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Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:45 am
by Skinney
I wanna be able to play all games maxed out at 1920X1200

I was thinking of buying the 560Ti but was wondering if there is a future proof alternative.

My current config is:

Motherboard:
GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

CPU:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Processor

RAM:
4 GB

PSU:
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:52 am
by Star Brood
What is your budget? I am thinking Radeon HD 7850/70 or 660 Ti.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:12 am
by Skinney
around 250-350

Would updating my RAM to 8GB be a good improvement?

EDIT: And I was wondering if there is anything else that you guys might think is worth upgrading?

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:42 am
by TDIdriver
Skinney wrote:
around 250-350

Would updating my RAM to 8GB be a good improvement?

EDIT: And I was wondering if there is anything else that you guys might think is worth upgrading?

Yeah it would be beneficial. This is today's Shell Shocker http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231314
For the graphics a 7850/7870 with 2GB would be pretty good.
:edit:
The XFX 7950 3GB Black Edition is 299.99 after rebate if you want to go beast mode lol

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:45 am
by cynan
If the $250-$350 budget is all for the GPU, a GTX 660 ti at around $300is perfect for maxing out current games at 1920x1080. If you are interested in overclocking, you might be able to squeeze a bit more performance on average with an HD 7950, which can also be had for $300, but the 660 ti and HD 7950 are pretty close as far as I can tell.

You could probably do fine saving yourself $50 or a bit more going with an HD 7870, or even HD 7850, but those aren't guaranteed to "max everything out" at 1920x1080, though the HD 7870 would come close in most games. Even the HD 7850 wouldn't be so far off if you overclocked it. A 660 ti or HD 7950 would be more future proof though.

Edit: I second the ram upgrade considering how inexpensive it is these days. Other than that, you'd probably be looking on getting a new motherboard and CPU (which is probably not necessary at this point).

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 1:33 pm
by DPete27
The 660Ti and 7950 trade blows on performance but the 660Ti uses about 30W less power under load. I would say the 660Ti for $300 is probably the winner by a slight price margin at the moment, but you really can't go wrong with either. The 7950 might have a slight advantage if you ever decide to go a multi-monitor setup since it has more VRAM and a wider memory pipeline.
That being said, a 7870 only sacrifices <5fps in TR's tests at the same quality settings while coming in at around $240 after rebates. That would be the one I would go for.

8GB of RAM for $40 these days is a cheap and easy upgrade. Memory prices are slated to drop in the upcoming months but we're probably talking about less than $5 drop on 8GB kits. Skip starbucks for the day and call it even.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 1:55 pm
by superjawes
It should also be added that the 660 Ti should still be shipping with a Borderlands 2 code, so if that's a game you're interested in, the 660 is probably the best choice.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 2:22 pm
by Skinney
Sounds good. I just placed my order for the MSI 660Ti and the 8GB ram upgrade. As always this forum is invaluable in all things tech.

Thanks for the quick replies.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:50 pm
by Skinney
So I did not check the RAM type and the one I ordered

(1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL)

is DDR3 and my MOBO supports DDR2, I've noticed that 8 GB of DDR2 is way more expensive then DDR3. Any sugestions

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:31 pm
by PopcornMachine
I would look at 660 ti or 7950.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 12:30 am
by BloodSoul
Skinney wrote:
So I did not check the RAM type and the one I ordered

(1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL)

is DDR3 and my MOBO supports DDR2, I've noticed that 8 GB of DDR2 is way more expensive then DDR3. Any sugestions


Cancel the order as soon as you get the chance. If it is too late for that, it might be worth switching to a new mobo in the future. Another option is holding onto the RAM since prices are never this low (resell on ebay or craigslist when they go back up).

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:55 am
by Chrispy_
RAM is cheap, but it probably won't go up in price anytime soon.

DDR2 is more expensive than DDR3 so you may find that replacing the board is cheaper than replacing the RAM - it all depends on how much RAM you want in total and how good you want your motherboard to be.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 12:12 pm
by clone
.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 1:42 pm
by StuG
He cannot simply replace the board. He has a first generation Phenom II, which means he lacks the DDR3 controller to work on DDR3 boards. You will have to stick with DDR2 as long as you keep the 940....however the Phenom IIs never showed any performance gains from DDR3 anyway so it wont' matter that much user end.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 8:44 pm
by DPete27
Yeah, stick with your current 4GB for the time being. For gaming it will be enough.

Re: Looking for a new Graphics Card

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 5:47 am
by Chrispy_
StuG wrote:
He cannot simply replace the board. He has a first generation Phenom II, which means he lacks the DDR3 controller to work on DDR3 boards. You will have to stick with DDR2 as long as you keep the 940....however the Phenom IIs never showed any performance gains from DDR3 anyway so it wont' matter that much user end.


Good call, I'd forgotten that AMD were including memory controllers in their CPU's long before Intel;
I upgraded a Socket 775 from DDR2 to DDR3 as I suggested, but of course that was when Intel were still using a northbridge rather than on-die controllers.

4GB isn't so bad for gaming. That's all my HTPC has and I recently ran through Mass Effect 3 and Dirt Showdown on it at 1080p with all the eye candy turned on.