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Advice on Video Cards

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
So, still enjoying the game -- looking at building a gaming rig with STO in mind.

However, I am curious as to how people have felt about the performance of their video cards with STO. I am thinking about an ATI Radeon HD5970 2GB, but have heard Nvidias work better with STO..?

Any advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated. If there is a better forum for this to be asked, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    latimer wrote: »
    So, still enjoying the game -- looking at building a gaming rig with STO in mind.

    However, I am curious as to how people have felt about the performance of their video cards with STO. I am thinking about an ATI Radeon HD5970 2GB, but have heard Nvidias work better with STO..?

    Any advice/experiences would be greatly appreciated. If there is a better forum for this to be asked, please let me know.

    Thanks in advance.

    There is currently a bug with shadows and nVidia cards. nVidia has it listed in their known bugs list, but apparently Cryptic cannot be bothered to give them any information at all so they can fix it, as it has been going on for months now apparently.

    I run the GTX 580 and everything on max settings and get phenomenal FPS. Just need to let everything load when you beam into a ground area with lots of people (ESD, Memory Alpha) and once it actually loads up the shadows, it smooths right out.

    Basically AMD provides a much better value card, but when it comes to the enthusiast stuff, the nVidia cards outperform (in single GPU settings). Apparently crossfire has been greatly improved lately and so if you are running crossfire, it scales better than SLI right now.

    That sort of thing tends to go back and forth though.

    For STO, a GTX 480 or a 560 is probably all you really need. The 580 I'm running is overkill.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    I am running an ATI4890 with good old 1GB GDDR5 Ram and i can play it on max @1920x1200.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Currently running now, PNY Geoforce GTX 460 Enthusiast Edtion 1gb Memory/DDR 5 (DX 11) with Nvidia .270 latest software.

    Before that, was with running PNY Geoforce 9500GT 1 gb Memory DDR 2 (DX10) Nvidia .266 or 268 (?) software, last week.

    The differences are night and day. With the latter card mentioned, the shadows effect was turned off, cause it was causing problems for display and performance.

    The forementioned VGC has took on every feature and it is using it without much hiccup, except for some tiny lag, when in deep space (warping to sectors). When the mouse is used to turn the ship. There is a small 'pause', then it goes back to normal.

    Right now, everything is running smoothly.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Dont buy ATI, nvidia ftw ALOT of players have huge issues with STO and ATI cards.Me i'm getting a Gainward GTX 580 3072MB PhyX :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    tyyy wrote: »
    Dont buy ATI, nvidia ftw ALOT of players have huge issues with STO and ATI cards.

    I have ATI and 0 problems with STO, running at full settings at 1920x1080
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    I run a GTX560Ti SLi setup, and the game runs great. I get a bit of stutter on the ground as the game loads up and generates lighting, but nothing too bad. And it's only in really densely populated areas. I never have issues in ground missions. Just DS9, ESD, etc.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    I'm using a single Radeon 5770 1GB card, and run the game on max settings @ 1920x1080 flawlessly (It does slow down a bit sometimes, like the 'boss' battle in Klingon Scout Force for instance). The only issue is that I have to disable dynamic lighting for ground combat, otherwise it will crash quite quickly. They've been working on this issue since closed beta :(

    I'm very happy with my Radeon, though. It's a great card.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    tyyy wrote: »
    Dont buy ATI, nvidia ftw ALOT of players have huge issues with STO and ATI cards.Me i'm getting a Gainward GTX 580 3072MB PhyX :D

    QFT. I couldn't say it better myself. If you go with ATI, you run the risk that this game will not work on higher graphic settings, thus making it a waste of your money. It doesn't happen to everyone, but there are enough people reporting the problem (including myself) to know it's a huge concern.

    When I say "will not work" I mean the game will crash to desktop, repeatedly, very often mid-battle. I'm not talking about just running slow or graphic glitches, I'm talking full on crash.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    tyyy wrote: »
    Dont buy ATI, nvidia ftw ALOT of players have huge issues with STO and ATI cards.Me i'm getting a Gainward GTX 580 3072MB PhyX :D

    Hehe, i use the Phantom 580 3gb, runs STO at everything maxed smooth as a baby bottom.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Thanks for all the information and replies!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    QFT. I couldn't say it better myself. If you go with ATI, you run the risk that this game will not work on higher graphic settings, thus making it a waste of your money. It doesn't happen to everyone, but there are enough people reporting the problem (including myself) to know it's a huge concern.

    When I say "will not work" I mean the game will crash to desktop, repeatedly, very often mid-battle. I'm not talking about just running slow or graphic glitches, I'm talking full on crash.

    Ground Battles? Make sure your dynamic lighting is disabled. Problem solved. If it's something else, then disregard :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2011
    Well, based on more research (and not a little on the replies here!) I am looking now at a single GTX 570 1.2 G (the board can run up to 3 SLI, but I'll wait), probably 12 GB RAM, and a i7-970 processor. Also thinking of making the primary drive solid state.

    How do you think that would run STO? Does having a dedicated PHYSX card make a real difference in STO, and if so, what? Any other places I should pose these questions? Any other advice? (Assuming people see this at all, given that the subject was moved -- but still looking for any advice I can get!)

    Thanks!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2011
    I run a ATI 6970 2gb
    As of the latest 11.3 11.4 drivers crashes are a thing of the past for me
    Runs fine maxed 1900 x 1200
    Physx makes no difference to the game in the slightest
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited June 2011
    I'm a little older, running 2 9800gt's from XFX.

    I can't even load into the game in SLI mode :mad:, it just locks up and fails to render a visible screen.

    HOWEVER, if I set one card dedicated to running PhysX. I'm able to run full shadows and everything on high with no issues.

    Before while running with just one 9800gt (pre-SLI capable). I could ALMOST run everything on high. With an occasional crash in high active areas. where as now I see things with more detail, farther, and clearer then with one card, AND I'm not in "SLI".

    I didn't even know about the shadow issue, until I tried to run in SLI and failed YESTERDAY.

    For those running with two Nvidia cards though, try running with one card dedicated to physX. You may be surprised.
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