Amd Athlon 64 3000+ and ATI Radeon x700 pro

[MrBebop26]

I have noticed the difference in HL2 and CS:S with Pixel Shadder 3.0, looks a LOT better if you ask me.

-Ryan

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

I have noticed the difference in HL2 and CS:S with Pixel Shadder 3.0, looks a LOT better if you ask me.

-Ryan

In the HL2 Lost Coast of corse

Currently HL2 does not use SM3

 

[dale5605]

dale5605, what did you get on 3DMarks03 and 3DMarks05, post pictures.

-Ryan

I can give you a compare url. http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=710244
3dmark03 I got 12660 but I don't have a compare for that because I really just use 05 now.

 

[Mr. Switch]

I can't even tell the difference between the screenshots, not that I have good eyes, but it's not very much. And that link tells you plain and simple that it offers very little performance edge and the game runs just fine without shader 3. Notice how when they start enabling the extra shader 3 options the game starts to run too slow. So thanks for proving my point with that link.

Dale, your blind. You can't tell me, or the good people in this forum that you can't tell a difference. its just not true.

originally posted by Hardocp.com
As you can see both, are able to do Specular Lighting, which is a big image quality feature of this game. The BFGTech GeForce 6800 Ultra OC has the benefit of having Parallax Mapping enabled, which does increase texture bump mapping quality and it does not have any problems with Specular Lighting as the RADEON X850 XT-PE does.

originally posted by Hardocp.com
Therefore, it seems that we found the same resolution, AA, and AF setting to be playable on each video card. As you can see in the graph above, performance is very close at these settings with the BFGTech GeForce 6800 Ultra OC slightly edging out the performance of the X850 XT.

Image Quality, however, was not equal. The BFGTech GeForce 6800 Ultra OC has Parallax Mapping enabled at 1280x1024 with no AA/16xAF, whereas the ATI RADEON X850 XT-PE does not have Parallax Mapping enabled because the option isnÂ’t even available for it.

All of the screenshots with the 6800 Ultra have HDR lighting, Parallax Mapping, and funcional specular lighting.

 

[Manhuntkotor]

Nvidia is looking kick ass right now. Was thinking of going ATI but Nividia has now caught my eye. Im going with a 6600GT at least. Question: Should i buya pre built computer from Alienware(LOVE the cases) or a Dell XPS, or should i buy all the parts and assemble it myself. Also, are these all of the things i need to have:
Case
Processor
Motherboard
Memory
DVD or CD drive
hard drive
soiund card
Monitor
Video card
Speakers
and a keyboard and mouse?
IS it alot cheaper to go the route and make it your self? Or should i have a proffesional pre built computer? Also, could you give me recomendations for each one? Thanx

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Defiantly build it yourself, it's much cheaper and much better

 

[Manhuntkotor]

Is it hard? Also plz give me some recomendations on everything i should buy. 1500-2000 price range

 

[dale5605]

Is it hard? Also plz give me some recomendations on everything i should buy. 1500-2000 price range

You could shoot higher than a 6600 gt with that budget, hooah!

 

[Manhuntkotor]

Alright, but that was at the least. I still have to do some shopping around. Is newegg good to buy from? And is that all of the stuff i need? Need a power supply, forgot that!

 

[dale5605]

Case: LL Warrior - Blue LED Special Edition (Black)
http://www.xoxide.com/ll-warrior-special-edition-black.html
$199.99

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103534
$196.00

Processor cooler: Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED CPU Cooler
http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-7000b-cu-led-cpu-cooler.html
$39.99

Motherboard: ABIT AN8 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127197
$136.00

Memory: OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC3200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146890
$170.99

DVD or CD drive: NEC Black IDE DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152035
$49.00

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ 80GB (2 of these)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148040
2X $65.50 = $131.00

Sound card: CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178
$71.00

Monitor: NEC AccuSync 17in LCD Monitor (Black)
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=230933
$269.99

Video card: eVGA Geforce 6800GT PCI-E
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130215
$359.00

Speakers: Logitech Z-5300E 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=360413
$129.99

Keyboard: Logitech Media Keyboard
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=211098
$19.99

Mouse: Logitech MX518 Gaming Grade
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104178
$41.00

Power Supply: OCZ PowerStream 520 Watt 24pin
http://www.xoxide.com/powerstream.html
$149.95

Total price: $1963.89

I think that's probably the best combo for you. We'll see if anyone else agrees with me (they usually don't).