Video Performance

[cbntmn]

Im thinking about a new video card to try and get another 6 months or a year out of my system.

Current system is an AMD running at 2.3 ghz, 2.5 meg ram, and a Nvidea 6800 with 256. The Nvidea says "oc" on it so i would imagine that means overclocked? I have a 36" LCD tv/moniter that i run it on.

Currently with the performance settings all the way up on the game i average about 25fps and bottom out at about 16. If you hit "reset" on the performance settings i get up to about 33 and average about 28. This is on Ultramegaroute, a very large map, with about 8 trains running.

The video card is not PCI is AP/or AR, or whatever that older type is. So I cant get the biggest and best but i did find an Nvidea 7500 gt with the right slot combo and it has 512 meg of memory for 130 bucks. I was thinking it might be worth the change.

Any thoughts?

 

[Lo_Poly]

Im thinking about a new video card to try and get another 6 months or a year out of my system.

Current system is an AMD running at 2.3 ghz, 2.5 meg ram, and a Nvidea 6800 with 256. The Nvidea says "oc" on it so i would imagine that means overclocked? I have a 36" LCD tv/moniter that i run it on.

Currently with the performance settings all the way up on the game i average about 25fps and bottom out at about 16. If you hit "reset" on the performance settings i get up to about 33 and average about 28. This is on Ultramegaroute, a very large map, with about 8 trains running.

The video card is not PCI is AP/or AR, or whatever that older type is. So I cant get the biggest and best but i did find an Nvidea 7500 gt with the right slot combo and it has 512 meg of memory for 130 bucks. I was thinking it might be worth the change.

Any thoughts?

AGP eh? Yeah, that card would be good.

If you some extra cash though, I would really really recommend getting this bad boy. Only con is it has 256 MB of memory.

Edit: Make sure your PSU can handle it, it needs a molex connector for extra power.

 

[cbntmn]

AGP eh? Yeah, that card would be good.

If you some extra cash though, I would really really recommend getting this bad boy. Only con is it has 256 MB of memory.

Edit: Make sure your PSU can handle it, it needs a molex connector for extra power.

Wouldnt i be better off getting the 512 card?

Here it is

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133176&Tpk=pny+agp+512mb+video+card

The reviews on it are pretty good. I just want better performance until i build a new system in the spring. Then ill go haywire and hand this one down to my son

 

[Lo_Poly]

Wouldnt i be better off getting the 512 card?

Here it is

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133176&Tpk=pny+agp+512mb+video+card

The reviews on it are pretty good. I just want better performance until i build a new system in the spring. Then ill go haywire and hand this one down to my son

If it's that temporary then yeah.

Might just wanna go ahead and look at this: http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=434&card2=510

:wave:

 

[cbntmn]

thats why i hate trying to make these decisions.....there is to much out there.

Thanks for the comparison. It really was quite the eye opener. Sometimes more memory is not better. Guess it depends on memory type as the 7900 has GDDR2 and should run faster than the PNY.

Now im curious if i can get a 7900 with 512mb. Jeez.

Thanks again i appreciate you hooking me up with that info.

 

[robbiehanson]

Typically, a faster card with less RAM is quicker than a slower card with more RAM

A 7900 is a faster card than the 7600. In simple terms, the 7600 will not be able to render as quickly, but can render more things, while the 7900 won't be able to render as much but will do it quicker. I've got a 256mb PCI-Express Radeon X1950PRO in my computer, and it runs slightly better than the AGP 512mb X1600PRO in my other one, equivalent to the 7600 512 vs 7900 256 comparison. Basically, either will be better...but I'd still go for the 7900 if it was my money.

Just my opinion though...if you want the 7600, go for it!

 

[Lo_Poly]

thats why i hate trying to make these decisions.....there is to much out there.

Thanks for the comparison. It really was quite the eye opener. Sometimes more memory is not better. Guess it depends on memory type as the 7900 has GDDR2 and should run faster than the PNY.

Now im curious if i can get a 7900 with 512mb. Jeez.

Thanks again i appreciate you hooking me up with that info.

Typically, a faster card with less RAM is quicker than a slower card with more RAM

A 7900 is a faster card than the 7600. In simple terms, the 7600 will not be able to render as quickly, but can render more things, while the 7900 won't be able to render as much but will do it quicker. I've got a 256mb PCI-Express Radeon X1950PRO in my computer, and it runs slightly better than the AGP 512mb X1600PRO in my other one, equivalent to the 7600 512 vs 7900 256 comparison. Basically, either will be better...but I'd still go for the 7900 if it was my money.

Just my opinion though...if you want the 7600, go for it!

No problem cbntmn.

But as robbiehanson said, choose what suits you best. Do you want more, or do you want it quicker. :wave:

 

[cbntmn]

Quicker is better in most cases, and this is one of them.

Ill go for the 7900. I have a store credit at the local comp usa so ill probably pick it up tomorrow. ill let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the info guys. Most helpfull.

 

[johnwhelan]

Quicker is better in most cases, and this is one of them.

Ill go for the 7900. I have a store credit at the local comp usa so ill probably pick it up tomorrow. ill let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the info guys. Most helpfull.

It also depends on the layout, some scenes have 700 mb of tetxures in them so a card with lots of memory can hold them all, a 256 mb card has to do a balencing act and keep copying them onto the card so a larger memory in this case can mean faster.

tomshardware.com has comparisons and recommendations for AGP and PCI-e video cards at different price points might be worth a look.

Cheerio John

 

[cbntmn]

Take a look at this one:

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=511&card2=510


the 7950GT runs pretty strong and has a little more speed than the 7900, plus it has 512 meg of ram. Looks like its the fastest AGP card out there. The dont seem to make any 8000 series cards in AGP.


The problem is finding one. They seem to all be gone. You can find the 7900 GS but the 7950 is tough. I have found a couple on E bay but im a little leary of buying a used video card.

 

[mechnx]

Interestingly enough I just upgraded From an Nvida 5400 To an Nvida 7800 GS
AGP w/512 Ram.I can run TRS06 with all sliders maxed no problem. Haven't run a
lot of routes yet but did run Murchison stage2 Hi-detail and it no longer stumbles.

 

[cbntmn]

Interestingly enough I just upgraded From an Nvida 5400 To an Nvida 7800 GS
AGP w/512 Ram.I can run TRS06 with all sliders maxed no problem. Haven't run a
lot of routes yet but did run Murchison stage2 Hi-detail and it no longer stumbles.

How much ram do you have on your system and what processor?

I just upgraded to 2.5 ddr ram and have a 2.25 mhz processor.

Im having trouble finding the 7950 so i might just go ahead and get the 7900. if your doing that well with the 7800 then i should be in pretty good shape.

Im running the ultra mega route. Needless to say its HUGE and ive got a lot of trains on there at the same time.

 

[cbntmn]

What kind of frame rate are you running with your new card?

 

[cbntmn]

AGP eh? Yeah, that card would be good.

If you some extra cash though, I would really really recommend getting this bad boy. Only con is it has 256 MB of memory.

Edit: Make sure your PSU can handle it, it needs a molex connector for extra power.

I ended up buying the 7900 GS. The 7950 would have been nice but they are just about impossible to find and when you do they are used and they want a bundle for them. They also had a lot of issues with the 7950 so hopefully the 7900 will be trouble free.

thanks guys. Ill let you know how it does once installed.

 

[mechnx]

How much ram do you have on your system and what processor?

I just upgraded to 2.5 ddr ram and have a 2.25 mhz processor.

Im having trouble finding the 7950 so i might just go ahead and get the 7900. if your doing that well with the 7800 then i should be in pretty good shape.

Im running the ultra mega route. Needless to say its HUGE and ive got a lot of trains on there at the same time.

I have a 2.8mhz with 2 gig ddr ram. I ran Ultramega route today and only stuttered a couple of times when several trains were present but nothing like before.Overall I am very pleased as this was much cheaper than a new system.

 

[cbntmn]

I installed my 7900 gs yesterday. While it does perform better i was hoping for a little more performance on Ultramegaroute with this new card.

I know i have to many trains on the map so im on the process of taking some of the rolling stock and engines off of the map. I did a test and it still slows down below 10fps in a busy city area but runs a substantial consist at about 25-30 fps without anything else on the map but the AI trains.

I did some tests on another large map and it ran about the same.

Ive downloaded the latest drivers from nvidia and it did not seem to make much of a difference. I also ran a flight similator that I have played extensively and it ran at the same FPS that it did with the 6800. Strange as the side by side performance on the web put the 7900 far ahead of my 6800 card.

I dont quite know what else to do to try and improve its performance.

 

[Lo_Poly]

I installed my 7900 gs yesterday. While it does perform better i was hoping for a little more performance on Ultramegaroute with this new card.

