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Video card recommendation $200-$300

madoka

madoka

Diamond Member
For a new build. Here's my info:

- REALLY want a low heat card as there is not much ventilation where the computer is located

- I do not overclock

- currently I'm using two 8800 GTS in SLI and sometimes they will lock up (probably due to heat) and crash the computer

- my current monitor is a Dell 27" and I'm thinking of upgrading to the 30" soon

- my most frequently played game is Company of Heroes, but I'd like to play newer games if I had the time

- I have a slight nvidia preference

- I'd prefer a single card solution as I probably don't want to SLI again due to heat buildup

- the processor is a new SB i7 with 8 gigs of memory
 
Wait a few more days until the GTX 560 is launched ? That is about your only choice. The GTX 570 is $50 over your budget. It also rules out GTX 460 SLi...which would be well over $300 as well. Arn't they coming the 25th ?
 
MentalIlness said:
Wait a few more days until the GTX 560 is launched ? That is about your only choice. The GTX 570 is $50 over your budget. It also rules out GTX 460 SLi...which would be well over $300 as well. Arn't they coming the 25th ?
Click to expand...

I believe the 25th for the gtx 560 is correct.
 
By the way, are you sure even a GTX 560 will be enough for when you go to a 30 inch monitor ? What resolution ?

Can you stretch the budget at all ?
 
newer games play just fine on 8800GTS, and anything in the 200-300$ range today.
They might not be maxed out on a 30 inch display, but they will play and even look good.
 
Since you want to go 30", and you are already using a 2560x1400; In your budget is the 6950, if you must have nv, then a 570. At 2560x1600 the two cards are basically the same trading a few benches back and forth.

For your resolution I recommend multi-gpu, no single card can handle that resolution. Two 6950s are decent at $560 but whatever you pick make sure the card has at least 1.5gb of memory imo.
 
I didn't recommend any AMD cards because OP prefers nVidia, GTX 560 should have 2 GB model too so I would wait.
 
Unfortunately I don't think there is anything that is powerful enough to game well on a 30" and use low power. Temperature doesn't really matter since no matter the cooling method the heat it is kept within the system. So I think best bet is a single powerful card.

I'd suggest a 6950 since it has 2 GB VRAM it will work much better for a 30" monitor. 8800GTS is limited by the VRAM so it will crawl at 2560 x 1600 since I believe those are 640 MB cards (possibly 320 or 512). You can get one under $300 and should be faster than SLId 8800s. It has the lowest power consumption at load of the high end cards even less than GTX 460 while it performs better and can be unlocked to a 6970 if you have temp wiggle room.
 
you know, he doesn't HAVE to render games at their native resolution...
use a normal resolution and scale it up.

sounds more reasonable to me than buying 500+$ worth of hardware when his actually budget is 200-300$ and he prefers 200$.

Combined with a limited thermal budget due to enclosed space a single modern mid range card seems ideal...

question, any chance you can do something about the lack of ventilation you mentioned?
 
taltamir said:
you know, he doesn't HAVE to render games at their native resolution...
use a normal resolution and scale it up.

sounds more reasonable to me than buying 500+$ worth of hardware when his actually budget is 200-300$ and he prefers 200$.

Combined with a limited thermal budget due to enclosed space a single modern mid range card seems ideal...

question, any chance you can do something about the lack of ventilation you mentioned?
Click to expand...

Seems wasteful to me spending 1k or more on a 30" monitor and then getting a $200 GPU to play it at the same resolution as a $100 monitor.
 
blanketyblank said:
Seems wasteful to me spending 1k or more on a 30" monitor and then getting a $200 GPU to play it at the same resolution as a $100 monitor.
Click to expand...

be that as it may, his current GPU budget is 200 to 300$. And he already bought the monitor.
And maybe he got it used at a great price or something? we don't know that he spent 1000$ on it.

And its not that big a waste, 1080p looks plenty good.
 
whoop, I missed this bit:
my current monitor is a Dell 27" and I'm thinking of upgrading to the 30" soon
Click to expand...

I thought he already had a 30 inch monitor, not about to buy one... What kind of price range is that monitor upgrade?
 
taltamir said:
whoop, I missed this bit:


I thought he already had a 30 inch monitor, not about to buy one... What kind of price range is that monitor upgrade?
Click to expand...

That's why I was saying monitor is like $1000+. He should just get a nice 32" TV if he's getting a $200 card and playing at 1920 x 1080. It will save like $600.
Otherwise I think he should spend on the upper range of his budget if he's going to game at 2560 x 1600 with the 30".
 
blanketyblank said:
That's why I was saying monitor is like $1000+. He should just get a nice 32" TV if he's getting a $200 card and playing at 1920 x 1080. It will save like $600.
Otherwise I think he should spend on the upper range of his budget if he's going to game at 2560 x 1600 with the 30".
Click to expand...

that is actually a very good suggestion.
a 1080p 32" plasma would be just the thing. (edit, well, looking at prices it seems plasmas are way too expensive... nevermind, make it a 32" LCD)
 
even with the slight NV bias, 6950 2gb is the card to get. it will perform well at 2560x1600, it's the only card capable of good 25x16 performance that is within your budget, and the thermals are quite reasonable for a card of that performance level.
 
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