Father Xmas

Yes, you probably went from 1280x1024 on your 19" to what, 1680x1050 on your 22" widescreen? So first you are slinging 35% more pixels per frame. You are also using 35% more video memory for multiple frame buffers and the z buffer.

Also just about every review site tests video cards with all the quality settings set to the max to highlight the differences between cards. In the case of the older, original 8800 GTS where only memory size is the difference, it's the size and amount of textures that's the problem. Frequently a simple lowering of the texture quality by a notch or two can restore an acceptable frame rate as the game uses textures more suited to the amount of video memory you have. Of course as your monitor's resolution increases, smaller, lower resolution textures become more obvious.

Sites like HardOCP review cards by adjust game settings to attain similar frame rates and then report the setting differences. They also include "Apples to Apples" same setting comparisons for those readers who can't wrap their heads around what the various game settings do, even if HardOCP includes a brief explanation of the visual differences.

Oh and don't say you didn't know what you were getting into. The reviews at the time showed a significant impact in performance when they came out in Feb 2007. Here were two.

The Tech Report
bit-tech.net

So maybe at 1280x1024 the differences weren't so huge and the price savings was attractive, maybe the only way you could afford a Dx10 class card at the time. It still out performed the 7900GTX with 512MB of memory so it was probably a good decision at the time, just not so good three years down the line.

Let me toss in my 2 cents.

More video memory doesn't automatically mean faster performance. It's not having enough video memory for a game's settings that can degrade performance.

Now with everything being equal, same type of memory, same video memory bandwidth, same powerful GPU, same clock speeds, just more memory on one versus the other, it would take very aggressive game settings to see the difference. Usually something like using huge uncompressed texture quality at extremely high resolutions. If the game is spending more time retransmitting the textures needed to render the current frame because the card doesn't have enough memory to hold all the ones required than spending the time transmitting the actual instructions about rendering the current frame, then will you see a difference in performance because of video memory size.

I also often see on lower end video cards similarly priced versions of a card based on the the same GPU but one using slower memory (DDR2 Vs GDDR3, GDDR3 Vs GDDR5), but has twice as much than the one with faster but less memory (1024MB Vs 512MB, 512MB Vs 256MB). Don't be fooled. Faster memory nearly always win and when it doesn't it'll be a Pyrrhic victory because the game (games in general, not just CoH/V) settings will have been turned up so high that frame rate would be "unacceptable" with either card.

Here's a nice article on the subject from Tom's Hardware.

Ambient occlusions is how an object appears dimmer when it's in a shadow of another object.

This describes it better and provides some pictures for comparison purposes.

Well ATI defined the price performance points with the HD 4xxx and 5xxx series. But because nVidia couldn't/wouldn't follow their prices are creeping up slightly.

On the other hand nVidia cards are quietly lowering their clock speeds on some of their existing products making long established benchmarks a bit moot. The 9800GT was released with a 600MHz GPU clock. Now I'm seeing more and more running at 550MHz. These were meant to be the "green" version of the 9800GT that doesn't require external power but some of these cards still do.

Same goes with the GTS 250. Original spec was a 738MHz clock and now I'm seeing 675-700MHz ones which are a lot cheaper than the ones running 738MHz or higher. I'm not sure if this is just the manufacturers fault or not but be on the lookout. There wasn't an official "green" version for this card. 675MHz was the speed of the original 9800GTX. Makes me wonder if someone found a shipping container full of older, not rated for GTS 250 speeds, GPUs and are sticking them on cards.

The new GT 220 and GT 240 cards are targeted to replace the 9500GT, 9600GSO and 9600GT cards.

On the ATI side, the HD 57xx series fall between the GTS 250 and GTX 260 cards. The HD 5670 is less powerful than the 9800 GT but more powerful than the 9600 GT or GT 240.

That hasn't been the case for a while Luminara, custom pinouts. The major problem recently (as in several year old Dells) is the lack of a punched out rear opening for power supplies to stick through. This is where PC Power and Cooling and others are still making money on Dell replacements. Newer Dells have the rear panel punched out which bypasses that issue.

As for slim line cases I have absolutely no idea what to look for, from a size and mounting PoV to assist.

