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which nvidia?

  • Thread starter Thread starter rjk
  • Start date Start date

rjk

rjk

rjk

Caporegime
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8 Aug 2007
Posts
25,380
hi guys - im fairly new to building my own pc
i have always used retail completes, recently i have got into pc gaming and enjoy playing counterstrike etc.
i have never had a pc dedicated to gaming but now i have the opportunity to get my desktop to the standard that i can play upcoming games like crysis/bioshock etc

i am thinking on spending somewhere in the reigon of £100 on a single dx10 card to allow me to play games at a reasonable standard.
im not too bothered about having the best graphics, just something that runs smoothly and will last a while

was thinking of an nvidia geforce 8600gt 256mb

can anybody reccomend this card? [or a better alternative]

sorry if this sounds like i dont know what im talking about
[like i said - im fairly new]

thanks in advance for any advice
 
Ok the DX10 generation of cards are the 8000 series by nvidia, and 2000 series by ATI. Anything in these generations that are NOT 8800 or 2900, do not bother buying them. These have been reviewed many times and turn out to be a complete flop. Nvidia and ATI market them as mid-range cards...unfortunately they aren't mid-range at all, they perform worse than previous generation cards by far.

If you want decent performance and DX10, opt for the 8800GTS 320MB, however thats £170 or so.

Hope that helps.
 
As said above, DX10 + £100 = ass.

If your budget is a strict £100, you'll want to be getting an ATi X1950PRO or XT if you can find one.
 
thanks

thanks for the advice guys
i really appreciate it

would i need any special hardware upgrades to run the 8800gts?

atm im using

amd X2 4800+
asrock am2nf6g mobo
2gb ddr2
450w psu
 
For a GeForce 8800 class or Radeon HD2900 class of card you will most likely need a new PSU. Unless of course its a decent branded 450W PSU, even then it will be a close call.

If you are going X1950 then you should be ok with your current setup, although personally I hate ASS-ROCK motherboards with a passion, cheap junk :(
 
paradigm said:
If you are going X1950 then you should be ok with your current setup, although personally I hate ASS-ROCK motherboards with a passion, cheap junk :(
Click to expand...

Tell me about it.. I'm back on my DUAL-Vista while my P5N-E gets RMA'd for the third time.

A decent brand of PSU at 450W should be able to cope with a 8800GTS as they use significantly less power then the 8800GTX or 2900XT.
 
rjkoneill said:
thanks for the advice guys
i really appreciate it

would i need any special hardware upgrades to run the 8800gts?

atm im using

amd X2 4800+
asrock am2nf6g mobo
2gb ddr2
450w psu
Click to expand...

Overclock the X2 4800+ to around 2.6Ghz (Highest you can get it to run within a good temperature at 100% utilization is the best option IMHO).

Can you give us more details on the PSU please?. If there is a diagram on the side of the PSU could you tell us the amps for the 12v rails?.

Your memory is fine.

Edit - I've just had a quick look at your motherboard and it's only capable of 1.4volts fro the CPU and only has 8x PCI-E graphics lane. The 1.4v will (probably) hold your CPU overclock back and the 8x performance of the PCI-E lane holds back Nvidia more than ATI in this department (as seen on toms hardware X19xx vs 8800GTS PCI-E lane speeds).

A motherboard change would be welcomed for the 8800GTS. A PSU might be needed too.

Just figure out how much you can spend and then we can get you the best for your money :) .
 
Just an innocent question as im not too familiar with AMD CPUs anymore, does he need to overclock to not hold back the 8800GTS?

The main thing is having a good PSU to support your hardware, so let us know what you've got. And maybe a motherboard change :)
 
i havent overclocked yet as i have not finished installing my cooling system [fan based]

the psu is pretty bog standard
i could stretch to £60 for a new psu

is there much of a difference between the nvidia and ati models suggested above?

im not at my comp now [supposed to be working] so cant give better details of psu

once again - thanks for your help guys
 
also - what is the difference between ati x1950 and geforce 8800gts?

i can only see that ati does not say anything about direct x

does it not support it?

sorry if i seem like i dont know what im doing
[its because i dont]
 
nvidia 8000 series, and ATI 2000 series are DX10 cards. Anything thats not that, is DX9.

The X1950 is last gen, i.e. its a DX9 card and won't support DX10. Whereas the 8800GTS card is a DX10 card, so supports everything up to the DX10 standard.

The architecture of a DX10 card is a lot more efficient than DX9 cards, so will provide you with much better performance in most cases than a DX9 card. Thats not to say X1950 is a bad card, it can still hold its own. Its just whether you want to have DX10 or not :)
 
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