Experience Index must be wrong...right?

[Sycthus]

According to the windows experience index, my base score is 4.7, (from my graphics card?!?), which can "Support the new features of Windows 7 and can support running multiple programs at once". When actually, back in XP, I was running big spec full-blown high res games. For games, it recommends a 6.0 or a 7.0. My system is as follows:

Windows 7
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ 2.6Ghz Dual Core
2Gb RAM
nVidia GeForce Zotac 9400 GT 512Mb
RealTek Audio HD ouput

I think this is a gamers end PC, is it not? It's not brilliant, but I haven't found a game yet I can't run on it.

 

[BetaMan]

Ha, I have the exact same card. Except mine is PNY (haha, Pony). And I don't want to be mean or anything, but your pc isn't really equipped for heavy or regular gaming. I mean, with a 9400 I can manage to crank out around 20-30 fps on ultra high with 8x AA on Lord of the rings online. I guess that's OK but a real gaming compy would crank out 60-80. And going towards the Experience index thing... I would say that Windows 7 is just retarded when it comes to that. It gave me a 4.6 >_> So I just added all the numbers together and divided them by 5 (average them). And back to gaming, here would be some good specs for a gaming compy:


4-8 GB 800/1033 RAM
1TB SATA HDD
nVidia GeForce 9800 GT/GTX/GTX+/GX2 or Geforce GTX 260 and up
AMD Phenom x4 Quad-Core 3.4GhZ Black Edition
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional
and of course, Windows 7 Ultimate x64

 

[Thrax]

Yeah, your system isn't really a gamer system. The CPU is several years out of date, you don't have enough RAM, and your GPU was a budget model the day it exited the factory. I'm sure it's enough to capably run games on moderate settings, but it's no powerhouse. :/

 

[Sycthus]

I'm sorry mates, but that's a load of rubbish. The specs you posted beta man are over kill, I never get jagged frame rates, I can run all the games I have (apart from DOWII) on high settings, I've never noticed my computer not peforming well on any game (again, apart from the odd moment on DOWII which is a killer anyway).
I play games regularly on XP and 7 64-bit. Plus, 7 uses way more RAM the XP, so if I can run the games well in 7 with only 2Gb, it probably enough. I may upgrade to 3 if I feel like it, but that's the limit. I definetly have a PC capable of gaming regularly, because that's what I do.
Anyway BetaMan, what does PNY mean?

 

[clifford_cooley]

PNY is a name brand - http://www3.pny.com/homepage.aspx

 

[Sycthus]

If I were to upgrade my GPU, and my budget was at £150, what would you recommened?

 

[Kougar]

I think the CPU is just fine, but otherwise I must agree with everyone else... the 9400GT is the 2nd to lowest tier graphics card in the current lineup. It performs around the same as an 8600GT, which wasn't that different from a 7600GS. Any review should have enough comparison cards to show this.

Of course the type of games and the resolution they're played on makes as big a difference as the model of GPU that's used. For £150 you could find some really cheap 4850's and 4770's, however we'd need to know what resolution you game at. There's no sense in buying a midrange graphics card for 1024x768 gaming, for example.

 

[Sycthus]

Sorry, I'm no tech genius, on games I normal turn all settings to the max, put resolution to the biggest number and go. If it is slow, I turn them down a bit.
Win7 says my monitors native resolution is 1440x900, so that is what I aim for in resolution. If the game runs badly, I'll tone down the res a bit.
I went on dabs and novatech, and this looks good, especially because you can over clock it, or would you not recommend over clocking?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/...cs-ATI/ATIHD4890Series/Novatech/NOV-4890.html

 

[clifford_cooley]

This presents a question for me as well - I'm not a gamer and don't have a need in high end cards

Question - Say I did decide to start playing games.
What would be the need in a high end card if the resolution is going to be set low at around 1440x900 which is where my monitor is set as well?

 

[Thrax]

A great many cards will run 1440x900. The list is significantly smaller when you're a user that is content to settle for anything less than 8xAA/16xAF.

 

[clifford_cooley]

You lost me with the "8xAA/16xAF"

Edit:
After a quick search - I think I understand now
This is what I read about - ATI Super AA vs. NVIDIA SLI Anti-Aliasing

After reading this article I am not sure why anything larger than 4xAA would be needed on a small monitor. I can deffinantly see why 8xAA would be needed on a large TV.

Edit2:
Found this - Official Upscaling Thread or let's make old games look better

After reading this article I can see the importance of greater up-scaling on a smaller monitor. I guess in a way it would depend on the original games resolution and how much you are up-scaling.

 

[Sycthus]

I get what AA is, but what's AF?

 

[clifford_cooley]

I was wondering that myself and found this - Anisotropic Filtering

 

[Veedaz]

Sorry, I'm no tech genius, on games I normal turn all settings to the max, put resolution to the biggest number and go. If it is slow, I turn them down a bit.
Win7 says my monitors native resolution is 1440x900, so that is what I aim for in resolution. If the game runs badly, I'll tone down the res a bit.
I went on dabs and novatech, and this looks good, especially because you can over clock it, or would you not recommend over clocking?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/...cs-ATI/ATIHD4890Series/Novatech/NOV-4890.html

The ATI Radeon 4890 is a nice card Sycthus and you would not need to OC it to play even Crysis, many gamers today OC when there is no need to.

 

[Thrax]

The 4890 is a brilliant card. Can't go wrong, there.

 

[Sycthus]

Does anyone know a cheap English place to get it? Or can you only buy it from Novatech?

 

[Veedaz]

The link you gave (Novatech) is a good price, I have had stuff from them with no problems. or > http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-4890-hd-900mhz-1gb-pci-express-dvi-xxx-62HF.html

 

[Sycthus]

dabs was the other place I was considering. The two are slightly different, but the review for the dabs one says I need two power supply cables. I think I have them, but my current card didn't need any wires in it. So is he saying I need to plug some stuff into it?

edit: And can I use an AMD GPU on a nVidia/MSI motherboard?

 

[Veedaz]

As long as your MOBO has PCI-Express it will slot in (nVidia or ATI), many mid to high end Graphics Cards today need a power supply and if your PSU does not have the right connection cable converters can be bought quite cheep (if you post your PSU I or other members can I'm sure may post back exactly what you need to install the Card).

 

[Sycthus]

many mid to high end Graphics Cards today need a power supply.

:lol: More proof that I have a low end graphics card! :lol:

I will check out my PSU after I have turned my comp off and see what I can find!