I know i have to many trains on the map so im on the process of taking some of the rolling stock and engines off of the map. I did a test and it still slows down below 10fps in a busy city area but runs a substantial consist at about 25-30 fps without anything else on the map but the AI trains.

I did some tests on another large map and it ran about the same.

Ive downloaded the latest drivers from nvidia and it did not seem to make much of a difference. I also ran a flight similator that I have played extensively and it ran at the same FPS that it did with the 6800. Strange as the side by side performance on the web put the 7900 far ahead of my 6800 card.

I dont quite know what else to do to try and improve its performance.

CPU upgrade. if possible.

After that, just get a new motherboard that supports the newest stuff (PCI-E x16, prefferably 2.0, etc. etc. etc.)

Chris.

 

[cbntmn]

Im just going to buy a new system and hand this one down to my son. His is 6 years old and getting tired.

There is actually a company on Ebay that builds game computers i have been talking to. Here is the config:
]Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz, 1066FSB (Quad Core) 8000K [/font]
Cooler Master Eclipse Intel EXTRA QUIET Copper HeatPipe fan [/font]
ASUS P5N32-E SLI nForce 680i, 1333FSB, SLI PCI Ex, Sound,2x1GB LAN, iEEE [/font]
4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2 800 Dual Channel [/font]
GeForce 8800GTX 768Mb PCI EXpress 16X dual head, tv out [/font]
500.0GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA2 UDMA 300 16m cache [/font]
Samsung LightScribe 18x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW (black) [/font]
Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer [/font]
Ethernet network adapter (onboard) [/font]
APEVIA X-JupiterJr. Black, 250MM Side Fan, front USB,iEEE,Temp control [/font]
ABS Tagan ITZ 1100W ATX Power Supply, SLI ready, active PFC [/font]
Microsoft Windows XP Home CD[/font]

It would handle 2 video cards but im just going with one right now. Upgradeable to 8 MG if i ever decide to go to Vista. Its a little under 2k and I cant buy the parts from newegg and build one for that plus they have lifetime customer 800 support and they warranty everything for 3 years. [/font]
Hopefully ill order one up in a month or so. [/font]

 

[johnwhelan]

I installed my 7900 gs yesterday. While it does perform better i was hoping for a little more performance on Ultramegaroute with this new card.

I know i have to many trains on the map so im on the process of taking some of the rolling stock and engines off of the map. I did a test and it still slows down below 10fps in a busy city area but runs a substantial consist at about 25-30 fps without anything else on the map but the AI trains.

I did some tests on another large map and it ran about the same.

Ive downloaded the latest drivers from nvidia and it did not seem to make much of a difference. I also ran a flight similator that I have played extensively and it ran at the same FPS that it did with the 6800. Strange as the side by side performance on the web put the 7900 far ahead of my 6800 card.

I dont quite know what else to do to try and improve its performance.

If you could run either of the hardware benchmarks:
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=14993&highlight=hardware

that might help others and you maybe able to read through the other results to see if it's a driver problem or not.

Cheerio John

 

[llebrez]

Having been through all this, and still fighting the frame rate, I have to say this: If you have a megaroute with lot's of trains or consists, your frame rate will suffer. No way out if this. Sure I like to have all my trains in my 160 square map, but it is frustating. So I divide in sessions, West, Central and East, With just the minimum consists to make it enjoyable. Then, to have a good frame rate in heavy populated areas you have to make sure your computer does not run anything in the background. I mean to make sure the processor and GPU are working for Trainz only. Extreme settings should take you to disconnect from internet, and disable the Windows ( or any other) firewall. Disable spyware and at msconfig eliminate any startups you may have. Get rid of the desktop background and leave a nice blue screen. Try to overclock to 3.1 Mhz or higher if safe the CPU. Overclocking the GPU was not so effective, and while on the GPU matter: The 7900 is a very good card and I use it over a 8800GTX ! Not so much because of the speed, but the 8800 series do not have a shrpness control: Images a dull compared to the 7900GTX series (they have this sharpness control and Oh Boy! is like High definition TV). Going to SLI ? nah, that is not worth other than to the vendors and will consume more electricity. Did I tell you that the 8800GTX showed a considerable extra on the electric bill...? (compared to the 7900, of course). Last, clean your registry. I use a program called Registry Mechanic. Somehow mine showed quite an improvement from before.