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New card advice ?

Burnout81

Burnout81

Burnout81

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Joined
18 Jan 2012
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158
Location
Poole
Hi i was hoping to get some info on what would be better to go for for a new graphics card as im long overdue a new one , still using a 8800gt that is starting to hit 110° :(
my main use for the card at the moment would be playing BF3 and SWTOR

my price range puts me around the 560ti range of cards

my main question would be what to go for regarding wether to go for a 2gb card or a 1gb card with higher core clock speeds?

i would go for a 448 cards but that would also mean replacing my 500w PSU so i have to stick with the 384 for now

another problem i may have is that my motherboard is an mATX board from an old Packard Bell and the double slot looks like it would be blocked off by some cables

the motherboard is in a larger case than show in this pic so the space is not an issue just the wires im unsure of
my system is

Q8300 @2.5ghz
3GB Ram
500w antec earthwatts psu
evga 880gt superclocked
any advice welcome
thanks
 
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the 8800 was single slot and the wires push up against the card slightly

and the cables im pretty sure are for the front usb ports although they are different cables from the new case connected now and are a little more flexible so a 2 slot card may just "push them down" a little ?

i dont know much about ATI cards as ive only had nvidia up to now how would a card like that perform in the games i stated and would temp be an issue?

i would love to upgrade my motherboard for better cards but that just isnt an option with money right now
 
Can you not just get an extention cable for the usb ports or a usb backplate, or a usb panel that sits in a drive bay, all very cheap options.

What resolution do you game at?

Tempts will be governed by your set up, there's nothing wrong with the cooling on those cards.
 
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i suppose if its just the usb front panel i could just leave it disconnected? and all i would lose is easy access usb ports?

im not sure how those options would help spain wouldnt they still need to connect to the same place ?
resolution is 1440x900
 
Regarding your question about 2Gb or 1Gb I would get 2 GB, but thats just my opinion since I play at 1920x1080 and play games that like to use a lot of vram like modded Skyrim and STALKER games. Since you play at 1440x900 I'm not sure you'll need 2GB but i have heard BF3 uses a lot of vram. I was also thinking about upgrading to a GTX 560 as well, if you think you might fit it I would say it is a good card to get:)
 
The cables that come with the parts mentioned above are generally cheap and thin= more flexable. Now look Here Enlarge the image and run your eye along the bottom of the shroud cover, Notice the recess, up to that point the card is the same length as your existing card. Also it's hard to tell from your picture but that shroud cover looks to sit almost on top of the slot, now look at the link I posted notice how far up the card the shroud cover is. So there should be more clearance at the front of the card.

Does the above make sense.
 
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yeah makes sence, i saw a couple of cards where the cover was further up or absent at the bottom of the card showing the pipes but was unsure wether it would be ok having the wires almost going "into" the card

after poking arouind some more in my case the wires seem to flatten down quite a lot as they are already half covered by the 8800 so i think it may be ok for a dual slot card afterall, maybe i was just overthinking it :)

so i guess im back to my main question of higher core clock speeds or higher ram on the 560ti's? as sabre66 said i think BF3 is quite hungry on Vram.
at the moment i only get 30fps on all lowest settings 1440x900 resolution and that dips heavily in crowded areas of combat
im guessing the 560ti will give me medium to high settings at 60 fps ?

also worthwhile to note i probably wont be overclocking at any time soon with my current psu
 
If budget is not a problem then the 2gb is the one to get, if you get a higher resolution monitor at some point in the future, upgrade your whole system or future vram sapping games come along, your got that covered.

As above for your resolution.
 
ok so a 2gb version of the card seems the way to go i do have a budget of around £200 i can push very slightly higher if needed though.
any thoughts on specific cards/manufacturers ?
 
I'd go for a second hand p35 skt775 mobo (about £35) and wait until this time next month once 7950's are out and see how prices have settled.

as for a card I dont think you beat the 6850 in terms of bang for buck especially now they're dropping below £100
 
If you going to spend £200 on a graphics card you need to look at the radeon 6950. It is such a good deal compared to the 560ti that you would be crazy to go for the nvidia. You could always wait until the 7950 comes out but I'm guessing that will be around the £300-£350 price range.

You also need to consider if you would be better off upgrading the bAse system first. You could pick up a used p45 board or even a p55 board and a i5-750 for less than £200. Just as an example I recently upgraded from 775 to sandybridge for £180! All bits from ocuk and members for sale forum.
 
just to clarify this £200 budget is all i have as im currently between jobs and it is some of my savings i have plus part of a tax rebate im recieving soon, so im not sure if upgrading the base system is the way to go for now or at least until im working again.

upgrading the card will be the bggest performance increase in games for my money or am i wrong?

as for the 6950's looking at the sticky at the top of this subforum would i be able to unlock it to a 6970? would that be a better way to go?
 
Burnout81 said:
just to clarify this £200 budget is all i have as im currently between jobs and it is some of my savings i have plus part of a tax rebate im recieving soon, so im not sure if upgrading the base system is the way to go for now or at least until im working again.

upgrading the card will be the bggest performance increase in games for my money or am i wrong?

as for the 6950's looking at the sticky at the top of this subforum would i be able to unlock it to a 6970? would that be a better way to go?
Click to expand...

With your gaming resolution at 1440x900 a radeon 6850/70 would be a good increase in performance boost. However to give you some longevity the 6950 is bang on your budget and you can get the Powercolor 2GB card from OCUK for £199.99 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-143-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752. You should be able to run most games at high or highest settings on the 6950 and maintain a good fps :)

When/If you eventually upgrade you monitor to a higher resolution e.g. 1920x1080 you may find the CPU will become a bottleneck, likewise with the PCI Express bus. Then you should start looking at upgrading to a newer system architecture such as sandybridge.
 
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