westy159
In Runtime
- Messages
- 182
- Location
- United Kingdom
I have a feeling that something isnt right. Ive had my 128mb Geforce 6800XT (8pp, 4vp) for a while now and have never tried doing anything to it in fear of damaging it. Recently I have been frantic about getting a new graphics card with my tight budget so I could have a chance of keeping up with the latest games. But today, sick of trying to find the lowest priced 7600GT AGP in the UK, I just went for it.
Using Rivatuner I found to my amazement that my XT had a total of 16 pixel pipes and 6 vertex pipes (6800Ultra?). Only 8pp and 4vp were being used. I decided to go to vanilla 6800, i unlocked 4pp and 1vp. Restarting my PC to let the changes take places i gritted my teeth thinking that any second my computer would just explode...
Everything loaded as normal. I rushed to PC Wizard 06 expecting to see my GPU at volcano like tempreatures. They remained as normal. I tried the PC Wizard video card benchmark test. It got the same results as before. I went back to Rivatuner and it told me that the card was using 12pp and 5vp. So I tried a game.
I doubt many of you are familiar with the Total war series. I tried the Medieval 2 Total War demo which before hand ran at a jerky frame rate, even on medium/lower settings. I started a battle and everything was smoooth. I turned my settings and resolution up to the max and still everything was smooth. I couldnt believe it. Things did get jumpy as the fighting started but I expected much worse than that. Ok, I did only play for about 10 mins to rush back here to tell you all.
Really i didnt think it was possible to for it to have that much of a difference. Yet the benchmarking did remain the same. GPU temps are still run as they did before (60C-70C idle, 70C-80C load /i realise this is a bit hot but I have a old Dell case, poor cooling system). Now Im thinking of going further and unlocking the other 4pp and the other vp and overclocking my core and memory frequencys to GT/Ultra speeds. Though i have a feeling that is where I will over do it and everything goes wrong.
Still, if I leave it how it is I will be extremely happy. Its saved me a couple of hundred on buying a new card.
Using Rivatuner I found to my amazement that my XT had a total of 16 pixel pipes and 6 vertex pipes (6800Ultra?). Only 8pp and 4vp were being used. I decided to go to vanilla 6800, i unlocked 4pp and 1vp. Restarting my PC to let the changes take places i gritted my teeth thinking that any second my computer would just explode...
Everything loaded as normal. I rushed to PC Wizard 06 expecting to see my GPU at volcano like tempreatures. They remained as normal. I tried the PC Wizard video card benchmark test. It got the same results as before. I went back to Rivatuner and it told me that the card was using 12pp and 5vp. So I tried a game.
I doubt many of you are familiar with the Total war series. I tried the Medieval 2 Total War demo which before hand ran at a jerky frame rate, even on medium/lower settings. I started a battle and everything was smoooth. I turned my settings and resolution up to the max and still everything was smooth. I couldnt believe it. Things did get jumpy as the fighting started but I expected much worse than that. Ok, I did only play for about 10 mins to rush back here to tell you all.
Really i didnt think it was possible to for it to have that much of a difference. Yet the benchmarking did remain the same. GPU temps are still run as they did before (60C-70C idle, 70C-80C load /i realise this is a bit hot but I have a old Dell case, poor cooling system). Now Im thinking of going further and unlocking the other 4pp and the other vp and overclocking my core and memory frequencys to GT/Ultra speeds. Though i have a feeling that is where I will over do it and everything goes wrong.
Still, if I leave it how it is I will be extremely happy. Its saved me a couple of hundred on buying a new card.