hi guys, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!! NiSm0 here, just got done hookin up my Raedon 9800XT and WOW its amazing, and i get HL2 for free =). Although I have noticed my computer running slower since it was installed...could this be because of the graphics card? I was planning on getting a P4 extreme as soon as i could scrape up the cash but now im no so sure that will be ne time soon...another topic that was on my mind is testing my card...what is the best game out there right now to test the power of my Raedon 9800XT. I was told Call of Duty was the way to go but im not sure. and What mods can i do to make the card better? like a new heatsink...better fan...etc plz let me know as i am eager to mod the **** out of it and im eagerly anticipating my frozen cpu antec (sleeved)550 silent model power source =) thanks guys and once again Happy Holidays

Ok, if you switched from nvidia, I pray that you uninstalled drivers, used driver detonator, and then installed the ATi drivers. If you didn't do that now

And Call of Duty is a sweet game, not a sweet benchmark. It uses a modified but still old Castle Wolfenstein engine. I can't give good reccomendations other than what are currently on reviews so that you may see where you stack up.

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSm0 hi guys, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!! NiSm0 here, just got done hookin up my Raedon 9800XT and WOW its amazing, and i get HL2 for free =). Although I have noticed my computer running slower since it was installed...could this be because of the graphics card? I was planning on getting a P4 extreme as soon as i could scrape up the cash but now im no so sure that will be ne time soon...another topic that was on my mind is testing my card...what is the best game out there right now to test the power of my Raedon 9800XT. I was told Call of Duty was the way to go but im not sure. and What mods can i do to make the card better? like a new heatsink...better fan...etc plz let me know as i am eager to mod the **** out of it and im eagerly anticipating my frozen cpu antec (sleeved)550 silent model power source =) thanks guys and once again Happy Holidays

How about HL2 itself? seems good to me. OH wai....




Oh, and you're a lucky bastid, but dont waste money on an EE/ZE.

HL2 is nto out yet for him to test it...You defently need to check to make sure yu did uninstall the other drivers and used a driver cleaner..If you didn't a reinstall of your os would never hurt..

when i was installing the raedon i first uninstalled the Nividia Display Drivers that were in the Add/remove hardware tab...isnt this all that u have to uninstall or is there more??? Plz let me know. And what mods should i do to this card or is it already a "sick stock" model?

No that will nto completly get rid of the drivers.. You should have used a driver cleaner too..

SHHHHHHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT well is there any way i can still nuke the drivers???? plz tell me or else im ****ed b/c i think im only allowed to reinstall win xp 1 more time what do i do?

Well yeah you can uninstall all your display drivers and clean it from both then reinstall the ATI..

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Halo are the "best" DX9 benchies out there. Call of Duty is based on Quake 3 tech so it really should run great on anything, I run it on my 9800 Pro @ 1280x1024 with 4x AA and 8x Aniso and it runs awesome, no frame hits or anything and whilst ANY game can be used as a comparative benchie, the ones I mentioned at the begining of this post are the "best" in terms of harnessing DX9..

3Dmark01 and 03 are great benchies that let you compare with lots of other people because most power users bench with them

Quote: Originally Posted by NiSm0 SHHHHHHIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT well is there any way i can still nuke the drivers???? plz tell me or else im ****ed b/c i think im only allowed to reinstall win xp 1 more time what do i do?

I don't know what you are talking about only getting one more install. You can just reinstall windows. No big deal.

If you don't mind the performance hit, leave it as is. Otherwise, the best way would be to do reformat.

do0d,
you just got your hands on the fastest card on the planet, Havent got the drivers even installed properly and you want to mod it?
Do this if you will...slow down, get the rig straightened out and see just what you have there. I am sure it is plenty fast for anything you are able to throw at it.

Do some research and find out what all the adjustments do, and how to set them up.
Try to get an understanding of what you have, and make it work like it was designed to do. There is no need to mod a 9800XT, What could you do to it anyway. don't mess with it, run it like it is. That's what I would do...