My Radeon 9800 Pro has arrived.....

[Radiohead]

....and I'm all set to install it tonight, along with a copy of Far Cry.

I've got the Catalyst 4.4 suite from the ATI site (it's a Sapphire Atlantis 128mb card, and their site only mentions the 4.3, but I assume the 4.4's will be ok?)....I'm running an MSI Intel 845PE mobo, 1GB PC2700 DDR , a 120GB 7200rpm WD Caviar HDD and 2.8Ghz P4. Nothing is overclocked.

Fingers crossed that it's as good as I'm hoping. My current Ti4400 struggled with Far Cry.

[martinb]

i have a very similar spec, so i'd be interested to know how much improvement it makes, keep us informed plse.

[ColinP]

I had to run Far Cry on all the medium settings on my Ti4200 - but it was smooth... With the Radeon it's a huge improvement and looks stunning. Pretty much everything is now up on the highest settings and it's probably the best looking game I've seen to date.

[Ds3]

Yep, you have a good system behind it so I have no doubts the Radeon will blow you away :D

Just don't forget to remove ALL of the nVidia drivers before putting it in ;)

[Ben Martin]

you'll definitely be fine with the 4.4s. they are more stable than the 4.3s anyway (at a slight performance cost in one or two places).

as everyone else has said, the difference should be amazing. i moved up from a geforce fx 5600 (which couldn't run far cry as well as your ti4400, though it did have dx9) to a 9600XT and the improvement is astounding. your 9800pro will be even better.

enjoy. :thumbs:

[Jimbo]

get some kleenex on the way home too :nuts:

[jon bda]

Originally posted by Radiohead
My Radeon 9800 Pro has arrived.....

Welcome to the darkside...enjoy the ATi goodness...
:norty: :nuts: :dork:

[Violator]

For FarCry crank up the res to 1280x1024, everything on max , 2x(low) AA and 4xAF and enjoy :clap:

Any other game set AA to 4x and AF to 8x :thumbs:

And yes the 4.4s are just fine.

[wysinawyg]

Originally posted by jon bda
Welcome to the darkside...enjoy the ATi goodness...
:norty: :nuts: :dork:

ATI fanboy :razz: nothing wrong with my Ti4600 <font class="nf" size=-8>(well not now it is sat in the box my 9800 pro came in...)</font>

wysi :D

[TELREA]

i have had the same card nearly a week now,and am mightly impressed with it,although i have not messed with the AA settings,how exactly do you turn these up,is it using the little slider tool in the control panel,or is it within the actual game settings??

TEL.

[jon bda]

Originally posted by wysinawyg
ATI fanboy :razz:

LOL, no...i just like to spend my cash wisely:D. Show me something better for the price than a 9800 Pro at the moment...i must admit to fancying buying an FX 5700 i've seen though, but only 'cause the flame shaped HSF would fit in nicely with a planned mod on a Shuttle...
:lol:

[Paul Lynock]

Originally posted by wysinawyg
ATI fanboy :razz: nothing wrong with my Ti4600 <font class="nf" size=-8>(well not now it is sat in the box my 9800 pro came in...)</font>

wysi :D

:lol: My Ti4200 is sitting in the box my 9800 Pro came in :thumbs:

i have had the same card nearly a week now,and am mightly impressed with it,although i have not messed with the AA settings,how exactly do you turn these up,is it using the little slider tool in the control panel,or is it within the actual game settings??

I think the ATI control panel settings override the game settings, though I could be wrong. If you set it to application controlled, you can set the AA and AF levels in the game before you play it (Far Cry, that is).

I bought Call of Duty again and started playing through it last night. Everything set to maximum (inclucing textures set to extra, models to the highest setting etc) and AA and AF and it ran beautifully- not even a hint of slowdown, no matter what was going on. It really did make a big difference, and I enjoyed playing it a lot more thanks to my 9800 Pro :clap:

[Dan]

I'm gonna wait for the X800 XT Platinum Edition before I get Far Cry.:D

[Radiohead]

Well - it's installed and all went smoothly.

I created a restore point beforehand, removed the nVidia drivers, rebooted to make sure they were gone, fitted the new card, booted up, installed the new drivers and was all sorted - it took 15 minutes from start to finish.

I'm a little limited with ramping up detail levels when playing online due to ISDN only, but I installed and tried Far Cry for a few minutes to see what was what - the game auto-detected to High now, and I turned AA and AF on to see how they were. The game seems to run very smoothly now - stages that were unplayable (ie. the very beginning) are now very good. Like I said, I've hardly played it all so can't say more at the moment.

I did also run 3DMark 2001SE and 3DMark 03 out of interest. Old scores with the Ti4400 are in brackets:

2001 - 15,345 marks (9760)
2003 - 5946 marks (174)

So, a fair difference there!

Interestingly, the 9800 is quieter than the Ti4400.....

[craigizmo2k2]

So the lower the marks, the better? :confused:

EDIT: No, don't worry, I read it wrong :D

[Radiohead]

:lol:

[zenza]

Is there any way you can check your frame rate while playing a game like Far Cry?

[TELREA]

Originally posted by zenza
Is there any way you can check your frame rate while playing a game like Far Cry?

