Questions about graphics cards

[olivier renault]

I seem to recall that hl2 defaults to minimal resolution when playing the first time. It is an older game but still looks nice when set up properly.

Yeah, you 'may' find HL2 / CS:S to be OK with your card once you setup the resolution, however they are still very low performance.

What PSU you have? That can affect the card choice.

hum not looking good...

With a 6870, you can at least quadruple the GT430 bench.

 

[Krony]

My PC is fine, I only purchased it a few days ago (i5 overclocked with 8GB RAM).
Maybe I'm too used to the stunning graphics of my PS3 but I thought Half Life 2 graphics were not sharp and seemed a bit jagged.

What I need to know - is this because of the cheap graphics card or is it because it's an older game? I don't really want to spend another £200 if the graphics on older games like Half Life 2 and Doom 3 etc will be the same as what they are with my current card.

I'm not a home right now so not sure if I had anti-aliasing on. I have a 23.5 inch monitor connected via HDMI (I think resolution is 1920X1080).

If I purchase a graphics card for around £200, will it smooth out the jagged graphics on older games or will it make no difference because the game is older?

Sry but couldn't resist

 

[Magpie2121]

Sry but couldn't resist

Couldn't resist what?!

Anyway, I managed to operate HL2 properly with my crap card; the settings were at first set to a lower resolution. I changed this to the highest resolution (even though I could have sworn I did this before) but it now looks very nice.
I''ve just ordered Deus Ex from eBay so will now go on the hunt for a high spec graphics card. Hopefully Overclockers will allow me to exchange my poo card

 

[Magpie2121]

Yeah, you 'may' find HL2 / CS:S to be OK with your card once you setup the resolution, however they are still very low performance.

What PSU you have? That can affect the card choice.

hum not looking good...

With a 6870, you can at least quadruple the GT430 bench.

I have the OCZ ZS Series 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply.

My current graphics card is a "low profile" one. Will my system be able to handle a non low profile card? Motherboard is MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (socket 1155)
The tower case I have is a Zalman Z9 Plus.

The last thing I want to do is order a graphics card which won't fit or won't be compatible

 

[Krony]

Couldn't resist what?!

Anyway, I managed to operate HL2 properly with my crap card; the settings were at first set to a lower resolution. I changed this to the highest resolution (even though I could have sworn I did this before) but it now looks very nice.
I''ve just ordered Deus Ex from eBay so will now go on the hunt for a high spec graphics card. Hopefully Overclockers will allow me to exchange my poo card

What i meant was games on pc's look far better than on a 5 year old console.
And most decent cards should fit fine in that case and the psu is plenty for a single mid to high end card.

 

[Magpie2121]

Spoke with Overclockers and they are wiling to refund the cost of the graphics card

Will this card allow me to play the new Deus Ex on the absolute highest settings?

If not, then I was thinking about possibly buying this instead, as long as it will allow me to play on the absolute highest settings. Can somebody shed some light on this for me please?

Also I'm not even sure if the MSI ATI Radeon HD 6950 will even fit into my PC. Again would appreciate some advice on whether it will or will not fit or be compatible with my system which is as follows:

Intel Core i5 2500k 3.30 ghz
OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD
MSI P67A-C45 Intel P67 (socket 1155)
OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler
Zalman Z9 Plus Tower Case
Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDr PC3-1200C9 1600mhz Dual Channel Kit

 

[cmndr_andi]

Looking at this, the 6870 will happily handle Deus Ex 3 at ~1200p (if you are playing at 1080p, expect slightly better results still).

The Zalman Z9 plus case supports graphics cards up to 11.4in long, so a 10.6in long 6950 will fit in fine (not to mention a 6870 which is even shorter). As for the power supply, the OCZ ZS 650W will happily power a system using a 6870 or 6950.