GTS 250 OK for RO?

[War_and_Peace]

I'm on the verge of buying an EVGA GTS 250 card. Remembering the trouble some folks had with certain Nvidia cards and RO, I just thought I'd check first. (I know the GTS 250 is an improved version of the 9800 series.) Are there any problems with the GTS 250 and RO? I doubt it, but better safe than sorry.

Right now I'm running an ATI HD 4670, mainly using Windows 7 RC and it works fine. I don't need a faster card for RO itself, but I just don't want a new card to mess it up.

 

[Tomcat_ha]

eh the jump from a 4670 is not that huge but a 4670 itself should run ro without any problems all maxed out.

tbh i would wait till the end of the year when the first dx11 cards get out before you get a new card.

 

[Klaus]

what the hell man? its like asking if 8 gigs of ram is enough for RO

 

[War_and_Peace]

Missing the point

Missing the point

You're missing the point. I'm not asking if the GTS 250 is powerful enough to run RO. Obviously it is, to the point of overkill. What I am asking is if there is any bug or problem that will occur when running RO with the card.

I specifically asked because there was a well known bug that caused problems running RO with 8800 cards. It's not that they were not powerful enough, but there was a problem with stuttering. The GTS 250 is a modernized version of 8800/9800 card so I wanted to be sure it did not have the same problem.

I'm getting the 250 (if I get it) to run other, more demanding games, including perhaps Ro:HOS. I don't need it in order to run RO. I just want to be sure it deosn't screw it up, since RO is still my favorite game. I've seen many cases in which older games actually run poorly on newer video cards and OSs. (For example I'm having a hard time getting Panzer General II to run on a Win7 64 system -- it's an old 16 bit game.)

Also I need a card now, because I am going to move the 4670 to another system that currently has no video, so I need some kind of new card. Might as well get a good one.

Is that clear now?

P.S. I did just upgrade to 8GB of RAM -- but not for RO, OK?

 

[Klaus]

I recently got Sapphire 4870 1 gig for my PC and its like having Jesus inside the computer running games with magical powers

 

[War_and_Peace]

Ha! Very funny.

I considered a 4870 but it draws a bit too much power and I don't want to have to upgrade my PSU right now. I used the Xtreme Power Supply Calculator <[url]http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp>[/URL] and it looks like I manage either a GTS 250 or an HD 4770 (both with single PCI-e 6-pin cables) but not more than that.

 

[=GG= Mr Moe]

I recently got Sapphire 4870 1 gig for my PC and its like having Jesus inside the computer running games with magical powers

Alright, that made me laugh

 

[Flogger23m]

I have a GTX 260 Superclocked. Nvidia's recent drivers are terrible. I can't get them to work at all. They seem to be hit or miss for people.

I went back to the older 182.50s.

Aside from crappy drivers, it is a good card.

My brother has an HD 4870 1GB. Great card.

He use to have a 9800GTX+ 1GB (same as GTS 250) but it died on him.

My GTX 260 works fine in RO. So I am sure the GTS 250 will work.

But with Nvidia's trouble some drivers, I think I won't be going back.

 

[War_and_Peace]

Thanks Flogger.

You know what's funny. I'd been having trouble with the latest drivers for the HD 4670 (admittedly on Windows 7 64-bit, so some flakiness is expected) and had to revert to older drivers to get them to install properly. That's one of the reasons I was thinking of going over to an Nvidia card -- I'd heard and hoped that their drivers would be less troublesome. Perhaps, to quote the movie Casablanca, "I was misinformed".

 

[PNV]

I have a GTX 260, the regular one, not the superclocked, on Vista 64 bit and it works flawlessly with the latest drivers.

 

[Tomcat_ha]

Ha! Very funny.

I considered a 4870 but it draws a bit too much power and I don't want to have to upgrade my PSU right now. I used the Xtreme Power Supply Calculator <[url]http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp>[/URL] and it looks like I manage either a GTS 250 or an HD 4770 (both with single PCI-e 6-pin cables) but not more than that.

what is your psu?

The hd48701gb is really and a great buy

 

[War_and_Peace]

The system I have is a Dell Precision 390 workstation that I bought for a very low price refurbished and am converting from a workstation to a gaming system. I'll almost get my money back by selling the Qaudro FX 4500 workstation video card (which is not good for gaming).

