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What gfx card for £150?

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Joined
17 Mar 2012
Posts
170
Hi, guys my first post here, but long time lurker.

Im after a new graphics card for my system:


Mobo: Gigabyte Z68X-UD3P-B3
CPU: i5 2500k with freezer13 Pro cooler
Ram: 8gb corsair vengeance
Current GPU is: GT210
PSU: 850w
HDD: 750gb

I have £150 to spend i could MAYBE go to £170 if there was a massive hike in performance.

Ill be using it for gaming mostly, maybe with a bit of 3D work if i fancy it.

Game like skyrim, MW3, Deus Ex : Human Revolution, Dragon Age 2, Star craft etc...

So far i have been looking at the:
gtx 560 OC £155
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-057-ZT&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

gtx 460 SOC £120
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-171-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1830

GTX 560ti OC £170
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-168-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1810


Is there anything else i have missed?
I did see that the gtx 480 is back in stock and i was tempted but i was put off by the noise and heat.


Thanks, James.
 
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Thanks for the replys.

Another thing i forgot to ask was, is it worth my waiting for something new to come out, i was reading about the GTX 6xx cards are out soon, or is that only the high end card and wont really effect the price range of the low-mid cards?


Also i know next to nothing about AMD cards, if the HD 6950 2GB drops sub 200 then i may be temped, what GTX card would be a comparable card to it?
 
The release date for the new Nvidia Kepler series is a bit unclear AFAIK - there are a few rumours now that the GTX 680 will be released late next week (OCUK did say they are getting their stock on next week - but can't start selling them until official release by nvidia). I'm not sure if the initial release will be just the top-end GTX 680 - or other cards like the GTX 660 (which may be in your price range).

As for the HD 6950 2GB, here is a comparison with the GTX 560TI. Also, bear in mind that the HD 6950 2GB has double the VRAM of the GTX 560TI 1GB - which (depending on your resolution) will be of use in some newer games which make good use of lots of video memory as well as high-resolution texture packs (both mods and official DLC).


I game at 1920x1080

I have read that when gaming @ 1080 you dont need more than 1gb vram but i have no idea how true that is, i think ill wait untill the new 7850 comes out and hope that the 6950 drops in price if not i guess ill just go for a OCuk 560ti

Does that sound like a good plan?
 
+1 for the GTX 560Ti - For that price you won't find a better card.

One thing may be worth considering is waiting until next week - as the ~£200 HD 7850 2GB should come on sale on monday.

This is a nice card if you can afford the extra, and it may cause a drop in the price of a HD 6950 2GB (which is currently £200 with a free game).

May I ask what the make and model number of your 850W PSU is?

Sorry missed the question at the end, my PSU is a cheep PSU: NOV-PSU800, and i was mistaken its only 800w
 
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Oh cripes ! :(

TBH, before you spend ~£160-170 on a new high-power graphics card you should strongly consider replacing that £39 "800W" PSU with something of quality. I would recommend a PSU like this one at the minimum.

I agree 100% tbh i hate this thing, after only a month the fan started to make loads of noise, i asked the devil for a replacement and they said i had to send it off leaving me without a PSU for a week.

Will that 550W be powerful enough to run my system with a new gfx card?
+ say another 1TB HDD and a SSD in the future?

Thanks, James
 
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Aye, best remove the OCUK competitor name, as it is against the rules. Instead perhaps just refer to that PSU as the "NOV-PSU800".

It does sound like it isn't a keeper, have the shop offered you a refund? If so i would take it - from the specs (one PCIE power connection, no 80plus rating) it doesn't seem like a good one and not worth risking a power hungry and expensive system on.

As for a 550W - yes a good quality 550W power supply (i.e. one that can stably and reliably deliver the required power with little ripple and good regulation) will happily power a system which uses an overclocks i5 2500K and a HD 6950/GTX 560Ti/HD 7850 graphics card.


Excellent thanks very much for your help, i think ill go for the 650w OCZ PSU just to be on the side of caution. I cant wait for this new stuff now. :D
 
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