Hello :!:  
 
I'm about to change from nVIDIA to ATI.
 
I currently have an nVIDIA graphic card, and what I like very much about nVIDIA is the nVIDIA Control Panel they have in their driver. You can change brightness, contrast, numerical brightness gamma correction, sharpness, etc... and make the image very beautiful (I have a CRT).  
 
Unfortunately, I didn't find anywhere where it says the ATI driver has this function in their driver.
 
If you are an ATI user or you know about the driver, can you tell me if there is something similar in ATI's driver? Or if not, is there a third party tool that has these features?
 
Thank you very much!

I think the ATI Catalyst Control Center will do what you want ..
click me !
 
I use Nvidia so an ATI person may want to verify this.

Oops! Well, I made a mistake; I meant 'Digital Vibrance' instead of 'numerical brightness' lol!
 
And what I wanted to know was if ATI's driver possessed something similar, but I found this;
 
"Digital Vibrance" on ATI cards?
 
"Digital Radiance"?
 
So it seems ATI has a good color scheme or something... :? So I'm not too worried!
 
But yes, you are right; I clicked on the link and then on 'Features' and it seems very similar to nVIDIA hehe  
 
Now pretty much the only gripe with ATI seems to be the .net Framework thingy ATI's using for their Control Center, but I found that you could disable a related service to lower resource usage.
 
.net Framework
 
Thank you very much!  
 
Going off-topic, now that I have a new video card, I need to get a MOBO, a CPU and RAM.
 
I thought about Corsair XMS 2 TWIN2X1024-6400 but there's the Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X1024-8500 :?
 
I know DDR2-800 is slower than DDR2-1066, but is it really that slower? :? And should I pick 2 GB instead of 1 GB because my video card is 256 MB It is the Sapphire x1950XT 256MB. If you have some time, I'd be very happy if you could share your knowledge on this, it's confusing me quite a bit lol...  
 
And then there's the MSI Platinum for the MOBO.
 
And then the e6600 for the CPU, but Intel's lowering their prices in 2 months I think, and the Q6600 (Quad core) will cost as much as the e6600 costs now  
 
Thank you very much for your time! :!:

To answer your questions (in my opinion) ...
 
1) Go for 2Gb RAM. Some games already benefit from it and newer ones definitley will. Should you go for Vista at some point you will also see the benefit of 2Gb instead of 1Gb.
 
2) Don't pay over the odds for faster RAM which in practice will give you a tiny performance increase. Stick with the DDR2-800 and rather invest in a faster CPU.
Memory performance
 
3)The E6600 is a very nice CPU.
 
Yuo can always wait for the price to drop but in my experience you will always be waiting for something newer to come out or a price to drop. There is never the perfect time to upgrade, you just have to go for it ;-)

Thank you very much!
 
Ahh... I'm a bit naive sometimes...  
 
I was thinking quad-core because of Alan Wake...! Max Payne 2 was such a great game... but you know, few games even use 2 cores at the moment, that would be a waste!  
 
And you're right about RAM I'm just wondering though, do RAM affect games the way VRAM does? Since my video card only has 256 MB, will it change anything to have 2GB? :? If you could answer that little question to me... Because I know that games on higher resolutions or with higher texture resolutions need more than 256MB, so am I just dreaming by thinking 2GB of RAM would compensate for my 256MB? :?  
 
Thank you very much again! :!:

RAM and VRAM are not linked in any way. I would get 2Gb RAM to "future proof" your system as some games already benefit from 2Gb rather than 1Gb. With 2Gb RAM you will notice less disk activity and quicker loading times between levels (on some games).
 
1Gb RAM vs 2Gb RAM
 
Your graphics card is fine for the moment and having 512Mb VRAM only really shows if you tweak all the bells and whistles to maximum (HDR, AA, ...)
 
256Mb vs 512Mb

Thank you very much hubbardt!  
 
But I still have a couple of questions left... I'm really wondering...
 
Will 1GB of RAM cause hitching or stuttering? Will 2GB of RAM stop it? Or does 2GB only make loading faster?
 
