Graphics Card Upgrade - any help?

[schwartz1]

Edit: I decided on the Sapphire Vapor-X HD4890 1GB based on review scores and recommendations

I'm looking to upgrade my mediocre Radeon HD 3850 512ddr3

I plan on running Trainz 2006 until I upgrade to the 2009 version, I have Halo 2 PC and a few other GPU intense games
the main one I play is Trainz 2006 though
​

I currently have:

Core 2 Quad 9550
6GB DDR2 RAM
Windows 7 RC1 64bit / Windows Vista 64bit Home Premium (use Windows 7 for games)
Gigabyte EP45-UD3P Motherboard
850W Blackwidow PSU (Thermaltake)

These are the cards I'm having a hard time to decide on:

Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 2GB
Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 4890 2GB
Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 X2 2GB

I'm leaning towards the 4890 but I don't know for sure

any expert opinions on these models?

Greatly Appreciated

 

[ct_krogen]

mmm, get a g-force card that what i am running

 

[john259]

Tom's Hardware Guide has this list of video boards in descending order of graphics processing power.

John

 

[saintjimmy]

Even though the 4850 X2 can be faster when Crossfire is enabled, Trainz has yet to support Crossfire/SLI so I'd say go for the 4890. Heck, most of them can overclock to 1+ GHz also, but are still very fast at default speeds.

My 2 cents...

Kyle

 

[mcgilles]

your system is pretty close to mine. I've got a Q9550 on order, should be here today. I just upgraded to the HD4890...maybe you or someone else here can help me?

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?p=475561&posted=1#post475561

 

[schwartz1]

your system is pretty close to mine. I've got a Q9550 on order, should be here today. I just upgraded to the HD4890...maybe you or someone else here can help me?

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?p=475561&posted=1#post475561

I will have to let you know if I run into that problem, I was running into a similar problem where the track would not load with my HD3850 and it would crash my game in TRS2006

I decided on the 4890, but the one I got is a Sapphire brand, and Vapor-X
$209.99 free shipping and it will be here tomorrow (friday) I love being so close to NewEgg's warehouse

here's the card:

1GB DDR5 / HDMI/DVI/VGA/DisplayPort (<<coming soon to a monitor near you!)

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=000101&pid=262

 

[saintjimmy]

I was considering upgrading to a 4890 just like that, but decided to wait for the next generation coming at the end of the year. Good luck with your purchase, though.

Kyle

 

[mcgilles]

I will have to let you know if I run into that problem, I was running into a similar problem where the track would not load with my HD3850 and it would crash my game in TRS2006

I decided on the 4890, but the one I got is a Sapphire brand, and Vapor-X
$209.99 free shipping and it will be here tomorrow (friday) I love being so close to NewEgg's warehouse

here's the card:

1GB DDR5 / HDMI/DVI/VGA/DisplayPort (<<coming soon to a monitor near you!)

http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?psn=000101&pid=262

good price! I like the looks of that, different ports. although I think mine is pretty much identical just in a different package. its got 2 DVI ports and an HDTV output plus adapters to go from DVI to VGA or DVI to HDMI. I like how yours has 2 HDMI ports on it, but crappy that you can only use 2 of the outputs at once...I'm setting up my machine to run 4 LCDs, I'm keeping the X9000XT I have and adding the HD4890 in addition.

I'm going to post this info in my other thread just in case some other people see that one. I'm still looking for info!

I removed my new video card and put my old one back in the first position. that reminded me that I already had some video problems with my old card with color distortion and strange colors appearing all over the screen. surprisingly I think the HD4890's problems are less bothersome than my old ones! one thing I did discover however: I have one small problem during the first startup of trainz. I click the icon and I get about a 200x200 pixel version of the splash screen way up in the upper left corner of the screen. I have to hit ESC to make it go away then usually the second time around it displays properly and I can go into the game. that problem just showed up a minute ago and I don't even have the new card in the comptuer right now. I saw a thead here where someone recomended older verisons of Catalyst as some of the newer ones don't always work right. so that is what I'm going to try. I went to oldversion.com (or whatever it is) and downloaded catalyst 9.7-8.9, and 8.6, and I have 6.9, 7.4, 7.11, 7.12 from previous downloads on my backup drive. I'm going to put the card back in the comptuer and start with 9.6 and work my way back and see if I can find one that will work. I'm not sure how far back I can go before this card is no longer supported...but I guess I'll try. with any luck I might find a version which appears to work. if I do I'll let you know.

please post here and let me know what your results are. I paid about the same for my HD4890, if the Saphire version works I might try to return the HIS and buy one of those, although I think the video cards are really identical, juts different branding, different connection options, and in the case of the Vapor-X a different type of heat sink.

