fear and 2405 help

Post by **skipclarke** » 03 Jan 2006, 20:42

Woo! :shock: I agree. No rush of course, but perhaps, if you have a moment to spare sometime Paddy, you could take comparison screens of 1920x1200 and 1440x900 in-game shots, both using monitor scaling. That would definitely be instructive and illustrative of what we've been discussing.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 04 Jan 2006, 18:20

I'll see what I can do ... soon ... :D

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 06 Jan 2006, 21:15

Yeah i have received my 2405 oh it looks great and fear looks great on other res , still tweaking and trying to get the most , so just a few questions how do i dissapear the black bars on wide screen movies or do i have to set it up or what and also what should i be using , DVI or VGA this monitor is great , and what is better dual 7800gtx 256 mb or single 7800gts 512 MB please help , doing some work with this baby
:D

Post by **skipclarke** » 07 Jan 2006, 01:07

Hi Omega -

Glad to hear you like your new monitor! :)

how do i dissapear the black bars on wide screen movies

Your monitor's apsect ratio is 16:10, widescreen DVD movies display in 16:9, hence you'll always have thin black bars on the top and bottom if you use the native settings. Perhaps someone else will want to go more in-depth on this, but you can always use your DVD software's settings to change the output if you'd like more (or all) of the screen filled up.

or do i have to set it up or what and also what should i be using , DVI or VGA this

You can use either connection that you prefer. I prefer DVI for flat panel monitors. Here's some extra info:

DVI is better than VGA for TFTs because they are digital and VGA is analog. A TFT displayes its picture digitally, pixel per pixel. Via DVI the panel gets data for each pixel, so the picture generated in the graphics card will match exact with the pixels on the panel itself.

Not so with VGA. First, the picture is generated digitally in the graphics card. Then it's converted to analog. In the TFT they will be converted again to digital (=> senseless twice conversion => quality loss), using the phase and the clock, and it'll be calculated which pixel should display what color. As the phase and clock can't be adjusted so precisely that a pixel of a picture generated by the graphics card will be displayed by the appropriate pixel on the panel. Means that the picture will be interpolated a little bit, which again means quality loss.

The electron cannons of the CRT need analog signals, that's why VGA is the best for CRTs.

and what is better dual 7800gtx 256 mb or single 7800gts 512 MB please help

I own a single nvidia 7800 gtx ko by EVGA and i've been pretty impressed by it - it hasn't broken a sweat on anything i've thrown at it yet. Two 7800's will definitely give you some extra horsepower. Perhaps Paddy can fill ya in on how he likes his dual video card setup.

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 07 Jan 2006, 13:05

Hi guys ...

... dual 7800gtx 256 mb or single 7800gts 512 mb ...

I'm not sure ... but to play most games at 1920x1200 with all the settings at maximum I found the dual 7800gtx 512 mb cards were a must and even then there are still a few games that tax the things big-time.

I wouldn't like to say what the best way to go ... as what is acceptable to one person may not be to another ... and money is usually a big factor for most.
I just heard last night that there are now Quad SLI systems coming out ... where will it all end ... :shock:

Anyway ... as I say ... it's all this is about whether you can afford the available options..
I'm a very luck chap with a nigh on perfect life ... I'm quite a successful artist and so earn plenty of money ...
I get to paint pictures ... walk my dogs ... play games ... and for the most part I have enough of free time to help here on the forum.

If you can ... I say get the best you can afford/justify at the time.

On a side note ...
I have been a dedicated PC gamer for many many years ... since the original Doom ... and I have never thought much to the graphics on consoles.
By chance I picked up an Xbox 360 over Christmas and wow I'm very impressed with the graphics ... on my 43" plasma (at the end of my bed ... :mrgreen: ).
The higher res textures and effects in the Xbox 360 NFS-MW are way better than the PC version even running at 1920x1200 with everything at maximum.

Things don't look so good when I use it with the Dell 24" for some reason the jaggies show up way more than on the Plasma.
So on the Dell I'll stick with a PC.

Some Xbox 360 photos on my plasma here ...
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/
and on the Dell here ...
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/node/

The Dell photos appear to be better than the plasma photos but in reality they aren't ...
On the plasma things look so much more photo realistic ... I just wasn't able to get good photos of the plasma.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@ Stretch ...
Ok ... here are some photographs (not screenshots) of F.E.A.R. running on my Dell 24" which has a native res of 1920x1200.
Various 16:10 resolutions but scaled up to fit the panel with all in game details at maximum and 4xAA.
Please forgive the graininess ... taking photos of a screen isn't easy ... :)

The lower resolutions don't look too bad at all ... IMHO.

Close-ups shown below these full screen shots ...

960x600

1280x800

1440x900

1650x1050

1920x1200

These close ups are uncompressed at the actual size the camera took them.

960x600

1280x800

1440x900

1650x1050

1920x1200

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW ...
I have two 6 month old 7800gtx 256 mb cards with Zalman coolers in a box under my bed ... they weren't quite good enough for everything at max but pretty dammed close.
A friend is away on his holls at the moment and he might want em ... if when he gets back he doesn't then I'll put em up for sale at half the price I paid for em.

