PCI Graphics

[sterrett]

Hi - I am running a Pentium 2.8Ghz, 2Gb RAM system with an ATI Radeon X1050 Graphics card. Running WinXP SP3.

TC3 and TRS2009 run reasonably enough, but I know that Open GL is the best method to use and that the GeForce Nvidia cards work best wih Open GL.

If I change my graphics card (a) is it easy to switch from ATI to GeForce or will I have a lot of difficulty getting rid of old drivers and have conflict issues? and (b) will the performance be a vast improvement?

Which GeForce Graphics cards would be optimum for my system?

Thanks!

 

[johnwhelan]

I think your card is pci-e not PCI.

DirectX is a Microsoft standard designed for games under Windows. OpenGL is a more general standard designed for different operating systems.

The issues involved with changing the video card are old traces of drivers, power supply and extra heat.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html

Gives you the comparison.

I'd have a look at the ATI 4650, you want something in 55 nm rather than 65 nm to keep the power requirements down. Your cpu probably won't be able to feed a very fast expensive video card.

If you switch from ATI to nVidia I'd recommend reinstalling the operating system but others think you can get away with software that cleans out all traces of the old drivers. Depends how much you trust it.

Oh nudge the main memory up to 2.5 or 3 gigs if you can.

Cheerio John

 

[itareus]

Just following up on John's post. You might like to have a look at this thread:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=46775

The 4650 seems good, the problem I'm having at the moment is finding a UK supplier with a 512mb DDR3 one in stock (at a reasonable price).

Chris

 

[SuperFudd]

Very interesting.
It seems the best intergrated Nvidea is the 9300/9400, equal to the 6800.
The best intergrate ATI is the HD3300, equal to the Nvidea 9400GT.
All better than my 6200 which I am quite satisfied with.
Hmmm...

 

[sterrett]

Thank you for the resposes - I know the RAM is a bit n the low-side to run Trainz in the best way, but since upgrading from 1Gb to 2Gb, I have forgotten what type of memory I have (I know it's DDR2 but forgot how many pin or its speed!) Is there any way of finding out apart from taking it out and having a look? It's okay, I just had a decko at the BIOS and it's 4 X Banks of 512Mb DDR2 SDRAM running at 400MHz.


You're right, it is a PCI-E graphics slot. The ATI 4650 loks interesting, but I see there are quite a wide range from different manufacturers - 512Mb or 1Gb memory. How should one choose?

Do you have an ATI card yourself? Do you run Trainz in Open GL or Direct X - just curious?

 

[itareus]

....I see there are quite a wide range from different manufacturers - 512Mb or 1Gb memory. How should one choose?....

If you look at the thread I linked in my last post you will find some comments on this. The best performance for the money seems to be 512mb DDR3.

 

[johnwhelan]

Thank you for the resposes - I know the RAM is a bit n the low-side to run Trainz in the best way, but since upgrading from 1Gb to 2Gb, I have forgotten what type of memory I have (I know it's DDR2 but forgot how many pin or its speed!) Is there any way of finding out apart from taking it out and having a look? It's okay, I just had a decko at the BIOS and it's 4 X Banks of 512Mb DDR2 SDRAM running at 400MHz.


You're right, it is a PCI-E graphics slot. The ATI 4650 loks interesting, but I see there are quite a wide range from different manufacturers - 512Mb or 1Gb memory. How should one choose?

Do you have an ATI card yourself? Do you run Trainz in Open GL or Direct X - just curious?

The traditional way to check memory is www.crucial.com and run their scanner.

Yes I run an ATI 3850, the quality of the drivers varies the more recent cards have better drivers.

Cheerio John

 

[Kennilworth]

Hi sterrett

I have always used ATI cards and am currently using a 4850 model. Versions of Trainz up to TC3 ran better for me in Direct X mode but in 09 Open GL runs much faster. Direct X looks like a slide show. All you can do is try each method and see which one runs better on your machine.

Regards

Brian

 

[sterrett]

Thank you very much for your responses.

Ebay yielded a very good value XFX ATI 4650 at GBP45 and I am very pleased with the results. I have put all the settings on to High Quality and maxxed out the sliders in Trainz and I have a smooth runner. (I haven't experimented with the Antistropy yet, but I will be - don't fret!)

The XFX card advertises that, although it has 512Mb, it uses idle PC RAM capacity to increase its own memory capabilities (so if your machine has 4Gb but is only using 1.5Gb for the programs, the graphics card will take up to 500Mb per gig to beef up its performance.) Whether that works or not, I don't know, but I am just grateful for the help from this forum.

I am putting the old graphics card and a couple of bits and bobs back on ebay myself and I think I will take your advice, Mr Whelan, and beef up the RAM to 4Gb.

Thanks again guys!

 

[itareus]

.....Ebay yielded a very good value XFX ATI 4650 at GBP45 and I am very pleased with the results.......

Could you please let me know if the card you got was DDR3 memory or DDR2. If it was DDR3 I would be interested to know the name of the supplier - I'm still struggling to find a supplier that has DDR3 cards in stock (despite extensive Googling!

Thanks

 

[FootplatePhil]

Could you please let me know if the card you got was DDR3 memory or DDR2. If it was DDR3 I would be interested to know the name of the supplier - I'm still struggling to find a supplier that has DDR3 cards in stock (despite extensive Googling!

Thanks

If you have PCI-E why not the 4670? Most (all?) of these have DDR3.

Phil

 

[itareus]

If you have PCI-E why not the 4670? Most (all?) of these have DDR3.Phil

Right on the edge with the PSU Phil, I know the 4670 does not use a lot more power but it could be just enough to cause problems and I'm playing it safe.

Thanks for the thought anyway.

Chris

 

[sterrett]

Sorry, itareus, it is a DDR2 but it is doing the Trainz thing beautifully - partly, I think, due to this shared memory thingy!

 

[itareus]

Sterrett,

Thanks for the reply. I may well end up getting the XFX DDR2 card anyway, given that it works so well for you.

Cheers

Chris