Do a search on google for FRAPS.............
TEL.

[zenza]

So I take it that you need some kind of special software to check FPS while playing?

[AngryFlower]

Originally posted by Radiohead
Well - it's installed and all went smoothly.

I created a restore point beforehand, removed the nVidia drivers, rebooted to make sure they were gone, fitted the new card, booted up, installed the new drivers and was all sorted - it took 15 minutes from start to finish.

I'm a little limited with ramping up detail levels when playing online due to ISDN only, but I installed and tried Far Cry for a few minutes to see what was what - the game auto-detected to High now, and I turned AA and AF on to see how they were. The game seems to run very smoothly now - stages that were unplayable (ie. the very beginning) are now very good. Like I said, I've hardly played it all so can't say more at the moment.

I did also run 3DMark 2001SE and 3DMark 03 out of interest. Old scores with the Ti4400 are in brackets:

2001 - 15,345 marks (9760)
2003 - 5946 marks (174)

So, a fair difference there!

Interestingly, the 9800 is quieter than the Ti4400.....

Quieter, but it pumps out a lot more heat with the stock cooler. I can get around 6,500 3d03 out of my 9800 - same model as yours - but I've stuck an Artic Cooler on it.

And even with the fan on high, it's still quieter than the stock 9800 fan.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Other_Coolers_57.html

[infestedsicness]

Originally posted by Dan
I'm gonna wait for the X800 XT Platinum Edition before I get Far Cry.:D

Heh, glad to know I'm not the only one waiting for the x800.

[grounded_dreams]

Originally posted by zenza
Is there any way you can check your frame rate while playing a game like Far Cry?

I think its:

/r_displayinfo 1

[Paul Lynock]

Originally posted by Radiohead
2001 - 15,345 marks (9760)
2003 - 5946 marks (174)

Those Ti4400 marks are very low... :thinking: My Ti4200 managed 12,500 and 1000 respectively- but that did have 8xAGP (it wouldn't make that much difference though, surely?).

[MetalGearAl]

Originally posted by Violator
For FarCry crank up the res to 1280x1024, everything on max , 2x(low) AA and 4xAF and enjoy :clap:

Any other game set AA to 4x and AF to 8x :thumbs:

And yes the 4.4s are just fine.

What spec PC are you running this on? I don't seem to have as much luck with Far Cry as others. I'm running at 2.6ghz P4 + Radeon 9800 Pro + 512mb 3200 RAM, and I have to have settings on High for most (not Very High), and even then it still jutters ocassionaly, such as the Volcano level.

Do people get these jutters and aren't mentioning them? Is that what people considering perfectly playable?

[Radiohead]

Originally posted by Paul Lynock
Those Ti4400 marks are very low... :thinking: My Ti4200 managed 12,500 and 1000 respectively- but that did have 8xAGP (it wouldn't make that much difference though, surely?).

My fault - those scores are with less RAM and a slower CPU....but the 3DMark03 one really caned the Ti4400.... as you'd expect with a non-DX9 card.

[AngryFlower]

Originally posted by MetalGearAl
What spec PC are you running this on? I don't seem to have as much luck with Far Cry as others. I'm running at 2.6ghz P4 + Radeon 9800 Pro + 512mb 3200 RAM, and I have to have settings on High for most (not Very High), and even then it still jutters ocassionaly, such as the Volcano level.

Do people get these jutters and aren't mentioning them? Is that what people considering perfectly playable?

1Gb Ram. That's what you need. doo do do dooooo... :thumbs:

Seriously, I'm told both Far Cry and BF:V work better with a Gig of RAM.

[Violator]

Originally posted by MetalGearAl
What spec PC are you running this on? I don't seem to have as much luck with Far Cry as others. I'm running at 2.6ghz P4 + Radeon 9800 Pro + 512mb 3200 RAM, and I have to have settings on High for most (not Very High), and even then it still jutters ocassionaly, such as the Volcano level.

Do people get these jutters and aren't mentioning them? Is that what people considering perfectly playable?

XP-M 2500 @2.4Ghz
Radeon 9800Pro
1Gb 3200 TwinMOS

1Gb is definitely a plus for FarCry, load times drop significantly and overall gameplay is much smoother.

[tomos]

mine runs on a 9600XT, Gig 3200 ram, and a 3200+
i run the game with all on high at 1024x.. and it runs fine (although the thing takes a bloody age to load first time - reminds me of old games loading off a tape :eek: ), no stuttering at all. :D

[willncc]

I've just ordered a sapphire 9800 pro as well, and am eagerly awaiting delivery, but am a bit (completey) new to upgrading - a mate in work was on about a 'static belt' to install, so I don't damage the new card - is the something I need to worry about, or do you just whack it in?

Plus (sorry for all the questions on someone else's thread!), I was reading about setting the AGP aperture, but when I'm in BIOS there doesn't seem to be any such setting - is graphics win likely to be the same thing (you could choose levels up to half the value of the RAM I have installed)?

:help: thanks

[Radiohead]

I've never used a static belt or similar, just ground yourself against a radiatior before you install the card.

Having said that, I've never seen anyone damage any PC component in 8 years in IT.

[willncc]

Thanks Radiohead (answer I was hoping for!)