Need a new video card...specs inside

[Thadar69]

Ok, here are my computer specs:

Power Supply: Corsair HX620W
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
Memory: 4GB Crucial DDR2 PC2-8500
OS: Windows Vista 64 Home Premium

As you can see, my video card is terrible. I need to upgrade that and was hoping to get some recommendations. I game on a 24" Acer monitor at 1900x1200 resolution so am hoping to get something pretty good that won't be too expensive. Let's put a cap of $200 on the purchase which should be a pretty good card considering Black Friday sales coming up.

Please let me know if this is enough information to go on. Thank you.

Thadar

 

[happy medium]

are you overclocking the q6600?

 

[Thadar69]

Currently I am not. I've been nervous to do so as I have not read up enough on overclocking in general to feel comfortable messing with timings/voltages, etc.

 

[tviceman]

gtx560ti or hd6950 if you're overclocking the cpu. If not, then gtx460 or hd6850 max.

 

[mosox]

The HD 6870 is great bang for the buck and it's way more powerful than your current card. Considering the Black Friday maybe you can get a 560Ti or even a HD 6950 in your budget.

 

[Thadar69]

I may have to drop my budget to ~$100 it seems. Whats the best bang for the buck nVidia/Radeon card in that price range...give or take a few bucks?

Does nVidia or Radeon really own the market in the low cost market?

 

[Uppsala9496]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121435
$100 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130679
$80 after rebate.

 

[toyota]

I may have to drop my budget to ~$100 it seems. Whats the best bang for the buck nVidia/Radeon card in that price range...give or take a few bucks?

Does nVidia or Radeon really own the market in the low cost market?

I would save up more money then unless you want to be upgrading again very soon or running very reduced settings for many games at your res. of course that cpu will need to be oced if you want to get the most benefit out of a new gpu.

also you did not mention system ram so I hope you have at least 4gb.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Save up to around $150 and get a $20~ rebate offer, that should put you around the HD 6850 area which is around 50% faster than an 8800GT

 

[Thadar69]

I would save up more money then unless you want to be upgrading again very soon or running very reduced settings for many games at your res. of course that cpu will need to be oced if you want to get the most benefit out of a new gpu.

also you did not mention system ram so I hope you have at least 4gb.

I am. My apologies for not posting that originally. I have 4 GB of Crucial DDR2 PC2-8500.

Alright, so if I can scrounge up some extra cash, I have a question pertaining to an earlier post. Above it was mentioned a 560ti if I overclock. Does that mean that my stock Q6600 will not be a bottleneck to a stock 560ti?

For instance, I could get this for $250 ($230 after MiR), but wouldn't be able to utilize it, so I shouldn't get it and go for a 6850? Or get a GTX 460 1GB for around $165($135 after MiR) or so?

 

[toyota]

with any decent gpu like a 560 and above, you stock cpu will certainly be a bottleneck. by how much will be determined by the game and actual settings that you are using. with a gtx560 ti it would probably be around 25-30% on average but even worse for games that really rely on cpu speed.

 

[Thadar69]

Fair enough. So, another question then, and I really do appreciate your time. I obviously need another video card, but it seems that I can't get too much better of one before I need a new processor. So, according to Gigabyte, my motherboard supports a lot of newer processors (Socket 775)...

Is it better to upgrade my current processor first or go the route Im going and maybe slightly overbuy a vid card for my current processor with the intention of upgrading the CPU in my existing motherboard in the near future?

Which route would you choose to go and which card/processor would you buy assuming I keep the same motherboard? Again, I really appreciate the help.

 

[happy medium]

Even if you dont overclock your cpu, you will still get 2x the performance from just a gpu upgrade.
You have a slow ass 8800gts 320mb.

Just grab a gtx460 or 6850, which ever is cheaper, you will see excellent gains.

WHen you get some extra time learn how to overclock and you might see a bit more gains, depending on the game.
With that motherboard it should be easy.

 

[nickb64]

Is it better to upgrade my current processor first or go the route Im going and maybe slightly overbuy a vid card for my current processor with the intention of upgrading the CPU in my existing motherboard in the near future?

There's very little reason to upgrade on 775 at this point, it's just not worth the cost unless you can get a really sweet deal on a new CPU (<$100, even then it's iffy). The newer Core 2 CPUs just aren't that much faster to make it worth the money at this point.

I honestly wouldn't get a new CPU until you could afford a jump to 2nd Gen Core i5/i7 on 1155. You'd probably pay almost as much as the cost of a 2500k for a solid 45nm Core 2 Quad 9xx0 series, and the newer CPUs stomp all over those.

Get a new GPU, it'll give much better performance for your money.

 

[RavenSEAL]

OP, get this right now.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2208160

 

[happy medium]

OOS

 

[Silverforce11]

OOS

Damn, didn't notice you got CF 6870s, its so weird seeing you join the red side.

btw, notice any micro stutter? (i never did, maybe im just too old to see it)

 

[edplayer]

Here is my suggestion:


You have lived this long with your current card,

You don't have that much now but are saving money, so...


Stick with your current card for a little while longer (a few weeks, maybe a few months)


Because, current videocard deals SUCK. I'm on Slickdeals a lot and before was on fatwallet for a long time. I know prices. There haven't been many "good" deals lately. Closest is the Radeon 6850/6870. The 560Ti pricing sucks when you consider there were 1GB (non SE) GTX 460 for $60 before. I got an 850MHz model for $85.

Wait a little while longer for either current cards to drop (like 560Ti for $120 or less) or for the next generation (even if its at full price, so what. Current deals suck!)

 

[Wuzup101]

You have a good motherboard that supports overclocking and a Q6600. It seems that spending a bit of time overclocking that processor would be a good investment. Most Q6600s will have little problem running at 3.0GHz and a very high percentage can be overclocked well above that point. While many people will assure you that 3.6GHz is 100&#37; attainable, I'll say that most will do 3.2 on reasonable voltages. My G0 never hit 3.6 (well not stable on sane voltages).... but it would do 3.4 without issue on reasonable voltages at reasonable temps. 3.0 won't be an issue. I'm sure you can pick up an aftermarket heat sink fairly cheaply if you don't already have one (heck I have a sunbeam core contact freezer sitting on my floor that I'll GIVE you if you pay for the shipping - recently pulled off a q9550 system that I upgraded).

As far as the video card is concerned - I would save up until you are in the 6850 / 560 ballpark. While there are $100 options, you probably are better off spending a little bit more on an actual "gamer" card. If used is an option, there are other choices too... plenty of things are faster than your current card!