Graphic Cards

garysully1986

How much should i be budgeting for a decent graphics card?

I plan on playing mw3 and BF3 at high settings but dont want to have to upgrade next year when the new fps is out.

Will €250 get me anything decent, this is the ballpark figure I had in my head for some reason, i Think it was when is was thinking of a 6950.

Should i throw a bit more and get something more powerful??

Sorry for all the questions Graphics cards are going to be the death of me trying to understand what I need

Monotype

As far as I am aware, the 6950 will run any game at 1080p on high settings at playable framerates ~30+ (mods and high resolution packs etc excluded). They do state that a 6950 is recommended but I'm guessing they're accounting for higher resolutions or just saying that it's what's needed to have everything at high. We'll know a bit more when the beta is tested which is likely to be further optimised before released.

The 6950 or GTX 560ti are the best for that budget. The 570 and 6970 are about €300, are a bit less value for money and out of range.

An alternative would be crossfire 6870 or 6850s which would do better than a 6970.

garysully1986

Do you know roughly how much that would be? I take it crossfire means two of the same Graphics card?

Does it depend also on screen size, I have no idea where to even begin when looking for a screen? Price wise or spec wise, Would I need two screens as I seen alot of people seem to be doing this lately.

Monotype

Do you need a new monitor as well?

You need to worry about resolution, not size. 1920x1080 is the standard high definition for monitors, matching tv resolutions. You see 1920x1080 monitors from about 21''. 22-24'' is a good size. Higher resolutions are available too for larger screens. More monitors means a higher resolution and a need for more powerful graphics cards.

Two screens is not great for gaming as your game will be split right down the centre. Three monitors works better to give you a centre screen and two peripheral ones to give you a good field of vision. This of course comes with a bit more expense!

garysully1986

I Thought people jsut used one screen for gaming and one for chatting or whatever that makes more sense now!

So in terms of a monitor is there certain makes or a price range to be looking into or are they all as good as each other once the resolution is up?

Monotype

You could get one for €150-200 that would look well in games but there's a differences in the more expensive ones such as 3D capabilities and more accurate colours. Prices will depend on where you buy too!

The manufacturers do vary a bit (not loads within a price range) so you'd need to research them a little. You should also be wary of connectors.

http://www.digitalversus.com/monitor-reviews-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-30-lcd-displays-article-357.html

Fnz

None of the Bit-tech/Custom PC staff have, or recommend, a multi-GPU setup.

Look up 'microstuttering' for an example of one extra piece of hassle you may have to deal with.

VenomIreland

Fnz wrote: »

None of the Bit-tech/Custom PC staff have, or recommend, a multi-GPU setup.

Look up 'microstuttering' for an example of one extra piece of hassle you may have to deal with.

I have 2 6950's and I've yet to experience microstutter at all, it doesn't seem to be as bad a problem as it was for multi-GPU setups years ago.

Tea_Bag

Also on crossfired 6950s and no stutter for me.

M00lers

Do both AMD and Nvidea CF/SLI configurations suffer from microstuttering? Is one vendor worse than the other for it?

Tea_Bag

I think it was more a problem with AMD but Nvidia isn't immune.

Biggest problem now is that F1 2011 on Max settings and DX11 kicks its ass. Getting under 60fps most of the time. :eek:

M00lers

Tea_Bag wrote: »

I think it was more a problem with AMD but Nvidia isn't immune.

Biggest problem now is that F1 2011 on Max settings and DX11 kicks its ass. Getting under 60fps most of the time. :eek:

Thats the only reason I would go for a dual card setup, trying to hit 60fps on games with settings on high/max but if 2 x 6950 can't do it with F1.......:eek:

Tea_Bag

moolers2000 wrote: »

Thats the only reason I would go for a dual card setup, trying to hit 60fps on games with settings on high/max but if 2 x 6950 can't do it with F1.......:eek:

ill be testing the game on 2x6970s and report the differences in a day or 2. were just waiting on a PSU from Germany.

the game is very new though and I won't be surprised to find fps improve in new video drivers. as it stands though, its now my new benchmark game because its way more intense than anything else (probably because of bad coding a la crysis)

for comparison, BFBC2 gets 100+fps maxed.