Not a problem related to your problem but who the heck sold you a system with 6GB of RAM and a 1GB video card but with a 32-bit OS? That's quite a bit of memory you aren't seeing (seeing only 2.5GB of six).

Looks like the 9.12 ATI drivers, not sure with or without the hotfix.

spit take

Ah, no.
No.
Hell no.

Ultra Mode is for players who have beast machines and gamers who may be attracted to this game purely due to the "pretty" factor. It's entirely optional and if you don't have the hardware to run it, no big deal, the game will simply look as it does today.

First you are going to need a Dx10 class of card. Not that the game is Dx10 but you need the GPU hardware a Dx10 card can bring, a bucket load of configurable streaming processors for all the complex shaders Ultra Mode will be using. Then it's not just any Dx10 card but a mainstream or higher relative to today's standard. So HD 47xx, HD 48xx, HD 57xx, HD 58xx, 9800GT or GTX 2xx.

Of course to feed such beasts you will need a reasonable CPU, a true dual core should do. An old P4 even with HT isn't really an option.

And all that Windows 7 will bring, assuming it's 64-bit, is access to all 4GB of RAM.

It's a mindset thing. Think "I'm playing/creating a super hero/villain" and not "I'm playing an MMO how do I min/max for this game", at least at character creation time. Once you have an idea of what your hero/villain is going to be like, then worry about min/maxing them.

Well the guy's on a trial during double XP weekend. He'll be hitting 14 extremely quickly so why not take the opportunity to roll up a variety of AT/power set combos to get an overall better idea of game play and the differences in each AT?

That was the point I so ineloquently trying to make.

You can put 4 GB in, you (the OS) just won't see it all until you go with 64-bit Windows 7 (64-bit anything actually but why anyone would want to install Vista or 64-bit XP is beyond my help).

You are spending $90 on ram anyways, why not spend $20 more and get 4GB (2x2GB) of DDR3? There are several nice sets for around $105 at NewEgg, less with rebates. The 4GB of Cas 8, 1.65V, DDR3-1600 in my $1200 build is only $115 which is still less than the $30 a GB you were paying.

And note, at NewEgg, due to how manufacturers round, there are three DDR3 "identifiers" for DDR3-1333, PC3-10600, PC3-10660 and PC3-10666 (1333 x 8). Use Power Search to select them all when you go looking. Also if you keep the search in the 1.5V (DDR3 default) to 1.65V (Core iX "max voltage), you can reuse these on an Intel Socket 1156/1366 motherboard if you ever find yourself upgrading to Intel.

Try another AT and power set combo. This game is about alts and playing with different power sets.

And they say color blindness isn't a handicap.

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The problem with 2XP weekends right when the Issue Drops is the unexpected wide scale bugs that frequently crop up upon Issue releases.

If you going to have an open house do you do it after you have time to clean up or do you have it first thing after a wild party?

I'm going to say you have the ATI driver that strobes OpenGL games installed. Grab the latest ATI drivers (10.2 I think) and you should be fine.

And if you do get a box edition, DO NOT install it, just apply the code to your trial account. You already have the whole game. Installing from the DVD or CDs (depending how old of a box edition you get) will simply overwrite your current install and then 90+% of the game will need to be patched back up to the current version, which will take some time.

Is the HD 5870 worth the $100 over the cost of a HD 5850? I don't think so.

X-Bit Labs has an review comparing the HD 5850 to the HD 5870 (and the GTX 285). The summary page has four charts at the bottom showing relative performance of the HD 5850 when compared to the HD 5870, two resolutions, with and without AA/AF on, across 15 games at stock clock speed, OC to the same speed as the HD 5870 and maximum OC. For a card that costs 25% less than the HD 5870, they are seeing roughly 15% less performance at stock clocks.

I consider DoT to me standard MMO lingo. Much like AoE, Mez, and Mob. Of course that doesn't help the first time MMO player much.

You can't really upgrade a video card in a laptop. But try to find an updated video driver from either Samsung or Intel.

As for game settings, turn on the advance graphic settings and turn off/down bloom, depth of field and drop the water effects down a notch or two. Also drop the particle count to 10,000. Then there's always turning off shadows.

Use /showfps 1, to see the current frame rate while tweaking those settings to understand just what affects performance.