Just in case you would like to see a couple of my paintings ...
I mostly paint pictures of dogs ...
http://www.paddywak.co.uk/K9ART/Guard%20Duty.jpg

but a few motorbikes too ... here's a painting of my bike ...
http://www.paddywak.co.uk/K9ART/Triumph.jpg

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 07 Jan 2006, 17:12

ok i see it all looks cool but when i try that in fear i get 640x480 instead of 1280x800 dunno why ! but if i try 1440x900 it plays widescreen any ideas ? oh and are there movies on 16:10 ratio ? Nice pets man and oh man do you know how to draw , congratulations gonna buy some i guess ,

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 07 Jan 2006, 17:50

please help me i cant play in 1280x800 and i think it would be nice to have something close to 1024x768 and being widescreen also
any suggestion , should i hack the registry , how do i do that , or any options , any help appreciated

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 07 Jan 2006, 17:53

What graphics card do you have at the moment ... ?

Post by **skipclarke** » 07 Jan 2006, 17:55

How-To: Choose WS Resolutions & Aspect Ratios

Might help selection??

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 07 Jan 2006, 19:00

i have an ATI x850XT PE and im using 5.12 catalyst , i cant play on those res and cant use those res like 1280x800 on desktop either (not that i want to, but they are not listed ) but i really want a lower res like 1280 x 800 in fear , cause im still not buying sli ,because i might need to upgrade my cpu and power supply , i only have 450 watts is that enought for SLI ? (antec true power) , so do i need to do something on the drivers ? :shock:

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 07 Jan 2006, 19:04

edited my profile , sorry for the lack of info i forgot :wink:

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 07 Jan 2006, 19:10

I'm sorry I don't know much about ATI cards ... :?
Basically ... you need some way to add custom resolutions ...
Powerstrip ... will do it I think ... may be one of the ATI owners here on the forum can confirm this ... anyone ?

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 07 Jan 2006, 19:17

yeah , any ati users have an idea on this , im searching , what about reforce or something like that ?

Post by **skipclarke** » 07 Jan 2006, 19:32

Here I put this together for ATI folks & yes Reforce might help
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2536

Post by **skipclarke** » 07 Jan 2006, 20:44

Lol Paddy! I think you are too fast for me today. :wink:

My questions about the resolutions: (hopefully you saved your reply in the screenshots thread to a text file :wink: )

1. Which one did you prefer the most (beside 1920x1200)

2. Any discrepencies b/w the various resolutions that you could see? (As far as any particular areas go)?

3. Did any particular resolution seem to provide better performance benefits as far as you could tell?

4. What resolution do you prefer to paint in? :wink:

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 07 Jan 2006, 20:51

Hey ... glad to have found you again ... ha-ha ... :lol:

1. ... Well ... the next best would be 1680x1050 ... only because it is the next highest ... :D :wink:

2. ... I would say that the only difference is that they gradually get softer the lower the resolution.

3. ... The FPS go up as the resolution goes down but ... I didn't actually play any of the resolutions below 1920x1200 ... I just set them up for the photos for you ... :D

I would guess you just have to try it for yourself ... :)
It isn't that difficult to set up custom resolutions in the Nvidia control panel and as you know it isn't difficult to set them up in the game.

... give it a go ... let us know what you think.

4. ... The same way I like to play my games ... everything at maximum ! ... :mrgreen:

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 14 Jan 2006, 07:31

hey poaddy what framerate you get with just one 7800gtx 512 mb at 1920x1200, in fear with no soft shadows , cause i can only afford one right now. and maybe i will buy one more down the road , just want to know if one would be average good enough :D

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 14 Jan 2006, 09:37

I don't know ...
Apparently the game F.E.A.R. detects the 2 graphics cards automatically ...
It has a built-in profile which means F.E.A.R. forces the driver to use SLI.

I would have to remove one card ... which I don't want to do.
Sorry ... :(

omegaferrari · Post by **omegaferrari** » 14 Jan 2006, 20:03

its ok , i just thought there was a way of not doing SLI , :oops: so , what are you getting with SLI at 1920x1200 any reviews that have comparisons at that res ?

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 15 Jan 2006, 00:18

Sorry buddy ... I was wrong ... you can disable the SLI ... :oops:

At 1920x1200 with everything at maximum apart from no soft shadows and 2xAA ...
using the SLI ... 100% over 40FPS in the Test Settings benchmark.

At 1920x1200 with everything at maximum apart from no soft shadows and 2xAA ...
without using the SLI ... 69% between 25-40 FPS and 31% over 40FPS in the Test Settings benchmark

At 1680x1050 with everything at maximum apart from no soft shadows and 2xAA ...
without using the SLI ... 36% between 25-40 FPS and 64%over 40FPS in the Test Settings benchmark

At 1440x900 with everything at maximum apart from no soft shadows and 2xAA ...
without using the SLI ... 4% between 25-40 FPS and 96%over 40FPS in the Test Settings benchmark

Widescreen Gaming Forum