Yup, my Ultimate XP rig uses an i7-3770k and GTX 980 Ti. Complete overkill for Windows XP, but runs everything from that era without breaking a sweat.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-04-29, 21:15:

Yup, my Ultimate XP rig uses an i7-3770k and GTX 980 Ti. Complete overkill for Windows XP, but runs everything from that era without breaking a sweat.

I have a slightly weaker WinXP system with an i5-3570k and a GTX 970. As you say, it runs almost everything without a hitch, if you don't do fancy stuff like manually forcing advanced forms of anti aliasing.

That said, I recently noticed that Gothic 3 (a game from 2006) can sometimes hit 100% CPU utilization on that rig, resulting in dropped frames per MSI Afterburner. This is an edge case of course, since that game is very poorly optimized, but still worth mentioning.

Similarly, forcing 8xSGSSAA while running Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (a game from 2004) at 1600x1200 results in 100% GPU utilization tanking the frame rate when lots of transparency effects are present on the screen. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005) also drops frames at those same settings and under similar circumstances. Not sure if the 980 Ti would help there, since it's about 25% faster than a 970.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 03:51:

I have a slightly weaker WinXP system with an i5-3570k and a GTX 970. As you say, it runs almost everything without a hitch, if you don't do fancy stuff like manually forcing advanced forms of anti aliasing.

A bit off-topic, but do you know how compatible the GTX 9xx WinXP drivers are? Asking because I remember testing some of the late WinXP drivers with my GTX 760 and I encountered many issues with older games such as Far Cry (very slow performance, extreme stutters in certain areas, graphical corruption, etc). After reverting to an older driver (I forget right now which one it was specifically - possibly 327.23), everything started working correctly.

Well, I've recently come across a 980Ti for a very good price and I'm thinking of grabbing it. The problem is that this card, just like your 970, isn't even officially supported on Windows XP (though it should work with a bit of driver modding, since the GTX 960 is supported). However, these will be much newer drivers (35x / 36x), which are the same drivers that gave me trouble with my GTX 760... so, I'm a bit skeptical.

bloodem wrote on Yesterday, 06:46:

A bit off-topic, but do you know how compatible the 9xx WinXP drivers are? Asking because I remember testing some of the late WinXP drivers with my GTX 760 and I encountered many issues with older games such as Far Cry (very slow performance, extreme stutters in certain areas, etc). After reverting to an older driver (I forget right now which one it was specifically - possibly 327.23), everything started working correctly.

I've been using modified 355.98 drivers with my GTX 970 and didn't notice any issues so far. That said, I haven't played FarCry a whole lot on this setup, just ran some benchmarks and walked around the initial area when you first get outside. Seemed to be working fine there.

BTW, the GTX 970 and 980 (non-Ti) are officially supported by the 344.11 driver under WinXP.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 06:56:

I've been using modified 355.98 drivers with my GTX 970 and didn't notice any issues so far. That said, I haven't played FarCry a whole lot on this setup, just ran some benchmarks and walked around the initial area when you first get outside. Seemed to be working fine there.

That's more than enough, thank you! The problems that I was talking about manifested in the first minute of gameplay, so they were impossible to miss.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 06:56:

BTW, the GTX 970 and 980 (non-Ti) are officially supported by the 344.11 driver under WinXP.

Interesting, didn't know it!

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 06:56:

[ That said, I haven't played FarCry a whole lot on this setup, just ran some benchmarks and walked around the initial area when you first get outside.

Randomly asking since you reminded, I can't get FC to run on Ultra on my Windows 11. I don't recall getting it to work on Windows 7 either. Do you know anything about it?

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on Yesterday, 07:35:

Randomly asking since you reminded, I can't get FC to run on Ultra on my Windows 11. I don't recall getting it to work on Windows 7 either. Do you know anything about it?

No, sorry. I only ever played FarCry under WinXP.

I do vaguely recall Phil mentioning in one of his videos that the water wasn't rendering correctly on Win7 and up.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on Yesterday, 07:38:

I do vaguely recall Phil mentioning in one of his videos that the water wasn't rendering correctly on Win7 and up.

