Some of us have come from the Atari Forum, hopefully more will show... as even I myself took a few weeks to get around to coming by to re-register.
It was amazing Atari kept it up for so long, with many questions asking about the UT2007 game, which Atari is not involved with. So now, we have a place to talk about our current game and a PROPER place to talk about UT2007 which many of us are HOPING will be the AWSOME game it looks to be.
I am still introducing people to UT2004, via the DEMO and the low cost of $10~20 for the retail versions.
Something I was just about to POST at the old place before it was locked... I had upgraded to a new video card that UT04 runs very good in and MAY work okay for UT07. This is something to KEEP in mind when youre buying a new PC (or upgrading) now instead of waiting until UT07 comes out (which I was kind of doing).
Any thing new today is using PCI-Express. When UT04 was new, your choices were GF4 and ATI8500 video cards. With my last #1 PC (now #2, I sell #2s to buy parts for incoming #1s) being an ATI9800Pro/AMD32-3000, I had a top line system 2 years ago. AGP is no longer worth buying if you want performance.
My new system with the weak AMD64-3000 (compared to the 3500/3800 or 4600) is a small jump faster than my old system, but it was free. I wanted something very fast - for a good price. I could have bought the GF7900GT online for $240 - which is a good price considering that retail stores sell 7600GS and ATI1600 for about $190~220 that are not even half as fast.
But I want a system to be as quiet as possible, especially with an Antech P160 case. I went with the Gigabyte 7600GT heatpipe solution. Its about $170 on Newegg (Normal FAN versions are $150) and so I didn't need to add an aftermarket fanless device... also a girlfriend's new 7600GS fan was failing after 4 weeks and is LOOOUD! This card has been reviewed as keeping the GPU cooler than a fan version.
Performance?: 3DMark shows this card to be about 4 times faster than my 9800Pro. In real life with UT2004. I went from 1024x768 AA2 HIGH detail settings to 1600x1200 AA4/AF HIGHEST/max details.
9800 pro = AVG 60fps on a large complex map (and sometimes lower)
7600GT = AVG 85fps on same map... higher details to boot.
I bought this for TODAY and because this system is a hold-over until UT2007 for a low price. Most games run VERY fast on this card. Ananadtech recenly ran a group roundup with mid-high end cards and the difference between the GF7900 was only 10~20fps in most games in 1600x1200. The ATI 1900XT was of course a LOT faster than the 7900GT.
A week after I installed the GF7600GT, ATI came out with the 1900GT which is about $275 - but should DROP to $220 or less since the 1900XT was $450 and now goes for $350 and the 256mb version is $300~325.
But I figure STILL - I have a fanless video card for half the price of a top-end card that plays todays game very good and when UT07 comes out, tomorrows $300 card will be twice as fast as today's $500 or SLI/CF setups.
PS: With the GF7600GT with UT in 1600x1200, my KILL abilities have gone up and when I accidently hit the WINDOWS key, it takes 1 second to JUMP back into the game rather than 10~15 seconds like the ATI9800Pro. Also, MAPS load up twice as fast.
It was amazing Atari kept it up for so long, with many questions asking about the UT2007 game, which Atari is not involved with. So now, we have a place to talk about our current game and a PROPER place to talk about UT2007 which many of us are HOPING will be the AWSOME game it looks to be.
I am still introducing people to UT2004, via the DEMO and the low cost of $10~20 for the retail versions.
Something I was just about to POST at the old place before it was locked... I had upgraded to a new video card that UT04 runs very good in and MAY work okay for UT07. This is something to KEEP in mind when youre buying a new PC (or upgrading) now instead of waiting until UT07 comes out (which I was kind of doing).
Any thing new today is using PCI-Express. When UT04 was new, your choices were GF4 and ATI8500 video cards. With my last #1 PC (now #2, I sell #2s to buy parts for incoming #1s) being an ATI9800Pro/AMD32-3000, I had a top line system 2 years ago. AGP is no longer worth buying if you want performance.
My new system with the weak AMD64-3000 (compared to the 3500/3800 or 4600) is a small jump faster than my old system, but it was free. I wanted something very fast - for a good price. I could have bought the GF7900GT online for $240 - which is a good price considering that retail stores sell 7600GS and ATI1600 for about $190~220 that are not even half as fast.
But I want a system to be as quiet as possible, especially with an Antech P160 case. I went with the Gigabyte 7600GT heatpipe solution. Its about $170 on Newegg (Normal FAN versions are $150) and so I didn't need to add an aftermarket fanless device... also a girlfriend's new 7600GS fan was failing after 4 weeks and is LOOOUD! This card has been reviewed as keeping the GPU cooler than a fan version.
Performance?: 3DMark shows this card to be about 4 times faster than my 9800Pro. In real life with UT2004. I went from 1024x768 AA2 HIGH detail settings to 1600x1200 AA4/AF HIGHEST/max details.
9800 pro = AVG 60fps on a large complex map (and sometimes lower)
7600GT = AVG 85fps on same map... higher details to boot.
I bought this for TODAY and because this system is a hold-over until UT2007 for a low price. Most games run VERY fast on this card. Ananadtech recenly ran a group roundup with mid-high end cards and the difference between the GF7900 was only 10~20fps in most games in 1600x1200. The ATI 1900XT was of course a LOT faster than the 7900GT.
A week after I installed the GF7600GT, ATI came out with the 1900GT which is about $275 - but should DROP to $220 or less since the 1900XT was $450 and now goes for $350 and the 256mb version is $300~325.
But I figure STILL - I have a fanless video card for half the price of a top-end card that plays todays game very good and when UT07 comes out, tomorrows $300 card will be twice as fast as today's $500 or SLI/CF setups.
PS: With the GF7600GT with UT in 1600x1200, my KILL abilities have gone up and when I accidently hit the WINDOWS key, it takes 1 second to JUMP back into the game rather than 10~15 seconds like the ATI9800Pro. Also, MAPS load up twice as fast.
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