The Oblivion Hardware Thread...

[Quillan]

Here's two from my game, on my 6800 GS Superclocked/Ultra:



I had to resize the first one as it was too big a file to host.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Asher
Of course, the alternative to upgrading your PC is to purchase an Xbox 360. That's also the only way you can run both HDR and Anti-Aliasing at the same time. It's got 48 pixel shading pipelines or vertex shaders and 3 3.2GHz CPUs.

If you do not have a HDTV, consider the VGA adapter for the 360 to output to a monitor.

Mrs. T. and I went in halfs on an X-Box 360 with her ex husband.

Where would I get an adapter?

ACK!

[Asher]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7479604&type=product&id=1126591946321

[yin26]

Unfortunately, all is not well in graphics card land. The X1600Pro is overheating even though I have no overclocking set. I've opened the case for more air, and while this helps at the VPU's resting state, once I play Oblivion, it overheats in about 5 minutes now. I guess I was getting the screenshots because I would exit in a minute or two and while choosing a new display setting the VPU would cool enough.

I've sent in a message to ATI. I've also verified that the fan on the card itself is working...even putting a floor fan on near the open case does no good. Heck, I even just upgraded the Dell BIOS! Man, this sucks! Well, let's see if ATI has any suggestions.

How about any suggestions from Poly? Are those other cooling fan options going to be any better than an open case with a floor fan blowing air in?

[yin26]

I isolated the VPU load to large, outdoor areas. FRAPS helped with this (thanks, Asher). I reduced some of the shadow settings and a bit of the grass distance, etc. I played for a good long while this time...also spent more time in towns, where the graphic load seems less. Still, it's a bit disappointing to see this heat problem. I'm hoping ATI will have some magic answer, but I doubt it. If anybody has good experience with a cooling system, please share!

[bonscott]

Yin,

Sorry about your problems. I'm not having any overheat problems so far. How many fans you got? I've got 2 in the front pulling air in, 2 in the back pulling air out plus the power supply fan and also 1 on the side pulling out. Depends on your case I guess but add more fans if you can.

You may remember the video card overheating problem with GalCiv 2 and they had to had the option to throttle the GPU? I'm pretty dang sure I saw a similar option in the oblivion.ini file. If I find it I'll post it.

[yin26]

That would be really helpful, Bonscott. Thanks.

My case wasn't designed for gaming, so I don't have nearly the fan activity you have. What puzzles me, though, is even with the case pretty wide open and a small floor fan blowing through, the temperature still sits at 89 degrees at idle. In game, the ATI temp meter jumps to 120 almost immediately (I don't think it measures further). I think it's set to shut down at 135, which must be happening to me.

Do you think it's just the case design? I'd also throttle back the GPU, if you find that setting!

[Solver]

Pfft, that's because ATI cards suck as always.

Weird, really, though. On the few occasions I've run into heating problems, opening the case helped for me. Maybe it's because pretty cool indoors for me.

If you have the desire so, you may want to lower the settings to find the point at which it starts overheating. Like, set everything to medium and work your way up.

[bonscott]

I can't find that setting for GPU throttling on any ini I can download. But I'd swear I saw it in mine at home. I could be wrong. I'll check when I get home this evening.

By the way, how do you get a temp on your vid card? I've got a couple winbond temp sensors on my mobo, one for CPU and one for general case temp but that's all I got.

[yin26]

If you find it, that would be great. Thanks. I get the temp from the Catalyst Control Center you can download for ATI cards here: https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206..._enu_30895.exe

It has proven helpful, of course, in figuring out my problem. I have a few paths to take: a) return it and try a new one b) try some cooling solutions with the existing card/case c) bite the bullet and go for a new system as mine is running a bit old. I don't like "c" because I'm determined to find out why this card is running hot anyway, and I don't think a 2 year old computer could be the blame.

[Quillan]

That seems awfully hot, Yin. I have to wonder, since your fan is working, if the heatsink is properly attached and a good coating of thermal compound between the GPU and the heatsink. I'm running a completely different card, but it doesn't seem to get above 60C in Oblivion. So far, FEAR has been the most taxing game I've found, pushing the GPU temps into the mid 70s.

[yin26]

Yeah, sounds like I should send this one back.

[Spaced Cowboy]

Hmm...

Leaning even more towards the X800GTO.

But, really still not having major problems playing it on the 9800 pro.

[bonscott]

Originally posted by Spaced Cowboy
Hmm...

Leaning even more towards the X800GTO.

But, really still not having major problems playing it on the 9800 pro.

9800 Pro is exactly the card I had and upgraded to the x800GTO. Honestly I think I would have been happy to stick with the 9800 Pro if I had to. It is a good card and things looked pretty decent with tweaking but I couldn't run AA and that drove me nuts.

With the x800GTO at least I can turn up a few more things, run AA and have at worst the same frames I had before, better in most cases. So things have a better "pop" to them but it's not overwhelming.

My recommendation: If you're happy with what you get with a 9800 Pro or similar card and you don't have the money to spend then I'd say don't upgrade. But if you have $150 or so burning a whole in your pocket (or even less for the x1600) then upgrade and you'll be happy with the improvements. But I wouldn't call an upgrade over the 9800 Pro a *must*. Just depends what you can settle for in terms of look vs. performance.

[Spaced Cowboy]

My thoughts exactly...I'm not seeing the "pop" in improvement, more of a notch up.

If my mobo would take a 7800GS, it would be a no-brainer. That's the kind of pop that I'm looking for.

I'm also not ready to build a new pc right now. Dual-core and sli have not hit the proper curing point.

Also I can easily afford these things, but most folks will tell you that I'm tight. I don't think that I've impulse bought anything.