Upgrade 2002 PC to an unlocked ATI X850 Pro?

ralentor on 5/6/2009 at 17:19

Saddled with an ancient PC since 2002, I've been pondering a video card upgrade so that I can play some DirectX 9.0 games that have been sitting on the shelf collecting dust (Thief DS, KOTOR, Deus Ex 2, Prince of Persia SOT, Indigo Prophecy, etc.). For $30, I have an option to buy an ATI X850 Pro VIVO (AGP) that has been flashed to unlock all 16 pixel pipelines so that it's equal to an XT. Also, it has been upgraded w/ Zalman GPU & memory coolers to accomodate the extra heat. This card would replace my trusty GeForce4 Ti 4600 AGP. Thief 2 compatibility is of upmost importance for the countless FMs released in the past several years (Broken Triad, Seven Sisters, Pirates Ahoy!, etc.). I have a Enermax 330-watt power supply, so I hope it will be enough. So, what do you think?

My specs:
Athlon XP 2000+ Palomino
Asus A7V333 motherboard (KT333 chipset)
1 GB Kingston DDR333
GeForce4 Ti 4600 AGP
SoundBlaster Audigy
80 GB Maxtor EIDE ATA-133
Plextor 40x CD-RW
Pioneer DVD-ROM
Enermax 330-watt PS
Windows XP with SP3

bikerdude on 5/6/2009 at 23:32

Quote Posted by ralentor

This card would replace my trusty GeForce4 Ti 4600 AGP. Thief 2 compatibility is of upmost importance

thief will look better on this card than it did on your old 4600. Use catalyst driver apropriat to the cards age, 7 or 8. but if you wanter newer, then not newer than 9.4.

lost_soul on 6/6/2009 at 01:43

I played Thief:DS on a TI4600. It ran acceptably well. It aint a DX9 card, but the game will run.

If I were you, I would try to find a suitable DX9 NVidia card. I personally would rather sleep in a bed of nails than buy another ATI graphics card. After trying to use their hardware under Linux and getting terrible performance (and in one case having NO 3D support at random bootups), I avoid ATI.

Then again, I AM aware of the Thief problems with NVidia cards.If you are a Linux user, you'll just have to weigh the two (as I did) and make a decision.

Some folks may tell you that there are open-source drivers for older ATI cards (which is true), but these drivers do not perform at the level of the binary ones. I'm not the type that demands open-source drivers. I am only impressed by higher performance numbers.

Ladron De La Noche on 6/6/2009 at 13:09

I would seriously think of a new PSU, the card you mention needs a 350 watt power supply at a minimum. You might be able to squeak by with your current PSU but if becomes taxed then trouble will ensue besides even an X850 pro will not suffice for future gaming titles. Think of it as insurance for future upgrades.

(http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102606#spec) ATI X850 Pro specs on newegg.com

(http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonx850/specs.html) ATI X850 Pro specs on ati.amd.com

ralentor on 8/6/2009 at 20:44

Quote Posted by Bikerdude

thief will look better on this card than it did on your old 4600. Use catalyst driver apropriat to the cards age, 7 or 8. but if you wanter newer, then not newer than 9.4.

Will T2 look better on the ATI X850 Pro even when using ddfix? Since ddfix finally eliminated the "grid-pattern" dithering artifacts that plagued the GeForce cards, what visual advantage does ATI have over nVidia in T2 now?