That's the mouse I use. It's nothing fancy, but it works great. It's cheap, too. If you want a ton of buttons, that's what keyboards are for. If you want a ton of buttons on the mouse, you may need to look elsewhere, though.
Buy the extra 4GB of RAM and at least run a 2GB Ramdisk if you plan on playing MMORPGs, it really does a world of difference.
As far as video cards go...If you can SPARE the money....
Overclock your AMD processor to around 4Ghz and make sure you have good cooling. Then see if you can fit an Antiles in your case. For those who do not know..Antiles is the name of the 6990. I already tested one which is a Dual-GPU card and it will knock your socks off in performance. I would comment a lot more, but I am actually under a non-disclosure agreement (as well as all my partners as well.)
Trust me. You are all in for a treat.
On a personal note: I go Nvidia/Intel because Intel can run any OS (Linux, Mac OS X and Windows) and Nvidia can run any game in existence. Of course I am a programmer and heavily into music and game modding.
If you mean Intel processors, then yes, Intel x86 processors can run any OS built for x86 processors. But so can AMD processors, and, for that matter, VIA processors.
Get the Radeon 6950 and forget about the extra RAM. A 6870 with a RAM disk will still fail against a 6950. And if you aren't using a RAM disk 8GB doesn't really matter over 4GB. You will get a very slight performance boost going past 4GB just because Windows can keep more of itself in memory but nothing noteworthy.
Games themselves aren't allowed by Windows to use more than 2GB of memory so 8GB is really unnecessary.
Buy the extra 4GB of RAM and at least run a 2GB Ramdisk if you plan on playing MMORPGs, it really does a world of difference.
What do you stick on a 2G RAM drive to make it worthwhile? Most MMO's out there install to well over 5G, with many much much larger. And you can't just pick and choose which part of the installations to put on the RAM Drive, and which parts to stick on the standard drive (unless you do some really tricky folder and mount management with a persistent RAM drive).
I don't really see the advantage in MMOs in using a RAM drive. I can see using it for a temporary or cache folder for your browser or something, but to run an entire MMO from there, either it has to be a really small MMO, or a really big RAM Drive.
Unless you have some trick your willing to share, I don't see the point.
Buy the extra 4GB of RAM and at least run a 2GB Ramdisk if you plan on playing MMORPGs, it really does a world of difference.
What do you stick on a 2G RAM drive to make it worthwhile? Most MMO's out there install to well over 5G, with many much much larger. And you can't just pick and choose which part of the installations to put on the RAM Drive, and which parts to stick on the standard drive (unless you do some really tricky folder and mount management with a persistent RAM drive).
I was think the same thing :P
But RAM disks are sort of pointless anyway. Windows maintains a recent file access cache. This is the same functionality as a RAM disk. Not only that, Windows maintains a prefetch list to know what to load into the disk cache before you run it.
Yes, you can force data into ram disk manually that you know you'll need and it won't get flushed out. But you can just assign more ram to the disk cache by setting LargeSystemCache 1 in the registry so your MMO data doesn't get flushed out.
If you want to spend money on faster access times just buy an SSD.
Well I am happy to say the cards ready and being tested today. The 6950 isnt really that much faster then my 4870 was but it does run more complex games at the same speed and higher resolutions so Id say a excellent bit of future proofing. There are some anamolies though when it comes to the way it handles textures though. Mostly something new drivers will fix. The coolest thing though is the HDMI worked amazingly! My screen has awesome aduio and now games just sound so much better
Good to know, thanks for the update. I'm glad they have made HDMI work better in later driver revisions. I haven't tried it myself for a little while, and when I did, you had to mess with overscan, which was kinda kludgy.
At the moment its flawless. For me. Lol I always put that disclaimer because of how quirky computers are. I honestly am in Hog heaven now and Skyrim is probably going to eat me alive. As will a few other games. What I wasn't expecting was how much fun I am having playing old games with graphics I didn't even know were there. LOL funniest thing I've done so far is turn vsync off on Wow and see how many fps I can get. WTF@#$@# insane numbers!
