Some really nice video cards to consider and I own one of them

[txnetcop]

Check the HIS HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX 512 MB against every new video card made today: Price/Performance it's a screamer. By the way this one is new. Wh61 in the forum pointed it out to me and it one that TechCorp spoke of and I somehow overlooked. This really is a nice card.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_4850_IceQ4/
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2330956,00.asp

A new performance king is crowned:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4870-x2-review-crossfire/21
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2327863,00.asp

Since the GPU has 800 shader processors it can produce the raw power of 1000 to 1200 GFlops in simple precision. It's a bit lame and inaccurate to do but ... divide the number of ATI's scalar shader processors with the number 5 and you'll roughly equal the performance to NVIDIA's stream processor, you could (in an abstract way) say that the 4800 series have 160 Shader units, if that helps you compare it towards NVIDIA's scaling. There's nothing scientific or objective about that explanation.

I can't say enough good about the new 4870X2 they came from behind to be crowned the new king-for as long as it lasts-Cheers:ernae:

For Nvidia lovers this is the fastest single GPU card on the planet right now:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/evga-geforce-gtx-280-hc16-hydro-copper-review/

I own this one-Just got it and WOW-ATI Radeon HD 4870OC
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2326545,00.asp
Running at 4.2 GHz, 4GB of Patriot Extreme PC2 9600, Gigatbyte X48-DQ6, my 3DMark06 with one card is 18981. Outstanding card for FSX steady at 40fps (locked) all sliders right except autogen at very dense. I will be buying another one to use in CROSSFIRE at Christmas. I loaded the 8.9 Catalyst drivers, OC'd the card to 822/980 (Don't try this at home without lots of cold air flowing in) and it performed perfectly. This was recommended by the guys at TechCorp...they were right!

More later
Ted

[harleyman]

:isadizzy:

[txnetcop]

Hey guys. The reason Harleyman is confused here. He owns a new HD4870 X2 and he is getting a ripple effect and hesitation on his screen when flying in FSX-only in FSX. He has the latest drivers and he using the DVI connector. This happens in Vista and Windows XP, no matter what monitor he uses. It happens whether he is using and Nvidia card or ATI. His monitor is an Acer. I can't duplicate it and have not seen it on mine. Has anyone else. Help from the rest of your gurus would be deeply appreciated
Ted

Btw this also happened on his 780i and 790i Digital Storm computer he had ordered before building his own.

Current build E8600, Gigabyte X-48 DQ-6, 4GB OCZ Reaper memory, ATI HD 4870 X2.

[kilo delta]

Harley...have you tried disabling SLi on the Nvidia's or Crossfire on the new ATi to see if it makes any difference to the ripple effect? Also...how is the 4870X2 regarding temps?......i'm considering picking up a pair.

[FLighT01]

Is the Acer set for use as a PC monitor versus video/TV monitor?
Tried a different connector, say anologue rather than digital to see if the problem persists?

[Pips]

What are your thoughts Ted about the ATI Radeon HD 4870, which I'm considering buying as an upgrade from my oldish GeForce 6200? It may not be cutting edge anymore but it's still right up there.

And at $329.00 it's great value - as opposed to the HD 4870 X2 which here in Oz is retailing for $724.00! :173go1:

[txnetcop]

What are your thoughts Ted about the ATI Radeon HD 4870, which I'm considering buying as an upgrade from my oldish GeForce 6200? It may not be cutting edge anymore but it's still right up there.

And at $329.00 it's great value - as opposed to the HD 4870 X2 which here in Oz is retailing for $724.00! :173go1:

I love my new HD4870 however it comes at a price if you have an older system. It requires two six pen connectors and it runs really hot unless you use Rivatuner or speedfan to get the fan speed up to 50% or better. You would also want at least a good 600watt power supply that is 80% efficient and puts out 20A or better. Higher fan rpms means more noise but mine unit is situated so that noise is mostly aimerd in back of it.

