In terms of hardware, I don't think there is any reason why ATi couldn't also run it. They would just have to licence it from Nvidia.

(I doubt they would though, as I believe they are working on their own proprietary acceleration.)

Slide · 10-23-2009, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabb1t

(I doubt they would though, as I believe they are working on their own proprietary acceleration.)

No, they are working on supporting the open standard. For understanable reasons ATI refrained from implementing a proprietary standard controlled by NVIDIA when they were working with Apple/MS etc on OpenCL.

I'll be trying out driver hacks this weekend to convert my 8800GTS into a dedicated Phys/X card alongside my main ATI card.