New GFX Card

[Woodsey]

So, with the passing of Christmas, I've come in to some money at the same time I've been considering an upgrade to my PC. Besides RAM the best way to do this (being a gamer) is to update the graphics card.

Now, I'm pretty tech savvy, but motherboards have always left me at a little bit of a loss. I've got an (deep breath now) ASUSTeK P5GC-MX/1333 (LGA 775) Intel i945G - the important part is that it has 2 PCI-E slots (one 16x and one 1x).

Currently I've got a nVidia 9600GT (512mb DDR3) so I want something a fair leap up from that, pricing up to around £150 (although recommendations a little over are welcome).

If someone (who knows what they're on about) could recommend me a card that'd be great - preferably it'd be something in the GTS/GTX range, with a gig of VRAM.

Even better, if you have the same processor and a better card, then what have you got?

Basic rig:

ASUSTeK P5GC-MX/1333 (LGA 775) Intel i945G
nVidia 9600GT (512mb DDR3)
2GB MicronTech DDR2 RAM
Intel Core2Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz
Vista 32-Bit
160GB Hitachi HDD

Thanks a bunch (in advance).

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Well if you're set on an Nvidia card, the GTX260 is probably the best you'll get for that much, it's a solid card (I have one) which'll run pretty much anything current bar Crysis Dx10 on full settings and mediumish resolution.

With current prices I'd go Ati though, 4890 for £139 = BARGAIN.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-4890-OC-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-3900MHz-GDDR5-GPU-870MHz-800-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP

Edit: Oh just thought of something though, what PSU have you got? Quite important to take into consideration.

 

[Aunel]

I have a geforce 8800GT in my laptop, and I can run Crysis in medium settings, and fallout 3 on the highest,

not sure if it helps this piece of info, but I feel very good when contributing in something other then bass or singing.
=D

 

[Woodsey]

Well if you're set on an Nvidia card, the GTX260 is probably the best you'll get for that much, it's a solid card (I have one) which'll run pretty much anything current bar Crysis Dx10 on full settings and mediumish resolution.

With current prices I'd go Ati though, 4890 for £139 = BARGAIN.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-4890-OC-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-3900MHz-GDDR5-GPU-870MHz-800-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP

Edit: Oh just thought of something though, what PSU have you got? Quite important to take into consideration.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

 

[Da_Schwartz]

If anything I'd worry abotu your RAM issue first. 2g is not enough. especially while running vista 32. 4G is pretty standard.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

Ignore the 1x, they're for devices other then video cards, it's the Pci-E 16x that you want to look at, but yes it'll do fine.

It only requires the one slot but one thing you do need to think about is the space it takes up, it's a BIG card, what case do you have?

Unfortunately there's no way of checking without opening the case up, should say on a sticker on the side of the PSU what it is.

If anything I'd worry abotu your RAM issue first. 2g is not enough. especially while running vista 32. 4G is pretty standard.

Considering that Vista 32bit doesnt even support 4gb of ram that's not entirely true, although it does allow you to max it out more easily.

 

[JRCB]

Well if you're set on an Nvidia card, the GTX260 is probably the best you'll get for that much, it's a solid card (I have one) which'll run pretty much anything current bar Crysis Dx10 on full settings and mediumish resolution.

With current prices I'd go Ati though, 4890 for £139 = BARGAIN.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-4890-OC-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-3900MHz-GDDR5-GPU-870MHz-800-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP

Edit: Oh just thought of something though, what PSU have you got? Quite important to take into consideration.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

My card (the GTX 260 Maxcore 55) covers two slots, but only uses one input. Cost about $220 CDN, and runs really well.

 

[Woodsey]

If anything I'd worry abotu your RAM issue first. 2g is not enough. especially while running vista 32. 4G is pretty standard.

RAM's not a problem currently, and is dirt cheap to put more in - I can run Crysis on a healthy mix of high and very high with a sturdy fps quite easily on my current rig.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

Ignore the 1x, they're for devices other then video cards, it's the Pci-E 16x that you want to look at, but yes it'll do fine.

It only requires the one slot but one thing you do need to think about is the space it takes up, it's a BIG card, what case do you have?

Unfortunately there's no way of checking without opening the case up, should say on a sticker on the side of the PSU what it is.

OK, I'll have a look tomorrow at the PSU.

The case model has now completely escaped my memory; it's fairly standard but pretty long - I haven't had the need to open her up in ages but from what I remember there was miles of space inside last time, so that's not an overly large concern.

I'm now looking for the case online (the more I think about what it was called the more I can't remember -.- ).

 

[Woodsey]

Well if you're set on an Nvidia card, the GTX260 is probably the best you'll get for that much, it's a solid card (I have one) which'll run pretty much anything current bar Crysis Dx10 on full settings and mediumish resolution.

With current prices I'd go Ati though, 4890 for £139 = BARGAIN.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-4890-OC-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-3900MHz-GDDR5-GPU-870MHz-800-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP

Edit: Oh just thought of something though, what PSU have you got? Quite important to take into consideration.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

My card (the GTX 260 Maxcore 55) covers two slots, but only uses one input. Cost about $220 CDN, and runs really well.

Oh, well that answers the question - so it doesn't actually need to be plugged into two slots, it just uses that much space?

 

[JRCB]

Well if you're set on an Nvidia card, the GTX260 is probably the best you'll get for that much, it's a solid card (I have one) which'll run pretty much anything current bar Crysis Dx10 on full settings and mediumish resolution.

