ATI 7500 to X1900XT - Feedback and some questions

[DJCrunkMix]

Hey guys,

I just got my system setup! I cannot explain the immense joy and pride I felt when I saw the boot screen. I almost cried. The first thing I did was installed F.E.A.R. and I couldn't believe my eyes. :shocked:I couldn't tell what was pre-rendered and what was real-time renderings. I never thought before that games could scare me but that little girl scares the death out of me, especially on 5.1 surround. The graphics are so detailed that I could stare at the walls all day long! . I also installed Age of Empires III and the main menu screen blew my mind!! Could not believe that all that stuff was rendered in real-time! It was soo smooth and the reflection of the water was breathtaking. I didn't play any game more than 15 mins. I just wanted to see how powerful X1900XT is...and indeed it is a heckalot powerful that my sh!tty ATI 7500 (well, it had its time ).

I have never seen anything like this before in my life. I am extremely happy that I didn't waste money buying a console, and moreover, 59 $ for a single game (TPB is back ). I bought Battlefield 2 for online play...I heard its addicting and thats exactly what I want. . Anyways, a few questions:

1) The card was running pretty hot, around 70 C. Is that something that I need to worry about?
2) Is is better to let the application set the AA & AF?
3) How can I find how many Framerates I am getting on my games? Like they do while benchmarking. I ran a test in F.E.A.R. and it gave me 33/65 (min/max) frame rate on everything turned up to max with 4x AA and 16x AF on 1280x1024 resolution. But I can't see what the frame rate is while I am playing the game.

I can't wait to go back after work and spend all of my friday night on my new build .

Thanks,

~ DJ

 

[Polish3d]

You need oblivion Read up on ATI Tray Tools / Ati Tool, it will allow you to adjust fan speed

 

[Golgatha]

Download Fraps to get in-game FPS. I typically leave my sliders at 4xAA and 16xHQAF and let CCC take care of game settings. Also, this is the only way to get HDR to work with the above settings in Oblivion. Oblivion is the most graphically breathtaking game I have ever played and it's pretty fun too . Have fun with your new toy.

 

[Nirach]

Ingame FPS?

I don't know for sure what it was, but I think about the time I install ATT (ATi Tray Tools) I started getting little yellow FPS rates in the bottom left, I don't know how close to the truth they were, but they seemed to fluctuate according to the level of action (60+ on non-shooting and about 30 shooting in D3).

70 sounds about right for an XT under load, my 800GTO OCed gets to about 63 (water cooled) so I imagine that 70 is about right for something faster and on air cooling, someone with an Xt should be able to confirm this. (I know there's at least one of you on these boards )

ATiTool doesn't play ball with my uncles XT, no temperature/speed readings, I've not checked what updates there've been since he tried it though, and I know some people are getting it to work fine with their 1900's.

Usually, with AA/AF I set CCC to 'let the application decide' and change it in the game video options, but I don't know how many games have these options behond Fear and Doom 3 (I don't keep up to date with games, far too many, and far too many are the same(IMO) )

Have fun with your new toy

 

[Munky]

I usually let the application decide the AA/AF levels unless it either does not support it or there's a good reason for me to force it through the drivers (a la Oblivion)

70C under load is a good temp for the x1900xt, usually they run 80-90C load. If you're getting 70C when it's just idling at the desktop, then it's higher than normal.

I use Ati Tray Tools to control all the advanced settings instead of CCC, and it has the option of displaying the fps while you're running a 3D application.

 

[akshayt]

@DJCrunkMix, could you please tell your avg fps and is there any chance of you telling whether the fps increases/decreases on overlock and underclocking?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Holy crap that has to be the biggest technology jump evar

 

[dguy6789]

It is quite a large jump. About the same jump as I encountered upgrading from an integrated Trident Blade gpu to a Geforce 2 MX400 multiple years ago. Quite good times.

 

[DJCrunkMix]

Originally posted by: akshayt
@DJCrunkMix, could you please tell your avg fps and is there any chance of you telling whether the fps increases/decreases on overlock and underclocking?

I will let you know when I go back home in 3 hours. I might need some help from you as far as overclocking is concerned. Would appreciate it. I am completely a n00b in the overclocking business.

btw, what does CCC stand for?

 

[beggerking]

congrads on 100x your graphic card power for only ~$400. thats a great performance/ratio .

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: DJCrunkMix

Originally posted by: akshayt
@DJCrunkMix, could you please tell your avg fps and is there any chance of you telling whether the fps increases/decreases on overlock and underclocking?

I will let you know when I go back home in 3 hours. I might need some help from you as far as overclocking is concerned. Would appreciate it. I am completely a n00b in the overclocking business.

btw, what does CCC stand for?

Catalyst Control Center. The standard software from ATI for switching graphics options.

 

[sodcha0s]

Originally posted by: DJCrunkMix

Originally posted by: akshayt
@DJCrunkMix, could you please tell your avg fps and is there any chance of you telling whether the fps increases/decreases on overlock and underclocking?

I will let you know when I go back home in 3 hours. I might need some help from you as far as overclocking is concerned. Would appreciate it. I am completely a n00b in the overclocking business.

btw, what does CCC stand for?

Catalyst Control Center

As far as overclocking your 1900, why bother? You shouldn't need to in current games, just enjoy the card and down the road when newer games come along that need a little more horsepower, bump it up a little if you want. There really isn't a need to do it now.

I think akshayt was referring to CPU overclocking, going by his other thread. If you're interested in bumping that 3700+ up a bit, read all about how in this thread. Godd luck and enjoy!

 

[akshayt]

I am myself new to overclocking.
I was talking of cpu overclocking, especially underclocking to see if it reduces your fps/gameplay. I hope you can help me there.