It should work with dgVoodoo. I remember testing it on Windows 11 and it worked quite well.
Anyway, I prefer to play it on my Win XP rigs. 😁

Right now I'm actually playing it on an nForce 3 Ultra board that I repaired (Gigabyte GA-K8NS ultra-939) with an Athlon 64 4000+ and a GeForce 6800 GT. It works surprisingly well at max details, above 60 (even 100 FPS) most of the time (@ 1280 x 1024 x 32).

BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2025-04-29, 18:44:

I have a GT 740 lying around. I have been thinking if it can make a decent upto-2009 era gaming machine with a 2nd gen i3, and 8GBs of RAM (although XP would use 4GB). What are your ideas? Have you ever turned a PC like this?

ive got a gt 640 its only a 1gb card but it is the gddr5 version, the gt 740 is just a rebrand of the gt 640 (you can compare specs on techpowerup), power wise performance is on par with a 9800gt according to various sites, though i dont know which variant of the card it rivals, whether its the 1GB ddr3, the 4GB ddr3 or the 1GB gddr5, assuming it is the 1GB ddr3 the 1gb gddr5 version will probably be a fair increase in performance

i had the gt 640 paired with an i5-3450 and 8GB ddr3, and the card performs well as a low end gpu for modern games though you will be playing at 1280x720 on lower settings,
heres a few games from off the top of my head

GTAV around 50-60 fps,
Subnautica 40-70fps
The Sinking City 30fps
Call of Cthulhu 2018, 30fps
A Plague Tale: Innocence, around 30fps
Skyrim 60fps

not bad for what is essentially a display adapter, its like the fx5200 of its time also in the sense that you'll be running at low settings mostly at 30fps 🤣. though mainly more on demanding titles.
for 2000's games the gt740 should be pretty decent, not sure about crysis though, even on my i5-2500K/980Ti maxed out if i remember right was between 70-90fps.
also i have the retail farcry and it doesnt work on 64bit Os's, you need an update which is at least a couple of gigs.

DudeFace wrote on Yesterday, 11:25:

ive got a gt 640 its only a 1gb card but it is the gddr5 version, the gt 740 is just a rebrand of the gt 640 (you can compare sp […]
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BEEN_Nath_58 wrote on 2025-04-29, 18:44:

I have a GT 740 lying around. I have been thinking if it can make a decent upto-2009 era gaming machine with a 2nd gen i3, and 8GBs of RAM (although XP would use 4GB). What are your ideas? Have you ever turned a PC like this?

ive got a gt 640 its only a 1gb card but it is the gddr5 version, the gt 740 is just a rebrand of the gt 640 (you can compare specs on techpowerup), power wise performance is on par with a 9800gt according to various sites, though i dont know which variant of the card it rivals, whether its the 1GB ddr3, the 4GB ddr3 or the 1GB gddr5, assuming it is the 1GB ddr3 the 1gb gddr5 version will probably be a fair increase in performance

i had the gt 640 paired with an i5-3450 and 8GB ddr3, and the card performs well as a low end gpu for modern games though you will be playing at 1280x720 on lower settings,
heres a few games from off the top of my head

GTAV around 50-60 fps,
Subnautica 40-70fps
The Sinking City 30fps
Call of Cthulhu 2018, 30fps
A Plague Tale: Innocence, around 30fps
Skyrim 60fps

not bad for what is essentially a display adapter, its like the fx5200 of its time also in the sense that you'll be running at low settings mostly at 30fps 🤣. though mainly more on demanding titles.
for 2000's games the gt740 should be pretty decent, not sure about crysis though, even on my i5-2500K/980Ti maxed out if i remember right was between 70-90fps.
also i have the retail farcry and it doesnt work on 64bit Os's, you need an update which is at least a couple of gigs.

Hm a card around a 9800GT is fair. I remember the GT710 was close to the top cards of the FEAR era (7800GTX), and GeForce 8 was quite a large jump so it makes sense to be around 9800GT