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Upgrading from my GTS 150

Killgallon

Killgallon

Killgallon

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Joined
8 Jun 2011
Posts
16
Location
Kent, UK
I currently have a GTS 150 (which is an OEM GTS 250, or so I've read) and was looking to upgrade it.

After some searching around i found this (5850 Extreme 1gb) and was wondering if this was a decent upgrade or if there was something better around for the same price?

Im running an i7 920 with 4gb of RAM.

Cheers :D
 
5850 would be a massive upgrade.

But for £30 more you could get a oc 6870 which I think is worth it.

Alternatively you could get a GTX 560 which would also be better than the 5850.

I would spend just a little bit more on either of those cards, it would be worth it.


560 vs 5850 here

6870(not oc) vs 5850 here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=295

The 560 looks like the best value for money....
 
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That 5850 is the best card you'll find for that price, and an enormous upgrade from what you currently have.
 
I dont mind spending a bit extra, So the best card out of the three would be the 560 then?

Just another question, still learning a lot about computers xD it would fit onto this motherboard right? LINK

EDIT: Also the 560, how well does it overclock? I wont be doing anything extreme to it, but i might have a go at overclocking it a bit if i can.
 
Yea the 560 will work in that motherboard.

Its defo worth an extra £20 over the 5850. Its current generation hardware vs last generation hardware, its more faster more powerfull and will have a longer life span from driver updates.

As for overclocking I'v not overclocked my gpu before, but im sure it overclocks well.

From what I have gathered on this forum the Nvidia cards from the 400 and 500 series overclock better than the 5000 and 6000 ATI cards.
 
Awesome thanks :D. I will probably buy that then.

Last question xD. What power PSU will i need for that? I think i have a 400w atm and im guesing that wont run it alongside everything else?
I say think because written on it says "Do not exceed 400w" but it came with the PC so im not 100%
 
opethdisciple said:
5850 would be a massive upgrade.

But for £30 more you could get a oc 6870 which I think is worth it.

Alternatively you could get a GTX 560 which would also be better than the 5850.

I would spend just a little bit more on either of those cards, it would be worth it.


560 vs 5850 here

6870(not oc) vs 5850 here http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/290?vs=295

The 560 looks like the best value for money....
Click to expand...

Your comparison is to a 560Ti which is a different card from the 560.

The 560Ti is more like £175.

Review of the 560 (no Ti):

ECS GeForce GTX 560 Review

The plain 560 is, overall, a little better than the 5850.
 
Surveyor said:
If you look at the review I linked to the 6870 looks a little better than the 560.

Compare the overclocked results for the 560 and the 6870:

Overclocking the GTX 560

Overclocking the R6870

The 6870 looks better.
Click to expand...


Great thank you :). What kind of Watt PSU would i need to run this? I dont think mines would be able to handle it. Its a 400w one that came pre-installed.
 
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Killgallon said:
Great thank you :). What kind of Watt PSU would i need to run this? I dont think mines would be able to handle it. Its a 400w one that came pre-installed.
Click to expand...

400W could be enough if it was a quality unit.

Chances are you may have a £20 generic PSU which certainly wouldn't be up to the job.

You'd have to give us the make and model of the PSU to be sure.

If you were to buy a new PSU then to be on the safe side you're looking at getting a 500W model from a reputable brand unless you were thinking of adding another 6870 in the future when you'd need around 600/650W.
 
Something like this should suit you unless you are looking to Xfire or SLI in the future in which case I would say 700-850 depending on which cards you want to do.

Stoner81.
 
1 thing to remember with regards to upgrading PCs, dont skimp on a PSU, make sure you will have enough power and the brand is good :)

Or everything you upgrade may end up not working, or may have a shortened life span due to rubbish components in the PSU.
 
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