can someone please give me the lodown on GPU

[cm1179]

i'm currently running a set up with a 9800gt. it's good but with dx11 i would like to upgrade to one of ati 58 series. i nearly purchased an oc titan nero system a few weeks ago but am waiting to see what system they make available with a 58 card in it.
a few questions;
what's the difference between a sapphire and the other models available
what's the difference between gt and gtx etc
how important is dx11 going to be? is it pointless buying any card which doesn't support it to get a good gaming experience for the next 12-18 months?
how important are other factors to the system (processor etc)

Thanks

 

[reflux]

1) All the cards available at the moment are made in the same factory. The only difference is the sticker, warranty and bundle.

2) GT vs. GTX - I presume you mean Nvidia cards? GT is the slower of the two.

3) DX11 is the new standard for PC graphics. Whilst it's going to be a while before we see widespread adoption of it, it will come and therefore when buying a new card you should look at the available DX11 options. Given the price of these, and the current lack of DX11 games, you should probably only buy one if you definitely have £200 or more to spend. Don't go out of your way to pick one up, but don't look at anything else above £200.

4) Clock your CPU as high as you can, but most games these days are limited by the GPU, not the CPU which means a faster graphics card will give you a better experience than a faster CPU. That said, some games like more of an even balance. Also make sure you have 4GB+ of RAM if running games on Vista.

 

[SMAndy]

I'm not sure I can answer all of the questions, but i'll give them a shot.

Sapphire, etc are the manufacturers of the card. Some will overclock better, while others come stock overclocked. EVGA are very good, so are Gigabyte. Given my history with Asus, i'd stay away from them. I have an XFX card, and I'm happy with it, so i'd say they're pretty good too.

GT/GTX is all nVidia, and shows the "level" of the card. It goes in order GT>GTS>GTX>Ultra. Keep an eye on the spec of them, as some overclocked "lower level" ones may have better spec on paper than one a level up.

DX11 isn't going to be huge for the next 12-18 months, as the first DX11 game probably won't be out until jan/feb next year, and it'll run perfectly fine in DX10/10.1 mode.

PhysX helps take strain away from the CPU, if you have an nVidia card, as it pushes some of this processing to the graphics card, but some games may well still be CPU limited. CS:S i know still receives a boost to performance after 3.0GHz.

RAM... as long as you have enough, and its at least PC2-6400, then you're barely going to notice a real-world gain with the extra speed. If you're going Intel, then the chipset can help, as newer chipsets offer better memory controllers that will help a little, as well as keeping cooler under the load.

Hope that helps!

 

[layte]

DX11 isn't going to be huge for the next 12-18 months, as the first DX11 game probably won't be out until jan/feb next year, and it'll run perfectly fine in DX10/10.1 mode.

I believe at least one existing title has a DX11 patch for improved visuals and performance. Depending on how much you are looking to spend, buying a top end (expensive) DX10 card might not be the best choice right now.

 

[cm1179]

thanks for your replies. i think i'll hold on and see what system oc put together with one of the new ati cards in