Best GPU to replace for my current system

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cryoK

Junior Member
Apr 29, 2011
11
0
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Hi, I would like to know what would be best to replace my GPU with, best bang for your buck of course. My computer is pretty old so I want to be able to run Skyrim & other next gen well when it comes out.

I have Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 (Stock)
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB
and 500W PSU

I was thinking that the NVIDIA GTX 460 would suit me well, but are there any other alternate choices that i could look at? I'm assuming this system will not bottleneck and 500W should be sufficient.
 
aphelion02

aphelion02

Senior member
Dec 26, 2010
699
0
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You have a ton of great options. For anything sub $200, its really hard to beat this Sapphire 5850. IMO, in terms of pure performance/buck, this deal is currently unbeatable.

If you are looking for something higher, you should start looking at 69501GB (2gb is overkill for your res) and gtx 560ti. The 6950 is very slightly faster, but it depends on your brand preference and game choice.

Here's a good XFX HD6950. There's also a ton of gtx 560ti in this price range now, here's a nice one with a custom cooler . For a little higher you can go for factory OC, non-reference coolers, etc. Its really hard to go wrong at the $200-$250 price range.
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Q6600 will be a bottleneck at stock speeds even for a stock GTX460 (look at the Q9400 as a reference).

The game you mentioned doesn't come out for another 6 months. So if you want to buy today, the $140 HD5850 is a good bet to hold you over until you decide to do a platform upgrade on the CPU. If you overclock to 3.4ghz, something along the lines of 5870/HD6950/GTX570 can definitely be recommended. Most modern games like Metro 2033 and AvP stress the GPU but it's still important to have a fast CPU for other games.
 
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SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
14,377
19
81
StarCraft 2 will bottleneck *any* CPU given the right circumstances. That an Civ 5 are pretty much the two most demanding games right now in terms of CPU usage.

For the vast majority of games, a Q6600 will work fine with a GTX 460. I just got one for $100AR (I have a pair of them now in SLI).

At stock speeds you will be held back somewhat, but it's hard to go wrong for $100. If you can overclock the CPU, it would help you out.
 
Gikaseixas

Gikaseixas

Platinum Member
Jul 1, 2004
2,836
218
106
Can you oc that Q6600 to 3.0 at least? That would help a 6850/6870/5850/GTX460 do their part
 
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cryoK

Junior Member
Apr 29, 2011
11
0
0
@bottleneck Q's

Yeah I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0 Ghz, but I am sort of new to overclocking as i have not overclocked anything before.
I don't feel the need to for current games. Are there any good guides on this forum i could look at? Will I probably need a new CPU Fan( I have stock Fan)?

@toyota

Power Supply is Dynex DX-PS500W
 
toyota

toyota

Lifer
Apr 15, 2001
12,957
1
0
I saw those Dynex DX-PS500W psus going for under 10 bucks years ago so I certainly would have no faith in it powering a decent system.

maybe someone else can do a little more research on it though. I am relocated right now because of the tornadoes in Alabama and only have limited internet usage and my crappy netbook.
 
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happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
toyota said:
I saw those Dynex DX-PS500W psus going for under 10 bucks years ago so I certainly would have no faith in it powering a decent system.

maybe someone else can do a little more research on it though. I am relocated right now because of the tornadoes in Alabama and only have limited internet usage and my crappy netbook.
Click to expand...

Straight from Johnnyguru...............

quote:
"It's a Huntkey 500W, 500W peak @ 25°C. Only about 400W continuous and that's still at 25°C. Still better than Deer, Powmax, Codegen, etc.

For $20, you did good. But don't power ANYTHING that has a graphics card requiring a PCIe power connectors or a rig with more than a couple HDD's in it, etc.

But it is fairly efficient and does have all of the proper safety protection in place. "

http://www.overclock.net/power-supplies/311704-dynex-500-watt.html


Looks like you will need a psu.:thumbsup:
 
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cryoK

Junior Member
Apr 29, 2011
11
0
0
Hmm sorry for not posting for a while, i made up my mind to just slowly upgrade the parts that i currently have.

Ok I guess I will start off with upgrading my PSU... can you guys go here http://www.ncix.com/promo/promosale....ongweekend2011 and find a good PSU on sale? I was thinking of something ~$50, but i obviously don't know the difference between a good and bad one..
 
notty22

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
3,375
0
0
This is 5 dollars over your budget, it has 2 pci-e power connectors for your video cards.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Silverstone Strider Essential ST50F-ES 500W [/FONT]
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49...7;20Technology

These psu's are decent, have one 6 pin pci-e connector.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Corsair Builder Series CMPSU-430CXV2 430W [/FONT]
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60...acture=Corsair
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Antec Neo Eco 450C Power Supply[/FONT]
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=60...ufacture=Antec

Taking a closer look at the above psu's. I notice , I like the sleeving on some of the power cables on the Corsair unit the best. As far as power output, I'd say the quality would all be good from the above units.
 
