Which graphics card should I get for my PC?

you r limited by your psu whether u chose nvidia or ati u will need a better psu or u may not find a card that is good for games untill u get a bettter psu...

14 amps on the 12v rail may not be enough to satisfy a powerhungry card, that includes a 6850.
 
LOL too bad GPU limited games far far far outweigh CPU limited ones. Pretty sure Techspot proves that with every GPU review.
Dual core is crap for gaming, but he'll see far more gain from a video card now, before a CPU upgrade.
You are contradicting yourself with your statements. Dual core isn't good enough but he needs to worry about his GPU?

You can't run much with a 400W PSU. Research how many amps on the 12V you need or you will have big problems.
 
Teklord, I don't quite get what you meant. You could clarify it a bit?

Yeah, I am trying to get a new PSU. I made a post here.
 
My first sentence was directed towards Jurassic4096 and isn't relevant to you if you don't intend to upgrade. 400W is low for a GPU. Recommend against running a high end GPU with it and forget using two of them. You need to research how many amps on the 12V your PSU can provide or the card won't work. I know because I have used one of my 470s on a PSU that didn't have enough juice and it damaged it.
 
You are contradicting yourself with your statements. Dual core isn't good enough but he needs to worry about his GPU?

You can't run much with a 400W PSU. Research how many amps on the 12V you need or you will have big problems.

Not at all. I'm saying one has more benefit than the other. And as far as the PSU requirements, a PSU is far cheaper to pair with a new GPU than having to shell out for a new CPU, MOBO, GPU and a PSU.

Unless you plan to stick with 1280x1024 resolutions or lower and no AA, pairing a new CPU with an old GPU you are unhappy with performance-wise will do **** all for you every time.
 
I love how that guy posted a pic of his PSU specs and it took 4 posts afterward before someone points out the low *** amps (18A ew). Any company can make watts. First red flag to me was the fact his PSU is top mounted. Shows its age a lil bit, yes i know its the case that decides that but not many still top mount their PSU's, so that tells me he hasnt upgraded or thought about it in a while. Huge red flags which should have been caught on the following reply. No way in hell will that run a mid-range card, certainly not a 6850.

Why don't you use the site to find out what you really need to be looking at? Unless you were the only kids in your class that failed all the open book tests. All the info you need is on this site. Have you people even read a Techspot Graphics card review, or do you just look at the pretty graphs? Well hey, all the stuff you haven't been reading, is where your answers are. No point repeating it all here when it's already publicly available.
 
It would be much more helpful if you could tell us your Power Supply specs. The wattage is the most important part here.

I would recommend this one (nvidia gtx 460) as it offers quite good price to performance ratio and will handle almost all games with moderate settings.

not true at all. wattage is certainly not and never will be the most important factor in buying a PSU... EVER!
 
Okay, so what are you suggesting I do, Jurassic?

I would like to know what good PSUs are there and based on that get the PSU and a graphics card.

So I am not supposed to look at the wattage. What should I look at then when searching for GPUs and PSUs?

Maybe I should change the way I am looking at this. I would like to run a GTX 550 Ti/ TOP. What PSU would be recommended?

Thanks
 
Okay, so what are you suggesting I do, Jurassic?

I would like to know what good PSUs are there and based on that get the PSU and a graphics card.

So I am not supposed to look at the wattage. What should I look at then when searching for GPUs and PSUs?

Maybe I should change the way I am looking at this. I would like to run a GTX 550 Ti/ TOP. What PSU would be recommended?

Thanks

1. Wattage is important, but amps and components used inside are even more important.
2. CPU clock speed is important, but so is the architecture. A game that tops out at 2GHz using a Core i5 760, doesn't mean it will top out on a Phenom II X4 also at 2GHz. Clock speed is nothing without a good architecture.


So as for what PSU should you get...

First decide on a card that you can afford and runs as many games as possible at a framerate that is to your liking (ie: 40fps average with HIGH to Max detail @ 2xAA and 1680x1050).
As for a PSU, after you decide on the required amps and wattage needed to power your graphics card and ALL your other components, add at least 100 or so extra watts and an extra 10 or so amps for any future upgrades and/or overclocking. If the card you decide on needs 30A and a 450w PSU, buy a PSU that does 40A and 600w. And look for at least a Bronze certified PSU (less heat, more efficient as you move up the certification chart (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum certified PSU's)). In addition to sites like Techspot, I also use newegg for customer reviews on hardware.

I went with the Coolermaster Silent Pro M850w Bronze certified, 66A single 12v, modular PSU, running two (up to) 300w HD 6950's and an overclocked Q6600. CPU's and GPU's will consume the most power in any system. Under load a CPU can use north of 100w, and GPU's can use north of 225w. CPU and GPU reviews will almost always tell you total power consumption near the end of the review. Required amps can be found on the card makers website, and/or use newegg. Read reviews front to back, and don't just look at the graphs until you get comfortable.

