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Graphics Card Recommendation and Advice

Associate
Joined
13 Sep 2009
Posts
1,612
Location
Maidstone, Kent
So, I think it's time my 9800GTX had a relax. It has had a good life- however I think it is time for it's retirement :) I am looking for a new card with a budget of £250 to work with the rig in my sig. I do a lot of gaming and am looking for this to last me a while. I had my eye on a GTX 480 SOC from Gigabyte as they seem to have tamed it with their cooling solution which is apparently very quiet. I have also heard that the performance is very close to that of a stock GTX580 which excites me massively! The only thing putting me off is that I will not have the future option of adding another in SLI due to my motherboard being a Crossfire-only board. What are your opinions on this?

I would appreciate any recommendations of card, as long as I am getting good value for money. Second hand is also a good option that does not worry me. I would also like it if you would put in a recommended PSU wattage to go with it as it is clear I will have to upgrade my CM M520 PSU.
 
Gigabyte GTX 560 OC - £204.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-074-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

Asus GTX 480 - £199.98 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-222-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

Asus 6950 OC - £215.99 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-248-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

Of these the 480 is probably the fastest but also consumes the most power.

But the 6950 can be unlocked to a 6970 so that's a really good deal you're getting. I'd go with that. GTX 570/480 performance for the price of a GTX 560 basically.

EDIT: Also because your board is crossfire you could get the 6950 and later crossfire it with another.

also looks to me like your PSU should be fine for these cards, but it may not be for the 480.
 
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Well, since the 570 and 580 are out of your budget that leaves the 480 (as you mentioned), 560 and 6950 which as I'm sure you know can be flashed to 6970 performance. If you do go for a single nVidia card then as long as it's a powerful card like the ones listed then you won't have a problem. If you decide for crossfire at a later date by adding a second 6950 then in theory you won't have to upgrade for a long time.
 
Still very much undecided. The options seem to be to go for a 6950 and flash it to a 6970 which leaves options open for crossfire and aftermarket air or watercoolers (no custom PCB) as well as probably being able to stick with my current PSU. However I somewhat resent paying the same amount for a card that performs worse than the 480. The other option would be the GTX480 SOC which would outperform the others but would not give me any option for upgrading with SLI on AMD motherbords seeming unlikely in the foreseeable future without getting a specialist Lucid chipset.

As for the flashing, does it have to be a 2Gb 6950 and is it a 100% thing? I don't want to be entering a lottery, but as far as I know AMD have not addressed the issue so I think it should be fine.

Need more opinions as I am really sitting on the fence here!
 
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