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Best GFX card to go with a Q9650?

ubersonic

ubersonic

ubersonic

Soldato
Joined
26 May 2009
Posts
22,175
as the title implies im having trouble figuring out what would be the best card for my setup, I have a Q9650 CPU, 4GB of DDR2-1066, a Nforce-7 mobo with duel PCI-2.0 slots, and a pair of 73gb 15K U320 drives.

Im currently using a 512mb HD4870 ive loaned off a friend so obviously need something better than that, monitor is 1600x900 resolution and I am only interested in Nvidia cards

Thank you
 
you don't think my cpu would bottleneck a pair of GTX480s? it was state of the art when I bought it but that was some time ago.

Ive been looking at the GTX 295 as its cheaper than the 470 but seems to be ahead in a lot of benchies, any thoughts on those two? another thing I considered was SLi 260's...
 
Why are you only interested in Nvidia cards? ATI are a better option for you at the moment. 5870 for your setup, with no hesitation.
 
At a decent clock speed, that CPU won't bottleneck any graphics card at a resolution of 1680x1050 or higher.

Someone posted a link to a graph somewhere comparing 'old' and new chips. The Q6600 was within 1-2FPS the same as an i7 975 in most modern games in high resolutions.

The CPU is a relatively minor piece of hardware for gaming, a nicely clocked Core 2 Quad is going to be going for ages until any gap appears between 4 and 8 threaded CPUs; by which time Intel's next gen is going to be well established anyway.

A powerful CPU is mainly going to boost FPS at lower resolutions or games that are more heavily CPU dependant. Source based games don't require a lot of graphical grunt but benefit well from a faster CPU.

Hope that puts your mind to ease ;)
 
Meaker said:
Oh come on its fair to ask for Nvidia and an upgrade.

A 260GTX is not much of an improvement over a 4870 and it would only really be because the 4870 is 512mb and not 1GB.
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with resolution hes using he does not need anything faster , that depends if he wants dx 11 , and dx 11 nvidia cards are not that great compared to ati
 
geowal19 said:
I would go for ATi and buying a 295 is going backwards tbh. 5870 or 5850 would be a good idea.
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It wouldn't be going backwards, but i get what you mean. Basically, if you're buying now, you would be better off buying a DX11 card.
 
Sorry to sound like a broken record (i have made this same reply in several threads recently) but if were you i would wait for 2 weeks before you buy anything. Nvidia will be releasing some new cards at Computex and there might well be something worth looking at.

The GTX465 may well be one to pass on depending on price (similar to the 5830) but cards based on the GF104 could be a nice option for you. These will probably be called the GTS460/GTS450.
 
Hi thank for all the replies, Im against buying an ATi card for two genuine reasons:

1. Sli, before loaning the 4870 I ran 2x 9600GT's one of which I bought new and the second I picked up off ebay when they came down in price, I did the same with a pair of 7800GTX's before that and a pair of 6800GT's before that, Id like to have this upgrade path available again

2. My two favourite games are WoW and H.A.W.X both of which favour Nvidia cards, in the case of H.A.W.X a 5870 is barely able to outperform a 9800GX2 in the benches and is beaten by the GTX-275, I would have to pay a large premium with ATi to get the same performance as Nvidia in my favourite games and I dont want to do that

Im was considering the GTX260 as its has 34% more FPS than the 4870 in H.A.W.X but I don't mind paying more to play the latest games if one of them takes my eye, the GTX-295 and the GTX-470 both look good but the 470 is £40-60 more than the 295, is it worth it?

Thanks again
 
Its hard to recommend any card for you resolution and your overlooking the best cards by only considering Nvidia.

A gtx295 is getting dated and you would have to be mental to buy a GTX470 over a HD5850. 1600x900 is hardly the most demanding resolution so what you are looking for is a midrange Nvidia card that does not exist.

I think you should get a new monitor and sit tight with the 4870.
 
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jigger said:
Its hard to recommend any card for you resolution and your overlooking the best cards by only considering Nvidia.

A gtx295 is getting dated and you would have to be mental to buy a GTX470 over a HD5850. 1600x900 is hardly the most demanding resolution so what you are looking for is a midrange Nvidia card that does not exist.

I think you should get a new monitor and sit tight with the 4870.
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Or just wait 2 weeks like i said lol :)
 
In all honesty, Iv been looking in to the whole 5850 vs 5870 vs gtx 470, recently as I have been thinking of upgrading my 3870x2.

Although benchmarks are user opinions vary, over all, it seems the gtx 470 is no better performance wise (raw performance apples to apples) to a 5850.

Its only benefits from the close developer association Nvidia has with game developers.

However...... becuase fermi is 6 months late, lots of game developers actually had to take a look at ATI hardware too as it was the only dx11 hard ware available.

Saying that the 5850 is a very good card.... close enough to a 5870. For the price being £100 cheaper is a goot price performance card.

Myself..... I know I would hate my self for not spending that little bit extra and not getting a 5870, so if I was to get a card a 5870 it would be.

The 5870 is close to a GTX 480 and is £100 cheaper.

The ONLY advantage Nvidia have over ATI is tesselation.

But what you have to consider is, the 5000 series cards are for todays games..... where as nvidia cards are better prepared for tomorrows (games to come in 1-2 years)

Saying that thats why ATI cards are better price/performance cards to have now than the nvidia equvalents.

Im sure the next family of ATI cards 6000 series, will have better tesselation and dx11 technology.

It;s just not that important yet, becuase, there really isnt that much dx11 titles out, or the api isnt even that much developed.
 
I would go for a 470 personally unless you want to splash the cash on a 480.

Obviously a 5850 is best bang for buck but I CBA with the ATI drivers.
 
Nvidia really needed? Its not to bad in america but over here its just stupid in the most part for the 4xx series.

The 480 would be wasted at the resolution so would go for the 470.
 
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