New GFX Card

[Soleron]

The GTX260 is not capable of DX10.1, just DX10. Your OS may have updated the software to 10.1 but only Radeon 4000/5000 or Geforce 210/220/240 cards are capable.

However the latest is DX11 and the HD 5770 is only a little slower than the GTX260, $30 cheaper, has DX11, and much lower power consumption/noise.

Otherwise the 4890 is essentially the same price as a GTX260 but a little faster (about the same as a GTX275) and supports DX10.1.

 

[Woodsey]

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.

I'll try measuring a little later - not the same case though, but fairly similar looking (not sure on length yet obviously).

Got the PSU manual - I'm reading under Output Parameter:

There's 2 +12Vs on here (+12V 1 and +12V 2). +12V 1 is 1A-20A and +12V 2 is 1A-18A.

 

[Woodsey]

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.

http://www.boston.co.uk/products/hpu-4m580-pk.aspx

That lists some basics under specifications (that's definitely the right one) if that helps.

 

[flaming_squirrel]

That should be fine, do you know how many 6 pin GPU connectors it has? Might be called PCI-E power connectors or somesuch in the manual if you're not sure what they look like.

Edit: From what I can gather it seems to have 2, which is perfect.

PSU seems good then, just depends on case dimensions.

 

[Woodsey]

That should be fine, do you know how many 6 pin GPU connectors it has? Might be called PCI-E power connectors or somesuch in the manual if you're not sure what they look like.

Err...*

It says PCI-E Power Connector, 6 pin and then the table underneath shows 6 pins.

*I say this because you already said "6 pin" so I'm wondering if I've read something wrong? xD

 

[flaming_squirrel]

Err...*

It says PCI-E Power Connector, 6 pin and then the table underneath shows 6 pins.

*I say this because you already said "6 pin" so I'm wondering if I've read something wrong? xD

Nah that's all good, managed to find a site which had the info off its box.
Cant find anything that'll stop it from working with the card.

 

[Woodsey]

Err...*

It says PCI-E Power Connector, 6 pin and then the table underneath shows 6 pins.

*I say this because you already said "6 pin" so I'm wondering if I've read something wrong? xD

Nah that's all good, managed to find a site which had the info off its box.
Cant find anything that'll stop it from working with the card.

Cool - that's pretty much everything then, I'll check measurements tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Woodsey]

I'd repeat the recommendation for the HD 4890. Just got one myself, and it's got a good power-to-performance ratio even at stock. Something that's being forgotten here, though, is that the 4890 is very overclock-friendly, and to do justice to the card, you'd be best overclocking it. ATI's drivers (and NVIDIA's, for the record) come with overclocking tools as standard.

OK - I'll definitely look at the 4890.

Thing is with OCing, I'm not really that willing to piss about in the BIOS - being 15, if my PC cocks up on a hardware-level my parents will be the ones to pay to get it sorted; for which they make me wait a fair while xD

 

[e2density]

+1 for the 4890. It's a powerhouse, since you probably can't get a decent DX11 card for the price range you set...

Unless you go with my card, a 5770, also a fine choice.

 

[Woodsey]

+1 for the 4890. It's a powerhouse, since you probably can't get a decent DX11 card for the price range you set...

Unless you go with my card, a 5770, also a fine choice.

After seeing the totally non-existant DX11 effects in the new STALKER (compared to DX10), I'm not that bothered.

The 4890 is certainly popular, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Zacharine]

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.

Straight from Wikipedia:

Direct3D 10.1 is an incremental update of Direct3D 10.0 which is shipped with, and requires, Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This release mainly sets a few more image quality standards for graphics vendors, while giving developers more control over image quality. It also adds support for parallel cube mapping and requires that the video card supports Shader Model 4.1 or higher and 32-bit floating-point operations. Direct3D 10.1 still fully supports Direct3D 10 hardware, but in order to utilize all of the new features, updated hardware is required.

 

[Woodsey]

You don't even need to mess around in the BIOS; the drivers have an overclock tool which can be used directly from the operating system, and you can get even better third-party overclock tools which can be used to test stability.

OK, thanks.

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.

Straight from Wikipedia:

Direct3D 10.1 is an incremental update of Direct3D 10.0 which is shipped with, and requires, Windows Vista Service Pack 1. This release mainly sets a few more image quality standards for graphics vendors, while giving developers more control over image quality. It also adds support for parallel cube mapping and requires that the video card supports Shader Model 4.1 or higher and 32-bit floating-point operations. Direct3D 10.1 still fully supports Direct3D 10 hardware, but in order to utilize all of the new features, updated hardware is required.

Ahh OK - makes sense I guess (if a little annoying).