. Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4CPU 3.00GHz . i need a good card to be able to run 50-60 fps on lfs on max settings. because the max fps i get on the built in card of this board is around 15-20 on low settings. and im looking to spend around $50. thx for anybodys help . and i wuld like the card to be able to play gta. thx.

i'm sure an ATI will be posted but think about the nvidia 8800's they're old enough now to be able to offer good performance at an affordable price.
i suppose that would also be true for ATI too. you just need to look around and read some user reviews.

If your motherboard has PCI-E, get this

Anything with more power will probably be bottlenecked by your cpu.

Quote from MijnWraak :

If your motherboard has PCI-E, get this

Anything with more power will probably be bottlenecked by your cpu.

i had a p4 3ghz before. i had a 7300GT 256MB, gave me over 50fps in lfs.. 15 with full grid :P

Quote from Feffe85 :

i had a p4 3ghz before. i had a 7300GT 256MB, gave me over 50fps in lfs.. 15 with full grid :P

And what does that have to do with the post you quoted?

Quote from Bose321 :

And what does that have to do with the post you quoted?

Think he's backing up the statement. If the cpu wasnt bottlenecking, then fps wouldn't decrease so much in full grid.

Quote from MijnWraak :

Think he's backing up the statement. If the cpu wasnt bottlenecking, then fps wouldn't decrease so much in full grid.

exactly, even tho the thread was a little old, but still the statement applies

and even tho the p4 <3ghz is an amazing cpu, its outperformed by almost every singel cpu with dualcores.

Well, im on 8600GT, 2gb ddr2 800mhz, 2.5ghz core2d and my lfs runs 200fps+ (almost stable) with max settings and 1280x1024 resolution. But, yea - 8800 is better, but needs more PSU and it will bottleneck ur CPU.

Quote from hazaky :

Well, im on 8600GT, 2gb ddr2 800mhz, 2.5ghz core2d and my lfs runs 200fps+ (almost stable) with max settings and 1280x1024 resolution. But, yea - 8800 is better, but needs more PSU and it will bottleneck ur CPU.

sry to jump in here, but i have almost the same confg like you but i get 200+ fps only without AA :/. With it enabled i have like 70-80.

Do have anything done to optimize? I have nothing in background running and my cpu isnt on its limits. (vsync=off, fps not limited)

PC: E8400 stock 3ghz, 2x2gb DDR2 800mhz, xfx 8600gt, asus p5q

Quote from JazzOn :

sry to jump in here, but i have almost the same confg like you but i get 200+ fps only without AA :/. With it enabled i have like 70-80.

Do have anything done to optimize? I have nothing in background running and my cpu isnt on its limits. (vsync=off, fps not limited)

PC: E8400 stock 3ghz, 2x2gb DDR2 800mhz, xfx 8600gt, asus p5q

Umm? ... Only 200fps+, wow . Anyways, i guess that u dont know exactly what fps means or what? Because, even 50fps is very very very fine to play with. I dont get it, E8400 is a very good cpu and all your other specs (except gfx card) are good - so i dont think that you could whine at them If there are any perfomance issues with your stuff then i guess its in the drivers or something.

Quote from hazaky :

Umm? ... Only 200fps+, wow . Anyways, i guess that u dont know exactly what fps means or what? Because, even 50fps is very very very fine to play with. I dont get it, E8400 is a very good cpu and all your other specs (except gfx card) are good - so i dont think that you could whine at them If there are any perfomance issues with your stuff then i guess its in the drivers or something.

im not whining.. just wondering.. and yes i know what fps means. 80 is absolut max with barly something going on. Point is that its a huge difference. It can drop down to 40 in South City.
What do you mean when you say "max settings" ? does that exclude AA ? Which drivers do you use?

Ow, yea. I didnt meant that "whining" as yelling, just didnt found any other word for that.

Anyways, im on newest Win7 beta drivers - 185 or something like that, dont remember

And yes, everything maxxed out, anti aliasing is max +af max. My game runs perfect, dont know why its sucky with urs ...

hmm.. im on xp & 180.84 :S doubt its the driver then but the OS, i guess. read its a big difference but didnt thought of that much , thx

Jaz

9600GT superclocked, 'nough said.

Quote from RealLifeRacer :

9600GT superclocked, 'nough said.

9600gt is getting old, gts250 does the job and saves u a bit for the future.

It's for LFS is it not? A GTS250 is EXTREME overkill, and a superclocked 9600GT can be had for ridiculously cheap.

Quote from RealLifeRacer :

It's for LFS is it not? A GTS250 is EXTREME overkill, and a superclocked 9600GT can be had for ridiculously cheap.

Do u really think that people play only LFS on theyr computers? Well, maybe some people do but most people play other games too and better is always the best choice. It saves u for future.

Quote from JazzOn :

sry to jump in here, but i have almost the same confg like you but i get 200+ fps only without AA :/. With it enabled i have like 70-80.

Do have anything done to optimize? I have nothing in background running and my cpu isnt on its limits. (vsync=off, fps not limited)

PC: E8400 stock 3ghz, 2x2gb DDR2 800mhz, xfx 8600gt, asus p5q

Disable AA in game and enable it in NVidia Control Panel, your FPS will jump from 70-80 to ~150.

Btw, you can safely try 16xAA in NVcpl aswell.

Quote from hazaky :

Do u really think that people play only LFS on theyr computers? Well, maybe some people do but most people play other games too and better is always the best choice. It saves u for future.

Look at his budget. The 9600GT is a fantastic choice, and considering the rest of his system, what's the point in investing in a high end card.... Give the guy some good advice....

Quote from RealLifeRacer :

Look at his budget. The 9600GT is a fantastic choice, and considering the rest of his system, what's the point in investing in a high end card.... Give the guy some good advice....

GTS250 is budget card ... in here, when i look at the prices - 9600gt (mid range price) and gts250 (budget price with good clocks) are actually the same ...

Hazaky, GTS250 ~= 9800GTX.

And yeah, to match that CPU, 8600GT or 9600GT would be best.

Quote from Shadowww :

Hazaky, GTS250 ~= 9800GTX.

And yeah, to match that CPU, 8600GT or 9600GT would be best.

8600gt ... no, its total crap. Did i get it right? E8400 processor and ... i recommend 9800gtx or gts250 - no bottlenecking. And i knew that gts is 9800gtx. Same chipset, lower nm and just a die architecture.

Smokey, trust me, just grab a cheap superclocked 9600GT. It'll be fantastic for LFS, and unless you're using a huge monitor, will run most newer games just fine. If you're gonna get a GTS250 or better, you may as well upgrade your entire system, because your CPU will be one hell of a bottleneck, memory too.

Full review of current mid-range graphics card for good performance with low pricetag:
Tom's Hardware: Mainstream Gra ... Card Roundup (June, 2009)

It really looks like 9600GT would be a massive waste of money due to it's horrible performance compared to newer cards with also very low pricetag. But, if your motherboard is outdated and does not have PCI-E slot, you'll have to go for few generations older graphics card where "performance-for-price" ratio is no longer that great.

Problem with hardware prices is that while new stuff loses most of it's price during first few months, it then slowly descends into ~50-80$ range and stays there indefinitely until stock is sold out or dumped into computers that then are sold to people who come to forums and ask for an advice on replacing their crappy graphicscard.

Quote from Shadowww :

Disable AA in game and enable it in NVidia Control Panel, your FPS will jump from 70-80 to ~150.

Btw, you can safely try 16xAA in NVcpl aswell.

all it gives me is maybe 10frames more

i cant believe its not working... the difference between 8600 models cant be that huge right!?

but thanks anyway 4 reply.