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need good advice on a new gfx card

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  • 21-05-2009 9:25pm
    #1
    Hank Scorpio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,631 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    recently i bought a new PC

    Specs:
    3 GB Ram
    Quad core processer Q8200 4mb cache @ 2.33 GHZ
    600 gig hdd
    Geforce 9500 GS 512mb ram
    PSU 400W ( but no problem updating it )

    I picked up this machine quiet cheaply and im happy enough with it, but i need to change the gfx card, it really isnt good, basically its a budget card. Although it does run the newish games pretty ok, im looking for something alot more powerful.

    I wont mention a budget but i prolly would not spend more than 250 euros on the card,

    any advice would be great

    my games : unreal tournament 3, gta4, crysis, far cry 2, and newer need for speed games


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    #2
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    €250 would get you a great card. Problem is you might have to upgrade the power supply to get one of those great cards to work. If you do need a new power supply you could probably get a 450w corsair and a 1GB 4870 (maybe a 4890 either which would be sweet) for within budget. You could check out adverts and see what you can find. Should help you stretch that budget a bit further.

    Others on here will be able to tell you if you need a new power supply or not, I'm not to up to spec on them. Can you give us any details such as who made it?


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    #3
    Hank Scorpio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,631 ✭✭✭✭Hank Scorpio


    AlmightyCushion wrote: »
    €250 would get you a great card. Problem is you might have to upgrade the power supply to get one of those great cards to work. If you do need a new power supply you could probably get a 450w corsair and a 1GB 4870 (maybe a 4890 either which would be sweet) for within budget. You could check out adverts and see what you can find. Should help you stretch that budget a bit further.

    Others on here will be able to tell you if you need a new power supply or not, I'm not to up to spec on them. Can you give us any details such as who made it?

    Yep. I bought it in a new offer deal at LIDL , its built by a company called targa.
    Thats why im 100% convinced the PSU will need changing, but the hdd , cpu and ram are good builds. Thanks for you help, i dont buy new machines often, and of course any more info would be great


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    #4
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    The problem is that your "real" budget is cut down to ~€180 by the need for a new PSU and further by delivery; even if it was an decent OEM PSU a 400W unit would struggle to power both a quad-core CPU and any card over the €150 mark. The problem is that while there are serious deals to be done past that mark all cards worth that money get through at least 120W and need TWO PCIe power connectors to operate, so even though you could get away with a good 450W model you're forced to buy a more expensive 550W+ PSU just for connectors. And I don't even see any good 450W units cheap anyway :( Basically: you want good GPU, you suck on that €65+ PSU penalty.

    I'd say that if your monitor resolution is 1650*1080 you might want to just get a cheap HD4850 for €100 and call it quits; even then the improvement over the 9500GT would be immense. If you're gaming at 1900*1080/1200 it gets tricky; at least on Pixmania you can get a HD4870 1GB for €160 and a StealthXStream 600W for €67 which keeps it under €250 after shipping. Try for that €190 HD4890 and you'll go way overbudget :(

    If you really want 1337 performance at 1080p resolutions get ready to revise that budget. Upward. :o


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    #5
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    Solitaire wrote: »
    The problem is that your "real" budget is cut down to ~€180 by the need for a new PSU and further by delivery; even if it was an decent OEM PSU a 400W unit would struggle to power both a quad-core CPU and any card over the €150 mark. The problem is that while there are serious deals to be done past that mark all cards worth that money get through at least 120W and need TWO PCIe power connectors to operate, so even though you could get away with a good 450W model you're forced to buy a more expensive 550W+ PSU just for connectors. And I don't even see any good 450W units cheap anyway :( Basically: you want good GPU, you suck on that €65+ PSU penalty.

    Even if the power supply didn't have the right amount of connections, graphics cards come with a molex to pcie power connection. So he's grand on that front. Would a corsair 450w not power a 4870 or 4890? I assumed it would.


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    #6
    Hank Scorpio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,631 ✭✭✭✭Hank Scorpio


    Solitaire wrote: »

    If you really want 1337 performance at 1080p resolutions get ready to revise that budget. Upward. :o

    Thanks for the reply

    To be honest im just looking to run these games at decent res, even 1024*768 and medium to high graphic settings with a stable frame per second ratio :)

    Obviously i`ll need to get a new PSU , would a geforce 8800 GTX do the job with a new 500w psu? or is there better cards for money/value out there


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    #7
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    nuxxx wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply

    To be honest im just looking to run these games at decent res, even 1024*768 and medium to high graphic settings with a stable frame per second ratio :)

    Obviously i`ll need to get a new PSU , would a geforce 8800 GTX do the job with a new 500w psu? or is there better cards for money/value out there

    If that's the resolution you want to play at then spending €250 is a waste. Get a 4770 or 4850 for about €100 and you'll be flying. Spend the extra €150 on a good 20 or 22" monitor if you want.


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    #8
    Hank Scorpio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,631 ✭✭✭✭Hank Scorpio


    AlmightyCushion wrote: »
    If that's the resolution you want to play at then spending €250 is a waste. Get a 4770 or 4850 for about €100 and you'll be flying. Spend the extra €150 on a good 20 or 22" monitor if you want.

    Radeon or geforce? Im assuming it isnt nvidia (gfc)

    /googles


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    #9
    AlmightyCushion
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,079 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    nuxxx wrote: »
    Radeon or geforce? Im assuming it isnt nvidia (gfc)

    /googles
    They're both ati cards.


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    #10
    Hank Scorpio
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,631 ✭✭✭✭Hank Scorpio


    AlmightyCushion wrote: »
    They're both ati cards.

    oki thanks
    checking them both out now, seem to crush my 9500 gs with a decent price, exactly what i wanted :-)

    thanks for the help


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    #11
    Solitaire
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 18,377 Mod ✭✭✭✭Solitaire


    Plus they both OC well :D

    HD4890 does too (one of the biggest pulls for that card), most current nVidia cards are pretty high-strung and only have third-party support (ATI bundles basic user-friendly OCing into their drivers for a while now!). The HD4870 really loses out there, typically boasting very low OC thresholds without water being applied - after all, its basically a overvolted and exceedingly high-strung HD4850 with GDDR5 slapped on :p


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