The real drivers for HD4870s RV770 engine are still coming but it does fine with every game I have thrown at it. I play Crysis in the 60s, COD4 101 or a little better, Medal of Honor-Airborne almost 200fps throughout, Company of Heroes a little over 300fps. All of these with 4xAA 16xAF and 1680x1050. This is a very powerful card. But the real beauty of it is the picture it gives. I have two 9800s, a GX2 and GTX that I test for TechCorp and the graphics on the HD4870 are far superior in my opinion. While the GTX280 and 9800GX2 is a little faster it is only marginally so.

I game at 3.8Ghz and still the best you can run FSX with everything full is 36fps(locked) over New York in a storm-I already posted the pics once. If you are willing to scale back a little you can run in the 40s without full traffic and lower clouds. Honestly, in FSX I can't tell the difference between 22fps and 40fps, it's all nice and smooth.

You could save some money and power(one 6 pin connector) by trying to find this one:
HIS HD 4850 IceQ4 TurboX 512 MB, it runs real close to the HD4870 and vents its heat out the back of the case like the HD4870. I has the same RV770 engine and has a 256 bit interface. This is the most powerful of the HD4850s and runs very close in speed to the HD4870. This card runs very fast and cool compared to other 4850 and 4870s.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_4850_IceQ4

You can buy it here for $199.00 USD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161244
Hope this is of some help to you,
Ted

[Pips]

Thanks for the tip Ted. The 4850 is certainly worth looking at. The Sapphire Toxic HD4850 (512MB GDDR3 PCI-E), the factoy overclocked version, goes for $295.00 here in OZ. The standard AMD ATI Radeon HD 4850 goes for $245.00.

[flyinjake]

Time to contribute....

I just finished my new Q9550 build on a GA-X48-DQ6 with VisionTek 4870X2, and (2X2GB) of OZC DDR2-1066 (yes I looked for 1200 but could not find a (2X2gb) setup when I was ready to order). Once I get some time on it I hope to post some results and discuss what I have come across. At this time I can say I am very pleased with the choice and hopefully when I start overclocking I will see even greater results.

I installed FSX/Acceleration and moved many sliders to max after several loops around the KATL and surrounding areas. At this time I have all AI at 0% as I am loving the way the scenery looks. Several things I noticed. Temp on the video card and studdering which gives me the impression of HD access.

The temp problem was easily solved by creating a profile in CCC and then changing parameters in the ACE/profile folder(Not my idea but one I believe I read at extremetech). My temps were 85C and climbing but after raising the percent RPM to 50% the temps lowered to mid 60s and lower at times. For general surfing a 36% fan setting keeps the card at approxiametly 55C to 57C temp while being pleasant on the ears. More evaluation on this as time allows as I believe a setting less than 50% would still give me resonable temps and easier on the ears while gaming.

I believe the studdering is related to HD access. When the studdering started I would hear the HD access and notice the HD light was blinking at roughly the same pace as the video studder. Now this did not happen at lower settings but became noticeable at the higher FSX settings. When I first installed and ran FSX it was locked at 17FPS and appeared relatively smooth but now with Acceleration installed and no other tweaks, and high FSX settings the studdering is highly noticeable. By the way its a Samsung F1 HD. The studdering is happening while FSX is staying between 20FPS and 30FPS. One more note the studdering is a steady pace...like clock work.

Well its time to read some more info as I get ready to OC. Hopefully I can lean on the experience here to help make this a pleasant trip.

Thanks for the info Ted.:ernae:

Robert

[txnetcop]

Time to contribute....

I just finished my new Q9550 build on a GA-X48-DQ6 with VisionTek 4870X2, and (2X2GB) of OZC DDR2-1066 (yes I looked for 1200 but could not find a (2X2gb) setup when I was ready to order). Once I get some time on it I hope to post some results and discuss what I have come across. At this time I can say I am very pleased with the choice and hopefully when I start overclocking I will see even greater results.

I installed FSX/Acceleration and moved many sliders to max after several loops around the KATL and surrounding areas. At this time I have all AI at 0% as I am loving the way the scenery looks. Several things I noticed. Temp on the video card and studdering which gives me the impression of HD access.

