Upgrade from 8800gt

[4soundz]

Thats great, so I can just buy the card do a straight swap, and put two corsair ddr2 1gb in the two empty slots overcklock the E8400 to 3.4 and I'm ready to go?

 

[Termie]

yes.

 

[4soundz]

yes.

Thanks I'll try and buy the parts by Tuesday and will update this thread when I do. The output end of the 7770 looks like it takes up two slots but that shouldn't be a problem I hope? Anyway I'll keep you posted thanks ever so much.

 

[Termie]

You are correct about the outputs of the 7770, but it will fit in any normal atx or matx case.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

You should still consider the 7790 if the price is closer to the 7770 than the 7850.

 

[tweakboy]

I say 460 1GB for that CPU. gl BTW its twice as fast now!

 

[4soundz]

You should still consider the 7790 if the price is closer to the 7770 than the 7850.

I could get this for only a little bit more "Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 1GB GDDR5 "

But I need a new power supply for these cards dont I?

 

[Termie]

I could get this for only a little bit more "Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 1GB GDDR5 "

But I need a new power supply for these cards dont I?

The 7790 is definitely faster than the 7770, but I doubt you'd experience a difference in any modern game, due to the dual-core processor you are running. It also uses more power, so given that you may be pushing it on your older 350W power supply, I'd stick with the 7770.

 

[4soundz]

The 7790 is definitely faster than the 7770, but I doubt you'd experience a difference in any modern game, due to the dual-core processor you are running. It also uses more power, so given that you may be pushing it on your older 350W power supply, I'd stick with the 7770.

I'm just about to go out an buy the stuff but reading one of your earlier post and considering my 350w PSU I'm thinking of getting the ram and the 7750 like you said that way I wont need a new PSU and only have to spend about a total of 110 euro for this upgrade. I think the 7770 needs a stronger PSU? I wouldnt want to risk anything.

 

[Termie]

I'm just about to go out an buy the stuff but reading one of your earlier post and considering my 350w PSU I'm thinking of getting the ram and the 7750 like you said that way I wont need a new PSU and only have to spend about a total of 110 euro for this upgrade. I think the 7770 needs a stronger PSU? I wouldnt want to risk anything.

Well, the 7750 will absolutely work with your power supply. There just isn't any question - it could work on a 250W power supply, in fact. The 7770, while it probably only uses about 25W more in most cases, will stress your power supply a bit more due to needing an additional power connector (which you don't in fact have, I believe, and would therefore need an adapter). Furthermore, I think you'll still feel quite a speed up in games on the 7750, as it's 50% faster than the 8800gt.

For your level of system, the 7750 is the best choice, in my opinion.

 

[4soundz]

Well, the 7750 will absolutely work with your power supply. There just isn't any question - it could work on a 250W power supply, in fact. The 7770, while it probably only uses about 25W more in most cases, will stress your power supply a bit more due to needing an additional power connector (which you don't in fact have, I believe, and would therefore need an adapter). Furthermore, I think you'll still feel quite a speed up in games on the 7750, as it's 50% faster than the 8800gt.

For your level of system, the 7750 is the best choice, in my opinion.

Thanks, I'm going to buy the 7750 ddr5 or ddr3? and the ram for now. That way I'm not dropping too much in to this system and in a year I can build a new one, yep?

 

[Termie]

Thanks, I'm going to buy the 7750 ddr5 or ddr3? and the ram for now. That way I'm not dropping too much in to this system and in a year I can build a new one, yep?

Great plan. And definitely DDR5, as it's 30% faster than the ddr3 version.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I could get this for only a little bit more "Gigabyte Radeon HD 7790 1GB GDDR5 "

But I need a new power supply for these cards dont I?

According to the link I posted, the 7790 uses 7W more than the 7770 in BF3. According to this comparison, the 8800GT uses 14W more than the 7770 in Metro 2033. So the 7790 should technically use less than your current 8800GT. This site says the 7790 should be 20W less. You will only need a new PSU if you go with the 7850.

 

[4soundz]

According to the link I posted, the 7790 uses 7W more than the 7770 in BF3. According to this comparison, the 8800GT uses 14W more than the 7770 in Metro 2033. So the 7790 should technically use less than your current 8800GT. This site says the 7790 should be 20W less. You will only need a new PSU if you go with the 7850.

Unfortunately I read your post after I had already left to buy the new card, I also just realized after removing my old 8800gt that it was connected with an extra 6pin so I had one after all and yes the 8800gt does use more power! so I could have gone with the 7700 at least if not the 7790.I'm quite sad now . I've emailed the shop to see If I can return the 7750 for another card and am waiting for their response but I have a feeling the answer will be no..:'(

 

[Termie]

Don't be too sad - an HD7790 simply would not perform any better in your system than a 7750. The issue was not just whether your power supply could support the cards, but whether it was a good idea to invest more money in a higher-end card. You also need to overclock your CPU to get more from the new video card, which will draw more power from your power supply, so it's not a simple drop-in comparison.

Browse through these benchmarks to see what happens when you pair a powerful card with a dual-core processor without hyperthreading: http://techbuyersguru.com/CPUgaming.php

Now consider that an i3-3220 is about 50% faster than your C2D e8400 on a clock-for-clock basis, and you'll understand why investing in a $150 video card is not a good idea.