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cryoK

Junior Member
Apr 29, 2011
11
0
0
notty22

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
3,375
0
0
I didn't spot that model, if its available for 55, I see 77AR, it seems like a fine deal. Its also a newer Antec model.
I'm using a Antec EA 650 for gtx 460sli, its probably as much gpu as you want to run for a 650. In actual gaming my combination probably uses about 460 watts.

Imo, a good starting point for a quad core and performance video card is 500 watts. The above 430 watt units are the exception, because they are known higher quality 430 watt units.
 
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RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
If on a budget, but you still want a modular PSU, the XFX 650W is great for $70.

That OCZ PSU is decent, just the fan is a bit loud.
 
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1ManArmY

Golden Member
Mar 7, 2003
1,333
0
0
Suggestions for a Video Card upgrade for my system as well. I plan on adding more RAM also while the price is reasonable.
350 to 500 price range, play on a Samsung T260HD 19 X 12
 
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RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
1ManArmY said:
Suggestions for a Video Card upgrade for my system as well. I plan on adding more RAM also while the price is reasonable.
350 to 500 price range, play on a Samsung T260HD 19 X 12
Click to expand...

6GB of Ram is more than enough for gaming. $350-500? Given that you still have a GTX275 and want to spend that much, sounds like you plan to keep this card for a while?

GTX5xx and HD69xx series are just refresh generations (HD69xx is technically a new generation but its performance is still refresh from 5870). Basically what this means is that AMD's performance is largely unchanged since September 2009 (HD5870) and NV's performance is also largely unchanged since April 2010 (GTX480). It's been 1.5 years for AMD and more than 1 year for NV since either of them released a true new generation videocard. The GTX5xx and 69xx series were more about features and improvements in efficiency/power consumption. Both firms plan to release brand new 28nm GPUs in the fall.

If you really need more performance right now, I would sell your 275 and 8800GT and put that $ towards a $200 GTX560 Ti. It will overclock to 950-1000mhz, at which point its performance quickly approaches a GTX570.
 
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LucJoe

Golden Member
Jan 19, 2001
1,295
1
0
cryoK said:
@bottleneck Q's

Yeah I can overclock the Q6600 to 3.0 Ghz, but I am sort of new to overclocking as i have not overclocked anything before.
I don't feel the need to for current games. Are there any good guides on this forum i could look at? Will I probably need a new CPU Fan( I have stock Fan)?

@toyota

Power Supply is Dynex DX-PS500W
Click to expand...

Turn on Prime95 and check your temps, then turn up the speed and try again. If you're not happy with the temps, get a new HSF. I recently went through the same process with an E6850, and realized the stock HSF is really terrible...

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-...6165985&sr=8-1

^ The hyper 212 is dirt cheap (I've seen it as low as $20) and wildly effective.

I'm now rock solid at 3.6ghz with temps lower than stock speed / stock hsf.
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
he could pick up a new heatsink and also a gtx550 ti card for under $250 with some change left over for a game or two
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
not sure russian perhaps i was amazed when nvidia claimed it was the direct replacement for the gts450 and when you compare the specs,its a leaps even still idk i find it a worthy value thats if you game at like 1680x or something everyone is different
 
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skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
also the tdp for the card for the specs isnt bad either but maybe i go over the top when i consider what a cards worth is to me or someone,but if you want hot loud and extremely fast with that occasional driver crash,go 6990 and dont turn back;) :p but a gtx550ti is still much faster then a 8800gt spec wise even so why not?he gets dx 11 fermi handful of cuda cores and 1gb of memory and hey i figured that card the heatsink and the games option was much better then just blowing $250 on a card thats it but like i said everyone is different
 
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Madcatatlas

Madcatatlas

Golden Member
Feb 22, 2010
1,155
0
0
skipsneeky2 said:
also the tdp for the card for the specs isnt bad either but maybe i go over the top when i consider what a cards worth is to me or someone,but if you want hot loud and extremely fast with that occasional driver crash,go 6990 and dont turn back;) :p but a gtx550ti is still much faster then a 8800gt spec wise even so why not?he gets dx 11 fermi handful of cuda cores and 1gb of memory and hey i figured that card the heatsink and the games option was much better then just blowing $250 on a card thats it but like i said everyone is different
Click to expand...


Whats this FUD all about then? Smileys dont work for this kind of obvious fud. The only true part of the bolded section, imo, is the "extremely fast" comment.

Do tell us your sources etc and provide links for hot, loud and occasional driver crashes. Make sure you give us some info on whats hot and loud in your opinion and if possible, give an example of something comparable, like another card.
 
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