Graphics card help
By
Father Xmas,
Posted on: 2010-07-22 10:15 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
Well what did you have before, so we actually pick something as good, and what size is your power supply?
Offhand there are a lot of nice cards at that price range with a little more info, we hopefully can narrow it down for you.
Edit: One last question, do you have room for a double wide video card? Is the slot next to the video card slot occupied?
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Currently running a N9500gt 512 mb card. the slot beside the graphics card slot is open. ummm, think the p supply is 350, or 400 watt.
Z
http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=pr...1&prod_no=1598
I'd say the answer would be yes Father Xmas. There's a PCIE-1x slot next to the PCIE-16x slot, and the board isn't exactly lacking anything that you'd normally use a PCIE / PCI slot to add-in, such as an audio card, networking card, or the like.
Within the $125 price limit you COULD pick up a RadeonHD 5750, but it'd be the 512mb model. The 1gb model you actually wants starts at $135, and you'd be paying closer to $140 for one that isn't made by PowerColor.
The RadeonHD 4850 can be had in this price range too. It's actually had it's price forced down with Mail in Rebates. Shop carefully and you can pick up a fully ducted Sapphire (not the one with the fan that will drive you nuts) for just $90.
The RadeonHD 4870 has also had it's priced forced down by Mail in Rebates. Shop carefully and you could wind up paying only $120~$125 for one.
If you don't mind picking up a card that doesn't have a vendor behind it anymore, BFG's GTX 260 cards can be had in this price-range. So if things like warranty don't matter... BUY ONE!!!
You could also grab a Geforce GTS 250 in this price-range, but, well, there's the slight problem that many are cheaply made. Let me put it like this: there's a reason Evga Geforce GTS 250's are still commanding price-points in excess of $150.
* * *
So, those are your options. Which one would I actually buy?
The BFG 260, presuming there was still some stock by the time I actually loaded the site. It doesn't do DirectX 11. It doesn't do OpenGL 4.0. It runs hot. It uses power like rock concert. At $110 though, it'll blow past everything else in this list except the RadeonHD 4870. It's also a BFG, which means that more than likely it will overclock. Granted the XFX RadeonHD 4870 will probably also overclock...
but it won't run on your power-supply. 500watt minimum entry.
With your system, I'd actually go for the cheapest option and pick up the Sapphire RadeonHD 4850. For practical purposes, it can keep up with every other card in the price range. I should now, I have a couple of my own. I also know from practical experience that it can boot on a 300watt power supply. So if you've got something in the 400watt range, it should run fine. So you can save some quid and then go for a DX11 / OpenGL 4.0 card next year when you have some more cash, and can get a new power supply as well.
So, those are your options. Which one would I actually buy?
The BFG 260, presuming there was still some stock by the time I actually loaded the site. It doesn't do DirectX 11. It doesn't do OpenGL 4.0. It runs hot. It uses power like rock concert. At $110 though, it'll blow past everything else in this list except the RadeonHD 4870. It's also a BFG, which means that more than likely it will overclock. Granted the XFX RadeonHD 4870 will probably also overclock...
but it won't run on your power-supply. 500watt minimum entry.
With your system, I'd actually go for the cheapest option and pick up the Sapphire RadeonHD 4850. For practical purposes, it can keep up with every other card in the price range. I should now, I have a couple of my own. I also know from practical experience that it can boot on a 300watt power supply. So if you've got something in the 400watt range, it should run fine. So you can save some quid and then go for a DX11 / OpenGL 4.0 card next year when you have some more cash, and can get a new power supply as well.
Well the smallish power supply is going to limit your choices a lot. The 9500GT is a 50 watt card. The card from nVidia with similar performance the GT 220 so that's the "low end" of the range we are looking at.
I would say the upper range is the ATI HD 5670. It's a 60 watt card with 1.8-1.9x the performance of the 9500GT. The GT240 from nVidia is a 70 watt card but is only 1.5-1.6x the performance of the 9500GT.
Price wise the 512MB HD 5670 is at NewEgg for around $90. The 1GB version for around $110.
The 512MB GDDR5 GT240 is priced at $90-95, the 1GB GDDR5 version is priced at $100-110.
All these prices are before any rebate and are on cards from manufacturers that have an outstanding reputation, XFX, Sapphire, eVGA.
Still, considering your power supply, I would lean toward the HD 5670 as the faster card that also needs less power.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
Hey,
Replacing my graphics card. I only have about $100-$125 to do it with. I have a MSI v class 945gcm5-f v2 mother board.
What graphics card should i get to run the game the best on this mother board.
also have 2gb ddr2 667 sdram on mother board.
thanks for any input
Z.