Looking to Upgrade My Video Card and Need Opinions
By
Evil_Gump,
Posted on: 2011-11-03 13:35 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
The GTX550Ti is only one step up from your 9800GT in terms of power, but does have some bonuses in DX11 support and more/faster memory.
With a $150 budget I'd do some searching for a GTX 460 1GB card. It is more bang for the buck than either of the other two, and can be had for around that price range (+/- $10). The AMD 6850 is in the same class and is usually $5-10 cheaper, but AMD has some driver issues with CoX so be prepared to tinker some.
A great resource here is Tomshardware which does a monthly article on bang for your buck in graphics cards. Last months article can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3oobmzp
If your budget is really constrained you can look for open box specials on sites like Newegg and Tiger Direct. Really great deals can be found if you are willing to trust the retailer and forgo packaging.
Looking at the reviews at techpowerUP, at 1920x1200 the 9800GT is roughly 67% the performance of an HD 5770 and the GTX 550Ti is roughly 96% the performance of an HD 5770. Yes it's an indirect comparison but it's the best I can do.
I hardly call it only one step up. It's 3 tiers higher on Tom's Hardware's graphics card hierarchy chart.
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$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
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Quote:
My mistake the 9800 GTX+ is only one gen back from the 550Ti, the 9800GT which is mentioned here several generations further back. It's just a rebranded 8800GT, good card, but very dated at this point. |
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
Looking at the reviews at techpowerUP, at 1920x1200 the 9800GT is roughly 67% the performance of an HD 5770 and the GTX 550Ti is roughly 96% the performance of an HD 5770. Yes it's an indirect comparison but it's the best I can do.
I hardly call it only one step up. It's 3 tiers higher on Tom's Hardware's graphics card hierarchy chart. |
Those Techpowerup charts are very relative and are an amalgam of various benchmarks, it is probably easier to understand by just going by hierarchy. I don't think you're going to see as big of a gap in CoH between these cards as those charts would suggest, but at minimum the additional memory and higher clock speeds will be of great benefit.
The GTX 460 is still probably the best value for CoH in the $150 dollar range. Tiny bit better performance out of the 6850, but AMD drivers don't like CoH. However, I didn't see what resolution they are playing at mentioned. If it is something low like 1024x768, they are not going to gain much by upgrading to any of those cards.
First things first. Do you have to buy from Worst Buy?
You can pull a 550 Ti for $135 shipped, PLUS obtain a $20 rebate.
If $150 wasn't your absolute max, I'd recommend this card. You'd be happier with it in the long run. $160 shipped, but a $20 mail-in rebate.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Evil_Gump
Hello,
I am looking at purchasing a new video card, and would like to get some input from people here at CoH... My PC is a Gateway DX4850-27eu -- just bought it about twenty days ago to replace a crappy Acer mini-tower. My specs: Intel I5-2300 CPU 6 MB RAM 1.5 T Hard Drive 9800GT 512M video card CX500 Corsair 500W PSU I just bought and installed the PSU and the 9800GT two days ago (Nov. 1st) for approximately 130$. The PC had Intel HD 2000 integrated graphics when purchased. The new video card is a nice step up, and CoH plays much smoother. The only two games that are played on this PC are CoH (me), and Civ 5 (my BF). He says that Civ 5 is MUCH quicker with the new card. So, after all that... I am thinking of purchasing an EVGA GTX550 Ti 1G video card, and keeping the 9800 for an emergency backup. Is the GTX550 Ti that much better than the 9800GT?? I can buy this from BestBuy for around 150$ which is my absolute max budget. I checked out the "stickied" thread about the video cards that can run CoH in UltraMode, and I don't see this card on that list... I am hoping that is because the card is relatively new... |
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
I'm not a huge fan of MSI (they tend to build things cheap) but either of hyperstrike's suggestions are a good place to start. I personally prefer EVGA with Nvidia cards but YMMV.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Quote:
This |
Originally Posted by newchemicals
I personally prefer EVGA with Nvidia cards but YMMV.
|
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Combat Kangaroo Rifle/Energy/Mace/Spiritual Blaster
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This card is a bit of a steal at this price, when you consider the Mail-in Rebate. Also Sapphire has a long history of providing outstanding custom service, but you'd have to deal with AMD drivers.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102908
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And this is situation where I'd pay double the price for a card with half the power. Just to avoid it.|
Originally Posted by Surya
but you'd have to deal with AMD drivers.
