ATI 9700 Pro

2006-05-25 13:31:35

#1

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

I currently run BF2 with all the settings on low, and everything 'off'. My load times are horrible > 2mins!
What, if anything, should I do to tide me over until I build a new rig when Vista's is released?

Rig Specs:
Pentium 4 (Northwood) 2.8 GHz, 533Mhz FSB, Socket 478
Intel D850EMV2L i850 P4 (533FSB) Socket 478 RDRAM MoBo
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro AGP 128MB DDR
512 MB Rambus 16bit 1066MHz

3DMark2005 or 2003 was like 2300, if I remember correctly.

I have (2) memory slots left, so I've been thinking about getting another (2) sticks of 256MB.

Thanks!

2006-05-25 13:33:46

#2

pers0nah: Waste Kid; +271|6874|MANCHESTERRR

yeah More RAM definately!

2006-05-25 13:46:28

#3

crownvic96: Member; +5|6846

Its your ram! Holy crap man you need at least 1gb. I'd just get 2gb of some matching pc2700(min.) or pc3200(ideal) memory. don't buy the cheap crap either.

I also can't find the specs on your motherboard. can you post a link to that? i've found 845 and 865 boards but intel doesn't even show a 850 board.

2006-05-25 13:51:26

#4

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

crownvic96 wrote:
Its your ram! Holy crap man you need at least 1gb. I'd just get 2gb of some matching pc2700(min.) or pc3200(ideal) memory. don't buy the cheap crap either.

I also can't find the specs on your motherboard. can you post a link to that? i've found 845 and 865 boards but intel doesn't even show a 850 board.

Yeah, it's retired Mobo from back in 2003.
http://support.intel.com/support/mother … /d850emv2/

2006-05-25 13:52:26

#5

mikkel: Member; +383|6893

RDRAM is entirely too expensive to use as a temporary upgrade. Depending on your budget, I'd recommend an Asus P4P800 motherboard and a gig of whatever DDR you can afford, or an entry-level Socket 939 board and an A64 3200+. It's not cheap, but there aren't really many upgrade paths on an RD system.

2006-05-25 13:55:15

#6

1hawaii50: Member; +5|6998

I'm with mikkel, I wouldn't spend any money on a rambus upgrade, as when you upgrade your system, you won't be able to use it again. Just wait until you can upgrade the system, and I would spring for 2 gigs of ram.

2006-05-25 13:56:33

#7

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

mikkel wrote:
RDRAM is entirely too expensive to use as a temporary upgrade. Depending on your budget, I'd recommend an Asus P4P800 motherboard and a gig of whatever DDR you can afford, or an entry-level Socket 939 board and an A64 3200+. It's not cheap, but there aren't really many upgrade paths on an RD system.

The original (2) 256MB sticks cost me a combined $240, back in 2003. Adding the same should be, another $240 tops, maybe less. I assume this would be cheaper than another MoBo and 1GB DDR?

2006-05-25 13:58:02

#8

crownvic96: Member; +5|6846

doh, n/m mind what i said about that memory i suggested in my original post. it won't support it.
wow that memory's old. even newegg doesn't have that much pc800 available . check ebay and elsewhere to see if you can wrangle 1-2gb of pc800. it would probably be a better price than newegg if you are strapped for cash. but you DEFINITELY need a gig.

I didn't notice that much of a difference going from 1-2gb but i have a ati 9700 card too and i keep most of my settings low with a 1024x768@75hz resolution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi … ;maxPrice=

Last edited by crownvic96 (2006-05-25 13:58:59)

2006-05-25 13:58:47

#9

No 1 Gooner: coopj Dependant; +98|6864|England

Ram ram rampage! as much as you can dude!

2006-05-25 13:59:35

#10

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

1hawaii50 wrote:
I'm with mikkel, I wouldn't spend any money on a rambus upgrade, as when you upgrade your system, you won't be able to use it again. Just wait until you can upgrade the system, and I would spring for 2 gigs of ram.

Yeah, but Vista's is 8+ months away!?! I'm tired of playing BF2 on low, especially since I see awesome graphics on my 360 daily.

I'm thinking either 512MB more RDRAM, maybe another AGP Graphics card, or both??

