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Enough power for 2500x1600?

C

conscript

2[H]4U
Joined
Mar 19, 2001
Messages
2,600
So I'm about to take the plunge to a 30" monitor, after having played with a 1900x1200 for the last 1 1/2 years with a 8800 GTS 640MB. I never really ran into any issues with rig with any games I played, including Crysis.

Well, I gave my old rig to my g/f and decided to build a new one. Despite conventional wisdom, I decided to change it up a bit and build an all AMD/ATI system, after years of Intel and Nvidia, and currently I've go everything set up and running except my new vid card and monitor (see below). I know I could have probably put together a superior system with intel for a similar price...but i just wanted a change, so let's not try to rationalize more than that on that decision :p

Anyway, to my question...i play a bit of mmo's, and expect quite a bit of Warhammer to be played on this rig (think system requirements like WoW, just a little more detailed). since I've never played at 2500x1600 res, wondering if a 4870 would be enough to play most mmo's with fairly good graphic settings, or if the 512mb of memory is really going to hurt me. Would it be that important to wait for the 1GB versions? I'm not a huge fan of multi gpu solutions so I'd really rather stay away from them...but to be honest I'm contemplating just breaking my irrational resolve of an all ATI/AMD rig and getting a GTX280 now with 1GB vid memory because of the high resolution...but not sure if that's overkill. I'd prefer a 4870 if the concensus is it's more than enough for WAR.

I'll also mess around with TF2 and some RTS from time to time, but i could care less how Crysis runs...didn't really care for the game.

Thanks for your input.
 
conscript said:
So I'm about to take the plunge to a 30" monitor, after having played with a 1900x1200 for the last 1 1/2 years with a 8800 GTS 640MB. I never really ran into any issues with rig with any games I played, including Crysis.

Well, I gave my old rig to my g/f and decided to build a new one. Despite conventional wisdom, I decided to change it up a bit and build an all AMD/ATI system, after years of Intel and Nvidia, and currently I've go everything set up and running except my new vid card and monitor (see below). I know I could have probably put together a superior system with intel for a similar price...but i just wanted a change, so let's not try to rationalize more than that on that decision :p

Anyway, to my question...i play a bit of mmo's, and expect quite a bit of Warhammer to be played on this rig (think system requirements like WoW, just a little more detailed). since I've never played at 2500x1600 res, wondering if a 4870 would be enough to play most mmo's with fairly good graphic settings, or if the 512mb of memory is really going to hurt me. Would it be that important to wait for the 1GB versions? I'm not a huge fan of multi gpu solutions so I'd really rather stay away from them...but to be honest I'm contemplating just breaking my irrational resolve of an all ATI/AMD rig and getting a GTX280 now with 1GB vid memory because of the high resolution...but not sure if that's overkill. I'd prefer a 4870 if the concensus is it's more than enough for WAR.

I'll also mess around with TF2 and some RTS from time to time, but i could care less how Crysis runs...didn't really care for the game.

Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

You will pretty much want to have the fastest card you can afford for a 2560x1600 30" monitor.

The 4870 is perfectly fine for TF2, and something like WOW at native res. However, with the newer games its hard to say. I know you said you're not looking for a multi-GPU solution, but the 4870X2 comes out tomorrow and should be something you might want to investigate instead of going with a single GTX280. Especially after seeing the numbers that it pulls in Age of Conan in 2560x1600 in the Hardocp preview.
 
yea i get ya, i figure if I go with a single 4870 now, if i ever really need to i could always get another later in CF, if my solution is multi-gpu. I guess my biggest question is, is the 512MB of Vid memory a terrible hindrance for a game like WoW with alot of the candy on (WAR's closest comparison)? Seriously, I'll spend 90% of my gaming life playing WAR or other mmo's, so if it can run them then that's all I really care about, though it's nice to always have the option to add another card if needed.
 
Well, I couldn't say for WAR, as I am in the beta, but not yet able to play, but I'm sure a 4870 should be fine IF the game and drivers are optimized properly....
 
well I've been in beta for over a year, and that's why I'm asking for people's opinion for running WoW. Could you run wow on high settings at 2500x1600 with a 4870? WAR is a little bit more demanding, but I'll settle for a WoW comparison.
 
A 4870 would be great but id highly recommend crossfire or a 4870x2 as well just incase you want to play other games in the future. I say this because gaming at anything other than native res is usually lackluster.
 
i'd have to say crossfired 4870 or a 4870x2 at that high res, anything else and the frames will drop considerably at anything above decent graphics (just google a few gaming reviews on gfx cards and 30" screens)
 
I could run WoW on highest settings at 1280x1024 with an old 6800GS. HD4870 is probably 10-20x more powerful.
 
Traze said:
Man, some people just have money to burn....
Click to expand...

I know. The performance of the 4870x2 is incrudable and it makes me want to build a new system and with Stalker: Clear Sky, Fallout 3 and the Witcher: Enhanced due soon it's oh so very tempting. However I still think I'll be able to play those games fine so I'm probably not going to upgrade for another 6 months. I need a new lcd though as mine is only 1280x1024 atm. Right now thats perfectly fine but I've been looking at the 1680x1050 22" monitors. They look so much nicer then my 19" but then I'd need a new system... now if I build something it needs to last me at least two years. Hmmm....
 
conscript said:
well I've been in beta for over a year, and that's why I'm asking for people's opinion for running WoW. Could you run wow on high settings at 2500x1600 with a 4870? WAR is a little bit more demanding, but I'll settle for a WoW comparison.
Click to expand...

I ran WOW on high settings at 2560x1600 on an 8800GTS 640MB with no problems using just the in game settings. I didn't try any custom AA through the control panel. I'm more tolerant of less AA at that high of a resolution anyways. My dual 3870x2's have been ok for everything else. Some AA performance issues that I assume will be fixed with the 4870x2 because of the 1GB per GPU, instead of the 512MB I deal with today. This is the big thing when running 2560x1600. You need that extra memory if you want to use AA as well in this resolution.
 
yeah i'd get a 4870x2 it will most certainly run wow at max with a decent amount of aa as well.
 
4870X2 for your resolution. I think 4870 is overrated, yes it's a very powerful card, but 8800GT SLi can beat it in most games. If you want to play future games in max settings, 4870x2 for sure.
 
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