I like 1280x1024, and the very maximum resolution I use is 1600x1200, can my video card run games at 1600x1200 without hitching even with 256MB? I've heard 1600x1200 was the maximum resolution that was okay on a 256MB, but does that mean it runs it with no hitching/stuttering? Example: I know Far Cry will run at really high FPS with 1600x1200 with HDR and aniso-filtering, but will there be hitching/stuttering? Is hitching/stuttering caused by lack of VRAM or RAM or FPS? (I think it's VRAM... not sure lol). I don't know if you know enough to answer me that, but if you could, I'd be very happy lol...  
 
I also think Antialiasing is pointless lol... I won't use it!  
 
HDR for Far Cry, I'd like to use it, it's pretty. And Anisotropic filtering too, but not Antialiasing. Do you think I'd be alright with 256MB?
 
And I PREY for example run at a lower FPS without 512 MB, but let's say I push the settings at their maximum and still get above 60 FPS, will there be hitching compared to a 512MB? With VSYNC or not?  
 
If you could make this clear, aww.... :? Lol, sorry for being asking for so much help, but thank you A LOT hubbardt!    

Glad to help when I can   8)  
 
Hitching or stuttering is generally caused by three things:
- Low framerate (CPU and Graphics card bound normally)
- Packet loss and lag (Network connection)
- Unwanted CPU activity (i.e. something causing your CPU to spike)
 
1GB of RAM is more than enough for the current crop of games but some games (such as Battlefield2) like as much RAM as possible. Having more RAM will not cure any hitching or stuttering. Extra RAM means your computer can cache more stuff in memory so it has less pagefile activity and less to load (when changing levels for example)
 
256Mb of VRAM is absolutely fine. The main advantage of more VRAM is you can store more detailed textures in VRAM. Doom3 has a mode called 'Ultra High Quality' for which you need 512MB VRAM but to be honest there arre not many around that do this and the differences (imo) are not that noticable
 
Read this article about performance differences ....
 
Read this post about Vsync. I just leave the default  

Lol  
 
Ahh okay! Well, I don't play online huhu To tell you the whole story if you want to know (lol);
 
I have a Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz, Asus P4P800, GeForce 5700LE and 1GB DDR RAM lol... I have trouble keeping up hehe...
 
I don't need that much power, but since it's a good time to upgrade (I'm not going Vista and DirectX10, don't worry lol) I'm buying a good system (my second one, my first was also very good 2,5 years ago lol).
 
I think I'll go with a 1GB of RAM for now  
 
I'm a bit sceptical and eager to have all the pieces lol... in 1.5 month, I should have everything lol  
 
That's why I wonder about so many things lol... I'm really not a big spender, but I have to give all I have for this, maybe that's why I'm so curious lol  
 
I could ask a last question to sum everything you said (I'm so annoying, sorry! I swear it's the last question!)
 
If I run DOOM 3 on Ultra High Quality at 1600x1200 and it still doesn't decrease the FPS below 60, will there be hitching/stuttering or will it be smooth?
 
And I really have to say this; you're very kind to answer me like that!  
 
Also, if you don't mind, I could tell you about why I'm getting this too!
I like standards First Person Shooters on the PC, and I like to play them with a gamepad, so I rediscovered my passion to play games with a gamepad! It's really harder and well... quite a bit harder when your FPS is really bad too lol... I also follow a bit the emulation of GameCube on the PC to finally be able to play Super Smash Bros. Melee again on my PC monitor! If that day comes, if not, it's okay I'll have to rebuy a GameCube before they dissapear lol I like Max Payne 2 very much too, great action, great design, great experience and awesome philosophy! So Alan Wake will probably be very good too! I also want to record music when I finally buy a microphone and a microphone jack thingy lol... It's so hard to decide which... and I like to draw with MSPaint! I'm really good!  
 
Also Crysis should be good, but you'll be surprised by how sceptical I am! Far Cry was really a survival course, but Crysis makes you a superhero! You have that nano-suit with all these powers (jump super high, run super fast, throw things at full force which makes me think about Half Life 2's gravity gun!) and the super fast running could be a bit ridiculous since you probably can use it when you are surrounded and it could become too easy! And I'm not too fond of the Alien creatures... :? I like to be able to destroy things though and to jump real high! And I also dislike the weapon gadgets you have; you can customize your weapons with many other pieces like scope, grenade launcher but... it could give the player too much advantage... of course, I'm being severe.
 
