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Another "what graphics card" thread

Paracelsus

Paracelsus

Paracelsus

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Joined
15 Jun 2007
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1,109
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Manchester
Evening gents.

I'm looking to replace my Radeon 9600XT with something more beefy as it's finally starting to give up after 3 years of loyal service.

I need a card that will play things like STALKER, Oblivion, FEAR, C&C3 at 1280x1024 at high or preferably max settings.

Currently ordering an X1950XT for £110 but have heard the 1950PRO (£90) is adequate for low resolutions and much cooler and less power hungry. My PSU is a Thermaltake Purepower 560W which only has one 12V rail at 20A so I believe I'd have to get a new PSU for the X1950XT, but would it be necessary for the 1950PRO? Also read some good (and bad) things on here about the 8600GT.

Don't care about DX10 as I won't be getting Vista for a long time, and my budget is pretty much £110 or so (on graphics), so an 8800GTS is out of the question.

Thanks :cool:
 
Paracelsus said:
Evening gents.

I'm looking to replace my Radeon 9600XT with something more beefy as it's finally starting to give up after 3 years of loyal service.

I need a card that will play things like STALKER, Oblivion, FEAR, C&C3 at 1280x1024 at high or preferably max settings.

Currently ordering an X1950XT for £110 but have heard the 1950PRO (£90) is adequate for low resolutions and much cooler and less power hungry. My PSU is a Thermaltake Purepower 560W which only has one 12V rail at 20A so I believe I'd have to get a new PSU for the X1950XT, but would it be necessary for the 1950PRO? Also read some good (and bad) things on here about the 8600GT.

Don't care about DX10 as I won't be getting Vista for a long time, and my budget is pretty much £110 or so (on graphics), so an 8800GTS is out of the question.

Thanks :cool:
Click to expand...

1: Its morning, not eavening :D
2: You have awnserd your own question, you can not afford a GTS so the best thing to get is a X19xx Series card.
3: 560W is more than enough (im not a rails genius tho so i dont know what you mean by 1 rail) but 560W is more than enough, check my spec in my sig, and im on a 580W hyper, and it probibly doesnt even use 450w :)
4: My old 7800GTX which is about Half of the performance of a X19xx card out performed a 8600 Nvidia card :)
 
IceShock said:
3: 560W is more than enough (im not a rails genius tho so i dont know what you mean by 1 rail) but 560W is more than enough, check my spec in my sig, and im on a 580W hyper, and it probibly doesnt even use 450w :)
Click to expand...

I've read on lots of sites that you ideally want 30+ amps on the 12v rails of a PSU for a high-end graphics card. Mine only has one rail at 20A despite being 560W. I'm looking at a Corsair 520W which has 3 12v rails giving 40A.

Thanks for the advice mate.
 
Paracelsus said:
I've read on lots of sites that you ideally want 30+ amps on the 12v rails of a PSU for a high-end graphics card. Mine only has one rail at 20A despite being 560W. I'm looking at a Corsair 520W which has 3 12v rails giving 40A.

Thanks for the advice mate.
Click to expand...


Im not a rail expert sorry :p

But you mension a high-end graphics card, when you say that, compaired to todays standard, it pretty much is a standard card, its good dont get me wrong, but compaired to some beasts these days its not what id call a high end electric guzzler. so in my oppinion, id say your power supply unit would be fine (im no powersupply expert) but if you want to be safe you could upgrade the power supply yes. you dont need somthing imence tho :)
 
Paracelsus said:
PSU is a Thermaltake Purepower 560W which only has one 12V rail at 20A so I believe I'd have to get a new PSU for the X1950XT, but would it be necessary for the 1950PRO?
Click to expand...

One 20A 12v rail is 'far' from ideal and i would upgrade that PSU as it must be getting on age wise? The Corsair 520W is great and would be an ideal replacement unit, X1950Pro 256mb is fine for lower rez users and that old PSU needs to go! :)
 
Sean_UK said:
One 20A 12v rail is 'far' from ideal and i would upgrade that PSU as it must be getting on age wise? The Corsair 520W is great and would be an ideal replacement unit, X1950Pro 256mb is fine for lower rez users and that old PSU needs to go! :)
Click to expand...

Actually I spent about £70 on it last year if I remember right, ah well, the Corsair is the same price, and has a massive warranty.
 
Paracelsus said:
Actually I spent about £70 on it last year if I remember right, ah well, the Corsair is the same price, and has a massive warranty.
Click to expand...

Yea, I have a Corsair HX520W and its an awsome silent PSU :D
 
as you're going to replace a 9600xt, doesn't this mean you're limited to an agp card? or do you have one of those agp/pci-e combo mobos. no mention of that so far?
 
marc2003 said:
as you're going to replace a 9600xt, doesn't this mean you're limited to an agp card? or do you have one of those agp/pci-e combo mobos. no mention of that so far?
Click to expand...

Sorry, yeah, the mobo has both.

Hmm, so is the XT's extra performance not worth another £20 then?
 
I would like to say, that if you have something like a 7800/7900 already or an SLI setup, then I would personally suggest waiting until the summer when the new line of dx10 cards come out. I (and others) have only gone for a x1950pro/xt due to having lame cards at present and the value for money the x1950's represent.

Obviously it's all hit and miss as any card you have now will also have a lower resale value in the summer....

Matthew
 
Scougar said:
I would like to say, that if you have something like a 7800/7900 already or an SLI setup, then I would personally suggest waiting until the summer when the new line of dx10 cards come out. I (and others) have only gone for a x1950pro/xt due to having lame cards at present and the value for money the x1950's represent.

Obviously it's all hit and miss as any card you have now will also have a lower resale value in the summer....

Matthew
Click to expand...
He has an 9600XT, so an upgrade will be a good idea.


Paracelsus said:
Sorry, yeah, the mobo has both.

Hmm, so is the XT's extra performance not worth another £20 then?
Click to expand...

The X1950XT is worth that little extra i would say.
 
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