Let's Talk Graphics Cards..

.. For Going Rogue.

At the moment, I'm running off a Nvidia GeForce 6200

-DirectX9.0
-64bit
-AGPX8

I'm just curious as to how well this will perform if running Ultra Mode in GR?

I be not a technician but I'm gona take a flying leap and say not well. High-quality real-time shadows are murderously difficult to render and they seem to be the main component of ze ultramode. A 6200 unless I am ill-informed is a rather elderly card now and probably won't stand much chance.

Have a 6200 myself and I just know it isn't up to the task of Ultra mode. Currently it'll run CoH fine, as long as I keep the shader on low(the low that's one up from off that is!) and turn off water effects. If I turn those settings up one then it's really sluggish to play.

I think the card would melt with all the extra shadows and reflections of Ultra Been looking at getting a GTS 250, but getting a bit confudled with everything I'm suppose to look for alot of site conflict with one another, might be better off just getting a new pc!

I'm afraid 'badly' is the answer. I'm making an assumption you have an AGP slot so you're very limited as to your choices.

By the way, I have ATI right now - but would it be better to switch to Nvidia for GR? Something like two 9800s together? Or would two GTX be better?

I have an GEForce 8800 GT. Just curious how you think that would hold up...

So isn't Nvidia as good as ATI? And aren't double cards any better than single ones?

That doesn't really help very much - I have to decide quite soon, so I can make sure I get my new computer by christmas

Take a look at Tom's hardware for reviews of the cards in your price bracket.

They are very in-depth, but the interesting stuff is at the end (If you're not interested in the techie detail) Also take a look at the reviews for higher-end cards of the same type. They inevitably draw conclusions with the lesser cards, giving you a better idea of what to go for.

I splashed out on a GTX260 when it arrived. At the time it gave the biggest bang for my buck, and as they come down in price it becomes increasingly attractive to add another card in SLI mode. So far it's not disappointed.

Oh, and remember that it's not just the graphics card that can slow you down. The CPU is a major component in getting the most out of your machine.

General rule of thumb. Set your budget. Stick to it, and don't faff around waiting for the next big thing to arrive; cause it will, about 3 weeks after you buy something.

SLi/Crossfire is a stupid waste of money and doesn't give anywhere near the performance boost you'd expect for running multiple video cards.

Beter to get one of the multi-GPU'd video cards and save on electricity.

I'm not running in SLI (Only have 1 card) so I don't know how much of a difference it makes. There's loads of people on the forums with SLI cards though FFM has 8800's if I remember correctly

GR's requirements, so far, seem to be geared to making better use of OpenGL (Dread to think how the Mac's are going to deal with it) that's been in the spec for some time now. SLI will probably make a difference, but I don't know.

There were ruminations that NVIDIA would be supporting COX in 3D mode with their glasses as well. So that might be VERY cool, but will probably lay waste to many gaming rigs across the world. So a high-end NVIDIA card might be worth it if you want the gimmicky 3D. I think they said March 2010, which is around the time GR is expected to land anyway.

I'm slightly guessing, but I suspect the 8/9000 series NVidia cards and the rough equivalents should be able to handle whatever Ultra Mode throws at it.

I'll try to find out what my current PC is running (I haven't a clue, offhand) since I know that handles real-time shadows in LotRO. That may give somekind of clue as to what we need.

I can definately say that a 6800 is probably too low spec, just for the record.

It would be SO much easier to work it out if CoH used DirectX. The 8800 can handle DX10 fine, and runs Crysis at 1440x900 at about 40ish fps on my PC. Alas, I have no OpenGL 3.0 games at all, so have no idea how it performs on the card...

Hell, I don't even know what games use OpenGL 3.0. Anyone got any ideas?

It is soooo hard to resist the new stuff. But like I said, establish your budget and stick to it. Shop around, get the most bang for your buck and don't bemoan the fact that there is a more expensive card. You can wait for the darn thing to come down in price, but when it reaches your price bracket it'll be out of date and the new spangly stuff will be vying for your attention. So it's not worth the hassle. Any card over £100 will probably be able to run Ultra mode, and most modern cards under £100 will probably be playable too.

Noticed FFM has studiously missed my comment about him having SLI'd 8800's, that or I misinterpreted his views on SLI being a complete waste of time Obviously I was wrong

I currnetly run a single 512 mb radeon hd4850. I will probably have to upgrade but was wondering which of the new ati cards are more energy efficient as i only have a corsair 450w psu? I´m able to crossfire but not sure if my psu can handle that.

I read about the time of the HeroCon news that the 4xxx ATI series cards would run Ultra mode with just a couple of the features not running. I can't be any more specific than that and I cant find the direct quote at the moment.