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Graphics Card upgrade for 3yr old PC

hey_barn

hey_barn

hey_barn

Associate
Joined
5 Sep 2006
Posts
13
Hi there. Quick question:

Without changing any other parts eg mobo, cpu etc is there any graphics card/s that would help deliver a decent boost to my current gaming experience without breaking the bank? I currently have a NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 which has been really good, but I was just wondering if there is any recommended older cards (or cards) 2007/2008 (perhaps 2009 if good value and fit to rig?) after the 7950 GX2 so would equal a budget, but worthwhile, upgrade? I built this PC Sept 2006 and only the mobo & cpu have been replaced due to damage via very poor courier service with me moving out to NZ from UK :-p

Many thanks for any advice tbh. Have a great upcoming 2010 all! Spec as follows:


Motherboard: Asus P5N-T Deluxe

CPU: Core2Duo E8200 - Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8200 @ 2.66GHz (x2 being duo ofc)

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GX2 (1GB ie 512MB per GPU)

RAM: 4GB - Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 4 x 1GB DDR2-800 XMS2-6400 4-4-4-12 With E.P.P Tech

Power Supply: Corsair HX 620W ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CMPSU-620HXUK)

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium OEM 64BIT

Monitor: Dell 2407WFP (24 inch Digital - run at 1920 by 1200 pixels)


:)
 
Yeah, reading about the 5800 chipsets now. The 5850 gets rave reviews eh - quality! Think the price will drop in the next 3 or 4 months?
 
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Depends on your budget really. The 4890 is quick for the price but the newer 5800 and 5900 will be quicker still.
 
unless you plan to upgrade your other hardware anytime soon then would just go with the 4890

anything higher and you will be severly bottlenecked by your existing hardware
 
it does not matter weather or not its a nvidia chipset or intel. If your only using one GPU there will be additional benifit becasue of the chipset so dont worry about it.
 
Would just get a 4890 to be honest. Its more than enough for any current game and will be for most of next year. The 5870\5850 are overpriced and overrated in my honest opinion. You could always get a 5770 which are good value and just a little less powerful than a 4890.
 
4890 or 5850 as others have said. I've just replaced my old x1950xtx with a 5850 and it has made a massive difference (as you'd expect!). Overclock your cpu too. Got mine at 3.4GHz and, according to an article I read comparing cpu's/clock speeds (sorry can't remember the source), that shouldn't bottleneck it.
 
IceWind said:
unless you plan to upgrade your other hardware anytime soon then would just go with the 4890

anything higher and you will be severly bottlenecked by your existing hardware
Click to expand...
Wow, man thanks for the fast feedback all.

Yeah, I wasn’t planning on upgrading the rest of the computer anytime soon at all tbh - hoped to get a boost with a new graphics card and later in 2010 (depending on cash damn it) build or buy a nice new setup and move the current PC as family computer (for backups, music, another game machine, whatever needed).

Really I'm worried that graphics card has taken some damage that is starting to show itself, so was kinda getting myself prepared for a potential worse case scenario of it dying suddenly...

So, from above advice I’ve been looking at the 4890 & 5770 for the price mark of $289 NZD (roughly £129). Of the following, which would be the best option peops and of course can it work with my Asus P5N-T Deluxe mobo ie will an ATI gpu work fine with it, I have no idea sorry?! :-/


SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON HD5770 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=10703

HIS ATI HD5770 GDDR5 1GB PCI-E
http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=10704

XFX HD-487A-ZWFK Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=8025

XFX HD-489X-ZNFL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Native HDMI PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Support
http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=8354


The 5850 & 5870 seem pretty great, but jump to $529 & $729 which, for a machine I’m not planning on upgrading further, is too much me thinks.

Ta again all /salute

PS Any comprehensive links pointing me in the right direction to overclock this machine would be great, but it wasn't a priority for me... but if it's straight forward enough to follow, then cool add your comments!
 
almighty15 said:
Get an Nvidia card as the P5N-T is a 780i chipset so it makes no sense getting an ATI card.
Click to expand...

I feel like I'm feeding a troll here... but please explain?

Just because it's an nvidia chipset doesn't mean an ATI card would be worse.

That logic would mean that using an Intel based chipset would mean ATI/Nvidia cards would be slower than expected... :confused:.
 
hey_barn said:
Wow, man thanks for the fast feedback all.

Yeah, I wasn’t planning on upgrading the rest of the computer anytime soon at all tbh - hoped to get a boost with a new graphics card and later in 2010 (depending on cash damn it) build or buy a nice new setup and move the current PC as family computer (for backups, music, another game machine, whatever needed).