2006-05-25 14:02:36

#11

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

crownvic96 wrote:
doh, n/m mind what i said about that memory i suggested in my original post. it won't support it.
wow that memory's old. even newegg doesn't have that much pc800 available . check ebay and elsewhere to see if you can wrangle 1-2gb of pc800. it would probably be a better price than newegg if you are strapped for cash. but you DEFINITELY need a gig.

I didn't notice that much of a difference going from 1-2gb but i have a ati 9700 card too and i keep most of my settings low with a 1024x768@75hz resolution.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi … ;maxPrice=

I'm not positive, but I think I have to get PC1066 RDRAM (1066 MHZ) since my original 512 MB is PC1066??

2006-05-25 14:06:01

#12

MorbiD.ShoT: Stormin' through the party; +322|6888

Holy Crap. We may have the same computer. Do you have a Gateway E-6000 or something?
512 RDRAM
ATI 9700 PRO
Intel P4 3.0 ghz
Almost, but yea RDRAM is really expensive so i am waiting it out till after summer to get new rig.
Also, i run it on medium settings, but don't do that because it leaves annoying little dots all over the screen. im just too lazy to change it.
peace

2006-05-25 14:11:39

#13

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

MorbiD.ShoT wrote:
Holy Crap. We may have the same computer. Do you have a Gateway E-6000 or something?
512 RDRAM
ATI 9700 PRO
Intel P4 3.0 ghz
Almost, but yea RDRAM is really expensive so i am waiting it out till after summer to get new rig.
Also, i run it on medium settings, but don't do that because it leaves annoying little dots all over the screen. im just too lazy to change it.
peace

I built mine, and I'd wait for Vista's if I were you. It's only 8+ months away, or is it 10 months, or is it 12 months!?!?!? hehehehe

2006-05-25 14:15:39

#14

mikkel: Member; +383|6893

Darth_Rambo wrote:
mikkel wrote:
RDRAM is entirely too expensive to use as a temporary upgrade. Depending on your budget, I'd recommend an Asus P4P800 motherboard and a gig of whatever DDR you can afford, or an entry-level Socket 939 board and an A64 3200+. It's not cheap, but there aren't really many upgrade paths on an RD system.
The original (2) 256MB sticks cost me a combined $240, back in 2003. Adding the same should be, another $240 tops, maybe less. I assume this would be cheaper than another MoBo and 1GB DDR?

Actually, a P4P800SE and a gig of DDR PC3200 would set you back less than that. It's worth it.

A P4P800-E or -SE board opens upgrade paths to Prescotts and more, cheaper memory that you can carry through to your new computer.

Last edited by mikkel (2006-05-25 14:22:48)

2006-05-25 14:18:20

#15

crownvic96: Member; +5|6846

i wouldn't bother with another video card. it will run just fine with the 9700. you seriously need more memory though.

you can run different speeds of memory but the computer normally declocks the faster stuff to the slower stuff. if you can find an extra 512mb of the 1066 then go for it.

a hard drive can make a big difference too. my old HDD crashed so i went to walmart and got a 8mb cache 60gb 7200rpm drive. with a windows xp home install with nothing but bf2 on there it made a huge performance increase on my load times. my old HDD was about 3 years old and had tons of mp3s and other junk i had loaded and unloaded on it.

2006-05-26 00:11:22

#16

sixshot: Decepticon Geek; +50|6967|Planet Seibertron ;)

Cripes... RDRAM? Ugh... all I can say is... time for a new system entirely. It'll be hard for me to suggest getting RDRAM considering the price premium for it. RAM is always good to have more of. But it's kinda hard to suggest the same when it's Rambus involved. Sorry, wish I could help you more on it.

2006-05-26 06:15:31

#17

Darth_Rambo: Member; +22|6999|Raleigh, NC

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I purchased an additional 512 MB of PC 1066 RDRAM for $180. Not too expensive, I guess. Just hope it's enough to hold me over until Feb. 2007, when Vista's is released.

See you on the Battlefield!!

2006-05-26 14:15:00

#18

Wasder: Resident Emo Hater; +139|6967|Moscow, Russia

Radeon 9700 Pro...That's classic mate, +1 for you!

BF2S Forums ATI 9700 Pro

crownvic96 wrote:

mikkel wrote:

1hawaii50 wrote:

crownvic96 wrote:

MorbiD.ShoT wrote:

Darth_Rambo wrote:

mikkel wrote:

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