Upgrade GPU on a Budget!

[bluebird14]

Its been a long time since looking into buying new parts for my computer! Bought a Macbook when I started uni and never looked back!

Now Im trying to bring my old machine up to date, or at least as best as I can.

Ive just ordered a 550ti and want to make sure I haven't made a bad choice!

Im on a tight budget so had to get what I could afford. Ill mainly be using my computer for CAD and stuff like rFactor, Racer and X Plane (Im doing engineering ) and games like Shogun.

Im upgrading from Vista to 7 as I get it for free from my university

 

[cmndr_andi]

Hi there,

Personally, I would cancel the GTX 550Ti unless you got a really nice deal on it.

I say this because you can get a GTX 460 1GB for £108 (the EVGA one is really nice).

As you can see here, the GTX 460 1GB is a good bit faster than the GTX 550 Ti - this is in part because the GTX 550Ti has 192 stream processors, while the GTX 460 has 336.

 

[bluebird14]

I paid £85 for it is that a good deal?

 

[cmndr_andi]

Yea, it's a pretty decent deal. Though personally I would pay the extra £23 for the faster GTX 460 1GB from EVGA (you should get free delivery from OCUK).

 

[bluebird14]

The way I see it Im paying £85 more than Id like lol

As long as it does the job Ill be happy.

 

[pc_monkey]

Or, get the Radeon 6850 which is on offer (pre-order) atm for 89.99, I've read it's comparable to the GTX460, though not sure if it's better than the 460 for your intended purposes.


http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18373177

 

[cmndr_andi]

Agreed, this card is a really nice deal and in gaming tests the HD 6850 does about as well as the GTX 460 1GB and much better than the GTX 550 Ti.

Though may I ask what CAD applications you will be using?