• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Graphics card to drive 2560x1440 display

TAC4U said:
I haven't come across any issues yet, though obviously it is a concern going into the future. Ideally you'd want a 4GB card. However, most - if not all - the games I've tried work fine with MSAA 8X. And most games support FXAA which offers similar quality yet with much better performance. The GPU performance is more likely to become the bottleneck before VRAM.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that mate. May I ask what sort of games do you play. Also I have read that at high resolution MSAA2X is all thats needed as any higher makes no difference.
 
Let me just say, before the OP goes throwing loads of cash at high end cards, that 1440p is only particularly demanding if you insist on running lots of AA which also makes up a lot of the high VRAM usage. The higher res does a lot to negate the need for x8AA etc, and 2xAA is plenty in most cases. Of course, if you can, it's always nice to max it out. But considering the performance you can get at 2xAA on a much cheaper card, I don't think splashing loads of cash on high end cards is necessary unless the OP wants to max everything and have perfect 60fps.

If it were me, and I wanted to keep things on a budget, I'd go for something like this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-030-C3&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

And overclock the nuts off it.

Or to push to the max budget

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
 
Mr. May said:
Push the boat out anything below 7950 or 670 will be a compramise at that res trust me
Click to expand...

His budget was 200 quid or less. Neither of those cards is even close to that. The implication that nothing less than a flagship card will run 1440p is just wrong. I play nearly everything at max on a 3yr old card, with only the most demanding games requiring tweaking. Compromising on AA for a saving of 130 quid might be worth considering.
 
Devrij said:
Let me just say, before the OP goes throwing loads of cash at high end cards, that 1440p is only particularly demanding if you insist on running lots of AA which also makes up a lot of the high VRAM usage. The higher res does a lot to negate the need for x8AA etc, and 2xAA is plenty in most cases. Of course, if you can, it's always nice to max it out. But considering the performance you can get at 2xAA on a much cheaper card, I don't think splashing loads of cash on high end cards is necessary unless the OP wants to max everything and have perfect 60fps.

If it were me, and I wanted to keep things on a budget, I'd go for something like this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-030-C3&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

And overclock the nuts off it.

Or to push to the max budget

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-052-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=411
Click to expand...

LOL.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/397

Yeah, 30FPS with no AA. Really not worth getting any better than a 6950 or even worse, a 7850.
 
Currently pushing a 480 SLI setup at 2560x1440 - plays everything beautifully including BF3. Equivalent power can be found in a GTX680 or GTX670.

Not sure about how future-proof that setup is though.
 
JonnyGLC said:
LOL.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/397

Yeah, 30FPS with no AA. Really not worth getting any better than a 6950 or even worse, a 7850.
Click to expand...

I get 50 - 60 fps and I only have effects and shadows on medium and no AA. I run my card at 950/1200. Happy to show screenshots to prove it. Cheap cards can be overclocked. If the OP wants to spend 300 quid, great. He'll have a great card. If not, I'm just saying that it won't be the end of the world if he gets a 6950 and overclocks it.

Edit: as promised. So Lol all you want.


Settings I play at

BF3settings.jpg


solid mid 50s to 60+, never drops below 50fps

BF3fps.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have a GTX 680 2GB OC'd to 1200MHz and I run BF with everything on ultra, AA & FXAA off.

Runs smooth to me even on 64 MP maps.

Jaggies arn't too bad at this res so if your not really fussed you can save yourself the performance hit and turn AA off.

I actually came from 6950 crossfire and have no regrets, my overall gaming experience has been much better.
 
Would advise at least one 7970, would suggest two in crossfire. Gives you loads of power, and VRAM, should do you for a couple of years.

Also, don't forget that there's a difference between VRAM used and VRAM needed.
 
Last edited:
immy said:
Main usage is general day to day browsing, programming, movies,light gaming.

so that leaves me needing something that will handle the main crossover display and able to play the odd game at a reasonable frame rate with majority of textures turned on.
Click to expand...

immy said:
I'd ideally wanna pay approx £200 or under
Click to expand...

Rossi~ said:
Would advise at least one 7970, would suggest two in crossfire. Gives you loads of power, and VRAM, should do you for a couple of years.
Click to expand...

2 7970s for under 200 quid? :p

Just to play the odd game at a reasonable framerate?
 
Yes guys, definatly needing to stick to the budget.

Demanding job and wife/kids cut my gaming time down to a max of 2 nights a week(if im lucky :o ) so would most likely be a waste of cash getting an all singing n dancing sli setup.

So a budget/mid range card overclocked looks like the best option for me.

I can then use the saved cash to put towards a garage conversion to ultimatly make a home cinema/console room. :D
 
my recommendation of a 6950 2gb or a 7850 (7870 if you can stretch a bit) still stands. Both will be just fine for your purposes, and overclocking them will yield some pretty decent results. Don't expect to apply loads of AA in BF3 (you may need to tweak settings til you find something that you're happy with), but you'll still have it looking miles better than on console.
 
oggiet said:
People running 2GB cards have you run into lack of VRAM during gaming at high res ?
Click to expand...

No-one ever runs into a lack of VRAM. Ever, and wont ever.

A game just doesnt just suddenly stop working, nor does it run any slower, nor does it become graphically inferior, VRAM will never be an issue. It's all marketing ********.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom