vimes Posted April 21, 2005 How crappy a company is Saphire? What other brand might be better? Thanks again. Sapphire is a very good company, I'm the happy owner of a radeon 9600Xp from this constructor and it's a very good one. Only thing i can regret is the not-so-silent fan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manny_c44 Posted April 21, 2005 Sapphire is fine, make sure that the speed is appropriate for the card and not slightly underclocked. If the clock speeds are Ok the only way they could really be "cheap" was if the overclocking ability was hampered, usually not a problem and you won't even be overclocking. If they're not trying to rip you off just buy whatever is cheapest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted April 21, 2005 Thanks for the info. I'm trying to find some clocking info online. Anyone have any thoughts on Radeon 9600PRO 128MB vs. Radeon 9600 256MB? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted April 21, 2005 Speaking from personal experience and from extensive internet research, if you have an Abit AV8 motherboard, don't get a Radeon 9600. The 9600 is apparently a very nice card, but hundreds of people including myself have been unable to use it for gaming due to a weird issue with the AV8 that prevents the motherboard from sending the video card enough power to function when playing intensive 3d games. It's a pretty specific combination of hardware so it probably doesn't apply to you but I feel it's my duty to spread the word. Both ATI and Abit are known to be aware of the problem but have refused to help in any way other than suggesting updating drivers and so forth, which has not seemed to help anyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manny_c44 Posted April 21, 2005 Anyone have any thoughts on Radeon 9600PRO 128MB vs. Radeon 9600 256MB? A larger amount of RAM is useless except for playing games with super-high-resolution textures on special settings like Doom 3 (this is becoming a more frequent option). Quite frankly, it wouldn't make a damn difference how much ram you had because you'd be playing it at 6 fps on a regular 9600. 9600PRO is much faster, although by todays standards it is the budget end of DX9 cards (a good card though, I recommend it, and it can stand relatively large amounts of overclocking). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amishler Posted April 21, 2005 Has anybody noticed that Psychonauts.com already has patches available? One for the demo, and one for the full game, 11 MB each. I didn't see anything specific about what they fix, but they're zip files, so maybe they include a ReadMe with more info. [EDIT] They don't, just compressed .exe files. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duncan Posted April 21, 2005 * Fixed crash on cpus that don't support SSE That's all, apparently. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
amishler Posted April 21, 2005 Cool, where'd you find that? Did I look right past it on the official page, or is it tucked away somewhere else? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted April 21, 2005 Is it just me, or is the GeForce naming system incredibly complicated? The Web page I found explaining them didn't mention FX, PCX or ones that just say GeForce but have larger numbers. Or ones that end in TC. I assume GeForce FX is better than 3 since it's in the recommended requirements. But is it better than four? What the hell is going on? I think I may need a PCI slot card. Sorry to drive this further off topic. Maybe it should split into a "getting a graphics card to play psychonauts" thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thrik Posted April 21, 2005 It's not hugely complicated, although the FX one is a bit of a confuser at first. The FX series is essentially just the 5th series, then you've got the TI series being the 4th series, the rest are just named by number. Certain cards in each series fall well above or below cards in higher/lower serieses though, so have a good look into a card before buying it. The MX that I mentioned earlier is one example. As a small piece of advice though, I'd try to avoid the FX series if you can, and just go straight to the AGP 6th series. The cards are far more powerful, and are worth the extra cash. The 6600gt is a fairly good card which is powerful yet affordable, although it has problems with VIA and SiS mainboards, so avoid it should you have either of those. ATI don't really have a comparable card to the 6600gt afaik. The 2nd/3rd/4th Geforce series cards should just be outright avoided. Most of them are 100% obsolete and no longer supported, and newer drivers pretty much ignore their existence (you get far better performance with two year old drivers when using a GF4 than you do with the recent ones). They're cheap, sure, but they'll struggle. They'll struggle a lot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Duncan Posted April 21, 2005 Cool, where'd you find that? Did I look right past it on the official page, or is it tucked away somewhere else? That's from the updated readme for the patched demo. You have to install the patch before you have any idea what it does, basically. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted April 22, 2005 Thanks for your help, everybody. I'm probably gonna end up with an Xbox now, as I'm not sure the cards will work right with my PC. I guess I'll have to sell my PC Psychonauts, keep the shirt and save up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manny_c44 Posted April 22, 2005 Well I hope you want other games for Xbox because it won't be supported much longer, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Intrepid Homoludens Posted April 22, 2005 I'm actually planning to buy my own Xbox soon (the one I use is belongs to my niece and nephew, and I'm moving away so will need my own). When Xbox 360 comes out I'll wait a few months and then consider getting it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted April 22, 2005 Well I hope you want other games for Xbox because it won't be supported much longer, I only have eyes for Psychonauts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Intrepid Homoludens Posted April 22, 2005 You say that with such ardently blind faith. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
netmonkey Posted April 22, 2005 Hey, people still have super nintendos! I'm waiting when I start making money again to start getting xbox games for cheap! stock up on the collection, ya know. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chris Posted April 22, 2005 It is likely that Microsoft will continue supporting Xbox until at least 2006 or 2007. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Intrepid Homoludens Posted April 22, 2005 Yes, that is right. I forgot where I read it, but the soon-to-be old Xbox will be supported until 2007. Which is not bad at all considering its power and capabilities. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nsps Posted April 22, 2005 Well, if it's a bad move to pay $189 for one game, it appears I could get a GeForce FX5200 or FX5700LE. I'm not sure if the LE makes it better or worse, but the FX5600 is the minimum recommended. I could also get a PCI Radeon 9250 or 9200SE, which should fit the requirements. Possible brands include Apollo, Jaton, Prolink, PNY. Sapphire, Powercolor and Infotek for the Radeons. Actually, all those Radeons say DirectX 8, so they're no good anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites