Upgrading my graphics card - advice appreciated

.TCF Ultra

Hello,

I've recently decided to upgrade my graphics card. I have an nVidia GTS240, which I understand to be quite a few years old and not up to par with what is available today - I started playing some higher end MMOs such as Rift and find the fps is intolerable and the card seems to have a lot of trouble with shadows and lighting in particular. I have done some searching on sites such as dabs.ie but there seems to be a lot of options and I'm relatively clueless!

I would ideally like to spend between 100-200 euro on something that will make a noticeable difference in graphics quality in games such as Rift in terms of FPS and maximum shadow/lighting capabilities. If anyone can recommend a solid graphics card available to order from dabs or another quality hardware site I would greatly appreciate it.

PS If anyone could advise me on another small issue - I have 6gb of RAM in my desktop but when a hard-drive failed recently the tech guy who restored it reinstalled Windows 7 32bit, leaving me with a maximum of 3gb useable - what should I do? Is it worth contacting them and asking that they amend this or is there an easier way to go about it?

Skylinehead

Look at getting an AMD 6870 for about 150. As for the RAM, try contacting them and see where ti goes. There's no option but to get 64-bit Windows either way.

http://komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ati__amd/20080832/sapphire_radeon_hd_6870_1gb_pci_e/details.aspx

.TCF Ultra

Yeah I just wasn't sure how much it would cost to get Windows 7 64bit or how realistic it is to expect them to amend the problem, for example would a computer repair store have some form of unlimited copies (which would make them more likely to sort it).

Any advice in terms of which site to buy the card from? Is the 6870 relatively new? edit: Didn't see the link, will check it out

edit: Is there a simple means of comparing my current card and that card online? Would be interesting to see the difference

Skylinehead

Just linked a 6870 in my last post. It's not new (2012) generation, but it is from last year and a good little card. If you could stretch it you could buy a 7850, but it's a fair bit more expensive.

.TCF Ultra

I see, when asking on another forum one member suggested either of these

http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-geforce-gtx-560-850mhz-1gb-pci-express-hdmi-directcu-ii-pre-overclocked-850mhz-core-7HRF.html?src=3

http://www.dabs.com/products/best-value-palit-geforce-gtx-570-732mhz-1280mb-pci-express-hdmi-83BJ.html?src=3

Would these be better/worse/same as the one you suggested? Just trying to get the options straight in my head! Appreciate the help

Skylinehead

No to the 560, it's outdated (replaced largely by the 560ti) and not quite as good.

If you could afford the 570, it's a good card, but the 7850 is in that price range and is a little better (less power usage, good OC capability)

.TCF Ultra

Excellent, okay so you reckon the 6870 is the best option? I'd rather spend an extra 50 quid to not have to upgrade for another year than I would have otherwise etc, but paying an extra 100 for minor upgrades is out of the question for me; I want the biggest impact for the most reasonable price just for gaming. What kind of installation is involved? I always had a more tech-savvy friend install my graphics cards before but I'll have to handle it myself this time or travel to somewhere that'll do it for me. Are there any concerns re whether it will work ok with my PC, power consumption etc? Thanks again

.TCF Ultra

Bump, would greatly appreciate some input - I did some reading around and the GTX680 seems like the "best" card that isn't the one that costs double from the same series - are there cards that compete with the GTX680 without quite the same pricetag Would spring for near it if there were something similar

Skylinehead

The GTX 670 is a better buy.

.TCF Ultra

Right, and what would the next card along that still competes but has a significantly lower pricetag? Or is there quite a large gap between it and the next best thing? Just trying to find the absolute best for the money

Eboggles

The next card down is the 7950, which at the moment is quite good value for money. Although it's not that great when you can get a GTX 670 for not much more. The HD7870 might be your best bet around the €290-300 mark.

.TCF Ultra

Great, I have a fair idea of my options now - last question, in layman's terms what does the GTX670 have that the HD7870 for example does not? Is it just a matter of generally better/faster by a fair amount?

PS edit absolute last question, can I be confident that the GTX670 for example can literally just slot into my pc no problem?