What card to choose?

esoteric · 21 May 2010 at 14:54

I just ordered an i7 930 build but couldn't decide on a GFX card. I've been NVIDIA since Geforce 2 so I am always happy with a Geforce card, say the 470. But I know Radeon have stronger cards right now, like 5870's. NVIDIA have great driver support but Catalyst by reputation is.. crap.

I have £300 to spend for a new card, right now my system has a 9800GTX+ and my new i7 build will be using this card until I get a new one, is it even "really" needed right now to even upgrade from a 9800GTX? I know it's old but software doesn't seem demanding on it yet, which wasn't the case for my AMD 4200, hence the new i7.

Thanks for any suggestions pals.

jigger · 21 May 2010 at 14:59

A HD5870.

mmj_uk · 21 May 2010 at 15:02

Either a 5870 or 470GTX will do you fine, 470GTX runs hotter and is meant to be louder but it also has more features.

RavenXXX2 · 21 May 2010 at 15:05

mmj_uk said:
Either a 5870 or 470GTX will do you fine, 470GTX runs hotter is slower and is meant to be louder but it also has more features.

harryohh · 21 May 2010 at 15:12

esoteric said:
I just ordered an i7 930 build but couldn't decide on a GFX card. I've been NVIDIA since Geforce 2 so I am always happy with a Geforce card, say the 470. But I know Radeon have stronger cards right now, like 5870's. NVIDIA have great driver support but Catalyst by reputation is.. crap.

I have £300 to spend for a new card, right now my system has a 9800GTX+ and my new i7 build will be using this card until I get a new one, is it even "really" needed right now to even upgrade from a 9800GTX? I know it's old but software doesn't seem demanding on it yet, which wasn't the case for my AMD 4200, hence the new i7.

Thanks for any suggestions pals.

Depending on the resolution your current card can still go a good job.It's on par with my 4850 which is still fine for me at 1680 x 1050.

With £300 though i'd be tempted to get a 5870.

esoteric · 21 May 2010 at 15:20

I run at 1680x1050. It's my monitors native and any below looks rubbish.

If I buy Radeon I'd choose XFX or Sapphire.

But as for Geforce I don't know.. OcUK don't stock the brand I normally buy, XFX or BFG(I heared they dropped out of GFX card market).

So with who is left I don't know which is most reputable. Gainward, Asus, Gigabyte, Point of View which I thought only did Radeon and Zotac who I have never even heard of.

Thanks for the help so far pals

mmj_uk · 21 May 2010 at 15:39

I'm pretty sure all the NVidia 4x0 cards at the moment are reference design, which means they're the same cards only with different stickers so just get the one with the best warranty.

At 1680*1050 you could probably get away with a 5850 and save some cash.

'Wes · 21 May 2010 at 15:44

5770 and add another if you require more power?

esoteric · 21 May 2010 at 16:05

mmj_uk said:
I'm pretty sure all the NVidia 4x0 cards at the moment are reference design, which means they're the same cards only with different stickers so just get the one with the best warranty.

At 1680*1050 you could probably get away with a 5850 and save some cash.

They do seem like that yes, I checked all of them, not 1 did a thing different.

Marine-RX179 · 21 May 2010 at 18:03

esoteric said:
But as for Geforce I don't know.. OcUK don't stock the brand I normally buy, XFX or BFG(I heared they dropped out of GFX card market).

It's not that OcUK not stocking XFX GTX470/480...there is no XFX brand GTX470/480.

esoteric · 21 May 2010 at 18:12

Marine-RX179 said:
It's not that OcUK not stocking XFX GTX470/480...there is no XFX brand GTX470/480.

Fair enough.

will13 · 21 May 2010 at 19:53

esoteric said:
They do seem like that yes, I checked all of them, not 1 did a thing different.

thats wrong, Zotac give you a 5 year warrenty

bells · 21 May 2010 at 19:57

Hd5850 is all you need and just keep the money in your pocket

will13 · 21 May 2010 at 20:03

bells said:
Hd5850 is all you need and just keep the money in your pocket

Unless you want to play Metro 2033, and some others, with all the eye candy on, then you need something with more power

esoteric · 22 May 2010 at 01:25

will13 said:
thats wrong, Zotac give you a 5 year warrenty

Welllll I meant in terms of power and speed.

suj999 · 22 May 2010 at 02:46

5850, save the rest and you can get another 5850 for the saved cash in 6 months or so..

will13 · 22 May 2010 at 09:06

esoteric said:
Welllll I meant in terms of power and speed.

lol ok, anyway, the 5870 gets my vote, even tho I do like the new GTX's, there just not good enough for the money...

esoteric · 23 May 2010 at 17:50

I went with the 470GTX. I wanted to buy the Radeon 5870 but they are out of my price range. Seems like NVIDIA did right this time, worse card = lesser price.

Something I did not check though was if it would fit in my case >< I have an Antec P182 which in the past has housed an 8800GTS, 8800GTX and currently a 9800GTX+. I have no idea how a 470GTX sizes up.

Shagger · 23 May 2010 at 18:28

esoteric said:
is it even "really" needed right now to even upgrade from a 9800GTX?

The simple answer to that is: no. There just isn't enough DX11 games out there to justify spending £200+ on what is first gen DX11 cards at the moment.

Plus the performance isn't huge over decent DX10 cards.

Until there is enough DX11 content, then such DX11 cards are just a novelty.

Personally, i would seek out a decent/better second-hand DX10 card as opposed to the one you have just now and wait until the inevitable second gen DX11 cards appear.

What gamers are buying just now, with regards to DX11 cards, are the equivalent of the first DX10 cards when they came out i.e. 8800 GT, etc.

Then, when DX11 games are the norm, those cards will be redundant as they won't push DX11 titles (we see it already on Metro 2033, current DX11 cards struggle).

Hardly worth £200+, IMO.

Marine-RX179 · 23 May 2010 at 18:33

GTX470 is 240mm long.

At most game the GTX470 would only be around the same performance as a 5850, but for some games at 1920x1200 4xAA it would outperform the 5870 (Battlefield Bad Company 2 for example).