Upgrading graphics card time

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:34

Hi guys,sorry to ask this question but I am at a total loss as to what graphics card to go for.

My main reason for upgrading is that I am playing LOTRO and upto now the game has been playing very well.I have just arrived in moria for the first time and when I got to the 21st Hall the lag is so bad it is almost unplayable.

All the other games I am playing are fine so I am guessing that the card is causing the problem.

Many thanks for any help

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:38

Whats the budget?

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:40

If I thought the card would last a long time,which this set-up has,then I would be happy to spend upto £300.

HW91 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:41

5770 or 460, otherwise it'll likely be your internet connection

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:42

hmm, well unfortunatly, I think your q6600 is limiting you quite a bit.

What speed is it running at?

I think I would agree with HW91, the cpu is what is holding you back.

then again if you think a 460 is ok, for him, why not a 5850?

bells · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:42

5870 if you want it to last a long time

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:43

His Q6600 cpu cant cope with that, I dont think

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:46

My internet connection seems to be fine,upto 20mb most of the time.

If I was to build a new system for LOTRO what CPU & GPU would you recommend?

HW91 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:46

the CPU is fine and could cope with a 5970 if you threw one at it

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:49

ok, well according to what im reading the q6600 wouldnt bottle neck a 5870, so get one of those or a 5850 if you can afford it

Im close to purchasing this for my self: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-002-HS

Your psu needs to be up to the task tho.

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:52

Thank you for the help,I will have a look at the 5870.

I have been using nvidia cards for a very long time,is there anything I need to know about these ATI cards before I decide to buy one ?

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:52

HW91 said:
the CPU is fine and could cope with a 5970 if you threw one at it

Are you sure a q6600 at stock will not bottle neck the 5870?

From what Im reading the q6600 is fine, but it needs an overclock of around 3ghz...

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:53

shaddy666 said:
Thank you for the help,I will have a look at the 5870.

I have been using nvidia cards for a very long time,is there anything I need to know about these ATI cards before I decide to buy one ?

Nope, you just lose physx support and cuda....

But they run cooler and suck less juice than the current 400 series from Nvidia

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:54

If you want those things maybe look at the Zotac GTX 470...

But its loud and hot and not as powerfull as a 5870 but only £235 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-032-ZT

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:56

Just one more question,I game at a resolution of 1440 x 900 would this card be overkill ?

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 13:57

Possibly yes,

5850 or a gtx 470 or a gtx 460 are your options I reckon

Power wise: 470, 5850, 460

opethdisciple · 25 Jul 2010 at 14:03

I think 5850 is the best choice for you res

If you want physx, then its up to you either the 460 or the 470... the 470 is loud and hot, but more powerful than the 460, and equal to the 5850

shaddy666 · 25 Jul 2010 at 14:06

I am not fuused about physx,so I will have a look at the 5850,thanks for your help mate.

JoeFX69 · 25 Jul 2010 at 14:30

The 5850 would be a good future-proofing option at that res.

Completely ignore all the tripe about your CPU

Marine-RX179 · 25 Jul 2010 at 17:19

For most mmorpgs, it usually is the CPU being the limitation rather than the graphic card, and the fact almost none of them are written to use more than 2 cores doesn't help neither.

If your Q6600 is a stock speed 2.4GHz not overclocked, it will be main cause of low frame rate at busy area with lots of other player characters in screen.

Hate to say this, but a E8400 overclocked to 4GHz+ will handle mmorpgs better than a Q6600 overclocked to 3.0-3.6GHz...at least for now...until future mmorpgs start using 3 or more cores

8800GTS 640MB might be a bit slow for today standard, but I don't think that's where's the problem lies. I guess what you should do is have MSI Afterburner burning in the background when you are at 21st Hall, and have a look to see what the GPU usage is at. In the mmorpg that I'm playing, the frame rate is very low at the busy area, but the GPU usage is only around 25%...so for me it is clearly the case of the CPU holding the GPU back.