================================
GeForce 550 Ti required amps: 24A
GeForce 550 Ti recommended wattage: 400w (a 400w recommendation refers to the total system power consumption, not just the card)

After finding this info, I would recommend a PSU with at least 34A and 550w. This is where i leave it in your hands. I don't feel comfortable telling people exactly what to buy. Plus it took me over a week to decide on this Coolermaster. Corsair, Coolermaster, are good brands, but not everything they make is good. That's where researching comes into play. Good luck man. Hope this helped.
 
Atham

The short and simple of it all, is that if you want to play with a heavy hitting video card, you got to have the power to back it up. I recently went through a video card upgrade myself, but I had to face facts at the time of purchasing my new PNY Nvidia Low Profile Quadro FX 380. My little rinky dinky 275 watt Dell power supply was just to weak, for my new card called for a minimum of a 300 watt power supply, so I bought a 400 watt just to be on the safe side.

I can get away with such a weak power supply because my new video card is in the lower class of cards, meaning lower power is needed to drive the card. But from what your talking and what everyone else is talking about, as far as video card recommendations, something as low as your 400 watt power supply will not cut it. Again, a heavy hitting card needs a heavy hitting power supply.

If I may, I will supply some links here to some pretty good power supplies, take a look at them and decide for yourself, as to what it is that you want to run with.

Antec EarthWatts 650W Continuous Power Power Supply
http://www.frys.com/product/5503410

Antec Basiq 500W Continuous Power Power Supply
http://www.frys.com/product/5045145?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

And last....

Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000 Watt ATX Continuous Power Power Supply
http://www.frys.com/product/5278587

Power supply units like those displayed should do you just fine! For me, I learned that video card upgrades and power supply upgrades kind of go hand in hand.

Hope at least some of this helps :)
 
1000 Watt looks like it will kick someone's as*.

Would the Antec Basiq 500W Continuous Power Power Supply be enough to support the GTX 550 TI or TOP card?
 
That Earth Watts is multi rail. Stay away from those. Each rail has a limit that is a fraction of your total PSU output. When it reaches that limit (~220w i believe), the PSU runs into problems delivering sufficient and stable power. One single 12v is the way to go. If not now but for any future upgrades. The Earth Watts is also overpriced. I had the OCZ GameXstream 600w with four 18A 12v rails pushing two 7900GS's then later an 8800GT, and it died after a couple years. I don't know why.

That 1000w Antec quattro has a HORRIBLE review on newegg from people that have purchased and used the product. I've looked at it before. High failure rates too. You dont want to see the 4 and 5 star feedback ratings equal less than 75% in ratings. Quattro gets a 67%. ew.


See for yourself:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371012&Tpk=Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000


Now this is a power supply for the GeForce 550Ti you asked about with the extra amperage and wattage i recommended. You could even go up to a GeForce 560 or 560Ti with the Corsair Builder CX500 w/single 34A 12v. There is also a 600w model if you want to add a lil more headroom for later. Oh, and look at those happy customers!

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
 
Where can I find the price for the delivery?

In Slovakia it costs just about 44 Euros, same thing, I think.
corsair-cx500-d202097.htm
is the link.

Seems good.
 
Where can I find the price for the delivery?

In Slovakia it costs just about 44 Euros, same thing, I think.
corsair-cx500-d202097.htm
is the link.

Seems good.

your link is broken.

btw i was looking at your specs and it says you have 1x4GB. is there any way you could trade that for 2x2GB? that way your memory can run in dual channel mode and allow better performance. Basically, while your CPU is working on data from RAM module A, module B can be receiving data from your HDD at the same time, so when the CPU is done with what's on module A, it doesn't have to waste clock cycles requesting from the HDD for what to work on next, because the data is waiting on module B which is much faster than the latency that is added when the CPU is having to fetch from the HDD/SSD and wait to get the requested data. just saying cause that would be a cheap cheap upgrade with noticeable benefits.
 
I meant. Would the dual channel make 64 bit?

I meant newegg. That delivery.

EDIT: How could I "trade" it for a 2 x 2GB channel? Does it cost something,'cause I bet it does. Nothing is for free nowadays
 
Okay, how would I "trade it?"

Oh, when i said that i meant with a friend or barter on a site like kijiji.com. That or sell it then put some money with it to get a kit with 2x2GB sticks. lower latency (CAS) the better.

If you've ever seen this string of numbers in RAM details (ie 5-5-5-15 DDR2 timings or 7-8-7-24 DDR3 timings), the first number is your CAS latency. This is the most important number to look at when buying RAM. the lower the better, but you dont have to get the absolute lowest, so don't try too hard for that if it means higher cost. I know you're not building a monster machine.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with multiple 12v rails, nor is there anything wrong with the antec power supplies.
Though the corsair 500w would be my choice.
 
There is absolutely nothing wrong with multiple 12v rails, nor is there anything wrong with the antec power supplies.
Though the corsair 500w would be my choice.

Ah yea there is. Lots of info out there to back up my claims. Also, Antec PSU's have a higher failure rate compared to the other manufacturers. Surprisingly, Corsair is up there too. When i was looking at the AX series PSU's, a LOT of newegg customers had EOA or failed units, so I went with the Coolermaster Silent Pro instead.
 
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