Please could you help with graphics card selection (clueless newbie here)

[KatanaDV20]

Hello all

Nice forums you got goin' here. I was wondering if I could ask for some graphics card upgrade advice as I am totally and utterly lost when it comes to making a decision as there seem to be trillions of them out there.

I want it mostly to boost performance in MS Flight Simulator 2004 & GTA San Andreas as currently I have to run both of them with all the visual eye-candy turned down (wheres the fun in that) so they end up looking like old Nintendo games

My budget is £160.

I am very interested in the PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) which I have found in the Overclockers graphics card section (its the 6th card down if you want to have a look):
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800PCI_Series.html

Is this a good choice for me?

I have posted the data from a CPU-Z extract below. I have the PCI Express interface & 1GB of RAM (2 extra slots remaining) Im desperate to kick out this X300 and not have my games look like a slideshow anymore

CPU-Z Dump (sorry for the URLs, it said Im not allowed to post images)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/ThrottleUp/c23.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/ThrottleUp/c22.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/ThrottleUp/c21.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/ThrottleUp/c2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v630/ThrottleUp/c1.jpg

I would be grateful for any advice, thanks very much

 

[KatanaDV20]

Thank you all for your replies, Im checking out that card now, cool its a bit cheaper as well! I've had ATI cards in every computer I've owned so tend to focus on just that company. So thanks for pointing me to the 7600GT Will make a decision soon! I want the card to be FSX-capable (the game comes out in Xmas) so I'd long since decided not to skimp on a new one!

BTW could you please explain what "SM3.0" is

ajgoodfellow - yes I did add the

 

[KatanaDV20]

Vogon....hmmmmm....!!!

Now look what you went and did Im checking out the X1800s now....you mean if I suffer for a little more time and save another £40 odd I can snag a much much more capable card?

Well everyone...should I go for the 7600GT (which I can buy this second) or hang on for a bit and when Im a little richer go for that X1800 class of card?

Am I also right in saying that my computer will have a "limit" on the power of the graphics I will get (ie: there must be a graphics card specification where my computer just cant take advantage of its capabilities due to the processor, RAM etc) but Im guessing that the extreme hi-end card range..

Decisions....

 

[KatanaDV20]

You all rule I never anticipated such a response and Im glad I found this forum now hee hee. Thanks very much for all your advice, you have done your bit and now I gotta do mine. The cards are pretty evenly matched and I suppose now its down to noise-levels, tweakability and the game they bundle with the card.

Already I can see that the Nvidia card has a Lifetime Warranty....Im looking at them both on OcUK and reading the comparision (thanx sunlitsix!) Hey that Guru3D site is awesome...

 

[KatanaDV20]

ihatelag Im checking it out now!

I have a 350W PSU, would it be able to support the power consumption of either of either of those cards?

 

[KatanaDV20]

Yes I had a feeling that my current Dell PSU would be pushing things a little, as the review said for the X1800GTO:

Overall I recommend a standard 400 Watts power supply at the very least. Also make sure that the PSU has at least 18 Amps on the 12 volts rail.

hp7909 wow thanx for that link, Im getting that app right now..sweet! G.o.a.t..scoping out those benchmarks as well!

Richdog I totally see what you are saying and was thinking the same last night. However now Im starting to realise that my PSU will be the limiting factor in card selection - perhaps its a blessing in disguise for the ol' bank account lol

Geez the help just keeps on comin, im totally chuffed ...fer real, cuz I was really lost before I came on here when it came to selecting a new card but now I have a very good idea of what I want!

 

[KatanaDV20]

ajgoodfellow - thanks loads for telling me that! I had no idea and I was just checking out PSU websites

Thats good to know that the Dell PSU will do the job!

--->

the 7600GT doesn't need any external power anyway

Now thats interesting! Sorry to sound dumb but I don't understand the physics/electronics behind that

The 7600GT has its own "built in" powersupply or something? How does it draw its power compared to the ATI card?

I got a feeling Im gonna get totally edumacated on these forums

 

[KatanaDV20]

it just uses power provided by the PCI-E slot, whereas on the back of the X1800GTO there is a 6-pin plug to use power from the PSU aswell as the PCI-E slot

so the 7600GT uses less power than the X1800GTO

Thanks for that explanation, makes sense to me now .

So its like the graphics card version of a USB device that uses the USB outlet itself for power instead of a seperate connection to the mains (was that a good analogy lol).

 

[KatanaDV20]

Yes I think Im getting to grips with whats involved thanks to you all!

