News Flash: NVidia Sucks! (HL2 Performance)

[bigjko]

Oh, wow! http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1862

Yup. That's right. Ati rock!

the Radeon 9600 Pro performs very well - it is a good competitor of the 5900 ultra

Guess who owns a Radeon 9600 Pro. Me! You better believe it, baby!
Oh, this just made my day!

[bigjko]

More on the Benchmarks:

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/HL2_benchmarks/001.htm

[remixor]

I'd be happy with something that could RUN HL2 :(

[Christina]

Does anyone know the system specs for HL2 yet or at least ballpark figures?

I'm debating about whether or not to get a new Alienware system. :)

[zarathustrian]

Does anyone know the system specs for HL2 yet or at least ballpark figures?

I'm debating about whether or not to get a new Alienware system. :)I wonder how the game will run compared to Doom III--which one will be the bigger resource hog?

[remixor]

From what I've seen and read, Doom 3 will claim that title.

[mrdunn]

Does anyone know the system specs for HL2 yet or at least ballpark figures?

I'm debating about whether or not to get a new Alienware system. :)


I just got a new Alienware about 2 months ago, however I couldn't afford to spend the mega bucks to get all the bells and whistles, I ended up getting a GeForce 5600. I would definately recommend them... However, if you do, get the best stuff possible, because I tried the Homeworld2 Demo that just came out, which uses DX9, and thats the first game that has made the framerate chug. So, 5600 is great for older games, but now I'm a little worried about the next gen games coming out the end of this year, and early next year. Oh well....still the best computer I've ever owned :9~ :D

[Christina]

I just got a new Alienware about 2 months ago, however I couldn't afford to spend the mega bucks to get all the bells and whistles, I ended up getting a GeForce 5600. I would definately recommend them... However, if you do, get the best stuff possible, because I tried the Homeworld2 Demo that just came out, which uses DX9, and thats the first game that has made the framerate chug. So, 5600 is great for older games, but now I'm a little worried about the next gen games coming out the end of this year, and early next year. Oh well....still the best computer I've ever owned :9~ :D

Actually I'm thinking about getting the cheapest video card option that they have and then replacing it with an All in Wonder Radeon 9800 pro. :)

Did you get an AMD or an Intel? I've used AMD for years, but the intel chips they have available have more Ghz.

[Garyos]

- Valve recommends running geforce fx 5200 and 5600 cards in dx8 mode in order to get playable frame rates.

:frown:

That's me.... I guess it isn't as bad as they make it seem like, though, those hardware tester guys have REALLY high standards.....

[bigjko]

Well, from the benchmarks I link in the second post, it seems GeForce users will get framerates as low as 10 FPS with DX9 features enabled(that's the super cool water effects, to name a few)

But never fear, even 700 MHZ, 32mb TNT2 card users can play the game with decent framerates. Of course, that mean disabling almost all the cool features, except for facial animations and physics, and generally making the game look like poo. But if you are buying a card now, an Ati card would be the way to go. I hear 9600 Pro's are performing quite well, and they're dead cheap. :devil:

EDIT: http://www.beyond3d.com/news/images/hl21.gif

Those numbers come straight from Valve.

[bigjko]

http://www.tech-report.com/etc/2003q3/valve/index.x?pg=1

Interesting. Also, Valve are going to be releasing a benchmark tool to the masses before releasing HL2. So you can test if your computer can handle the game before getting the game! :D

[James]

I've used both a NVidia card [GeForce2] and an ATI card [Radeon Mobility somethingorother], and found both cards to be excellent. It is my opinion, that once you reach the ludicrous heights of the cutting edge in graphics cards, a few more points on benchmarking, hardly makes any difference to actual performance, ego massage aside.

[Garyos]

:(

10 FPS???? But I thought my card was rather good..... :(

[theneb]

I've already updated to my nice system of an Athlon 2800, 1GB PC3200 with my Sapphire radeon 9800.
It runs great, just that as of yet I haven't got the drivers working in linux. The module won't initilize.

[Marek]

I guess my Radeon 9700 plain vanilla will be able to handle HL2's mayhem. Though I need to upgrade my Athlon 800. The problem is, I can't seem to find out what kind of motherboard I have!! It has a brand name on it but no type or anything. And I've lost the original receipt. :shifty:

[James]

Valve suggest that Half-Life2 will scale to whatever system it is being run on, and that the top end of modern PC specifications will only see it in all manner of splendour. Marek, I'd suggest that you should be able to run it, given your current specs, though obviously not at full capacity.

[Royal Fool]

I have to say, I found this pic really funny:

http://www.beyond3d.com/news/images/hl22.gif

As can be clearly seen, the Radeon 9600 Pro represents the most bang for your buck. So to speak. (It's a Radeon 9600 Pro, not a regular 9600... just a typo Valve's people made)

Looks like I'll be getting myself one before the end of the month, I hope.
:D

(Btw, the new forum editor is funky...)

[James]

Royal Fool old chap, 'fraid that link is dead.

[Royal Fool]

Royal Fool old chap, 'fraid that link is dead.Certainly looks like it; the picture in bigjko's post isn't displaying either. No matter, I shall find a prompt mirror of this image.

EDIT: Well will ya look at that! Right after I replied, the images appeared again! Hurray...

