Please help me find a replacement for my 7900GS

[LeonarD26]

I'm starting to look for a replacement for my 7900GS and would love some help.

I'd like any replacement to be quiet and not too power hungry if possible.

I'm currently running Vista x64 with 4GB Ram and an E2160 oc'd to 2.7Ghz.

I don't game on my PC as much as I used to(I also have a 360 and Wii, and a 2 year old), but the fan noise is killing me, and I see deals abound....

Help!! and Thanks... any other details needed let me know...

Edit:

A price range would help.... I'd like to keep it around $100...

 

[cubeless]

the best deal right now is a sapphire 4850 @ newegg for $110 ar... it will turn your cpu into the bottleneck...

but u could get a $20 vga cooler and fix your noise problem... if u don't need more horsepower why buy a whole new card???

 

[cusideabelincoln]

The HD4670 would be right up your ally. It's more powerful than the 7900 and uses less power.

 

[yh125d]

Quiet + easy on power, ditto on the 4670. That will match up well to your CPU. If you want it even quieter, buy an AC Accelero cooler running passively

 

[daveybrat]

I also agree that the ATI HD 4670 is the best choice for you. I just purchased one and installed it into an HTPC of mine and it is awesome. Almost as fast as my 8800GTS 320MB but runs perfect on a 350Watt power supply.

Also, i did quite a bit of research and wanted the quietest 4670 available and ended up getting this one:

HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

It's extremely quiet and exhausts the hot air out of my pc.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
I also agree that the ATI HD 4670 is the best choice for you. I just purchased one and installed it into an HTPC of mine and it is awesome. Almost as fast as my 8800GTS 320MB but runs perfect on a 350Watt power supply.

Also, i did quite a bit of research and wanted the quietest 4670 available and ended up getting this one:

HIS Hightech H467QT512P Radeon HD 4670 IceQ Turbo 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

It's extremely quiet and exhausts the hot air out of my pc.

:thumbsup:

 

[LeonarD26]

Thanks for the advice..... The 4670 looks like a great option. I've never heard of HIS though....

With deals on the 4850, do you see prices on the 4670 dropping more?? I guess it doesn't make much sense to go with a 4850 if I don't plan on using it very much, and as my CPU would be a bottleneck anyway (even though it's oc'd to 2.7Ghz). Now I wonder if I need a cpu upgrade!!

Anyway, thanks for the help, much appreciated.

 

[zagood]

You pretty much have two choices:

1) Replace the heatsink on the 7900GS to deal with the fan noise. Something like the vf900 works well with that card, or even better, the AC Accelero.

2) Replace the video card. Realize your CPU is bottlenecking it. Replace CPU. Realize your motherboard doesn't work with the 45nm processors. Replace motherboard. Start overclocking. Realize PSU isn't quite up to par when new parts are overclocked so replace PSU. Replace CPU heatsink to help with overclocking. Hate the way the new heatsink butts up against the case. Get a new case. See an ad for Fry's where the video card you got in the first place is on sale for about half the price of what you paid for it. Repeat.

-z

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: LeonarD26
Thanks for the advice..... The 4670 looks like a great option. I've never heard of HIS though....

With deals on the 4850, do you see prices on the 4670 dropping more?? I guess it doesn't make much sense to go with a 4850 if I don't plan on using it very much, and as my CPU would be a bottleneck anyway (even though it's oc'd to 2.7Ghz). Now I wonder if I need a cpu upgrade!!

Anyway, thanks for the help, much appreciated.

I would just get a 9600gt and call it a day. that would give you a well balanced system and your current cpu certainly wouldnt be an issue with a card like that. the 9600gt doesnt use too much more power than a 4670 and performs better in every game.

 

[LeonarD26]

Thanks toyota. The 9600gt looks like a great card, and the 9800gt is only a few bucks more.... would my CPU be a huge bottleneck?? Also, are these cards very loud??

Thanks everyone...

