Which graphics card to go for?

[kylercagni]

I just saw a 5770, and according to the benchmarks its quite good, so I think I'm gonna save for it, and I'll see as time goes on whether i'll be able to get a suitable power supply for it.

 

[uzbuk]

I loved my Voodo 3D card. it was long time ago and can't find it anymore. do any of you know where i can get that?

 

[KingSingh]

It really depends on what you need. I once played COD4 with a 5450 (and a low-end Core 2 Duo) on the lowest settings and resolution possible, and to my surprise it was perfectly playable; it never went below 30 frames per second. Objectively, yes, you'll be able to get away with a 6670 for gaming in most games at your resolution, but they won't look very good (although I don't think they'll look too terrible either). If you're just looking for lag-free gaming, it should do fine, but it won't give you much more than that.

On the plus side, if you buy a 6670 you should be able to get away with your old PSU.

BTW, almost any new discrete graphics card will be better than a 9400.

OBJECTION! A 6670 is a very capable budget GPU. It can max out CoD4 at 250FPS and can handle other games that he wants to play with ease such as Mafia 2, BF2 and Assassin's Creed. He may need to adjust settings a bit on Crysis though.

Generally, a 6670 would be an excellent choice for kyler since it's the most powerful GPU that you can get that doesn't require an extra PCI-E power connector, so it will run smoothly on his PC.

 

[Zen]

In my personal opinion, I would first direct your attention towards your current power supply situation. I would first upgrade your power supply from that 450 watt unit, regardless if it's "name brand" or "generic", upgrade the power supply first to at least a 600 watt to 700 watt unit, then that will put you into a very safe position to start looking into a new high end video card.

Personally, and only speaking for myself, whenever I build a computer for myself, I always try to throw in at least a 1000 watt power supply, at the very least. That way, whenever I want to and or feel like upgrading anything inside my computer, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I have the electrical power to back the upgrade up.

"My 2 cents"

 

[kylercagni]

But a 1000w would be too high for my budget, so best i can get is 600w, with a GTX550 Ti, so would it that be a good buy?

 

[ihaveaname]

I am personally inclined to disagree with Zen; a (quality) 550W PSU would be more than enough to run good graphics card; it'll run a GTX570/AMD6970 according to their respective websites. Of course, it's always better to spend big on a power supply, but here, (I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume) the OP only plans on having one card, and keeping the budget as low as possible. And there is of course also the fact that the minimum requirements are usually set much higher than actually needed. If the OP plans on buying a 6670 (or 6770, or 6870, or equivalent nVidia), there would be (in my mind) no real point in buying a PSU much higher than 550W.

My two cents

@kylercagni: Yeah, that combination will get you reasonable gaming performance.

 

[KingSingh]

But a 1000w would be too high for my budget, so best i can get is 600w, with a GTX550 Ti, so would it that be a good buy?

As I said in my last post, if you do not want to buy a new PSU, then you should opt for the 6670.

However, if you are willing to splash out with some more money to buy a better PSU and plausibly a better GPU, then you should get a decent 550/600W PSU. A Radeon HD 6790 offers better performance than a GTX 550 Ti for the same price, but you'd be better off getting a 6850/6870. They cost slightly more, but the performance gain will be relatively large.

 

[andy06shake]

Get 1 or 2 GTX570s, i only have one and i havent seen anything push the limit on these babys. The card does get hot thought so i would invest in an aftercooler/aftercoolers for the above card.