Vista V's XP and ghost recon 2

BMC123 · 7th August 2007, 17:31

So... I was going to buy a new computer to take advantage of the latest DX10 games etc, but at this stage I think if i can find a new PCI express motherboard that supports my socket 478 chip, I'll change the board and buy new ram and a 8800 card. and this is why.

I have my home built PC with both Vista Ultimate & XP Pro installed, (one OS on each hard drive, selectable at boot up) and a new game (Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter 2)

first off, a quick run down of the spec of the machine.

P4 3.4Ghz
Microstar motherboard (cheap 'n cheerfull)
1GB ram (2x512 PC3200)
Drive 1 = 160Gb IDE
Drive 2 = 250Gb SATA
BFG Nvidia geforce 7600GS 512Mb (AGP)
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum

Not a bad little thing, and gives a Performance score in Vista of 4.1 and i compared that to a brand new dual core intel machine on ebay with a 8800GTX card, and it scored 4.2 :SHOCKED: Obviously the GTX card is PCI express and on a newer machine will run the games a lot better, but I was surprised there was not that much in it.

Basically I installed the game on XP first, it installed fine, passing the games inbuilt hardware test, and I ran it in 1024x768 with medium settings. I did notice a major lag between levels, and a very very slow loading time (almost making it unplayable) Actual gameplay in game was fine, smooth graphics and great particle effects

So then i installed on Vista, and what a difference! the game loads quicker, runs faster and the graphics are slightly improved, and all on the exact same machine

The graphics card is a major player here though, but if i had gone down the road of spending £1500 on a new high end machine, I think i would have been not overly impressed....

nairda · 7th August 2007, 21:41

There were/are a few socket 478 boards that support PCI-E, unfortunately, this one looks to be discontinued;

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...ProductID=9019

The others are;

Albatron PX915G4C/PX915P4C Pro

and;

http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/ps_12446916/111101.html

If you can't find one in stock at a retailers, there's always fleabay....

HTH

7th August 2007, 17:31	#1
BMC123 Posted a thing or two 2004 1.8 Connoisseur SE, 1999 XJ8 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,163 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Vista V's XP and ghost recon 2 So... I was going to buy a new computer to take advantage of the latest DX10 games etc, but at this stage I think if i can find a new PCI express motherboard that supports my socket 478 chip, I'll change the board and buy new ram and a 8800 card. and this is why. I have my home built PC with both Vista Ultimate & XP Pro installed, (one OS on each hard drive, selectable at boot up) and a new game (Ghost Recon - Advanced Warfighter 2) first off, a quick run down of the spec of the machine. P4 3.4Ghz Microstar motherboard (cheap 'n cheerfull) 1GB ram (2x512 PC3200) Drive 1 = 160Gb IDE Drive 2 = 250Gb SATA BFG Nvidia geforce 7600GS 512Mb (AGP) Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Not a bad little thing, and gives a Performance score in Vista of 4.1 and i compared that to a brand new dual core intel machine on ebay with a 8800GTX card, and it scored 4.2 :SHOCKED: Obviously the GTX card is PCI express and on a newer machine will run the games a lot better, but I was surprised there was not that much in it. Basically I installed the game on XP first, it installed fine, passing the games inbuilt hardware test, and I ran it in 1024x768 with medium settings. I did notice a major lag between levels, and a very very slow loading time (almost making it unplayable) Actual gameplay in game was fine, smooth graphics and great particle effects So then i installed on Vista, and what a difference! the game loads quicker, runs faster and the graphics are slightly improved, and all on the exact same machine The graphics card is a major player here though, but if i had gone down the road of spending £1500 on a new high end machine, I think i would have been not overly impressed.... __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

7th August 2007, 21:41	#2
nairda Gets stuck in Rover 75 Saloon ConnSE CDTi 2003 in luvverly Moonstone Green, van Aaken SmartBox/RoverRon Synergy Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: More clotted cream with that scone me 'ansome? Posts: 911 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	There were/are a few socket 478 boards that support PCI-E, unfortunately, this one looks to be discontinued; http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...ProductID=9019 The others are; Albatron PX915G4C/PX915P4C Pro and; http://computing.kelkoo.co.uk/ps_12446916/111101.html If you can't find one in stock at a retailers, there's always fleabay.... HTH __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Member No. 971