Geforce FX 5700LE upgrade required ??

Hi everyone,

I have just recently built a new computer system using the following
components and I'm dissapointed with the results in the video department.
Can anyone who is into gaming/graphics/video etc, please suggest a
reasonably priced alternative to this video card, or alternatively, give me
any ideas on improving the systems performance of video/graphics.

Here is a rundown of the system:

ASUS K8V mainboard
AMD 64 3400+
250 GB SATA HDD
1GB DDR400 RAM
Geforce FX 5700LE (256MB)

I ran a benchmark, dated 2003, 'Futuremark, 2003 and the graphics refresh
rate was very jerky, especially on the last section of the benchmark, called
'Nature'. I'm sure you people out here will know exactly which benchmark
I'm talking about... The one with a running stream, and the turtle....

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I would really like to get the video
performing better than this, but I do not want to spend bucket loads of cash
on it, as I'm not really into gaming, but I feel that this card is letting
the system down. My main requirements on a replacement card would be DVI
output, TVOUT, and the ability to adjust the brightness and contrast of the
screen built into the software for the video card (as this one does all
those features, and they are important to me)...

The company I bought this card from, have offered me the chance to take it
back and upgrade it for extra cost (obviously) but I don't know what to go
for... They mentioned ATI Radeon 9800 (I think thats what it was)..
Comments please?

This card cost me about 70 quid, and I think I would consider spending
another 50 pounds or so, if it would greatly improve the graphics situation.

Many Thanks

Tony

To put it simply, there's no way that any FX5700-based card is going to
provide smooth framerates in the FutureMark nature test. Remember that
one of the things these guys are trying to do is chuck ridiculous amounts of
graphics at these cards to see how they handle it. The Nature test is only
going to run smoothly on a 5900 GeForce or above. It's just a fact of life.

But just because the nature test isn't smooth on the card doesn't mean you
need to bin it. I mean, who really gives a toss how smooth it is on a video
test you will never, ever, be able to interact with - unlike a game?

If you can't play your current favourite game at a smooth framerate, no
matter what you do, then fine - upgrade. As for me I have a GeForce FX 5700
256MB (not LE) and it's pathetic in the nature test as well. But I don't
care, because I know it will be fast enough for Half-Life 2. It won't be
able to play it with 4x antialiasing, or even anisotropic filtering, but I
don't need that stuff anyway for my enjoyment.

'Nuff said.


"Vaughan" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,

I have just recently built a new computer system using the following
components and I'm dissapointed with the results in the video department.
Can anyone who is into gaming/graphics/video etc, please suggest a
reasonably priced alternative to this video card, or alternatively, give
me any ideas on improving the systems performance of video/graphics.

Here is a rundown of the system:

ASUS K8V mainboard
AMD 64 3400+
250 GB SATA HDD
1GB DDR400 RAM
Geforce FX 5700LE (256MB)

I ran a benchmark, dated 2003, 'Futuremark, 2003 and the graphics refresh
rate was very jerky, especially on the last section of the benchmark,
called 'Nature'. I'm sure you people out here will know exactly which
benchmark I'm talking about... The one with a running stream, and the
turtle....

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I would really like to get the
video performing better than this, but I do not want to spend bucket loads
of cash on it, as I'm not really into gaming, but I feel that this card is
letting the system down. My main requirements on a replacement card would
be DVI output, TVOUT, and the ability to adjust the brightness and
contrast of the screen built into the software for the video card (as this
one does all those features, and they are important to me)...

The company I bought this card from, have offered me the chance to take it
back and upgrade it for extra cost (obviously) but I don't know what to go
for... They mentioned ATI Radeon 9800 (I think thats what it was)..
Comments please?

This card cost me about 70 quid, and I think I would consider spending
another 50 pounds or so, if it would greatly improve the graphics
situation.

Many Thanks

Tony

Vaughan:
ASUS K8V mainboard
AMD 64 3400+
250 GB SATA HDD
1GB DDR400 RAM
Geforce FX 5700LE (256MB)

Out of the box, the 5700LE is just about the worst card you could buy for
gaming. Unlike the other sucky gaming cards, the 5700LE is reportably an
excellent overclocker. Search back a few days and you'll find the link I
posted for another person having the same problem.

If you don't want to overclock the card, then definitely upgrade the video
card. The 9800 is an excellent choice.
--
Mac Cool

It depends on which games you are planning on playing. I play mostly BF1942
and Battlefield Vietnam. I have heard the upcoming Battlefield 2 will
require a graphics processor that handles a Doom 3 or upcoming HL2 type game
engine better. I used Tom's Hardware evalutations to look at each video
card and understand which one was best for me--
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...004/index.html

The pecking order for Nvidia cards as I see it (starting from more
performance to less performance for the "cheaper" cards)--
FX5900XT
FX5700 ultra
FX5600 ultra
FX5700
FX5600
FX5700LE
FX5600XT
FX5500

A Radeon 9800 is not in the same league as the cards above - much higher
performance but you will pay for it. You really need to look at what games
you plan on playing, if you plan on turning on AA/AF quality features, and
what level of framerates you consider acceptable (I target ~40 at the screen
resolution that I plan on playing at, others would argue more or less).

Personally I have a Ti4600 on one of my game machines (without AA/AF it
still is a good performer for games I play) and for a recently built system
I bought a FX5700 (no LE or ultra) and it provides comparable perf to my
Ti4600 without breaking the bank. I do plan on checking out one of those
Nvidia 6600s when the AGP version comes out (so far prices for the PCI
express version of the 6600 seem good, and perf-wise they blow away my
Ti4600 and now 5700).

Happy hunting!

Todd

p.s.: I have avoided ATI cards like the plague since the mid-90s... after
having endless driver issues with the cards I converted all of my machines
to Nvidia cards. Now that was a long time ago but I still do not chance it,
I have encountered no driver issues with all of the Nvidia cards I have used
in my past now (and that is quite a few now and I really appreciate the one
driver for all cards idea).



"Vaughan" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,

I have just recently built a new computer system using the following
components and I'm dissapointed with the results in the video department.
Can anyone who is into gaming/graphics/video etc, please suggest a
reasonably priced alternative to this video card, or alternatively, give
me any ideas on improving the systems performance of video/graphics.

Here is a rundown of the system:

ASUS K8V mainboard
AMD 64 3400+
250 GB SATA HDD
1GB DDR400 RAM
Geforce FX 5700LE (256MB)

I ran a benchmark, dated 2003, 'Futuremark, 2003 and the graphics refresh
rate was very jerky, especially on the last section of the benchmark,
called 'Nature'. I'm sure you people out here will know exactly which
benchmark I'm talking about... The one with a running stream, and the
turtle....

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I would really like to get the
video performing better than this, but I do not want to spend bucket loads
of cash on it, as I'm not really into gaming, but I feel that this card is
letting the system down. My main requirements on a replacement card would
be DVI output, TVOUT, and the ability to adjust the brightness and
contrast of the screen built into the software for the video card (as this
one does all those features, and they are important to me)...

The company I bought this card from, have offered me the chance to take it
back and upgrade it for extra cost (obviously) but I don't know what to go
for... They mentioned ATI Radeon 9800 (I think thats what it was)..
Comments please?

This card cost me about 70 quid, and I think I would consider spending
another 50 pounds or so, if it would greatly improve the graphics
situation.

Many Thanks

Tony