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Gphx card baffled with choice! Any help app.

stormduck

stormduck

stormduck

Associate
Joined
21 Mar 2008
Posts
45
Location
Basildon, Essex
I've received help from some peeps on the forum with a new setup and i've narrowed it down to the spec below. The only thing that i'm confused about is the gphx card. I initially chose a £25 item with no intention of gaming, but someone recommended spending more like £60, and now i'm thinking about spending more and giving myself the option of playing games if need be. No first person games, maybe flight sims or racing games. I've been reading the 8800 GTS 512mb is the way to go for the best but i'm thinking this is too much money and probably a bit of a waste for me who's primary use is internet followed by video editting. The 8800 GT 512mb is £130 and probably getting closer to where I am, but i have no idea of how powerful a gphx card is and what it can do as my last buy was an Nvidia Riva TNT2 and i never really used it for what it was intended. I want this setup to last 5years btw:

myspec2.jpg


Any help much appreciated!
 
You can't go wrong with 8800GT but if you really don't play games then there is no need to spend this much on a GFX.

I'd suggest google for reviews and comparisons between different cards and prices first. The most popular cards are 8800GTS/GT 512Mb, 9600GT, 3870XT and 3850pro 512Mb.
 
ati has announced price drops for this week so I would wait and see how much a 3850 or 3870 is. They are both very good cards for the cost.
 
I would also wait for the price drops, also I would change the CPU cooler for something like the tuniq tower-simply because it would do a better job in cooling the quad seeing as they run quite hot.
 
okay lovely, i've noticed the gphx card sticky and that helps get an idea of incremental power between the different brands. From what you've said I'm looking towards:

OcUK ATI Radeon HD 3850 Pro 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) -Retail £93.99 inc VAT

And that price drop would be ideal. Sooner rather than later as i intend ordering fairly soon now :)

Cheers
 
Something else for you to think about, unfortunately, if you get an 8800GT with a Quad, you might need a 500W PSU just to be on the safe side. However, I'd get confirmation of this, 425W Should be fine, but I thought I should mention it regardless.
 
Get a Tuniq, they're fantastic and they're not really really big :)
I would get the 9600GT, it's a fair boost over the 3850 for not much more money, unless the ATI price cuts are really crazy.
 
Many thanks for all your help and opinions, i pushed the budget and got the ocuk 8800GT 512. Why not!? And thought about the psu and got the 525watt version just in case and also for my intention of the future.

I'll have a look into it, but how noisy might this card be and is it possible/needed to replace the standard fan for something smoother? It's not essential as i've already put the order in, i'm just thinking of the future as i intend running this overnight at times and don't want it sounding like a jumbo in me living room
 
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