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12-16-2003, 06:32 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 6
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Will upgrading to a RADEON 9600 Pro make BF1942 run at better frames with my system?
Hello everyone. I have BF1942, I absolutely love it, (getting Call of Duty for Christmas) and I want to get it to run at better frame rates. As of now, I have it running at around 20-40 fps with medium settings and the sound quality turned down a bit, I know its broad, but because of this broadness the fps constantly shifts around, making the gameplay feel like its somewhat underwater, etc. To the point, it just isnt enjoyable, not to my tastes, and knowing it could run better, it annoys me. My specs are the following:
-AMD Athlon XP 2000+
-512 mbs DDR SDRAM (PC2100)
-VIA AC'97 intergrated soundcard
-RADEON 8500LE 128MB video card
-Various other generic parts (my PC really isn't a hardcore gaming PC, I just want to run future games, like Doom 3, Half life 2, BF1942, Call of Duty, etc. at playable framerates and a bit of graphical flare)
My friend tells me that with a RADEON 9600 Pro upgrade (from my RADEON 8500 128mb) it will boost the frames considerably, to 60 fps and beyond with max settings in BF1942.
I need some insight and advice on this upgrade, so before upgrading to a new video card, I should take into consideration on purchasing different parts instead.
Thanks.
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12-16-2003, 06:35 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Far Western Kansas
Posts: 1,497
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In a nutshell, YES
The LE is really not a very good card. The plain 8500 is actually better.
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12-17-2003, 02:19 AM
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#3 (permalink)
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Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Augsburg, Germany
Posts: 3,814
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Yes, you'll notice. Be aware that the 9600 series need a 4x/8x capable mainboard - they can't do 1x or 2x modes anymore. But on an Athlon XP system, you should have that.
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12-17-2003, 05:32 AM
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#4 (permalink)
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Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Hamilton, On, Ca
Posts: 2,369
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I did that exact upgrade, except mine was an 8500LE 64Mb (Also my CPU is a bit faster)
it is a noticeable upgrade (about 40% faster) games are quite smooth now where they used to be choppy at the same res, same detail.
you may want to consider getting a sound card tho, the onboard AC97 from what I remember sucks up CPU power... or consider an Nforce 2 board with soundstorm (doesn't seem to use much CPU power if any.)
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12-17-2003, 07:08 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Southampton, PA
Posts: 810
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The FX5900 is a better card than the 9600 for the money, I hear.
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12-17-2003, 12:01 PM
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#6 (permalink)
| | Contributing Editor
Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: CJ,MO:REBEL Base
Posts: 2,169
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Yeah, its price has been dropping, but I would still say go with the 9600.
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12-17-2003, 01:46 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 6
| Quote: Originally posted by Peter M
Be aware that the 9600 series need a 4x/8x capable mainboard - they can't do 1x or 2x modes anymore. But on an Athlon XP system, you should have that. | Really? AGP speed? Because I heard the samething from a different forum, so I downloaded AIDA32, booted it up, found out that my supported AGP speeds are 1x and 2x (or is this the supported speeds of the RADEON 8500? I'm confused) and the version is 2.00. So I turned to my friend, while extremely worried that the 9600 Pro wouldn't be compatible with my computer, and he said "Don't worry, an AGP slot is an AGP slot, you just won't be able to run the card at 4x or 8x."
So is it really true I wouldn't be able to use the 9600 Pro? Bah, this means I will have to uprade my motherboard..and I'm absolutely terrible with hardware  .
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12-17-2003, 01:53 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wilsonville, OR
Posts: 2,220
| Quote: Originally posted by The Real Bingo
The FX5900 is a better card than the 9600 for the money, I hear. | Woah, hold the boat! The 9600 is not even in the same realm as the 5900 - one is a top-end board (nVidia) and the other (ATI) is a mid-level card that performs and overclocks very well, is quiet, and has much better visual quality compared with the 5900. It's your choice - good vis quality and overclockability versus lackluster qual, noise, but much higher speed.
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12-17-2003, 02:34 PM
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#9 (permalink)
| | Contributing Editor
Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: CJ,MO:REBEL Base
Posts: 2,169
| Quote: Originally posted by BuRNBuDDy
Really? AGP speed? Because I heard the samething from a different forum, so I downloaded AIDA32, booted it up, found out that my supported AGP speeds are 1x and 2x (or is this the supported speeds of the RADEON 8500? I'm confused) and the version is 2.00. So I turned to my friend, while extremely worried that the 9600 Pro wouldn't be compatible with my computer, and he said "Don't worry, an AGP slot is an AGP slot, you just won't be able to run the card at 4x or 8x."
So is it really true I wouldn't be able to use the 9600 Pro? Bah, this means I will have to uprade my motherboard..and I'm absolutely terrible with hardware . | Here's the deal. The 9600 only works 4x and 8x. So if your mobo dont run that high, you cant use the card. Open Smartgart and see what it says your AGP speeds can be set to.
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12-17-2003, 02:42 PM
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#10 (permalink)
| | Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: PA
Posts: 1,609
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this isnt good... i got my dad to buy my bro a 9600 for christmas... i dont know what mobo he has (trying to find out)...
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