I don't know about 100% faster, but it should be a noticeable jump to say the least. The difference will be much less dramatic if you are playing on a single screen, as the 4870 can likely still play most all games at 1080p with most all the options turned on as it is, but you do gain some increased performance on the newer titles (future proofing), and DX11 suppport.
I don't know about 100% faster, but it should be a noticeable jump to say the least. The difference will be much less dramatic if you are playing on a single screen, as the 4870 can likely still play most all games at 1080p with most all the options turned on as it is, but you do gain some increased performance on the newer titles (future proofing), and DX11 suppport.
Well the 5870 really is just about twice as fast as a 4870. The 5770, a 5870 basically cut in half, was just a hair slower.
Now the 6900 series is here, and it's a much more incremental upgrade (though pretty good for what they had to work with), but the 6950 is AT LEAST as fast as a 5870, by which I mean at least a little faster, so it should be double a 4870.
You could be right though. There may still be a fair number of titles not GPU bount on a 4870, especially when you consider how many ports from consoles there are. The likes of L4D, COD Modern Warfare (and 2) and Mass Effect weren't exactly GPU stress testers for any decent card, and it's no wonder given the console GPUs they had to run on... Mass Effect didn't even have an option for anti-aliasing! If we're talking Battlefield Bad Company 2 (with higher end options) or Metro 2033, on the other hand... well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty maxing those out on a single 4870
Simply put I upgraded for visual effects. Not speed. The 4870 was more then capable of rendering games in dx10.1 without lag. Overall the 6950 does have faster performance. That being said its not visually apparent.
Originally posted by Techleo Simply put I upgraded for visual effects. Not speed. The 4870 was more then capable of rendering games in dx10.1 without lag. Overall the 6950 does have faster performance. That being said its not visually apparent.
Same thing I noticed when I upgraded from a nVidia 260GTX to an AMD 6970. It was a much faster card, but I really couldn't see much in any of the games that I play, because I was already playing with most of the options and eye candy turned on, and with VSync enabled (my LCD monitor tears like a mofo).
Generally I get newer cards then I need because I beta test and having a higher end then needed card all but insures you get into them.I'm pretty much in every beta there is now. Including SWTOR. Which looks amazing on the new card.
Comments
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826623004
That's the mouse I use. It's nothing fancy, but it works great. It's cheap, too. If you want a ton of buttons, that's what keyboards are for. If you want a ton of buttons on the mouse, you may need to look elsewhere, though.
My advice for you is...
Buy the extra 4GB of RAM and at least run a 2GB Ramdisk if you plan on playing MMORPGs, it really does a world of difference.
As far as video cards go...If you can SPARE the money....
Overclock your AMD processor to around 4Ghz and make sure you have good cooling. Then see if you can fit an Antiles in your case. For those who do not know..Antiles is the name of the 6990. I already tested one which is a Dual-GPU card and it will knock your socks off in performance. I would comment a lot more, but I am actually under a non-disclosure agreement (as well as all my partners as well.)
Trust me. You are all in for a treat.
On a personal note: I go Nvidia/Intel because Intel can run any OS (Linux, Mac OS X and Windows) and Nvidia can run any game in existence.
Of course I am a programmer and heavily into music and game modding.
Well, Happy Gaming everyone. ^_^
"I would comment a lot more, but I am actually under a non-disclosure agreement (as well as all my partners as well.)"
An unreleased card for which most of those few who have access to it are under NDA and not allowed to say so, yet you have one and can say so? Right.
"Intel can run any OS (Linux, Mac OS X and Windows)"
Intel graphics can run any OS? Really?
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=intel_sandy_breaks&num=1
If you mean Intel processors, then yes, Intel x86 processors can run any OS built for x86 processors. But so can AMD processors, and, for that matter, VIA processors.
Get the Radeon 6950 and forget about the extra RAM. A 6870 with a RAM disk will still fail against a 6950. And if you aren't using a RAM disk 8GB doesn't really matter over 4GB. You will get a very slight performance boost going past 4GB just because Windows can keep more of itself in memory but nothing noteworthy.
