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Sorry, another spec a card thread, I'm confused!

kae2

kae2

kae2

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Joined
13 Aug 2010
Posts
1,044
Location
UK
Hi Guys,

I'm confused as to what graphics card would suit my needs.

I'm a photographer (PS CS5) primarily, do a bit of video work (Vegas6) and play the odd game (Starcraft 2).

I built my pc in February, but used an old graphics card that really isn't keeping up. Can't remember which it is (not at home right now) but it's also passively cooled and increases my case temps dramatically!

Edit: My current card is a ATI Radeon HD 4350

Now, I'm confused as apparently CS5 can take advantage of the GPU? And ideally I'd like a card that vents out the back of the case (I realise this will make it double height - not a problem).

Edited to provide exact system specs:
Lian Li PC-7FN Black Case
Pioneer DVR-S18L DVD RW
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w
MS Win7 64bit Home
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (OC'd 3.8GHz)
Corsair H50-1 CPU Cooler
Samsung F3 0.5tb h/d (C)
Samsung F3 1tb h/d (D - Raid 1)
Samsung F3 1tb h/d (D - Raid 1)
Samsung F2 1.5tb h/d (E)
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 (Clocked at 1600mhz)
Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 PCI-E DDR3 Motherboard
BenQ G2420HDB 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor (1920x1080 DVI Connected)

I haven't a great budget, but likewise know that a £25 bit of tat won't do the job, so I'm open to realistic ideas (and open to offers if anyone has a suitable card!)

Cheers, sorry for another spec thread,

Andy
 
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Your best bet on a tight budget for gaming is probably a 2nd hand card that's around £35-£45. You should be able to get 2nd hand cards such as 8800GT/9800GT/9800GTX(+)/GTX250/HD4850 around that price. But do be careful buying of auction site...choose a seller that has good feedback if possible.

However, if I'm not mistaken for SC2 compatibility is better with Nvidia cards than ATI cards.

It would be good if you can actually state how much money you can spend on the graphic card.
 
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kae2 said:
It's the latest socket, PCI-E IIRC.

Display is 1920:1080
Click to expand...
For that res you definitely need at least the GTX260 (or bare minimum 8800GT/9800GT 1GB) or on ATI side the HD4870/HD4890/5770 1GB. Don't get any card with less than 768MB of RAM and/or slower than a 8800GT/9800GT.

Also, what PSU you got at the moment?
 
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Sorry guys, I've just got home, so here's the full rundown of my current system, sorry I've made a couple of mistakes in my responses above, but these details are accurate:

Lian Li PC-7FN Black Case
Pioneer DVR-S18L DVD RW
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600w
MS Win7 64bit Home
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (OC'd 3.8GHz)
Corsair H50-1 CPU Cooler
Samsung F3 0.5tb h/d (C)
Samsung F3 1tb h/d (D - Raid 1)
Samsung F3 1tb h/d (D - Raid 1)
Samsung F2 1.5tb h/d (E)
G.Skill Ripjaw 4GB DDR3 (Clocked at 1600mhz)
Gigabyte GA-790XTA-UD4 AM3 PCI-E DDR3 Motherboard
BenQ G2420HDB 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor (1920x1080 DVI Connected)

Also added these details to my original post for any new peeps reading this :)

Current card is an ATI Radeon HD 4350.

Cheers,

Andy.
 
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kae2 said:
Does anyone know if this is the card that I'll get if I go for this, or is it just a stock picture, as I'd really like to pump the hot air out of the case if possible, and from the pic, it looks like this card is ducted to the rear.
Click to expand...
That OcUK GTX260 216 is actually Gainward brand, and I had a look on their site, their cooler seem to be a twin fan cooler (which is good) and it looks like it the fans do push the air toward the back of the card:
http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapc.php?vgapc_id=9&lang=en
One thing to bare in mind if is OEM means that it probably won't come with a decent looking box and might not have anything else comes with it, may be no driver CD (not that you need it), and could be lacking DVI to VGA adapter.
And Grade A could mean it is refurbished to working standard, or could be people RMAed a working card to Gainward despite there's no fault. According to OcUK representative, the Grade A range Gainward cards has been tested thoroughly by Gainward, but do note that you only get 3 months warranty with OcUK for this card. This card would normally cost £20-£40 new with 2 years warrantly.
 
Thanks Marine........ now I really don't know what to do, lol!

Any more thoughts/recommendations? No-one selling a suitable card?

Andy.
 
If I was in your shoes, and my decent PC (what you got) doesn't have a gaming graphic card, I would spend £170~£185 to get a MSI or Gigabyte GTX460 1GB.

However if I (well you) don't play the newer demanding FPS game much and just playing SC2, I would probably spend £140 and get a GTX460 768MB.

Assuming ATI has sorted out the issue of ATI cards with SC2, I would try to get a 5770 1GB at less than £110 (it's would be quite a bit slower than the GTX460 768Mbm but I would be saving around £30). For 2nd hand card, I would try to find a GTX260 216 version at £80 or less. Under normal circumstance I would prefer a 2nd hand 4890 over a 2nd hand GTX260 216 considering the 4890 is actually the faster card and both should be around the same value 2nd hand, however at the benchmark it clearly shows that SC2 is better optimised for Nvidia cards than ATI's so 2nd hand I would pick a GTX260 216 since SC2 would be me main game.
 
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