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Thinking of getting a new graphics card.. but which one?

Soulmagika

Soulmagika

Soulmagika

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Joined
16 May 2009
Posts
179
A few months ago i bought a HD4670 just for a bit of an upgrade, but since i'm playing some of the newer games and MMOs they aren't running so well on high detail. I'm wondering if i can get anything better for £100-200? right now i'm still just browsing.

System specs:

4GB RAM
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8200 @ 2.3 GHz 2.34GHz
64-bit Vista
500w PSU

Thats about all you need to know right, any ideas on what to get?
 
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What CPU do you have? You might be able to OC it and get some extra FPS for free before looking at a new GPU.
 
well even a 1gb 4850 would be a decent step up from your current card - 1gb @ £80
Or there's the 4870 1gb @ £100. After that the 4890 £130-140 (elsewhere) which is not far off a 5850 in most games. Of course, those don't support direct x11, but its debatable how much of a disadvantage that is.
 
barney magru said:
well even a 1gb 4850 would be a decent step up from your current card - 1gb @ £80
Or there's the 4870 1gb @ £100. After that the 4890 £130-140 (elsewhere) which is not far off a 5850 in most games. Of course, those don't support direct x11, but its debatable how much of a disadvantage that is.
Click to expand...

Hmm, i want something that'll last a while, i dont want to be spending another £150 in a few months time.
 
Certainly at that resolution a 5770 is the best bet - at around £120, it'll leave you some spare cash in case you decide you want to upgrade some other part of your system too.
 
The 5770 is the most frugal card out there that gives decent performance so don't worry about that.

The 5830 is faster and you can find it cheaper than on OCUK out there and it does perform better and will handle games better for longer BUT it does use a decent whack more power.

What brand of 500W PSU is it? Anything remotely decent will be fine with any single chip card out there.

The cheapest I can see is £150 with delivery included.
 
Meaker said:
The 5770 is the most frugal card out there that gives decent performance so don't worry about that.

The 5830 is faster and you can find it cheaper than on OCUK out there and it does perform better and will handle games better for longer BUT it does use a decent whack more power.

What brand of 500W PSU is it? Anything remotely decent will be fine with any single chip card out there.

The cheapest I can see is £150 with delivery included.
Click to expand...

This is my PSU.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-026-OC
 
Well, before you upgrade your card, I think you should really have a go at overclocking your CPU first, as even average gaming card such as 4850 would get bottlenecked by a Q8200 at stock speed.

Also, for mmorpgs it is VERY imporant to have the CPU at high (clock) speed...more so than needing high end graphic card. 5770 would certainly be a step forward, but not until you overclock your CPU first.

And you PSU should be fine for a 5770, as I recall it doesn't even draws more than 150W at peak.
 
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Marine-RX179 said:
Well, before you upgrade your card, I think you should really have a go at overclocking your CPU first, as even average gaming card such as 4850 would get bottlenecked by a Q8200 at stock speed.

Also, for mmorpgs it is VERY imporant to have the CPU at high (clock) speed...more so than needing high end graphic card. 5770 would certainly be a step forward, but not until you overclock your CPU first.

And you PSU should be fine for a 5770, as I recall it doesn't even draws more than 150W at peak.
Click to expand...

How do i overclock my CPU?
 
barney magru said:
well even a 1gb 4850 would be a decent step up from your current card - 1gb @ £80
Or there's the 4870 1gb @ £100. After that the 4890 £130-140 (elsewhere) which is not far off a 5850 in most games. Of course, those don't support direct x11, but its debatable how much of a disadvantage that is.
Click to expand...

I agree, there just isn't enough DX11 games out there to justify spending £200+ on what is first gen DX11 cards. Plus the performance isn't huge over decent DX10 cards.

To the OP, save yourself some money and buy a 4870 or 4890, if you want to go with Nvdia get a second-hand GTX 275 or 285.

Until there is enough DX11 content, then such DX11 cards are just a novelty.
 
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