Upgrade from 8800 GTX for TF2/L4D2/Deus Ex 3

Secret_Window · 24 Oct 2010 at 18:27

At the moment, I am in the process of upgrading my pc, and I'm trying to figure out which gfx card within the budget of £150 max, with a Q6600/Q8400 (still undecided) CPU, will allow me to game with good frame rates on high graphical settings at 1680x1050 for TF2, L4D2 and the future Deus Ex 3.

Power consumption and heat is an issue as well - as I've had my fair share of this with my existing 8800 GTX and older cards over the years - I don't really want to go back to a big beast of a card really, if that makes sense.

The 5770 looks quite attractive but in that price range it seems to be beaten by the 460 GTX and the newer 6850. I am just trying to weigh up which one of these cards I should get (model specific - MSI, XFX etc), or whether I possibly need to consider going for something with a bit more grunt.

Thanks

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 24 Oct 2010 at 18:34

I would get an HD6850 1GB as these can be had for under £150.

TheRealDeal · 24 Oct 2010 at 18:37

If low power, heat and noise with good performance is what you are after i think you should get a 6850. They are pretty close to 5770 in terms of power use and are much faster.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 24 Oct 2010 at 18:38

The HD6850 1GB consumes less power than a GTX460 768MB and only requires a single PCI-E power connector.

Basill · 24 Oct 2010 at 18:45

Im using a gtx 460 and i play t42/l4d2 both run great at 1900x1200, the card is quiet and idles at 28c/load is under 70c.

The 6850 just didnt bring enough to the table in performance or price imo, the way things are atm i would go with the 460 every time.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 24 Oct 2010 at 19:00

The HD6850 1GB is both cheaper than a GTX460 1GB(many places had them at under £140) and consumes less power too. It also has slightly better performance (with launch drivers) and also seems to have a decent overclocking ability like the GTX460 1GB(although in both cases this is not guaranteed).

Helios1234 · 25 Oct 2010 at 00:12

I found the GTX460 1GB to be slightly better (around 4%) but consumes way more power than the HD6850.

Basill · 25 Oct 2010 at 00:17

I thought a gtx 460 is cheaper than and performs slightly better then a 6850?

kylew · 25 Oct 2010 at 00:18

Basill said:
Im using a gtx 460 and i play t42/l4d2 both run great at 1900x1200, the card is quiet and idles at 28c/load is under 70c.

The 6850 just didnt bring enough to the table in performance or price imo, the way things are atm i would go with the 460 every time.

A 6850 is a little faster than a 460 1GB, is cheaper, uses less power and runs cooler, I don't see the problem? :confused:

Helios1234 · 25 Oct 2010 at 07:15

It's not really faster though, the HD6850 is slightly slower.

Marine-RX179 · 25 Oct 2010 at 07:56

Yea. Of all the reviews results I've seen, the 6850 is only sometimes a bit faster than GTX460 1GB when it is with 0xAA. At 4xAA or above, the 6850 is only equal to, and sometimes slower than the GTX460 1GB by a small margin.

Ezyryder · 25 Oct 2010 at 08:19

To be honest mate I imagine the 8800 GTX you have got is plenty fast for the games you play bar Deus EX 3 which is unknown quantity. If you are desperate to acquire some shininess

you could always wait for it to come out and see which card goes better with it.

No point buying something just because!

Regarding the AA, remember that the new HD6xxx series have got some kind of almost free (in impact to FPS) AA to use so it might be worth looking into that if thats what you are after.

Ezyryder · 25 Oct 2010 at 08:22

If you can resist buying something new and at a sweet spot price wise my recommendation would be the Gigabyte 460GTX, silent even when overclocked to near 470 stock levels and can be had for £150 smackers. Although that brings the cost of leccy up!

Secret_Window · 25 Oct 2010 at 11:45

Ezyryder said:
If you can resist buying something new and at a sweet spot price wise my recommendation would be the Gigabyte 460GTX, silent even when overclocked to near 470 stock levels and can be had for £150 smackers. Although that brings the cost of leccy up!

Funnily, the Gigabyte one is the one I keep going back to, but the ATI 6850 does have some merits that others have said, that is definitely of interest to me.

Ezyryder said:
To be honest mate I imagine the 8800 GTX you have got is plenty fast for the games you play bar Deus EX 3 which is unknown quantity. If you are desperate to acquire some shininess you could always wait for it to come out and see which card goes better with it.

No point buying something just because!

Regarding the AA, remember that the new HD6xxx series have got some kind of almost free (in impact to FPS) AA to use so it might be worth looking into that if thats what you are after.

The problem is the fact my 8800 GTX isn't really good enough, not for 1680x1050 anymore. Since the TF2 and L4D2 updated, my 8800 GTX really struggles now. For example in TF2 after turning the settings right down, with a lot of players on screen, my fps can go as low as 23 - which is totally unplayable. L4D2 doesn't dip as low, but it sometimes reaches the 30's and causes me mouse lag etc, again with lower graphical settings.

I suspect a great deal of it all is not helped by the fact I am using quite an old CPU now, at only 2.4ghz overclock, which is why I am also upgrading that.