[James]

Seems like NVidia tampering to me :P. Those graphs make stark viewing for them, don't they? Unfortunately, the graphics card war is so fast paced, that NVidia could launch a card within the next 6 months that will blow ATI out of the water - again. When buying a card, it's really value for money that is key, as opposed to those extra points on a benchmark, itaque the pracitical application in gaming.

[bigjko]

I've used both a NVidia card [GeForce2] and an ATI card [Radeon Mobility somethingorother], and found both cards to be excellent. It is my opinion, that once you reach the ludicrous heights of the cutting edge in graphics cards, a few more points on benchmarking, hardly makes any difference to actual performance, ego massage aside.

10 FPS as opposed to 30 FPS is quite a change in performance..

And this is not some synthetic benchmark, this is a game benchmark, so that's how the cards will perform under DX9 settings in HL2.

[Christina]

10 FPS as opposed to 30 FPS is quite a change in performance..

And this is not some synthetic benchmark, this is a game benchmark, so that's how the cards will perform under DX9 settings in HL2.

Yeah, 10 to 30 is certainly going to make a difference in the performance. I read an article yesterday that said for them, HL2 was near unplayable on an Nvidea 5200 and 5600.

"10 FPS???? But I thought my card was rather good..... "


From what I can tell, the big problem is that HL2 is built for DX9 and the ATI cards were better at getting compatable with DX9 than Nvidia was.

Certainly bad news for Nvidia as all big upcoming games are going to take advantage of the latest DirectX.

[bigjko]

Yeah, that's basically what this whole threads been about, Christina. :P

[James]

I mean on 3dMark benchmarks or equivilant, the previous basis for comparison between ATI and NVidia. I also think it's rather foolish to sign their deathwarrant yet, as the game is not released yet, and this gives NVidia ample time to modify the card's performance with Direct X9.

[Christina]

Yeah, that's basically what this whole threads been about, Christina. :P

I just love to overstate the obvious. :P

[bigjko]

I mean on 3dMark benchmarks or equivilant, the previous basis for comparison between ATI and NVidia. I also think it's rather foolish to sign their deathwarrant yet, as the game is not released yet, and this gives NVidia ample time to modify the card's performance with Direct X9.

You're absolutely right, they're not gonna go down so easily.
http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/ati_vs_nvidia/dx9_desktop/HL2_benchmarks/003.htm

[James]

Dont write them off yet.

[bigjko]

I'd never write off NVidia. But they've been known to give Hardware Reviewers beta drivers that are then never released to the public. Beta drivers that improve performance at the loss of image quality. That's a no-no.

But regardless, NVidia will most likely bring out a card that would be better suited for DX9 games, like Half-Life 2. It's just funny that, with the current Det drivers, the Radeon 9600 Pro is giving the FX 5900 Ultra, a card that's almost three times the price of the 9600, some heavy competition. Well, not so much funny as it is sad.

[desert34]

James seems to be the only person with any sense on this thread. ATI and Nvidia cards are pretty much the same at cutting edge levels. I have the source code for Half Life 2, and i have a 5900 ultra..and my system goes way above 30 frames per second like you ati fan boys insist with your biased benchmarks. as a matter of fact i see my frame go from anywhere from 30-75 or so frames per second. ATI cards will prolly perform about the same as nvidia cards with the full version of Half life 2. nvidia cards dont suck that bad...they are great.

[5abanja]

. I have the source code for Half Life 2,

U HAVE THE SOURCE CODE ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

How did u get it?

[Bard09]

Hm... I have a GeForce Ti4600 (the 128 MB version) on an Athlon XP 3200+. It's a fast processor given the test specs, but I haven't even seen a HL2 comparison with a 4600 in it yet. I'm not planning on upgrading my PC just for just one game, though. Well, maybe not. I will if the mod scene really takes off.

[Jayel]

Didn't John Carmack say something about Nvidia cards' pixel/vertex shader performance? I think he mentioned in one of his .plan files that he had to lower bit precision to run Doom3 acceptably on Nvidia cards. or something.
I don't have any links to back it up. sorry.

[AGA]

U HAVE THE SOURCE CODE ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
How did u get it?

It was leaked two months ago. You can find it on any P2P network.

[Marek]

Doesn't anyone strike it as, uhh, oh, premature to be talking benchmarks for a game that isn't done?! We've only got some leaked, unoptimized, 100%-in-development code. This is a little crazy.

[5abanja]

It . You can find it on any P2P network.

WHERE EXACTLY???

[kwbridge]

I guess my Radeon 9700 plain vanilla will be able to handle HL2's mayhem. Though I need to upgrade my Athlon 800. The problem is, I can't seem to find out what kind of motherboard I have!! It has a brand name on it but no type or anything. And I've lost the original receipt. :shifty:

Did you ever find out what type of Motherboard you have? This program could help. It gives all sorts in info about your system and it should be able to read the id, name and type of your motherboard.

http://www.aida32.hu/aida-download.php?bit=32

Kim

[AGA]

WHERE EXACTLY???

Whoa, calm down :P

Like I said, on any P2P (peer to peer) network. Places like KaZaA and BitTorrent... I'm not gonna link you to any though, because that'd be against the forum rules.

[5abanja]

hey AGA, did u ever get to play the game?
how long did it take u to download it?

[AGA]

hey AGA, did u ever get to play the game?
how long did it take u to download it?

I never tried it myself, I'm waiting for the full game.

[Garyos]

Hmmm, the Nvidia drivers got updated recently. Does anyone know if this is the magic driver that'll fix all the HL2 problems for them?