The temp problem was easily solved by creating a profile in CCC and then changing parameters in the ACE/profile folder(Not my idea but one I believe I read at extremetech). My temps were 85C and climbing but after raising the percent RPM to 50% the temps lowered to mid 60s and lower at times. For general surfing a 36% fan setting keeps the card at approxiametly 55C to 57C temp while being pleasant on the ears. More evaluation on this as time allows as I believe a setting less than 50% would still give me resonable temps and easier on the ears while gaming.

I believe the studdering is related to HD access. When the studdering started I would hear the HD access and notice the HD light was blinking at roughly the same pace as the video studder. Now this did not happen at lower settings but became noticeable at the higher FSX settings. When I first installed and ran FSX it was locked at 17FPS and appeared relatively smooth but now with Acceleration installed and no other tweaks, and high FSX settings the studdering is highly noticeable. By the way its a Samsung F1 HD. The studdering is happening while FSX is staying between 20FPS and 30FPS. One more note the studdering is a steady pace...like clock work.

Well its time to read some more info as I get ready to OC. Hopefully I can lean on the experience here to help make this a pleasant trip.

Thanks for the info Ted.:ernae:

Robert

Robert try messing with your TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT= in your fsx.cfg file. Set up any where between 20-55 and see what you get
Ted

[Bruce Thompson]

I have noticed tha when my room temp hits 24c I have studdering, when it's at 23c it's smooth as silk.
Nvidia 8800GTX with a Zalman VF1000 cooler fitted, at idle about 50c,
running flat out about 60c to 65c.

Only problem is this cooler dumps hot air back into the case. Might try the generic cooler again, if I can stand the noise, at least it blows out the back, but maybe don't cool the card as good as the Zalman.

Answer, enjoy FSimming in the Autumn & Winter:costumes:

[flyinjake]

Ted, I messed with the texture bandwidth and I did not notice any difference. Went back to the default 34. I am still pleased with the setup and will continue to work with it. Currently OCd to 3.4GhZ. I will try higher but I need to get a better understanding of some of the BIOS settings.

For temps I am using Real Temp and HWMonitor. Problem is I am getting 8-10 degrees higher temps on HWmonitor than Real Temp. What software do you use to monitor temps?

Thanks
Robert

[Alexraptor]

Are you running stock cooling on that E8600 or are you using an aftermarket cooler?

[txnetcop]

Ted, I messed with the texture bandwidth and I did not notice any difference. Went back to the default 34. I am still pleased with the setup and will continue to work with it. Currently OCd to 3.4GhZ. I will try higher but I need to get a better understanding of some of the BIOS settings.

For temps I am using Real Temp and HWMonitor. Problem is I am getting 8-10 degrees higher temps on HWmonitor than Real Temp. What software do you use to monitor temps?

Thanks
Robert

So far my BIOS temps and Real Temp agree.
Ted

[flyinjake]

Ted,
Glad you said that...means I have room to spare.

Robert

[Pips]

Temperature eh? before I buy the HD4850 how can I determine whether my existing fan is capable of handling the new card?

In fact how do I find out what the existing card temp (GeForce 6200) is running at?

[txnetcop]

Temperature eh? before I buy the HD4850 how can I determine whether my existing fan is capable of handling the new card?

In fact how do I find out what the existing card temp (GeForce 6200) is running at?
Rivatuner will tell you-to be found at guru3d downloads
Ted

[Pips]

That was a fast reply. Thanks Ted. :)

Yikes, now I have to try and understand it all.

[harleyman]

Harley...have you tried disabling SLi on the Nvidia's or Crossfire on the new ATi to see if it makes any difference to the ripple effect? Also...how is the 4870X2 regarding temps?......i'm considering picking up a pair.



Man...Sorry guys I really dropped the ball on this....Thanks for all the replies here..

I have not set up CrossfireX as I only have one card.......But I will now look better thru the CCatalist for some ideas on that...Thanks...


Kilo...The temps stock are very high...70-80 idol..... But with a 60-70 % boost with Rive Tuner they drop to 45-50 idol and 55 under load....



Flight...Have tried VGA and DVI on three different monitors....Acer...HP....LG


PC monitor versus video/TV monitor? I'll look into this as well


Thanks for the replies...Sorry I'm so slack.....LOL