 

[4soundz]

Don't be too sad - an HD7790 simply would not perform any better in your system than a 7750. The issue was not just whether your power supply could support the cards, but whether it was a good idea to invest more money in a higher-end card. You also need to overclock your CPU to get more from the new video card, which will draw more power from your power supply, so it's not a simple drop-in comparison.

Browse through these benchmarks to see what happens when you pair a powerful card with a dual-core processor without hyperthreading: http://techbuyersguru.com/CPUgaming.php

Now consider that an i3-3220 is about 50% faster than your C2D e8400 on a clock-for-clock basis, and you'll understand why investing in a $150 video card is not a good idea.

What about a 7770 Termie? assuming they do accept returns would a 7770 be a better choice? the price difference is only 15 euro. It looks like I can apparently very easily OC my E8400 from 3.00ghz to at least 3.4?

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Don't be too sad - an HD7790 simply would not perform any better in your system than a 7750

While you are correct that games will be CPU limited, the 7770/7790 is a better investment for when he eventually upgrades his machine.

 

[Termie]

What about a 7770 Termie? assuming they do accept returns would a 7770 be a better choice? the price difference is only 15 euro. It looks like I can apparently very easily OC my E8400 from 3.00ghz to at least 3.4?

If you think you might carry over the card to a new system, that makes a lot of sense.

Having used an e8400@3.3GHz combined with a GTX460 768MB, I can tell you that in most games that were current at the time (2012), the video card worked at about 60-70% load. The HD7770 offers essentially identical performance to that GTX460. Thus, a card that is 25% slower (such as the HD7750) would perform much closer to 100% usage, and provide the same performance on your system.

I realize you may not want to open the package if you're intending to return it, but one way to tell how a video card is operating is to run MSI Afterburner in the background while running a game. It shows you the GPU usage. In that way you can see whether a GPU is running optimally. It would be worth doing with the HD7750 in your current games if you are willing to install it before returning it.

While you are correct that games will be CPU limited, the 7770/7790 is a better investment for when he eventually upgrades his machine.

Agreed - his initial goal, however, was to be able to play modern games at low cost. He didn't mention a desire to build a new system in the short-term.

 

[4soundz]

If you think you might carry over the card to a new system, that makes a lot of sense.

Having used an e8400@3.3GHz combined with a GTX460 768MB, I can tell you that in most games that were current at the time (2012), the video card worked at about 60-70% load. The HD7770 offers essentially identical performance to that GTX460. Thus, a card that is 25% slower (such as the HD7750) would perform much closer to 100% usage, and provide the same performance on your system.

I realize you may not want to open the package if you're intending to return it, but one way to tell how a video card is operating is to run MSI Afterburner in the background while running a game. It shows you the GPU usage. In that way you can see whether a GPU is running optimally. It would be worth doing with the HD7750 in your current games if you are willing to install it before returning it.



Agreed - his initial goal, however, was to be able to play modern games at low cost. He didn't mention a desire to build a new system in the short-term.

Well I hope to get away with building a new system until at least next summer and I think that when I eventually do I would want to make one with a better card than the 7770 (I gather that a year from now prices will have changed) so I'm only really interested in what's best for my current set up and not for the future, so its either the 7750 or the 7770 with the E8400 overclocked the 350w PSU and 4gb's of ddr2 which ever is the better option. Again thank both of you very much for all this info when registered here I didnt even know what a 7750 was.

All I'm doing now is an upgrade of either 120 euro or 135 euro ram and card.

 

[Termie]

Well I hope to get away with building a new system until at least next summer and I think that when I eventually do I would want to make one with a better card than the 7770 (I gather that a year from now prices will have changed) so I'm only really interested in what's best for my current set up and not for the future, so its either the 7750 or the 7770 with the E8400 overclocked the 350w PSU and 4gb's of ddr2 which ever is the better option. Again thank both of you very much for all this info when registered here I didnt even know what a 7750 was.

All I'm doing now is an upgrade of either 120 euro or 135 euro ram and card.

Given that you already have the 7750 in your possession and that you'll likely upgrade the card again next year, I'd stick with the 7750. While the cost difference is small enough that taking a chance that the 7770 could have performed better might have been worth it, as it is, the 7750 will achieve your goals, and you have it now.

 

[4soundz]

Oh man and I'm just itching to switch my pc on I've got the ram and 7750 installed but was kind of waiting till they get back to me tomorrow, now I'm finding it very hard from restraining my self to switch it on! reading your post I might just do that

 

[Termie]

Oh man and I'm just itching to switch my pc on I've got the ram and 7750 installed but was kind of waiting till they get back to me tomorrow, now I'm finding it very hard from restraining my self to switch it on! reading your post I might just do that

Well, look at it this way - switching it on won't make it any harder or easier to return!

 

[skipsneeky2]

The 7750 will serve you well,had a gtx650 which is nearly identical performance wise and i found in my older games like BF2 and UT3 where i used to get a certain framerate with my old 8800gts 512mb that i got a way better overall experience with the gtx650.

With DX11 games the gap should be even further,got your 7750 consuming nearly half the power of a 8800gt while being faster and years cooler with half the noise,its a win all around for a budget card trust me.

 

[4soundz]

Well, look at it this way - switching it on won't make it any harder or easier to return!

Wont they be able to tell its been used though? dust in the fan or something else?

 

[Termie]

Wont they be able to tell its been used though? dust in the fan or something else?

Much more likely they'll be able to tell you've opened the package. A lightly used video card doesn't look any different than a brand new one.

I think you'll be happy with the HD7750. Go ahead and give it a spin.