Best choice of GPU or other options?

adocholiday

Hi guys,

I'm upgrading a Dell Vostro. Won't bore you with the details but have put a Core 2 Duo e8400 into it and upgraded to 4GB RAM, this is the limit for both really. The only thing left is the Graphics card but I'm having trouble deciding.

I will be using this machine mainly for 3D modelling/game design, and programming. Also will be doing bit of gaming but nothing crazy. Ideally, want to be able to run Skyrim at reasonable settings. That would be a good benchmark.

Given my system limitations, I have narrowed the GPU choice to pretty much 4 options:

ATI Radeon 7770 €100 used, but will require PSU upgrade
ATI Radeon 7750 €100 new, no PSU upgrade
ATI Radeon 6870 €150 used, PSU upgrade required
ATI Radeon 6850 €130 new, PSU upgrade required

They seem to be the best budget cards on the market suitable for my machine. I'm leaning towards the 7770.

What are your suggestions guys? Any cheaper cards that would suit my needs? Is one of my alternatives better? Budget is fairly tight so want to keep costs as low as possible, without sacrificing too much performance.

Thanks!

ED E

That rig isnt going to go too far really, if you've spent a lot on it that may have not been the best plan. Why not a quad btw? Most C2D boards will support them AFAIK.

4GB of DDR2 is going to be limiting with any kind of CAD stuff.

Also, if you're going on DELL PSU ratings, dont, they tend to be underrated and GPU's tend to be overrated to deal with cheap and terrible brandX PSUs, so if you're 50W short there's no need to change.

Best deal on a 6850 is be what I'd look for.

adocholiday

The Mobo I had won't take a quad core the e8400 is the best available proc. I got the Vostro for free. Paid €50 for the proc, €25 for the RAM and I can get a decent Radeon 6770, or even a 5780 which is better again, for €100 and a suitable PSU for €40. So for just about €200, I have a fairly decent machine that should meet my needs for a year or so. Don't think that's too bad now

ED E

In that case no, thats not bad at all. I got a similar enough Dimension, also for free, that I'm still running to this day, switched to a Q6600 a while back, with a little bit of a PLL overclock as icing on the cake.


I'm running a 5770 on a 350W DELL PSU if thats of any use to ya

adocholiday

Looking at a 5870 now and if it fits in my case I will definitely be getting it!