With current prices I'd go Ati though, 4890 for £139 = BARGAIN.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-XFX-HD-4890-OC-PCI-E-20%28x16%29-3900MHz-GDDR5-GPU-870MHz-800-Cores-2x-DL-DVI-I-HDTV-HDCP

Edit: Oh just thought of something though, what PSU have you got? Quite important to take into consideration.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

My card (the GTX 260 Maxcore 55) covers two slots, but only uses one input. Cost about $220 CDN, and runs really well.

Oh, well that answers the question - so it doesn't actually need to be plugged into two slots, it just uses that much space?

You got it.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Oh, well that answers the question - so it doesn't actually need to be plugged into two slots, it just uses that much space?

Make sure you've got plenty of free space below the PCI-E x16 slot, it covers the space below and uses the rear slot to exhaust hot air.

 

[Sebenko]

Oh, well that answers the question - so it doesn't actually need to be plugged into two slots, it just uses that much space?

Yeah, mainly the cooler. You only need two PCIe slots for SLI (and I think that needs to be two x16 slots as well).

 

[Woodsey]

You got it.

Beautiful - thanks.

If anything I'd worry abotu your RAM issue first. 2g is not enough. especially while running vista 32. 4G is pretty standard.

RAM's not a problem currently, and is dirt cheap to put more in - I can run Crysis on a healthy mix of high and very high with a sturdy fps quite easily on my current rig.

Does the GTX260 require dual PCI-E slots? And if so, will mine do? The 16x I think is fine, but I don't know about the 1x.

Is there anyway I can find what PSU I've got without opening the case?

Ignore the 1x, they're for devices other then video cards, it's the Pci-E 16x that you want to look at, but yes it'll do fine.

It only requires the one slot but one thing you do need to think about is the space it takes up, it's a BIG card, what case do you have?

Unfortunately there's no way of checking without opening the case up, should say on a sticker on the side of the PSU what it is.

OK, I'll have a look tomorrow at the PSU.

The case model has now completely escaped my memory; it's fairly standard but pretty long - I haven't had the need to open her up in ages but from what I remember there was miles of space inside last time, so that's not an overly large concern.

I'm now looking for the case online (the more I think about what it was called the more I can't remember -.- ).

Ignore that, I knew I had it written down somewhere:

Hyper 580watt SILENT PSU

The case is just a regular Belmore one - like I said, there's plenty of space inside from what I remember.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Ignore that, I knew I had it written down somewhere:

Hyper 580watt SILENT PSU

The case is just a regular Belmore one - like I said, there's plenty of space inside from what I remember.

I'll have a look in a bit, just found out my PSU's on it's way out so I need to switch it before everything fries.

 

[Zacharine]

"Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December '09"

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491.html

According to their tests and experience, for around 200 US dollars (should be around £150), they recommend a Radeon HD 4890. SLI-confirgurations are out, because your motherboard doesn't support two cards. Go for the 4890 rather than a GeForce GTX 260: the Radeon card supports DirectX 10.1 and Shadermodel 4.1, whereas the 260 only supports DX 10 and SM 4.0. Unless of course you can find a 260 for a bit cheaper; a difference of less than £10 is still slightly in favor of the Radeon HD 4890, but any cheaper GTX 260 and it begins to come out ahead in terms of price/performance ratio. In actual performance, they are fairly close together. Some games run better with the GeForce 200-arcithecture though I hear, but even then the performance difference is not altogether that significant.

So, if you can find a Radeon HD 4890 for a fairly close price to a GTX 260 and it's still within your budget, my recommendation is to go for the 4890 over the GeForce.

 

[Woodsey]

"Best Graphics Cards For The Money: December '09"

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-310-5970,2491.html

According to their tests and experience, for around 200 US dollars (should be around £150), they recommend a Radeon HD 4890. SLI-confirgurations are out, because your motherboard doesn't support two cards. Go for the 4890 rather than a GeForce GTX 260: the Radeon card supports DirectX 10.1 and Shadermodel 4.1, whereas the 260 only supports DX 10 and SM 4.0. Unless of course you can find a 260 for a bit cheaper; a difference of less than £10 is still slightly in favor of the Radeon HD 4890, but any cheaper GTX 260 and it begins to come out ahead in terms of price/performance ratio. In actual performance, they are fairly close together. Some games run better with the GeForce 200-arcithecture though I hear, but even then the performance difference is not altogether that significant.

So, if you can find a Radeon HD 4890 for a fairly close price to a GTX 260 and it's still within your budget, my recommendation is to go for the 4890 over the GeForce.

Surely DX 10.1 is the update to 10? My 9600 is a DX10 and I'm pretty sure it's updated to 10.1.

 

[AkJay]

Windows 7 (32-Bit)
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Processor 2.81GHz
2.00GB RAM
GeForce 9800 GT (Graphics Card)

 

[Woodsey]

Windows 7 (32-Bit)
AMD Athlon II X2 240 Processor 2.81GHz
2.00GB RAM
GeForce 9800 GT (Graphics Card)

Emmm...?

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Hyper 580watt SILENT PSU

The case is just a regular Belmore one - like I said, there's plenty of space inside from what I remember.

I'm struggling to find info on either of those, if you've got a manual can you find the ampage on the +12v rail? Should be on a table in there somewhere.

From what I can gather on the case (if it's this one: http://www.mailorder.anglianinternet.co.uk/acatalog/BLACK_SILVER_BELMORE_396_PRO_4_BAY_CASE_FRONT_USB_400WATT_20_24pin_PSU.html ) I'm not sure it'll fit due to being a good 7cm shorter then mine. If you can get a tape measure from the back of the case (next to the PCI-E x16 slot) to as far forwards as you can get it without hitting anything that would help.


Also, x2 on what SakSak said, there's not a huge amount of difference in the actual performance (varies from game to game in which card gains ground) but the 4890 does pull ahead slightly overall, well worth it especially when it's cheaper.