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Looking for an Nvidia card only to replace 9600GT...

dirtydog

dirtydog

dirtydog

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My 9600GT failed and I am looking for a replacement. I might as well get something a bit quicker, and I want to stick with nvidia.

My power supply is a 450w Corsair which has 30A on a single 12v rail, and just ONE PCI-E power cable. This rules out some cards which I would otherwise consider, like the GTX 260 because they need two cables plus I think my PSU would be too stretched. It is already powering an energy hungry Q6600 CPU.

Would the GTS 250 be a good choice? This for example for £85...

http://overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-199-AS

Can anyone confirm that this is 55nm and that it only requires one PCI-E power connection? From the image that seems to be the case. Also is this card normal spec or poverty spec because it seems cheap? It says the memory is 1100MHz effective, which I assume? is an error because it should be 2200MHz effective. The 70GB/sec bandwidth figure is accurate I believe and tallies with the correct 2200MHz effective memory speed.

I have looked at various reviews of the GTS 250 and some of them say the card is very power hungry. I gather some of them you can buy are still 65nm so maybe that is why.

Is the GTS 250 a good card, is the one I linked to in particular a good card, or is there another alternative which will work in my system with my PSU and one PCI-E cable?
 
kylew said:
It's just a rebranded G92 graphics card. Basically a 9800GTX+ with a new sticker and model name.
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I know that much ;) I was hoping for some answers to my specific questions.

I don't get why you want to stay with nvidia, you'll get better value if you get a 4870, they're around the same price as a GTS250 for a lot more performance.

I'd say you're just wasting your money for nothing other than a petty dislike otherwise.
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So the only reason people buy nvidia cards is a petty dislike of ATI... right.

I was hoping for a few sensible replies to my questions, if you don't know the answer or aren't willing to give the answer, please don't waste my time replying.
 
Raikiri said:
450w with from a good brand like Corsair is more than powerful enough for basically any single GPU card.
Click to expand...

Do you think it would be sufficient for a GTX 260 then? I think nvidia recommend something like a 600w PSU don't they? Albeit I realise a Corsair 450w is probably as good as a cheapo 600w. Bear in mind my CPU probably draws over 100w under load especially if overclocked.
 
kylew said:
Wow, you need to man up and stop being such a little girl.

Hearing something you don't want to hear isn't trashing.

You can't complain about people making assumptions if you haven't stated anything otherwise.

I've posted because I thought I'd be able to offer you a bit of advice, and that my opinion is a GTS250 is poor value for money. If you state no reason as to why 'no ATi' then assumptions is all you will get.

You're asking for help as well. :confused: you're to expect responses you may not want.

It's just making it look like you don't have much reason for 'no ATi' considering you've thrown a hissy fit when asked why.
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I have various reasons why I prefer nvidia, I don't want to turn the thread into a nvidia vs ATI debate as I'm sure we're all tired of those aren't we? :) I realise there are cards from ATI which have more outright speed at the same price point but speed isn't everything.
 
Will a GTX 260 be worthwhile over a GTS 250 given that I use a relatively low resolution of 1280x1024?

Truth be told the only games which my 9600GT couldn't run maxed out at a good framerate (60fps+) were Crysis and GTA IV. I don't care about Crysis as I don't like it anyway, but I would appreciate a significant performance boost in GTA IV. Would a GTX 260 provide it? The game is certainly GPU limited on my quad core system.
 
Well I bought the card from the OP and it arrived today. I just thought I'd share my findings in case anyone else searches the forum for info on this card in future.

There are two reasons I am going to return this card (if I am allowed) or sell it on.

1) the card takes up both of my free PCI slots with its very large heatsink and cooling fan. This means I am unable to use my PCI sound card and would need to buy a PCI-Express one.

2) The deal breaker: the fan is VERY loud even if you turn it down to the lowest permittable speed. It is by far the loudest I have ever heard and I will definitely not be able to live with it. The temp of the card goes down to around 50c on the desktop with the fan on the lowest speed so it isn't because the card is overheating.

After all that, it isn't any quicker whatsoever than my 9600GT as far as I can tell. The only game the 9600GT really struggled with anyway was GTA IV and I got the same FPS in the benchmark with this GTS 250 as I did with that! And I do have a quad core CPU so the game should have been GPU bottlenecked.

Obviously I need to get a quieter and slimmer card like another 9600GT and that is what I will do :)
 
I'd be worried with another 9800 (which is sort of what the GTS 250 is) that it would have an equally loud cooler though.

I would have hoped that the GTS 250 being on the smaller 55nm process would mean it would run a bit cooler and could get away with a quieter fan. Bear in mind there is only one fan mode, it doesn't run quieter in 2D mode. I think when it's too loud even during games, even when on the lowest speed of 25%, it's got to go. And it has, I've taken it out and put it back in the box, ah peace! :D
 
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