Really I'm worried that graphics card has taken some damage that is starting to show itself, so was kinda getting myself prepared for a potential worse case scenario of it dying suddenly...

So, from above advice I’ve been looking at the 4890 & 5770 for the price mark of $289 NZD (roughly £129). Of the following, which would be the best option peops and of course can it work with my Asus P5N-T Deluxe mobo ie will an ATI gpu work fine with it, I have no idea sorry?! :-/


SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON HD5770 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E


HIS ATI HD5770 GDDR5 1GB PCI-E


XFX HD-487A-ZWFK Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP


XFX HD-489X-ZNFL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Native HDMI PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Support



The 5850 & 5870 seem pretty great, but jump to $529 & $729 which, for a machine I’m not planning on upgrading further, is too much me thinks.

Ta again all /salute

PS Any comprehensive links pointing me in the right direction to overclock this machine would be great, but it wasn't a priority for me... but if it's straight forward enough to follow, then cool add your comments!
Click to expand...

4890 IS quicker than a 5770 regardless of what people say to you. People are basing that the becasue the 5770 is dx11 its a better card, NO ITS NOT. Dont get me wrong its fantastic in crossfire as it scales amazing so unless you plan to get yourself a board that can xfire then get the 4890 you wont be disapointed.

In terms of 5850 and 5870 you wont see anywhere near the performance that you should with these with the hardware you have. Again dont get me wrong, spec wise you have a good gaming system there that will last probaly another year and a bit, just dont waste your money with hardware that wont do you any good.
 
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let me just say that i have bought a 5870 and its an incredible card! i still cant let it reach its full potential though, as i have a quad q6600 oc to 3.0ghz, and a few games are severely bottlenecked by the cpu. gta4 and crysis for example. was running cpu at 2.8, and when i oc to 3.0 crysis ran between 6 - 8 fps faster. from 200 mhz! gta 4, went from 24 odd fps (at good times) to 32/35 at 3.0, then oc'd to 3.2 and it was 40s fps.. imagine what i can get with cpu oc'd to 3.6 :D
basically what im saying is the system you are currently running, it would be useless to get a high end card till system upgraded. but the 5770s are very cheap, and should give you a huge performance increase, and when and if you decide to upgrade, you'll still be in there if you know what i mean. the 4890 isnt too bad either, but when system upgrade comes, it will be the gpu to bottleneck you.
P.S. 5770s are having a few issues at moment, so look that up first if you decide to go for it

edit: and shift is pretty horrible on my system, 28 - 35 fps is not playable for a racing game. when there no cars around (i overtake them :P ) it goes into the 70's. getting that cpu faster is a MUST!!
but icewind is right, the 4890 would be perfect for your system at the mo
 
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nikebee said:
I feel like I'm feeding a troll here... but please explain?

Just because it's an nvidia chipset doesn't mean an ATI card would be worse.

That logic would mean that using an Intel based chipset would mean ATI/Nvidia cards would be slower than expected... :confused:.
Click to expand...

How in gods green earth did you get that BS from? No come on, I'm REALLY curious as to how you got that crap from what I said :confused:

You are a fool and a silly fan boy who, by the looks of it, only sees what he wants to see, did you not think that I meant he could get a couple of Nvidia cards and run SLI and get more power then getting an ATI card would give him as he would only ever be allowed to run 1 ATI card?

His chipset limits him to 1 ATI card, he could 2 mid range Nvidia cards instead and SLI to get more power and more bang per buck....

Honestly, some people on this forum.... :rolleyes:
 
almighty15 said:
How in gods green earth did you get that BS from? No come on, I'm REALLY curious as to how you got that crap from what I said :confused:

You are a fool and a silly fan boy who, by the looks of it, only sees what he wants to see, did you not think that I meant he could get a couple of Nvidia cards and run SLI and get more power then getting an ATI card would give him as he would only ever be allowed to run 1 ATI card?

His chipset limits him to 1 ATI card, he could 2 mid range Nvidia cards instead and SLI to get more power and more bang per buck....

Honestly, some people on this forum.... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
OK, right I understand what you're saying - we can all chill, I wasn't trying to start a riot ;-) What would you or others suggest for the SLI x2 mid-range Nvidia cards option then??? Curious...

Else, I'm most sold on the 4890 - thx. I think it's price/quality for what I'm running with (without wanting to upgrade this PC further). Is the following a suitable/good choice for approx £129?

XFX HD-489X-ZNFL Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 Native HDMI PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Support
http://www.playtech.co.nz/product.php?action=showdetail&id=8354
 
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