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Don't get me wrong. AMD/ATI makes some nice, very interesting hardware. But their hardware drivers are friggin' russian roulette.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
That is a fantastic chart that I was unaware of until this very moment. Well, ok, actually a couple of moments ago, and gaining more moments as I keep typing, so by now it's quite a few moments ago... perhaps I should stop there and just let the moments go by, uncounted, for all of time...|
Originally Posted by Father Xmas
...Tom's Hardware's graphics card hierarchy chart.
|
*gets slapped upside the head by someone*
Oh! Yeah. Infinite loops are bad, I forgot...
In any case, thanks for that, Father. That's just perfect!
August 31, 2012. A Day that will Live in Infamy. Or Information. Possibly Influence. Well, Inf, anyway. Thank you, Paragon Studios, for what you did, and the enjoyment and camaraderie you brought.
This is houtex, aka Mike, signing off the forums. G'night all. - 10/26/2012
Well... perhaps I was premature about that whole 'signing off' thing... - 11-9-2012
Thanks for all the info and suggestions. Looks like I might just wait and save a little more until I can get the GTX 460.
I would even go with the AMD 6870 card - If you shop around you can get it for very close to $150 and drivers aren't really that much of an issue.
Use either the 11.4 or 11.10 version and they seem to be fine. The card will run everything at a nice maxxed level and you just turn off Occlusion.
I know I have a rule never to pay more that $200 for a video card.
Before you go running out and buying a 6850, please make sure you have enough room to fit the card. 
The 6850/6870 are rather long cards they might not fit in one of those pre-built $%&. Having installed a 560 in a friends HP, with barely enough room to fit I'd check first if I were you.
Sapphire cards have been pretty good to me, but they only come with a 2 year warranty, although generally speaking after 2 years or so, a new video card is probably on the list of things to look at anyways.
460/560 are shorter about 9" so keep that in mind, it will save you embarassment later. 
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
Quote:
Honestly, if you can hang on another couple weeks, look for a Black Friday sale. You should see some really nice deals (with some occasionally STUPIDLY good deals interspersed).
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Originally Posted by Evil_Gump
Thanks for all the info and suggestions. Looks like I might just wait and save a little more until I can get the GTX 460.
|
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Depending on where you are at, some of the big box stores, like Fry's, will price match online retailers. This could be a boon if you're concerned about returning something if it doesn't fit your case or doesn't perform to spec.
Thanks again for all the suggestions...
I found a Galaxy GTX 460 GC 768M card at the local BestBuy for $134.99 so with tax it was $145.59. It plays CoH as smooth as butter! One of the few times I have actually stuck to my budget.
Edit: My Windows Experience score for graphics card/3d Gaming Score improved from 6.8/6.8 to 7.5/7.5, and that is compared to the original 5.1/5.6 of the integrated graphics (HD 2000). So I am quite happy with the results.
Hello,
I am looking at purchasing a new video card, and would like to get some input from people here at CoH...
My PC is a Gateway DX4850-27eu -- just bought it about twenty days ago to replace a crappy Acer mini-tower.
My specs:
Intel I5-2300 CPU
6 MB RAM
1.5 T Hard Drive
9800GT 512M video card
CX500 Corsair 500W PSU
I just bought and installed the PSU and the 9800GT two days ago (Nov. 1st) for approximately 130$. The PC had Intel HD 2000 integrated graphics when purchased. The new video card is a nice step up, and CoH plays much smoother. The only two games that are played on this PC are CoH (me), and Civ 5 (my BF). He says that Civ 5 is MUCH quicker with the new card.
So, after all that... I am thinking of purchasing an EVGA GTX550 Ti 1G video card, and keeping the 9800 for an emergency backup.
Is the GTX550 Ti that much better than the 9800GT?? I can buy this from BestBuy for around 150$ which is my absolute max budget.
I checked out the "stickied" thread about the video cards that can run CoH in UltraMode, and I don't see this card on that list... I am hoping that is because the card is relatively new...