Well I've narrowed it down to two of them and now its just a question of which: 7600GT or X1800GTO

I just noticed this in my Dell Manual:

PCI Express graphics cards that run higher than 75W require an additional cooling fan. Otherwise your card could overheat and damage your computer.

I will have to see how much those 2 cards put out, geez I hope I dont have to spend more £ on a fan! Maybe get one of those little table fans and point it at the front vent running full blast

 

[KatanaDV20]

I found just what I was looking for! I head to head comparision of exactly the two cards Im interested in:
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2006/03/21/bfg_7600_gt_oc_ati_x1800gto/1.html

They both look kinda evenly matched; however from the review I see that the ATI:

1. Needs to be hooked up to the PSU for power (7600GT does'nt)
2. ATI's fan revs up and down all the time (7600GTs stays constant)
3. 7600GT comes with a Lifetime Warranty

I think im swaying towards the Nvidia product but Im still *kinda* on the fence. Got some more reading/research to do but I must say coming on this forum has taken me 90% of the way on making a decision...now its just a question of which!

 

[KatanaDV20]

the stock fan on my 7600GT reved up when in 3D apps

Does it rev up and down though?....or does it rev up and stay that way

I wish I could see/hear these cards in action, my Dell already sounds like a generator so a quiet card would help loads!!

 

[KatanaDV20]

M8, now the 256mb X1800XT I mentioned above is at £144 plus vat, its gotta be the best choice, faster than either of those you are considering for a tenner more

Whoaaaaaaaa that card looks wicked! And blazing specs too...but Im sure I will need xtra hardware to run it! - another fan, more powerful PSU etc. Ok the fan cant be too expensive but I've been advised that I cant simply run out and get a new PSU since Dells are very fussy things!

I just read on the main thread about the deal on the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB and on the last page there is mention of the fact that you need at least a 550W PSU...mine is a 350W...

One day Im gonna get a horrible expensive gaming machine that will mutilate anything thrown at it and its graphics card shall have pixels for breakfast

*Back to reality*

Unfortunately it looks I will have to miss out on this fantastic deal

Have fun those of you who bought it though!

x1800's are not loud, not unless you can hear a nat fart, and it sounds like your standing right next to concorde when its taking off, which apparently a lot of ppl can.

Nicely put! Easy to get taken in by reviews I guess!

 

[KatanaDV20]

do you have any specs for it ?

Not detailed specs unfortunately! This is straight from the manual:

DC Power Supply

Wattage: 350W
Heat dissipation 460.7 BTU/hr
Voltage: fixed voltage power supply - 110V @ 50/60Hz

Thats a good point about the fan though. The case fan already does a decent job, the card would have its own fan and theres lots of grille on the back of the tower. But yea...the PSU prob would struggle like you said

 

[KatanaDV20]

If you look on the side of the PSU you should find a stick which will tell you the amps for each 12V rail

Ohhh! Ok I feel like a dumbass now!

That means I will have to shut down and break open the case to have a look! Thanks for telling me that, will have check that out and get back on here!

 

[KatanaDV20]

I got my new card!

Hello everyone

I just recieved and fitted my brand new BFG GeForce 7600GT OC from OverClockers! All I can say is WOW WOW WOW. My Microsoft Flight Simulator experience has been *transformed*

I just wanna thank you all for helping me decide what to get . In the end I was limited by available PSU power but the 7600GT OC performs brilliantly. Also thanks to OverClockers for a great price!

And keep an eye out for some screenshots where I'll show off my new card hee hee hee

 

[KatanaDV20]

Yea yea it rocks

Do you think adding another gig of RAM will help increase Flight Sim performance? I already have 1GB but even with the new card I still get freeze-ups in the game that last about a second.

Not a huge deal though!

 

[KatanaDV20]

Yea I've decided to stick another GB in! I've locked the frame rate in Flight Sim 2004 (FS2004) @ 24FPS, lemme try unlocking it to see what happens!

Anisotropic on the 7600GT is @ 2X
Anti-aliasing is @ 4X

spacegrass...man Id love to get 60FPS in FS2004!!!!

I had another question about RAM....I have 4 RAM slots.

2 X 512MB
2 X Empty

Do I need to get 2 more 512 sticks or can I just get a 1GB stick? I mean...are the slots "designed" to take 512 only (I know that sounds stupid lol)

 

[KatanaDV20]

You could just get one 1GB stick but you'll loose out on the performance benefit offered by dual channel memory

Due to this I'd get another 2x512MB sticks

Thanks for the heads-up on that On Crucials site now picking some RAM I know its not "performance" RAM but I can't afford the better stuff!!!

Besides I'll wait till I have a monster gaming rig before I get all that hee hee.