Video Card Help, Again

maximaz

maximaz

Sonny, I Watched the Vault Bein' Built!
So, the freaking display problems I've been blaming on my monitor turned out to be the graphics card, which finally slapped me with a BSoD, this morning. It's an nVidia GeForce 8800 GT and it died after less than two freaking years!

I'm looking for an upgrade but I have no idea what to look out for at all. For example, someone mentioned something about double checking my PSU capabilities before deciding on a card and I have no freaking idea what a PSU even is or what to feed it.

I would like something that would count as a decent improvement but I don't want to break the bank. While we're at it, what exactly is the benefit of improving an already decent video card? Would it make games faster or make them look better in any way?

Again, the fried card is GeForce 8800 GT and here are the specs.
 
Same thing happened to my 8800 ultra. Fuck nVidia. Srsly!

You might have to change your PSU if you are going for something like the Radeon HD 4870(or similar) i think.
 
I've been reading up on HD 4870 and it looks like I will need to get another PSU (Power Supply Unit, apparently) if I get it. So I'm marking it off for now.

There is a GTX 260 on amazon for $200 with a lifetime warranty. It's by EVGA - same as my fried one - but I guess with the warranty it doesn't matter that much.

Now, one of the two nearly identical GTX 260 cards is "Superclocked" and is slightly more expensive. Any idea what that means?
 
maximaz said:
Now, one of the two nearly identical GTX 260 cards is "Superclocked" and is slightly more expensive. Any idea what that means?
Click to expand...

It's overclocked version, which means it has slightly faster core and/or memory speed. If I were to go with overclocked card, I'd probably only take one of Asus "Top" versions, otherwise it's not really worth it. Overclocked card would consume slightly more energy too.
 
I must be missing something but how is this card 1gb and cheaper than 896mb GTX 260?

It seems that GTX 260 requires 500w so I guess I will have to get a PSU either way. I might as well consider Radeon cards again. Could there be some compatibility issue since the card I'm removing is a nvidia?

Thanks for the help, btw
 
It's cheaper because the 5 series is out now. Unless you're willing to drop $300 on a 5850 (which isn't a bad idea), the 4890 is the highest performance you'll get in the sub $200 price range.

There shouldn't be any compatibility problems with an ATI card on an Nforce chipset, or vice versa. It's a pretty big card though (like 10 inches), so make sure you've got enough room.
 
If it's really 10 inches, it could be a problem. I only have a little over 10' to work with.

Some websites list the card's length at 10.5, which DEFINITELY won't fit in my case but others list it as 9.5, which is manageable. Go figure.

Another thing I picked up was something about Nvidia's PhysX and how Radeon doesn't have it. Is it something worth considering?

Also, is nvidia supported more, since it's the more popular card, or does it really not matter at all?

EDIT: Apparently 5770 is newer cheaper and supports DX11. What do you have to say about that?
 
maximaz said:
EDIT: Apparently 5770 is newer cheaper and supports DX11. What do you have to say about that?
Click to expand...

The 5 Series are absolute monsters. Incredible performance. Don't worry about DX11 yet though, fuck all games support it and it will be a year or so before a DX11 Card owner reaps the benefits.
 
maximaz said:
EDIT: Apparently 5770 is newer cheaper and supports DX11. What do you have to say about that?
Click to expand...

The 5770 should most likely perform around 4870-4890 levels depending on what games and whatnot, but with a lower power consumption (and thereby lower heat and noise), which should let you keep your curent PSU.
As long as you're not trying to run Crossfire/SLI pretty much any single-GPU card from either nVidia or ATi/AMD should be fully compatible with new (and old) games, apart from those old games who no longer run on either one very well.

If I were in your situation, I'd go for a 5770
 
The 5770 is cheaper, sure; but it's basically just a 4870 with DX11 support (which isn't very impressive after seeing the adoption rate of DX10 among devs, and then considering only ATI has DX11 hardware at the moment).

If you've got time, you may want to wait a month or two and see what ATI's got up its sleeve next (I'm guessing we'll see a $~200 5830 soon to fill the gap between the 5770 and 5850). If you're buying NOW, I still recommend the 4890 if you don't want to spring for one of the higher-end 5 series cards.


Oh, and coming from a stout Nvidia supporter: Physx is junk. The typical implementation is a handful of superfluous 'clutter' props, at the expense of a massive framerate hit.
 
Thanks for the replies guyses.

Last night I went ahead and bought that 700w OCZ PSU. It was late, I was tired, and I figured that I've got lots of stuff connected to every orifice of my pc anyway and it was a pretty good deal for a decent 700w ps. So, long story short, PSU is not an issue anymore.

I do want the card now because my screen looks like shit at the moment (using integrated video). I don't think it makes much sense to wait with these cards anyway, since a new one pops up almost every month.

I don't see a point in buying GTX 260 since more powerful Ati's are available cheaper so I narrowed it down to 4890 and 5770. It seems that Phil the NCD is right regarding 5770 being closer in performance to 4870 (some claim that it's slightly slower) but they also say that future driver updates will make it run as fast as 4890. Is there any truth to that? Also, which brand of these two would you recommend?

EDIT: I'm leaning toward 4890 but I'm a little concerned about the heat and noise. My tower isn't very spacious so I think the cards would get pretty hot in there and thus generate a lot of noise. I'm trying to find one that's quiet and cool right now.
 
Driver updates should increase the performance of the 5770, but I'm skeptical on it ever getting close to 4890 levels with 128-bit memory. On one hand, you could get another 5770 down the line and put them in crossfire; but you'd be spending more than 1x 5850 which could also be put in crossfire at some point.

gpus.jpg



This chart should help put things into perspective.



If you're going to get a 4890, definitely get the Vapor-X version. It's pre-overclocked, and has really good aftermarket cooling (which is nice, since the 4890 is a pretty hot card with the stock fan/heatsink).

Sapphire and HIS are both good brands, so if you end up getting a 5770; either will do.
 
Hmm, I see people complaining about Vapor X's heat. I'm kinda leaning toward your original recommendation (regular sapphire 4890). It doesn't have a single bad review.
 
I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on this one.

It's butt ugly compared to Vapor X but I'm put off by all the reports of a cool boot problem with VX. Also, $184 plus free shipping makes it a pretty good deal.

I just hope it's under 10 inches or I'll have to get really creative.
 
Yep, not a bad deal at all. I didn't notice they pulled the free shipping on the vapor-x that they had around black friday. With the ~$17.56 ($10 base, $7.56 shipping) you're saving by going with that model, you could put on your own aftermarket cooling if you aren't satisfied with the temps.
 
For what it counts for, in my personal experience ATI cards produce a clearer picture as well, so that deal looks rock solid imo.
 
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