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buying a new card

Kicks2004uk

Kicks2004uk

Kicks2004uk

Associate
Joined
25 Sep 2010
Posts
22
I just upgraded my comp and I'm looking to add a new card

These are my specs -

CPU - Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.00GHz Sandybridge CPU

Motherboard - Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 Intel Z68

RAM - Kingston HyperX Beast 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel

Monitor - BenQ GL2450 24" Widescreen LED

I'm looking at these 2 cards -

Asus HD 7850 DirectCU II V2 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Asus GeForce GTX 660 DirectCU II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics

Which card is best and will I see a huge performance boost from my current card

MSI GeForce GTX 460 Cyclone 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Thank
 
What's your budget?

Wouldn't recommend the GTX660 as the 7850/7870 would be a better option. If you can push £240, look at the 7950 which is a fantastic card.
 
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I still have a 1GB 460, it truly is a great budget GPU it still outperforms the current 7750/7770 GPUs. It does overclock very well and you should consider doing that if you haven't already. Granted I have a little more VRAM but I can hold out till the next gen GPUs land, I think you could probably too.

It looks like the AMD never settle games bundle has just ended :( However BF4 is stated to be bundled with the new AMD GPUs in October......maybe that gives you more of a reason to wait ;)

If I had to buy a GPU now I would be looking at the 7870XT which is closely related to the 7950, if you OC it you net 7950 performance.
 
Yeah I have been messing about with MSI Afterburner

My current settings are

Core Clock (MHz) - 775

Shader Clock (MHz) - 1550

Memory Clock (MHz) - 1800

GPU Temp goes to 55 C

What are the best settings I should be looking to achieve and generally whats the maximum temp I should be looking at ?

Thanks
 
I use Afterburner too. It has a GUI built in so you can display your FPS in game along with temps, VRAM used etc etc. You can also set a custom fan speed profile to help with noise.

My GPU is different so you need to experiment yourself. 80 degrees is the max i'm comfortable for the GPU to hit under heavy load. Core and shaders are linked, you'll probably get better OCs leaving the memory alone. AB will let you up the voltage (to the max safe) to help stabilise the GPU as you overclock but upping the voltage will increase the temps. So be sensible and just gradually increase it and watch the temps.

I've had my 460 upto 900Mhz (it came OC'd @763Mhz), I did find that DX11 games wanted a higher voltage to keep the GPU stable. I currently have it @850Mhz, I would hope you could atleast get to 800Mhz.

Benchmarking stresses the GPU more than gaming. So I do a quick test with ABs kombustor to make sure the GPU doesn't crash the system straight away. I found myself playing the "gone hunting" level from BF3 and watching the FPS counter in the top corner to see what difference my tinkering had made.

Best of luck with it bud
 
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Kicks2004uk said:
My max budget is £180

I've always preferred Nvidia but I am willing to go with ATI if its the better card.

Whats the best card £180 can get you ?
Click to expand...

The 7870 Ghz Edition is probably the best card for £180 atm.

If you wanted a NVidia card then the Gtx 660 (non-Ti) can be found for around £155 delivered.
 
I'd go for the GTX660 it's a much better card than the 7850/7870 and can be found around the £150 mark.
 
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