my turn in the frey...

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N2gaming

Senior member
Nov 5, 2006
374
1
81
Hello Group
I thought I would come in here and get your advice. Its time for me to upgrade my video card as its been 2 1/2 yrs.

My card which I got when I built my system was an ATi Radeon HD 4800, which was a pretty good card back then and for most of my games (FPS/tactile freak here)

And after reading some threads in here, well, lets just say that I am really confused now :)

So what I am looking for is a card in the $200.oo to $2.50.oo range and if there was a killer deal I guess I could do $300.oo

I don't care if its NVidia or ATi, makes no matter to me! I play on a 22" screen which only does 1680x1050 which is fine with me as I only play games on my 'puter . Right now I am using WinXP but I guess I should be thinking about DX11 (as a lot of posts were saying)

Heres my little gaming machine:

1) CPU = e6850 (not OCd)
2) PSU = Antec Treo 650W
3) Memory = four sticks of 1-G Kingston Ballistix DDR2 800
4) 3 SATA HD = each 2 @ 500G
5) Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-212D (POS :) )


Thanks for your help, Jake
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
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N

N2gaming

Senior member
Nov 5, 2006
374
1
81
Make that a 4850/512 mb. It would be really nice to actually have a game run at my screens full res!
 
Leyawiin

Leyawiin

Diamond Member
Nov 11, 2008
3,204
52
91
At your resolution and given your CPU the GTX 460 1GB would be a very good upgrade within your budget. The 768MB model would be just fine as well. No sense spending more than you have to.
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
N2gaming said:
Make that a 4850/512 mb. It would be really nice to actually have a game run at my screens full res!
Click to expand...

Any of the cards I suggested will run at your full res.

heres some benchmarks for ya at a higher res then your running (1900x1080).

Your card is as fast as a 5750 in these charts..

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3809/nvidias-geforce-gtx-460-the-200-king/11
Pick your posion. :)

x.gif
 
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R

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
In that price range the 460 is the best card IMO. Will be a good boost from a 4850 at stock and even better if you OC.
 
Phynaz

Phynaz

Lifer
Mar 13, 2006
10,140
819
126
Your budget seems high for 16x10. A 5770 will run great at that res and only cost $150. Put the other $100 away for for your next upgrade.
 
F

faxon

Platinum Member
May 23, 2008
2,109
1
81
my recommendation would be get a 460 768mb and then put the rest towards getting yourself a new CPU later on. theres a good few games now which are simply gonna be CPU limited on a dual core and while you're probably still good for a bit with that CPU, you should really consider OCing it or getting a cheap 775 quad used as a drop in upgrade. in games like bad company 2 you will definitely notice the difference. even on my Q9650 @ 4GHz i average 45% cpu utilization, with max up in the 70-80% range
 
L

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
faxon said:
my recommendation would be get a 460 768mb and then put the rest towards getting yourself a new CPU later on. theres a good few games now which are simply gonna be CPU limited on a dual core and while you're probably still good for a bit with that CPU, you should really consider OCing it or getting a cheap 775 quad used as a drop in upgrade. in games like bad company 2 you will definitely notice the difference. even on my Q9650 @ 4GHz i average 45% cpu utilization, with max up in the 70-80% range
Click to expand...

+1
No point going overkill unless you're going to upgrade everything else.
Might as well get a cheaper card that more suits the rest of your system (CPU+res) than spending $50~$100 more than is really useful.
Save some cash and put it towards other bits in the future which could also do with upgrades.
 
Zstream

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
3,395
277
136
I don't understand why the 460 has two six pin connectors when it consumes less power then a 4850 with a single six pin. :hmm:
 
L

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Zstream said:
I don't understand why the 460 has two six pin connectors when it consumes less power then a 4850 with a single six pin. :hmm:
Click to expand...
GTX460: 140w actual, 160w TDP
HD4850: 110w actual, 110w TDP.
Did you mean something else, and not the HD4850?
 
Keysplayr

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,219
55
91
Zstream said:
I don't understand why the 460 has two six pin connectors when it consumes less power then a 4850 with a single six pin. :hmm:
Click to expand...

The TDP is just over (10 watts) what the PCI-slot (75W) and a single six pin PCI-e connector (75W) could deliver. If the GTX460 was ever actually taxed to the limit to pull a full 160W, it might run into stability problems if it can't pull what it needs to. The second PCI-e connector is there just for the margin of safety. And don't forget the overclockers! :)

The 4850 appears to have a lower TDP than the GTX460, as Lonyo pointed out.
 
Zstream

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
3,395
277
136
Lonyo said:
GTX460: 140w actual, 160w TDP
HD4850: 110w actual, 110w TDP.
Did you mean something else, and not the HD4850?
Click to expand...

I was just looking at the AT graphs and a few guru3d charts. On many occasions it appears the 4850 is equal or more in terms of power usage. I think it is reviewers not knowing what they are doing with full power test :p
 
N

N2gaming

Senior member
Nov 5, 2006
374
1
81
Hey! thanks again guys, it looks like that I will get the 'Nvidia' GTX 460 1GB, however, in your opinion should I get the GTX 470 1GB instead?

just remember that I will be playing on my 22" HD widescreen and never on my HD widescreen TV.

Also, I have read so many threads and reviews in the past 2/3 days that I am jacked up right now with confusion :) LOL
 
Avalon

Avalon

Diamond Member
Jul 16, 2001
7,571
178
106
Agreed with Happy Medium, the 470 is probably overkill at your res. Heck, I'm still running a Radeon 4850 as well at that res, and I think just a tad more performance would be perfect.
 
N

N2gaming

Senior member
Nov 5, 2006
374
1
81
... Heck, I'm still running a Radeon 4850 as well at that res, and I think just a tad more performance would be perfect.

Thats me to a "T", some games I can play at 16x10 and some I cant, but with the new card it should be no problem.
 
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