 

[cusideabelincoln]

As far as the pecking order goes: HD4670 -> 9600GT -> 9800GT -> HD4830 -> HD4850. Your CPU would be fine even if you decided to get an HD4850. But anything better than that and you'd be wasting money.

 

[gregoryvg]

I think people on here are slightly exaggerating about a 4850 bottlenecking your CPU. Honestly, if you don't benchmark it, I doubt the above average user would even notice if it were bottlenecked a bit.

I teamed up a 4670 to an AMD x2 4450e on a 250w PSU and it is running rock solid and putting out great framerates in L4D @ 1280 res.

Have you considered the middle ground between 4670 and 4850; namely the 4830?

$94.99 (before $10 MIR) and Free shipping on this 4830 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102803

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: gregoryvg
I think people on here are slightly exaggerating about a 4850 bottlenecking your CPU. Honestly, if you don't benchmark it, I doubt the above average user would even notice if it were bottlenecked a bit.

I teamed up a 4670 to an AMD x2 4450e on a 250w PSU and it is running rock solid and putting out great framerates in L4D @ 1280 res.

Have you considered the middle ground between 4670 and 4850; namely the 4830?

$94.99 (before $10 MIR) and Free shipping on this 4830 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102803

no one is really exaggerating at all. my old 5000 X2 was a joke when it came to using any decent card including a 8800gt, 9600gt or 4670 with it and couldnt provide any better minimum framerates over an 8600gt I was previously using. you dont know any better because you are not directly comparing to anything. its like the person that thinks their car is fast until they get their ass handed to them in a race. after that their perspective changes because they didnt know what they were missing.

a bottleneck doesnt necessarily imply that your pc will slow to a crawl. it just means that it isnt balanced and that going overboard with a part when some other part isnt up to snuff is just a waste. in the OPs case he should fine with a 4830 or 4850 but he certainly wont get 100% out of the 4850 or anything any faster.

 

[gregoryvg]

no one is really exaggerating at all. my old 5000 X2 was a joke when it came to using any decent card including a 8800gt, 9600gt or 4670 with it and couldnt provide any better minimum framerates over an 8600gt I was previously using. you dont know any better because you are not directly comparing to anything. its like the person that thinks their car is fast until they get their ass handed to them in a race. after that their perspective changes because they didnt know what they were missing.

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I'm not going to argue with you on this. There is truth to what you say about matching up a very powerful (and expensive) video card to a mainstream CPU.

However, I maintain that your average gamer will not really notice a difference between a C2D running at 2.6ghz vs. one running at 4.0ghz using a 4670, 4830 or 4850 on most games. In this case, the fear of bottlenecking is overblown.

 

[toyota]

Originally posted by: gregoryvg


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I'm not going to argue with you on this. There is truth to what you say about matching up a very powerful (and expensive) video card to a mainstream CPU.

However, I maintain that your average gamer will not really notice a difference between a C2D running at 2.6ghz vs. one running at 4.0ghz using a 4670, 4830 or 4850 on most games. In this case, the fear of bottlenecking is overblown.

well like I said his cpu isnt bad and likely wouldnt even be a noticeable prob even with a 4830 or 4850. also his cpu not only lacks the speed but also the cache of higher end cpus so anything stronger than a 4830 or 4850 would start to have diminishing returns for sure in newer games.

 

[LeonarD26]

The 4830 may be a solid option too. It's only $13 more than the HIS 4670. I'm looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127394

It does use more power and is louder, but it may be worth it for the performance gains.... and anything is better than my current card. Here a review of the 4830 and it's power consumption compared to the 4670:

http://www.neoseeker.com/Artic.../Reviews/r4830/11.html

Decisions decisions...

 

[gregoryvg]

well like I said his cpu isnt bad and likely wouldnt even be a noticeable prob even with a 4830 or 4850. also his cpu not only lacks the speed but also the cache of higher end cpus so anything stronger than a 4830 or 4850 would start to have diminishing returns for sure in newer games.

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Yep, I would agree with that. Was a nice conversation. :beer: