Looking to get a new graphics card

Xclusiveitalian

Posts: 879   +307
So im in the market for a new graphics card and id like some recommendations. I'm deciding whether to get a graphics card for Christmas, or my birthday(feb.)

My current graphics card is the nvidia Geforce 9800GT 1gb, im hoping to get a nice, and powerful graphics card so I can run current and future games very well.

I don't overclock, and have stock fans from hp(if that means anything)
Im don't exactly know my computer power supply but I can look it up if necessary.

I was looking at these cards below,
1)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127518
2)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130557
3)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125338

Although, im open to suggestions, my price range is below $300.
I currently play games like BC2, Fallout NV, Civ5 and hope to be able to run them very high or max, and hope to be able to run Shogun2TW, and BF3. I know that the future games computer requirements are not available but I figure if I purchase a powerful graphics card running them won't be much of an issue.
 
You need the specs of your power supply and which CPU are you pairing this card with? What resolution do you play at?
 
The GTX 465 makes no sense at all, it gets outperformed by the GTX 460.

The GTX 470, or the HD 6870 are both good price/perf cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121401&cm_re=hd_6870-_-14-121-401-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127513&cm_re=gtx_470-_-14-127-513-_-Product

if you end up getting a GTX 470, I recommend the MSI incarnation. Very good build quality/cooling/components, and OC potential. The MSI 'Afterburner' software is excellent as well.

as JMMD said, you need to check your PSU and CPU to know what cards you can take advantage of, and if you need a PSU upgrade or not. and what resolution you play at. Both these cards are good @ 1920 x 1080 (1200) with high detail on most games.
if your at 1680 x 1050 the GTX 460 or the HD 6850 are both excellent. (both are on the reviews i linked) edge to the 6850 both in price and performance.

These reviews have some of the games you mentioned.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-6850-6870-review/1
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776.html
 
My cpu: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-920 processor (2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache with QPI Technology)

I tried to find out my PSUs but it says I have to open my desktop to check how much I have? So ill post it 2mm, it might be 450, but thats pure guess, so ill let you know tomorrow.

Also I play on 1920 x 1080.
 
I tried to find out my PSUs but it says I have to open my desktop to check how much I have? So ill post it 2mm, it might be 450, but thats pure guess, so ill let you know tomorrow.
Yeah pretty much; there will be a sticker on it.
If you know what make and model you have, look it up and give use a link.
 
You're best bet is to share with us your model number Xclusive or take a picture and upload it for us to see. It should look something like this:


sticker.jpg



My guess is that you'll likely need to replace whatever PSU you have, as most stock ones aren't of the best quality. If your budget still stands at $300 or less you'll likely not be able to get a GTX 470 or 6870. However both the 6850 and GTX 460 are solid cards even at 1920 x 1080. The games you listed shouldn't give you any issues as they both can handle them well even on max. Now future games it's a little harder to predict, TW series has from my experience always been more CPU bound so I'd imagine you being fine with either card and your i7 920. Battlefield 3 though is anyone's guess, you might not be able to play it on Ultra DX11 with maxed out AA & AF but I'd guess that it would still run perfectly fine toned down a bit without real visual quality loss.
 
It's as easy as unscrewing it from the back of the case, and unplugging all the plugs from the components.

PSUs go from cheap, to expensive. Basically, what you're looking for is a 550W+ power supply with 80% efficiency or better.
 
Any help/info you can give about which PSU would be good to get would be appreciate because I just looked at some and was kinda confused. Does having more V's or whatever its called benefit in any other way or it just allows more stuff to be put in?
 
I would want to replace that for a GTX460 or higher.
IMO:
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

Does having more V's
No, that's called blowing up your computer; ATX standard PSU should have one or more 12v rails, along with a 3.3v and 5v.
12v rail amperage is what will dictate what graphics card it can power. Anyway, don't worry about it, the corsair 550w is great.
 
No, that's called blowing up your computer;
????
It can be overkill, but if you put a quality 1200w PSU in there , it does not do it it any harm. it just under-utilizes the PSU.
I think he is referring to 12V rails: There is now, and will always be a big debate about weather multi rail PSU's are more stable or not. Like HK said; just get a quality PSU and you will be fine.
 
Does having more V's or whatever its called benefit in any other way or it just allows more stuff to be put in?
No, that's called blowing up your computer; ATX standard PSU should have one or more 12v rails, along with a 3.3v and 5v.
12v rail amperage is what will dictate what graphics card it can power. Anyway, don't worry about it, the corsair 550w is great.
No red, for once HK is making sense in his own whimsical way. Having more, "V's" (volts), would blow up your computer. Whereas, having more amps wouldn't.

Voltage is electrical pressure, but amperes is electrical volume. You know this.
 
No red, for once HK is making sense in his own whimsical way. Having more, "V's" (volts), would blow up your computer. Whereas, having more amps wouldn't.

notice the word quality. I think what she was implying is that if you only have say 400w/30A of component use...and you put a 1000W PSU in the thing, it will blow it up. that is not the case. A quality PSU regulates the power precisely, so you can put a quality 1200w PSU in there if you wish and it will not cause anymore problems than a 500w PSU. Obviously ****** PSU's are a crap shoot, if the OP wants to put a 1000W PSU in there for future upgrades like crossfire...this is not a problem.
It can be overkill, but if you put a quality 1200w PSU in there , it does not do it it any harm. it just under-utilizes the PSU.
 
... red, you're talking watts, when the whole question is about volts. You're not even in the right unit of measurement.
 
; ATX standard PSU should have one or more 12v rails

I think he is referring to 12V rails:

... red, you're talking watts, when the whole question is about volts. You're not even in the right unit of measurement.

try and follow along; I said I think the op is talking about 12v RAILS.
and if that is the case than what HK said does not even make sense, unless like Captain said ,she is trying to be whimsical, how do you add volts to a PSU?
I will try again,
1) It looks to me as if the op wants to know if it is better to have multiple 12v rails,
There is now, and will always be a big debate about weather multi rail PSU's are more stable or not.

2) It looks like HK is saying that a higher rated PSU will "blow up your computer"

....why?,
Does having more V's or whatever its called benefit in any other way or it just allows more stuff to be put in?

...because that makes no sense. unless he is talking about the rated power of a psu for future considerations...which I covered. So play word games if you like, I am trying to actually get to what the op (who readily admits to not know much about this) actually meant...not get cute with word games.
 
Well it doesn't actually matter, but I was saying if voltage were 12v+, or 3.3v+/5v+, it will be problematic.

Oh....you meant that if his rails voltages were exceeding the correct rating +/- 5%?

I would bet that the OP was asking about watts actually, and about multiple rails.
 
Sorry to throw the post into confusion but I dont know much about PSUs at all, and never really upgraded anything but my ram, or my graphics card. I think i should of put "w" instead of "v" i was multitasking at the time, sorry. I went to newegg and looked up some power supply upgrades and saw different aspects about what it does or can do and I was just really confused. Below i posted "specs" of one I found with 500W, and im not sure what some other numbers mean and if its the best bang for my buck, such as

"Output
+3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2.5A"

What does this really even mean?

"Input Voltage, Input Frequency Range"

I just want to be sure so that I don't hurt my pc in any way


Example PSU:
ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V
Maximum Power 500W
Fans 1 x 135mm Fan
PFC
Active
Main Connector
20+4Pin
+12V Rails
2 PCI-Express Connector
1 x 6-Pin, 1 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Power Connector
6
SLI
Certified
CrossFire
Ready
Modular
Yes
Efficiency
Typical load 86% Efficiency
Energy-Efficient
80 PLUS Certified
Over Voltage Protection
Yes
Input Voltage
100 - 240 V
Input Frequency Range
50/60 Hz
Output
+3.3V@25A, +5V@25A, +12V1@18A, +12V2@18A, -12V@0.3A, +5VSB@2.5A
MTBF
>100,000 Hours
Dimensions
5.9" x 3.4" x 6.5" (Can it not fit?)
Source:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

Very confused in this general area! sorry for asking a lot of questions.
If I wait till feb do u think nvidias 500 series will be less power hungry but still as powerful as the 460X? Bc i can always wait till then and get it for my birthday.
 
If I wait till feb do u think nvidias 500 series will be less power hungry but still as powerful as the 460X?
If you're thinking about trying to get away without a powersupply upgrade, it won't work.

Tell me your budget again?
Does the Corsair 550w and HD6850 not fit in your budget?
 
Well i was just hoping to not have to pay for a new power supply, but if i must to achieve the gaming experience i want i will. Budget wise, Id like my graphics card to be below $300, or better yet around $250 or less, and as for power supply, i'm not sure i never bought one..as cheap as i can get w/o hurting performance? I'v always been an nvidia person so i dont know much about Radeon. Is the HD6850 rlly rlly good even tho its $180? If so that would be impressive, is it better then the 460x?
 
You really don't have a choice if you want to upgrade and honestly the one area you never want to skimp out on is the power supply. It will be powering your entire system and having a bad one leads to an unhealthy PC.

The Corsair 550W HK recommended is a solid choice for your system. Corsair tends to have some of the best quality power supplies and are often a favorite among tech sites and builders. Of course there are other PSU manufacturers that are good too if you're interested.

Is the HD6850 rlly rlly good even tho its $180? If so that would be impressive, is it better then the 460x?

At stock settings the Radeon 6850 beats out the GTX 460 1GB more often then not and is $10 - $20 bucks cheaper depending on what vendor you choose. What the GTX 460 currently has going for itself though is that their are several OC'd cards on the market that do beat the stock 6850. However both cards can be OC'd and are pretty good at, check out this review from Hardwarecanucks to get an idea of what both cards can potentially achieve.

You're original choice of an MSI GTX 460 HAWK was pretty good, the card is already OC'd out of the box and is only $190 after MIR on top of many other goodies it offers.

I am curious though, are you in the market to buy something right now? You did start off saying this was for Christmas or your Birthday in February of next year. If that is the case, I just want to say that in the coming months we'll likely see changes in the market such as custom OC'd Radeon 6850's and maybe even early next year Nvidias refresh of the GTX 460 into the GTX 560.
 
Gah...I meant total budget. It's much better if we decide how to distribute the money; we usually know what we're doing. Oh well, that's about $270ish.
Like I said before, the 6850 is a fast card, and the corsair 550w is near the minimum that you'd want. Don't skimp out on your powersupply. You could even move up to a 6870 if you want. Also, about waiting to upgrade, there will always be future releases that promise to be faster and cheaper than the current...if you keep waiting, you'll never buy anything. That's not to say that you must buy, but the new 6000 series has a very good price point.
SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

Sorry, I just watched a girl perform a most brutal harakiri.
 
HK is right, something new & better is always on the horizon so don't get caught up waiting for the next best thing if you really want something now :p.
 
Well I was just capitalizing on Christmas, and I love to play many PC games. Im more trying to build a PC for the future, although it would be nice to run fallout NV, Civ5, and BC2 maxed. I could wait till my birthday feb 18 but that would be the cut off for me as after that i can't capitalize on it being free. So many choices, it's really a hard choice to make. Would an OC'd card be more prone to overheating, as I have stock fans from hp...not the best cooling method lol
 
Would an OC'd card be more prone to overheating, as I have stock fans from hp
You right, but you can always manually change the fan speed on your graphics card; it'll be louder, but you can make do with minimal cooling if you have a high fan speed.
Well uh, take your time to decide when you want to buy, and give us a shout whenever.
 
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