 

[schwartz1]

good price! I like the looks of that, different ports. although I think mine is pretty much identical just in a different package. its got 2 DVI ports and an HDTV output plus adapters to go from DVI to VGA or DVI to HDMI. I like how yours has 2 HDMI ports on it, but crappy that you can only use 2 of the outputs at once...I'm setting up my machine to run 4 LCDs, I'm keeping the X9000XT I have and adding the HD4890 in addition.

I'm going to post this info in my other thread just in case some other people see that one. I'm still looking for info!

I removed my new video card and put my old one back in the first position. that reminded me that I already had some video problems with my old card with color distortion and strange colors appearing all over the screen. surprisingly I think the HD4890's problems are less bothersome than my old ones! one thing I did discover however: I have one small problem during the first startup of trainz. I click the icon and I get about a 200x200 pixel version of the splash screen way up in the upper left corner of the screen. I have to hit ESC to make it go away then usually the second time around it displays properly and I can go into the game. that problem just showed up a minute ago and I don't even have the new card in the comptuer right now. I saw a thead here where someone recomended older verisons of Catalyst as some of the newer ones don't always work right. so that is what I'm going to try. I went to oldversion.com (or whatever it is) and downloaded catalyst 9.7-8.9, and 8.6, and I have 6.9, 7.4, 7.11, 7.12 from previous downloads on my backup drive. I'm going to put the card back in the comptuer and start with 9.6 and work my way back and see if I can find one that will work. I'm not sure how far back I can go before this card is no longer supported...but I guess I'll try. with any luck I might find a version which appears to work. if I do I'll let you know.

please post here and let me know what your results are. I paid about the same for my HD4890, if the Saphire version works I might try to return the HIS and buy one of those, although I think the video cards are really identical, juts different branding, different connection options, and in the case of the Vapor-X a different type of heat sink.

Sapphire only uses ATI's reference board as a reference, they don't copy it exactly, they usually put improvement on it, from the reviews I read this has to be true for all Sapphire cards.

The second port that looks like an HDMI port is actually DisplayPort, a replacement for DVI to counteract Piracy of Graphics/Videos, its not yet implemented as mainstream but it will be sometime. The DVI to HDMI adapter is to connect it to the montior then to the card, not the other way around unfortunately, but when I get a second card to go Crossfire that will change.

The Vapor-X cooling method is the quietest on the market and coolest with sound levels hitting no higher than 30db and heat reaching no higher than 94F avg at 100% GPU full load.

 

[schwartz1]

Here are the results for TS09, using some random engines and stuff's
I maxed out the settings, i put the highest anti aliasing, adaptive anti-aliasing, mip-map detail, you name it, all maxed out.
I'm not sure how to get the FPS to show up but it moved pretty smoothly
no graphic hiccups, but when the world first loads it takes a little while if the assets aren't all available and are missing. The tree problem you mentioned I don't see happening. The track however, its not as bad as your screenshot, but you can see it in my screenshot a little that it has graphic breaks on it. TS09 track too.
you can also take full advantage of the ram on the video card when you go into settings, it will let you choose how much you want to allocate in the first settings tab where you choose directx or open gl.
I used DirectX.
I also tried to reproduce the water animation issue you described, I didn't have any animation issues with that. Only thing I have is the track problem
but its not a big deal since its not like its going to be that closeup 100% of the time while being used anyway.

 

[Mick_Berg]

Even though the 4850 X2 can be faster when Crossfire is enabled, Trainz has yet to support Crossfire/SLI so I'd say go for the 4890. Heck, most of them can overclock to 1+ GHz also, but are still very fast at default speeds.

My 2 cents...

Kyle

I wish I'd seen this post a week ago! You say Trainz does not support Crossfire. Is it likely to any time soon? Would two 4650 cards in Crossfire be of any advantage when running Trainz, or should I just get my money back on the second card I just bought? I don't play any other games, or do anything else with demanding graphics.
Thanks,
Mick Berg.

 

[saintjimmy]

For Trainz, you are better off going with a single high-powered card than multiple midrange cards. When playing Trainz, an ATI HD 4800 or 4700 series card will still outperform 2 4650's or 4670's in Crossfire. I believe it is the same with nVidia and Trainz: 2 9600GT's or 9800GT's in SLI will still be less perfoming than a 9800GTX+ or GTX series card, since I don't think Trainz supports SLI either yet (not totally sure on this, so don't hold me to this, please.).

Just my thoughts.

Kyle