Upgrading computer - Need graphic card advice

[vfouquereau]

Currently have :

• AMD Athlon64 3200+
• 4 x 512mo DDR
• GeForce 7600GT 256mo

Will be upgrading to :

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 (2.13) 1066 4MEG Skt 775 Conroe
• Asus P5N-SLI, DDR2, 2XPCI-E 16, L, Conroe 775
• DDR2 KIT 2X1024MB 800Mhz Kingston

Looking for the best video card between :

• BFG Geforce 7900GS, 256M PCI-E
• BFG Geforce 8600 GTS Overclock 256MB, PCI-E
• Sapphire Radeon X1950XT 256M PCI-E

Will be playing :

• World of Warcraft

Reason for upgrade :

• Potential motherboard problems
• Above reason if good enough to justify upgrade
• Any reason is good enough to justify upgrade

Which video card from the list would be the best bang for the bucks?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

No contest. The 7900 and 8600 arent even in the same class as the X1950XT , so to speak.

 

[vfouquereau]

After reading a couple reviews, I've seen that the X1950XT really is a lot faster. What confuses me is that it's around the same price point at my local store... I thought it was around the same performance. What type of X1950 card would be in the same performance category as the 8600GTS ? X1950 Pro ?

 

[bamacre]

I highly recommend you go with an Intel-based motherboard, such as the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3. Intel's chipset are much better than Nvidia's, IMO.

 

[RussianSensation]

In all honesty, I would just sell your graphics card and upgrade to X1950Pro/GT for $125. If you sell your card for $50, thats only a $75 upgrade and a big performance increase.

A64 3200+ is plenty sufficient for WOW. This would last you well until Quad Cores from AMD and Intel come down to <$300 price range.

Its very hard for me to justify getting:

$150 mobo
$100 ram
$180 processor
$160-180 graphics card when just getting a new graphics card will give you 80% of the performance boost (not to mention you already have 2 gigs of ram!)

Try overclocking that cpu to 2.5-2.6ghz and you are set for another year. The only way I can recommend for you to get everything rebuilt from scratch is if you can sell your current parts (I sold my p4, old graphics card, mobo and 1 gig of ram for $275 last summer. Had I not, I would have just slapped a new agp card like X1950Pro for $150).

 

[superbooga]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
In all honesty, I would just sell your graphics card and upgrade to X1950Pro/GT for $125. If you sell your card for $50, thats only a $75 upgrade and a big performance increase.

WoW favors Nvidia cards, so you'd probably only gain 25% better performance and HQ AF going from the 7600gt to 1950pro.

Go with the 7900gs for 25% better performance, regular AF.

Go with the 8600gts for 25% better performance, same AA (regular), and the best AF.

Go with the 1950xt for best performance, better AA (AD), and HQ AF.

Go with the 7950gt (not on the list) for near-best performance, best AA (TRSS), regular AF.

Personally, I wouldn't bother upgrading the card unless you're running at 1920x1200.

 

[Boyo]

split the difference and get a 7950GT.

 

[vfouquereau]

I just want to point out that my motherboard is dying. I have to change my motherboard. So instead of buying a S939 mobo, I'll get the complete set. It's a shame I have to replace my memory but it's a necessity.

And at the moment, WoW is struggling on my PC because I run it at native resolution of my LCD screen : 1680 * 1050. Since Burning Crusade, the game seems to take much more ressources and it's butter scotch slow. When pre-TBC I was running the same resolution @ 60 FPS all the time with some dips at 50 from time to time, now I play @ 30 FPS with dips at mid 15s all the time.

 

[betasub]

mmm... butterscotch... <drool>

So, butter = smooth fps
but butterscotch = slow fps ?

 

[RussianSensation]

OK, assuming WOW is the only game you intend on playing in the near future, get an Nvidia card as others suggested - $150 7950GT 256mb is good.

If you want better overall performance, X1950XT 256mb is a faster card in majority of games. Unfortunately it can round a bit loud.

If you are on a budget, you could consider X1950Pro/X1950GT or an overclocked 7900GS.

The only downside is that Quad Core will be $266 on July 22nd which is a smoking value.

 

[vfouquereau]

"Butter scotch slow" implies it's on the slow side.