M00lers

Ran a few benchmarks last night on F1 2011 and couldn't get past an average of 55 even after dropping down to a mix of medium/high settings. Running a 6870 BTW.

Tea_Bag

If you're getting 55fps on high maybe my crossfire was disabled somehow!

M00lers

Just one 6870, not crossfire. Didn't seem to make much of a difference when I went from ultra to high/medium settings though.

deconduo

moolers2000 wrote: »

Just one 6870, not crossfire. Didn't seem to make much of a difference when I went from ultra to high/medium settings though.

Sounds like its the game's fault rather than anything else.

Tea_Bag

My Housemate was testing F1 2011 while I was at work and found that disabling crossfire upped my avg fps from 55 to 73 on ultra settings. A Google shows its a common problem with crossfire.

[Rant]

Codemasters, your a ****ing joke. Oh the irony in you're name is so stupid I dunno if its a whole inside laugh?

After the appalling state of F1 2010 you think they'd learn their lesson and do a little bit of testing, or here's an original idea, do a limited run beta. Then debug the problems that pop up, like how crossfire doesn't fecking work you fools. You're sponsored by AMD surely you put a demo together with an all out AMD rig for the bigwigs and realised the silly monkeys screwed up again. :rolleyes:

And are you purposely trying to give me carpeltunnel syndrome? The stock control setup is completely illogical. I need 2 hands on the left edge of the keyboard!

And was it so hard to program some telemetry? Forza managed it while coding for an Xbox, my PC would be able to handle the extra processes I promise it cause always be disabled by default if you prefer? What's F1 without telemetry? Did it not cross your mind?

[/rant]


It is quite beautiful though.

Fnz

Article on Microstuttering for the OP: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995.html

Tea_Bag wrote: »

My Housemate was testing F1 2011 while I was at work and found that disabling crossfire upped my avg fps from 55 to 73 on ultra settings. A Google shows its a common problem with crossfire.

Another example of the additional issues you will likely experience when running 2 cards. Smooth running on multi-card setups isn't the priority for developers/programmers.

Tea_Bag

Fnz wrote: »

Another example of the additional issues you will likely experience when running 2 cards. Smooth running on multi-card setups isn't the priority for lazy developers/programmers.

fyp

if you read my rant, you would see i was talking about codemasters.:rolleyes:

any half decent game house worth their salt code their games properly. no issues whatsoever with BF2 or COD or assasins creed or mafia2 etc etc and thats just what ive played recently.


Fnz, have you ever used a multi gpu setup? jus curious cause AMD and Nvidia have come a long way.

id almost always recommend someone to get the single most powerful gpu they can afford, but anything above a 6950 has a terrible case of diminishing returns. for instance, you can almost get 2 6950's for the same price as a single gtx 580, and if a benchmark is anything to go by, you know which one is the right choice.

Fnz

Tea_Bag wrote: »

fyp

if you read my rant, you would see i was talking about codemasters.:rolleyes:

any half decent game house worth their salt code their games properly. no issues whatsoever with BF2 or COD or assasins creed or mafia2 etc etc and thats just what ive played recently.


Fnz, have you ever used a multi gpu setup? jus curious cause AMD and Nvidia have come a long way.

id almost always recommend someone to get the single most powerful gpu they can afford, but anything above a 6950 has a terrible case of diminishing returns. for instance, you can almost get 2 6950's for the same price as a single gtx 580, and if a benchmark is anything to go by, you know which one is the right choice.

I read your rant. Didn't mean to cause offence. I wanted to use part of it to make a general point; it's not the first time I've heard of dual-GPU performance issues (particularly at a game's launch).

The article I linked to does cover the improvements of the latest GPUs over previous generations and the difference in consistency between different setups.

I had a dual 5850 setup up until recently. I'll mention that my friend, running a similar configuration, would experience 100% usage of either CPU/GPU (I can't remember which ) while the pc was idle, apparently it's a known crossfire bug.

Tea_Bag

none taken i promise