New Graphics Card Advice

Macha on 1/4/2009 at 22:51

Hey guys,
Thinking of getting the GeForce 9500GT
(http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/6738125/Play-Value-GeForce-9500GT-1GB-DDR2-PCI-E-Graphics-Card/Product.html)
Is it the best I could get for the price? I could go higher if needs be, but not by much.

Nameless Voice on 1/4/2009 at 23:52

(http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-radeon,2218.html#xtor=RSS-182) Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March '09 : February Review/March Updates

LeatherMan on 2/4/2009 at 01:15

The (http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/6664231/Sapphire-ATI-Radeon-HD-4670-512MB-DDR3-PCI-Express-2-0-Graphics-Card/Product.html) Radeon 4670 would give you much better performance for just a little more money.

Also, don't fall for the "more RAM is better" marketing trick. That 9500GT doesn't have enough power to really utilize the full 1GB it has.

bikerdude on 2/4/2009 at 09:38

Hi

Firstly, whats your budget..? and what Cpu and motherboard do you currently have.

The above is true, but the fan on the 4670 is very noisey and whilst extra ram is useful, it only comes into play on some games and at higher resolutions which as Leatherman has correctly stated, it dosent have the grunt for.

A better card for the 50-75 mark is the 8800GT - (http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?xfx-88gta) link - this which will completely and utterly annihilate the 4670/9500 & 3870/9600 cards. Also the 8800GT has one of the quietest single slot coolers out there. Dont bother with nVidia 9600GT- not only are they more expensive but they are just a re-branded speed-tweaked 8600GT which was is a pile of crap.

As most on here will attest to, when it comes to video cards I have done a lot of testing and research - Here is a some comparison reviews

(http://xtreview.com/review219.htm) Xtreview
(http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-9600-gt,1780.html) Toms hardware
(http://www.behardware.com/articles/705-8/product-review-the-geforce-9600-gt-and-radeon-hd-3650.html) BeHardware

:-D

sh0ck3r on 2/4/2009 at 18:09

I was wondering: what happens when you run a "PCI x16 2.0" graphics card on a motherboard only supporting "PCI x16"?

Is there any substantial underperformance? I'm running a 9800 GT on a G33 Express. I wonder if I'm losing out on a few FPS...?

bikerdude on 2/4/2009 at 18:19

Quote Posted by sh0ck3r

I was wondering: what happens when you run a "PCI x16 2.0" graphics card on a motherboard only supporting "PCI x16"?

Is there any substantial under performance? I'm running a 9800 GT on a G33 Express. I wonder if I'm losing out on a few FPS...?

1. a PCI-E 2.0 gfx card is backwards compatible with a PCI-E 1.1 slot.
2. the performance difference varies from 10-20%, but like most things it isn't that noticeable to most users.

Macha on 2/4/2009 at 18:41

Sorry I neglected to post more information on my computer. I don't quite know how to get my motherboard information, maybe it's somewhere within this.

# CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
# CPU Family: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz Model 6, Stepping 4
# CPU Speed: 2793 MHz

Board: Dell Inc. 0HJ054
Bus Clock: 800 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. A07 01/08/2007

RADEON X600 256MB HyperMemory [Display adapter]

My budget would have to be capped off at 75 quid.

Also a further question. I have four ram slots, dual channel. Its okay to have two different matching pairs right?

The Brain on 2/4/2009 at 18:50

Get (http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php) PC Wizard so you can see what parts your computer have.

Macha on 2/4/2009 at 18:56

PC Wizards report on my mother board:
Manufacturer : Dell Inc. (Dell)
Product : 0HJ054
Version : Unspecified
Serial Number : ..CN6986166U09B7.
Support MP : Yes, 2 CPU(s)
Version MPS : 1.4

Chassis Information :
Manufacturer : Dell Inc.
Type : Mini Tower
Version : Unspecified
Asset : Unspecified

On-Board Device Information :
Device : Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Video)
Device : Intel PRO/100 VE Network Connections (Ethernet)
Device : High Definition Audio Controller (Sound)
Embedded Controller : No

Slots Information :
Slot PCI-Express : In Use (x16) 3.3v
Slot PCI-Express : Available (x1) 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v
Slot PCI : Available (32-bit) 5.0v, 3.3v

Scott8688 on 2/4/2009 at 19:38

I am in the process of building myself a brand new system myself and I see all the good and helpful advice here, which helps me decide on certain parts to put into my new system.

What I am getting is as follows:

Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L Barebone Kit, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700, *GB DDR2-800 Kingston, 750GB Sata2, DVDRW, ATX Mid-Tower Case - 300 PSU (I Plan on changing this to a Corsair 700 Watt PSU soon)

The only thing I really need now is a procesor cooling fan unit, which I will decide myself and thermal paste (usually I buy it assembled, so this will be my first to add the processer cooling fan unit. (lots of fun ahead)

So the only thing I need now is advice on a video card, I have narrowed it down to 2 choices, but need help deciding which better to persue.

(http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4329709&CatId=3775)

This would be my first choice in video card, but I see the this one is talked about and seems like a good preference as well;

(http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?xfx-88gta)

Money is not a concern for me, I could easly spend $500 on a video card if I want, but I choose not to for my own reason.

So this is the question, which is best, a Single, more higher end card, I am not really a very heavy game player, though I am awaiting the new Thief 4 and Duex Ex Games in the future, or should I go with the cheaper SLI configeration setup?

For me, personally the choice would be the Higher End XFX GeForce GTX 260 Video Card - 896MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0 x16, SLI Ready Card.

Even though at a rough estimate, buying and SLI setup would be almost the same for a single card as in price and gaming power in terms of setup.

But which setup should I aim for, a Single High End card, or an SLI setup? Since I am not really big on gaming.

Interested in seeing the advice that follows. thanks