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Graphics card upgrade

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Joined
27 Feb 2009
Posts
34
Hi,
I am new to this forum and would like some guidance on upgrading my graphics card.
I have a geforce 8600 GTS card at the moment and would like a better card.
I am not sure as whether to change the maker for say ATI.
Ideally I was thinking of a card with 512 mb memory and more processors than 32 which my current card has.
It was suggested I look at ATI 4850 as a possible alternative.
There are so many to chose from I would appreciate the communities advice.

Regards
Mike
 
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Welcome Mike1:)

What resolution do you game at?
What's your budget?
If you can go to it I'd consider either a Nvidia 260gtx (216sp) or a 1gb 4870. Guess it may be worth you mentioning what cpu you have and what speed.
 
Welcome Mike1:)

What resolution do you game at?
What's your budget?
If you can go to it I'd consider either a Nvidia 260gtx (216sp) or a 1gb 4870. Guess it may be worth you mentioning what cpu you have and what speed.

Hi

I game at 1600 x 900 and my cpu is AMD 3.21 dual core Vista home premium os, 4 GB ram.
Budget is around 160.

Thanks both
Mike
 
I would think if its been running his previous gfx card ok then As long as he has 1 6-pin pci lead on his psu ( which he should have being as though he is running an 8600 gts atm )i would have thought it would be ok as he can use the 4 pin molex to 6 pin that comes with it for the other if he needs to.
 
So.. which PSU do you have though? As it may not be good enough for the new card.
 
It's 20a on the 12v rail and is I am afraid a nasty cheap thing from that place that sells nasty cheap cases.

Having said that IF it is indeed 20a you may just get away with a 4850 but will be right on the edge.
 
It's 20a on the 12v rail and is I am afraid a nasty cheap thing from that place that sells nasty cheap cases.

Having said that IF it is indeed 20a you may just get away with a 4850 but will be right on the edge.

Hi,

Looking at the box in which it came, the +3.3V ( 36A ), +5V ( 36A ), +12V ( 20A ), -5V ( 1A ), -12V ( 1A ), +5Vsb ( 2A ).
Can you tell me what power supply I should have to power the 4870 or possibly the 9800GTX.
I am at a loss here now, back to square one, so any help would be appreciated from the community.

Regards
Mike
 
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I'd look at the corsair range as they come with a 5 year warranty.

If it ever goes wrong you send it to them and they send you a brand new one sealed.

The only catch is that the sending address is in the netherlands and takes around a week to complete and costs around £18 to send.

Having said that it's 5 years warranty so you could get as many new replacements you like within that period so overall it's a good deal.

Well regarded power supplies I'd be looking at http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-014-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084 it has 41a on the 12v rail and will be good enough for a long while yet.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084 this would be good enough too but isn't in stock.

There's also the corsair 400 cx model which is good enough.

Whatever you end up doing just get a well known good brand of power supply and research the 12v rail rating google the model number you are looking at and find out the 12v rail >> +3.3V ( 36A ), +5V ( 36A ), +12V ( 20A ), -5V ( 1A ), -12V ( 1A ), +5Vsb ( 2A ).

don't buy anything that is lower than 35a.

All the ones that are on ocuk are good brand names to get and I'd use those names for your shortlist, but I'd avoid Hiper.
 
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