Best gpu that will not be bottlenecked by this system?

[booey1]

Hey, I'm wanting to get the most out of my old PC and see if I can run skyrim on it.

This is the current rig:
E6420 @ 2.13Ghz
IL9 Pro
2 Gb RAM DDR2
Radeon x1950 Pro 256mb

Could I get a GT 240 or GT 440? Or would. the be bottlenecked?

I just want to get the max out of this rig so I can game with it as a back up for my new rig and for LAN. Planning to OC it before Christmas.

Any other tip would be great.

Thanks.

 

[booey1]

£60? But I figured any expensive gpu would be bottlenecked by the system any way?

 

[booey1]

Second had 5850? I would up to 4GB of RAM as well.

Thanks.Wouldn't that be bottlenecked by the CPU though?

 

[booey1]

Second had 5850? I would up to 4GB of RAM as well.

A few places have HD 5670 512MB GDDR5 cards for about £50-55. Seems like a good budget choice for an older computer. Takes all its power from the PCI-E slot and doesn't need an additional power connection so shouldn't have issues with low power OEM power supplies.

I'll have a look, thanks.

 

[booey1]

Or what about a 6770? They're £80 and good for the price, great for a LAN system

Thanks for that. Any specific reason you say 6770 is good for LAN?

 

[booey1]

Okay, so 5650 or GTS 450? How much difference is there?

I'll see if I can go 4gb on ram.

 

[booey1]

I wouldn't have thought so, the CPU is dual core and can do 3GHz+. When the 5850 was released, dual cores were more dominant in the market than quads.

Thanks

 

[booey1]

Hmm. Any clarification? I don't want to end up getting a new gpu that's bottlenecked at 60% of effectiveness.

 

[booey1]

IF your motherboard would support the newer 775 CPU, may be you could pick up a 2nd hand E7xxx/E8xxx for £30~£40, and spend £40 more on a OcUK OEM 9800GT for £35, or 2nd hand GTS250/4850 for around £40?

Okay, so the IL9 Pro will support up to an e7200 @ 2.53ghz (can get 2nd hand for about £25). But would it not be better to OC the e6420 I already have?

 

[booey1]

There is a thread on the Skyrim forums with the official specs and an unofficial guide to what you should expect from different cards. I am surprised how modest the requirements are but I suppose they are limited by consoles to some extent.

http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.ph...-my-pc-run-skyrim-thread-50-w-hardware-guide/

Wow, that's pretty low... it says I should be able to run it on my current x1950pro... hmm. The check I ran on systemrequirementslab told me graphics fail.

Thanks for that, it's super-useful.

 

[booey1]

Forget what I said about E7xxx...if you board would support it, it will be better to go with the Q6600 .

What PSU have you got, no point in recommending cards if you can't power them?

Board won't support the anything above a E7200.

PSU = Artic Power 500w

Hmm. Looking at that info about GPUs running skyrim I might well just see if it works on this old rig and update it later if it doesn't. Shame it's so hard to tell!