New Graphics Card.

Hello, all. I've decided to update my machine with a better GPU for anticipation of some new games coming out this year (Starcraft 2 and Supreme Commander 2), and to hopefully solve the numerous graphical problems I've experienced with CoH.

I currently have an HD4830, and looking at Nvidia this time, but not exactly sure of the best Price/Performance ratio cards out there. I want to run CoH in all its Glory (High on everything), and the same with Starcraft 2. So, what should I be looking at? I'm hoping to spend less than $200, and I have an Enermax Power Supply.

What would you guys reccomend?

Can you please post a log from CoH Helper? It'll tell us more about your system than simply your powersupply and what card you've currently got.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---

DxDiag gathered at July 1, 2009 21:54 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7077) (7077.winmain_win7rc.090404-1255)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: EP43-UD3L
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Central Processor: Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.7GHz
Memory: 4096MB
.Net Memory Report: 2551MB out of 4094MB available
Page File: 6523MB (1663MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD3200AAKS-00L9A0 ATA Device) 243695MB out of 305141MB (79%) free
D Drive: (PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-116D ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7077.0000 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Manufacturer / Chip: ATI Technologies Inc. / ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x944C)
Video Memory: 2297 MB
Driver Version: 8.612.0.0
Driver Date: 4/29/2009 1:47:30 AM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7077.0000
Driver Date: 4/4/2009 5:06:05 PM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: EP43-UD3L
Motherboard Version: x.x
BIOS Manufacturer: Award Software International, Inc.
BIOS Name: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Version: GBT - 42302e31
BIOS Release: 20090113000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1360x768
3D Resolution: 1360x768 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes

Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: Low Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High

World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 2.000
Entity Detail Level: 2.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 500511 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 19.20090619.2T
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found

With your current PSU you're NOT going to be able to support a GTX280. About the beefiest card you can put in there is a GTX260. And even then, you're probably straining the system's power envelope.

Depending on what you've got in the system, (assuming 2 high speed SATA drives, a DVD burner, 3 LED fans, high performance board with on-board sound and NIC, PLUS the GTX260 you're looking at approximately 381W at 100% system utilization.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

[ QUOTE ]
With your current PSU you're NOT going to be able to support a GTX280. About the beefiest card you can put in there is a GTX260. And even then, you're probably straining the system's power envelope.

Depending on what you've got in the system, (assuming 2 high speed SATA drives, a DVD burner, 3 LED fans, high performance board with on-board sound and NIC, PLUS the GTX260 you're looking at approximately 381W at 100% system utilization.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have 1 7200rpm HD, a DVD Burner, no LEDs, on-board sound, and yes, a network interface controller (NIC). Pretty simple, actually.

So, looking at the prices, a GTX 260 look likes it runs ~$180. Not bad. How would a GTX 250 run, compared to the 260? Major difference?

At 33 amps of 12 volt power is fairly good for a single GPU system.

Guesstimating with the eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite your current rig with the HD 4830 is around 310 watts. Going to a GTX 260/216 brings it to 333 watts. You will then be around 75% of your max 12 volt power output and I wouldn't go higher than that which excludes the GTX 275, 280 or 285.

This assumes you aren't OCing your CPU as OCing a CPU can significantly increase it's power requirements.

Now as to performance difference, that's tougher to say. The HD 4830 is in the same class as the 9800GT. The GTX 260/216 has around 60% more raw power than the 9800GT. How much of that can translate into actual performance is dependent on the game.