Games themselves aren't allowed by Windows to use more than 2GB of memory so 8GB is really unnecessary.
What do you stick on a 2G RAM drive to make it worthwhile? Most MMO's out there install to well over 5G, with many much much larger. And you can't just pick and choose which part of the installations to put on the RAM Drive, and which parts to stick on the standard drive (unless you do some really tricky folder and mount management with a persistent RAM drive).
I don't really see the advantage in MMOs in using a RAM drive. I can see using it for a temporary or cache folder for your browser or something, but to run an entire MMO from there, either it has to be a really small MMO, or a really big RAM Drive.
Unless you have some trick your willing to share, I don't see the point.
I was think the same thing :P
But RAM disks are sort of pointless anyway. Windows maintains a recent file access cache. This is the same functionality as a RAM disk. Not only that, Windows maintains a prefetch list to know what to load into the disk cache before you run it.
Yes, you can force data into ram disk manually that you know you'll need and it won't get flushed out. But you can just assign more ram to the disk cache by setting LargeSystemCache 1 in the registry so your MMO data doesn't get flushed out.
If you want to spend money on faster access times just buy an SSD.
Well I am happy to say the cards ready and being tested today. The 6950 isnt really that much faster then my 4870 was but it does run more complex games at the same speed and higher resolutions so Id say a excellent bit of future proofing. There are some anamolies though when it comes to the way it handles textures though. Mostly something new drivers will fix. The coolest thing though is the HDMI worked amazingly! My screen has awesome aduio and now games just sound so much better
Good to know, thanks for the update. I'm glad they have made HDMI work better in later driver revisions. I haven't tried it myself for a little while, and when I did, you had to mess with overscan, which was kinda kludgy.
At the moment its flawless. For me. Lol I always put that disclaimer because of how quirky computers are. I honestly am in Hog heaven now and Skyrim is probably going to eat me alive. As will a few other games. What I wasn't expecting was how much fun I am having playing old games with graphics I didn't even know were there. LOL funniest thing I've done so far is turn vsync off on Wow and see how many fps I can get. WTF@#$@# insane numbers!
IIRC, a 6950 is basically a hair faster than a 5870, which means it should blow a 4870 out of the water. Quite literally, it's 100% faster.
I don't know about 100% faster, but it should be a noticeable jump to say the least. The difference will be much less dramatic if you are playing on a single screen, as the 4870 can likely still play most all games at 1080p with most all the options turned on as it is, but you do gain some increased performance on the newer titles (future proofing), and DX11 suppport.
Well the 5870 really is just about twice as fast as a 4870. The 5770, a 5870 basically cut in half, was just a hair slower.
Now the 6900 series is here, and it's a much more incremental upgrade (though pretty good for what they had to work with), but the 6950 is AT LEAST as fast as a 5870, by which I mean at least a little faster, so it should be double a 4870.
You could be right though. There may still be a fair number of titles not GPU bount on a 4870, especially when you consider how many ports from consoles there are. The likes of L4D, COD Modern Warfare (and 2) and Mass Effect weren't exactly GPU stress testers for any decent card, and it's no wonder given the console GPUs they had to run on... Mass Effect didn't even have an option for anti-aliasing! If we're talking Battlefield Bad Company 2 (with higher end options) or Metro 2033, on the other hand... well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty maxing those out on a single 4870
Simply put I upgraded for visual effects. Not speed. The 4870 was more then capable of rendering games in dx10.1 without lag. Overall the 6950 does have faster performance. That being said its not visually apparent.
on average if you own a dx10 card dont change it upgrade something else instead!
Same thing I noticed when I upgraded from a nVidia 260GTX to an AMD 6970. It was a much faster card, but I really couldn't see much in any of the games that I play, because I was already playing with most of the options and eye candy turned on, and with VSync enabled (my LCD monitor tears like a mofo).
Generally I get newer cards then I need because I beta test and having a higher end then needed card all but insures you get into them.I'm pretty much in every beta there is now. Including SWTOR. Which looks amazing on the new card.