I wish I could keep my 8800 GTX, it is a good card, but it just doesn't do what I'd like it to do - 60-100fps+ with high graphical settings. So unfortunately, for me to play the games I like, smooth, with a decent frame rate, and possibly future game titles, I need this upgrade.

crackerbear · 25 Oct 2010 at 11:58

Secret_Window said:
The problem is the fact my 8800 GTX isn't really good enough, not for 1680x1050 anymore. Since the TF2 and L4D2 updated, my 8800 GTX really struggles now. For example in TF2 after turning the settings right down, with a lot of players on screen, my fps can go as low as 23 - which is totally unplayable. L4D2 doesn't dip as low, but it sometimes reaches the 30's and causes me mouse lag etc, again with lower graphical settings.

I suspect a great deal of it all is not helped by the fact I am using quite an old CPU now, at only 2.4ghz overclock, which is why I am also upgrading that.

I can't see why you're getting such frame rates for TF2 and L4D2. I have a far far worse PC than you, aside from graphics card (mine is only marginally better) and I'm still able to play both games @ 1600x1200 and on medium settings without the fps dipping that low. Also, Source engine games are more CPU dependent as far as I can remember.

Just for reference, I have:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2Ghz
2GB Corsair RAM
8800GTS 512mb

Secret_Window · 25 Oct 2010 at 12:06

crackerbear said:
I can't see why you're getting such frame rates for TF2 and L4D2. I have a far far worse PC than you, aside from graphics card (mine is only marginally better) and I'm still able to play both games @ 1600x1200 and on medium settings without the fps dipping that low. Also, Source engine games are more CPU dependent as far as I can remember.

Just for reference, I have:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2Ghz
2GB Corsair RAM
8800GTS 512mb

I think it's mostly CPU, that is at fault. I have upgraded the motherboard 2 years ago, the ram, the PSU, switched from a 8800 GTS (after it died) to a 8800 GTX and the only thing that hasn't changed is the CPU. So I am going to be changing that, as I do believe it probably is the culprit, but while I am doing that, I may as well upgrade the graphics.

crackerbear · 25 Oct 2010 at 12:11

Secret_Window said:
I think it's mostly CPU, that is at fault. I have upgraded the motherboard 2 years ago, the ram, the PSU, switched from a 8800 GTS (after it died) to a 8800 GTX and the only thing that hasn't changed is the CPU. So I am going to be changing that, as I do believe it probably is the culprit, but while I am doing that, I may as well upgrade the graphics.

I'm pretty sure your CPU is substantially faster than mine, either way, it's a good idea to upgrade it. Only thing I'd suggest though, you may want to hold out till around February if you can, when the new Intel Sandy Bridge chips get released - this is what I'm doing

Secret_Window · 27 Oct 2010 at 17:01

Just been monitoring my 8800 GTX and CPU today. Idle temps at 90% fan speed, is 70c for the GTX, and 89c on load - which is just way too high. CPU is idling at 42ish which is good. Seems as though my GFX card, in its position within the case, is not getting good air flow (side panel is off as well) and now I am concerned about getting a new gfx card will suffer the same fate.

From the sounds of it I probably do need a whole new case, but the one I have, isn't that bad and it was about £70ish when I bought it over 2 years ago. It's still sold £50+ in some places. And I am wondering if the heat from the 8800 GTX alone (since it's so old and power hungry) is the issue after all.

This is it here:

http://www.nzxt.com/new/products/classic_series/hu001

Do you think I need to get a different case for the new gfx card I decide to get or simply get the new card and see how the temps are?

The Gigabyte 460 1GB does look awesome for the price and has good cooling with it but again I am unsure how this will be inside my current case:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-064-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1830

Same goes for the HIS 6850 - although less sure about it's stock cooling:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-020-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866

:confused:

BinnsY · 27 Oct 2010 at 17:08

I have to say it sounds like your making some odd judgements here.

I have myself just upgraded from an 8800GTX to a GTX470, but I had no problems on my 8800 with the games you are. I was able to run L4D2 with max settings 4*MSAA at 1920*1200 with my frame rate never dipping below 40 and bouncing off the 60 fps limit the majority of the time. It is also much the same story in TF2. My 8800 also got to around the same temperatures that yours is getting at, maybe 4 or 5C cooler when peaked but thats nothing a good blast with a compressed air can wouldnt cure.

Based on my experience I would upgrade your CPU first, then see how you get on if your planning that anyway. Thats the only difference with my spec as I have a q6600 overclocked to 3.2 which must be what is giving me the edge.

You might find you dont need to spend as much as you think if you do it in this order.

Though just to wet your whistle, a Q6600 @ 3.2 and a 470 is capable of playing L4D2 @ 1920*1200 with 16*QCSAA whilst constantly bouncing of the 60fps limit no matter what so that might tempt you back in

Hope this helps a bit.

Secret_Window · 27 Oct 2010 at 17:14

CPU is being upgraded regardless, gfx card however is because I'd prefer something cooler, less power hungry, and more futureproof. But you're right, if the CPU gives a nice little boost, it may make the gfx upgrade seem less important for getting better fps, however heat is still an issue with the 8800 GTX.

And yes, you did wet my whistle very much.