The PSU is rated at only 375W but Dell PSUs are said to be underrated. It puts out 18A on each of the two 12V rails. But I've also got 4 hard drives, an X-Fi card and an eSATA controller to run on it. According to the Extreme PSU calculator I can run a 4770 easily, and probably run a GTS 250 (which takes a little less power then the Quadro FX 4500 the system came with) even though the GTS 250 specs call for a 450w PSU. But putting in a 4870 would take the total power needed to 371W which is too close for comfort. I'd definitely have to get a new PSU for hte 4870 and I'm not sure I feel like tackling that right now. (Some people might even say the GTS 250 is too much for my PSU - not sure about that, but the 4870 would definitely crash it.)

 

[Tomcat_ha]

hmmm 375 really is low even with 18 A's

Well i think the smartest thing to do is getting a new psu too

but if that really isnt a option go for the 4770. It is a newer design than the gts250 and most likely will perform better at coming games.

 

[Flogger23m]

I doubt that PSU is enough. I believe you need at least 18 amps (or maybe it was 19) at the minimum for the GTX 260 and HD 4870. You generally want some left over as a PSU loses its efficienty over time.

And you need at least a 500 watt PSU. With 500 watts, you have some extra room. Less than that, say 450-80, and you are really running at the minimum.

To be honest, get a 600 watt PSU with at least two 22 amp 12v rails to be safe.

But I know 375 watts won't cut it for those cards. I doubt even for the GTS-250.

 

[War_and_Peace]

you guys may have a point

you guys may have a point

You guys (Flogger and Tomcat) may have a point.

On the one hand, there are reasons to think my computer might handle the GTS 250:

1. It came with a card, the Nvidia Quadro FX 4500, which uses more power than the 250.
2. The Xtreme PSU calculator says my system would take 326 watts to run the card.
3. I've been running a Kill-A-Watt meter on the computer and it shows I have a lot of wattage to spare as currently configured.

On the other hand...

Suppose we were playing RO. And Tomcat said, "Don't go down the alley, there's a machine gunner there!" And then Flogger said, "Don't go down the alley, there's a machine gunner!" Well, I'd have to be pretty foolhardy to run down the alley.

You've made some good arguments that the GTS 250 might be too much for my PSU.

So, I'm begnning to think I'll take your advice and go for the HD 4770 over the GTS 250 at this point. Looking at the benchmarks the 4770 does nearly as well for most games. Unfortunately one of the few games the 4770 falls down on relative to the GTS 250 is UT3, which is going to be the basis of RO:HOS. But RO:HOS won't be out until next year, and if I get the 4770 now I'll have a whole new generation of cards I can upgrade to in the coming year. Or I may decide to upgrade my power suupply before then.

Yeah, I think you're right that there is no reason to risk blowing up my PSU when the 4770 should be more than adequate for playing the games I want to play now.

 

[Tomcat_ha]

Well you psu wont blow, your comp just wont boot

while its true that pc's almost never use more than 350-400 watt even with sli everything there are sometimes powerpeaks where you do need more than the 375 you have.

the gts250 might be slightly faster in games now. But since its much older tech there is a bigger chance for it to drop behind in future games.

 

[Heniu]

There used to be some stuttering issues with nvidia 8800 and higher cards and games running on ut2004 engine (incl. RO- just google "ut2004 stutter") but they were solved long long time ago (guess somewhere around 17X.XX drivers) and there are no problems now. RO runs smooth- go for NV card.

 

[Flogger23m]

I just read a post on another fourm with a member running a GTX 275 "fine" on a 450 Watt no name brand PSU. I am not sure what his definition of "fine" is though. For all I know, the PSU could wear out soon and not have enough efficency to handle his system.

I think I'll stand by my earlier statement though, and get a better PSU. You can get a good quality 500 watt for pretty cheap.

But if you want, just get the video card you want. If it runs, good. If not, then you can buy a PSU.

I will also link you to this fourm, as it is filled with many helpful people who know far more about PCs than me. Hopefully they can set you up right:

[url]http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=93[/URL]