Because I feel the same about Oblivion; before the first 15 minutes of the game, you already have a big armor and a longsword... I'd really like a game that you have to survive! When I heard about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and that you had to eat in this game, I was looking forward to it! I haven't played yet, but I hope it's good lol! I really want a game that gives you very little, and that you must do with it! And a game that doesn't let you carry so much stuff too... so your choices would determine how you'd act through the game! An intelligent game with a nice blending of action and open design. I'm asking for too much lol :wink: And S.T.A.L.K.E.R. look absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!! Wow! The sky is very dark and the nature is very raw, I like that alot! It builds an atmosphere by itself! Music is really important too though!
 
Oh well! :wink: Thank you very much again hubbardt !

You will only be able to play Doom3 on 'Ultra High Quality' if you have a 512Mb video card but as I said there are so few games that require 512Mb I don't think it's worth spending the money. Get a 256Mb one.
 
If you are playing a game and can maintain a stable 60fps  then you should see no hitching/stuttering.
 
The way I usually do this is put the ingame settings to High (i.e. nice visuals) and then see if my fps is good enough (40fps minimum). Some games allow you to display the fps by entering a command via the console (usually by pressing the ~  key). If the FPS drops too low you will see stuttering so you need to drop some of the visuals down a bit. Most games have good tweaking guides found on the Internet.
 
Resolution has a huge impact on FPS so play with that setting first.
 
I agree with playing a game where you have to slowly build up the character. Makes you appreciate things more and is more realistic (i.e. you can't just shoot everything in a room ... better to employ tactics).
 
One game I really loved was Deus Ex (the original, not the sequel). You started off very weak and had to slowly upgrade your abilities until near the end you had a cool character. I remember being ontop of a factory roof and peering down into a skylight. Lots of armed guards were in the room below and the only way in was using a long staircase. I went about half way down the staircase (still out of sight) and placed a couple of tripwire mines. I then retreated back up to the roof and shot at the guards through the skylight. They started shooting back and raced up the stairs to kill me. BOOM ! BOOM ! my mines went off and I easily despatched the remaining 2 or 3 guards that didn't get blown to bits    
 
Good Luck with your system build.

Yeah, I know what you mean! Invisible War was totally unplayable, both on X-Box and PC! I stopped playing because of it... the FPS was way too low, the game looked like an Unreal Tournament clone with better lighting really poorly optimized
 
It's a shame, it seemed like a fine game with the biomods and I actually enjoyed the stealth parts, I remember when I broke in someone's apartment too, we fought with melee weapons in that tight room and I killed him with just a few HP left Then I had to escape I think?! But I gotta admit the biomods confused me a bit! I didn't really see the utility in most of them!  
 
I did play Deus Ex too, but... let's just say that graphically it couldn't really provide the atmospheric experience we're used too today Nostalgia probably make this game pass the test of time though, many still consider it a classic! But in PC gaming, I came a few generations too late hehe About a game that uses the same engine, of course Unreal Tournament, I feel this way; it easily bests UT2K3 & UT2K4 in my opinion! They're slow, the maps are way too flat (where's the tight indoor spaces?), I absolutely hate dodge-jumps and many guns lost their efficiency. Plus the characters are just so thin, you can barely shoot them!  
 
Yeah, I agree too. That why I hate all those mindless multiplayer-centered shooters. I remember in Perfect Dark, with the Laptop Guns and the mines When we were trying to win against a team of Dark simulants hehe Then came Halo, where bots in multiplayer didn't exist. Then came Far Cry, again with no multiplayer against bots... why? Is it that hard to take parts of some levels, put them together, build score cards and put in some bots with the weapons you want, different match types?! Plus Far Cry AND Halo had no rewards or unlockables... TimeSplitters 2 had it though, but the weapons were weak... Conker's Bad Fur Day too hehe  
 
I like to play multiplayer with bots! And with the AI constantly improving, we really should see that return! They really are exciting to fight in a multiplayer environment!