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2 New Cards

freak2002

freak2002

freak2002

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Joined
24 Nov 2008
Posts
840
Location
Mighty Mighty Luton
Hey Guys

Posted a while back about replacing my GFX Card and my Brothers. I was told to wait until the new 7800 series is out, well now the prices are in!

MY PC
i7 920 (Stock 2.66Ghz)
6Gb RAM
Screen - 1900 x 1200
NEEDS UPDATING - Ati 4870


BROS PC (New Build)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
Z68 Board
8Gb RAM
Screen - 1080 x 800
NEEDS UPDATING - Ati 4850

We both want to play Skyrim, SWTOR and GW2 and have them looking good.

First the easy one! For me I am looking at the 7870 but not sure if there is a alternative Nvidia I should be looking at. My budget is tops £300 any savings would be great (if I can squeeze in an SSD as well that would be great!). my CPU is not over clocked but could be if it needs it, up to now I have never seen it stressed.

The hard one -

My Bros PC is a new build specifically for for him to play games to replace his old Celeron 1.8Ghz system. The main thing I think that is going to limit him is the screen resolution. He has £700 put aside, but the build without graphics card is sitting at £513 so he has £180, I could in theory knock off around £60 (by taking out the storage drive or SSD) to give £240 for GFX.
I am asking his opinion on the HDD Situation but I can see the 560Ti for £180 or the Ati 6870. Obviously the extra ££ makes a difference but is it a worthwhile one for his screen?

I am not totally up to speed on hardware at the moment **slaps wrist**. Thanks for your help!
 
My bro I have looked at OCUK Battle £60.00

Mine is a 600w OCZ StealthXtream. Although if I need to I can do a sneaky swap and give him the lower power one. He wont know ;-)

Will the GTX480 be good at my resolution (1900 x 1200) at good settings? I appreciate it is a massive step up but I want to make sure I am "getting my moneys worth". Saying that if I did spend £180 I might get some extra RAM and an SSD!
 
Last edited:
numatic.nathan said:
The OCZ should be fine, although that OCUK PSU, I wouldn't touch it, or have you already bought it?
Click to expand...

Not purchased anything yet, just speccing up. Any ideas on a PSU for around £60, I am not planning on over clocking the 2600k as I might save that for a "upgrade" later.

Cooler Master 550w is a couple of quid more - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-201-CM&tool=5

It doesnt have the correct GFX Connectors I think?

The GTX480 - is quite power hungry I would like to be as efficient as possible, not for the Polar Bears but for my bills!!
 
I built a PC using a 600w OCZ PSU, it powers a i5 750 @3.6 and a GTX295, so a 600w OCZ PSU will be fine.

Have to agree with nathan, i personally only go for brand names when installing a PSU, IMO the PSU is the most important part of a build. DONT SKIMP ON PSU, always buy a quality branded PSU. OCuK sell a vast range of quality affordable PSUs

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-056-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098

As for the GPUs 480 is the way to go, it does get a little hot, however it is a very good GPU, and at that price is a complete steal, it will also play your games at the higher res.

If your budget is £300 i honestly would wait just a few more days, when the release of the supposed GTX680 arrives, i think you will see some really good deals on 580s IMO. OCuK have this 580 for sale currently which is only £20 over your budget.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-PN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812
 
I would replace the OCZ StealthXtream as well to be honest. It's an old quad rail PSU which is unlikely to be able to supply enough power to newer graphics cards. Will be around 12-18A per on a rail. Would be better to have a newer single rail PSU.
 
The problem is I cant afford a full upgrade to my system, I can skip the memory and SSD I suppose and just go for the GFX, my office gets really hot so I am not sure about a hot running card. My brother (much to my annoyance) insists on keeping his case in a desk cubby hole with no ventilation other than the rear of the cubby.

I would love to stretch to the GTX580 but unless it comes down by £80 I cant replace the PSU and get the card.

Oh well my Bro is on holiday till 27th so that means I can wait a few days before doing anything.
 
freak2002 said:
The problem is I cant afford a full upgrade to my system, I can skip the memory and SSD I suppose and just go for the GFX, my office gets really hot so I am not sure about a hot running card. My brother (much to my annoyance) insists on keeping his case in a desk cubby hole with no ventilation other than the rear of the cubby.

I would love to stretch to the GTX580 but unless it comes down by £80 I cant replace the PSU and get the card.

Oh well my Bro is on holiday till 27th so that means I can wait a few days before doing anything.
Click to expand...

I'd say get:
GTX480 @ £179.99
64GB M4 SSD @ 69.99
Cooler (varies) @ around £40

The above would give your PC a new breath of life. The card will be able to run games at high resolution and settings, the SSD will ensure fast load times of your computer and main programs (well worth the £££) and the cooler will allow you to OC your CPU so it doesn't bottleneck the GPU and will give you better frames and all round performance!
 
numatic.nathan said:
I'd say get:
GTX480 @ £179.99
64GB M4 SSD @ 69.99
Cooler (varies) @ around £40
Click to expand...

So with the GTX480 I wont need a new PSU?

I dont need the cooler as I got a Noctua what I built it, I have it at around 33 degrees idle and never seen it above 44 degrees (G15 screen temp). I will leave the OC'ing till I see if it bottle necks, I know it will go to 3 Ghz easy but I bought one of the first i7's and it is not a D0 its a C5 I think.

I might spend the extra £40 on a GFX/Memory upgrade! When is the 680 expected?
 
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