Upgrading GPU from sapphire hd 4850 1.0 GB to XFX geforce 260 GTX 896

[rezwan22]

Guys i have been using sapphire hd4850 1.00 GB card so im planing to get a xfx geforce gtx 260 card would be more faster then hd4850 and will it run properly with thermaltake 500 watts psu i'll be getting the card by two weeks so please need your help guys ..

 

[rezwan22]

sorry forgot to mention abt my configuartion
CPU - intel core 2 duo e6420 @ 2.13ghz
Mobo - Intel DG965RY
RAM - normal ram ddr2 (667 Mhz) 512+512+1024=2.00GB
Hardrive - Samsung 320 and 160
Psu - thermaltake 500 watts

 

[sailer]

A few things. First, I'd recommend a larger PSU, something closer to 650wt.

Second, measure your case very carefully. I just installed an EVGA GTX 260 into my Antec 900 and I had to move a hard drive, could not use the bottom PCIe slot, and it still was a very tight fit. The GTX 260 was over an inch longer than the 4870 that was installed previously. An inch doesn't sound like much, until you spend a lot of time trying to cram that extra inch into a small space.

Third, you might consider a 4870 1 gig card, partly because of the space issue, but also because the performance is similar and it doesn't draw quite as much power. I changed cards, I won't call it an upgrade per se', mainly because the GTX 260 folds so much better. AMD is promising new drivers that will let the 4870 cards fold better than they have, but that's a promise which no one that I know of has verified, and even if its better than it is now, that doesn't mean it will be better than the Nvidia cards.

 

[rezwan22]

A few things. First, I'd recommend a larger PSU, something closer to 650wt.

Second, measure your case very carefully. I just installed an EVGA GTX 260 into my Antec 900 and I had to move a hard drive, could not use the bottom PCIe slot, and it still was a very tight fit. The GTX 260 was over an inch longer than the 4870 that was installed previously. An inch doesn't sound like much, until you spend a lot of time trying to cram that extra inch into a small space.

Third, you might consider a 4870 1 gig card, partly because of the space issue, but also because the performance is similar and it doesn't draw quite as much power. I changed cards, I won't call it an upgrade per se', mainly because the GTX 260 folds so much better. AMD is promising new drivers that will let the 4870 cards fold better than they have, but that's a promise which no one that I know of has verified, and even if its better than it is now, that doesn't mean it will be better than the Nvidia cards.

i have a pretty big casing besides 500 watts thermaltake wont run the card at it's full power ?

 

[roadrunner197069]

You would be better off with a new mobo/cpu/ram and keep your gpu. Your probably already bottlenecking the 4850.

 

[swifty_morgan]

Just wondering how much that processor is going to hold you back...??? As far as swapping the cards, I have a 4870/512 that I traded up to an XFX GTX260 for and I couldn't be happier. And the power supply may or may not be enough. Watts doesn't matter it's the amps to run your hardware.

I have to say that for the most part the ATI cards have slightly better graphics.... visually.... but I've ran into problems with several game where there are graphic problems..... textures missing........ minor but they shouldn't be there.

edit: doesn't the GTX need something like 36amps ? Can't remember and I'm not going to research it for you. Mine work, that's all that matters.

 

[jerreece]

I'm not sure your processor at 2.13Ghz is going to unleash the potential of a GTX 260 video card. Might become a waste of money to upgrade, since you won't be getting 100% performance from the video card.

I'm going to agree with roadrunner here.

Faster processor, Faster RAM, faster motherboard chipset, before you go much higher end on video card. Otherwise you're not getting your money out of that video card.

 

[sailer]

i have a pretty big casing besides 500 watts thermaltake wont run the card at it's full power ?

If your case is big enough, then well and good. The GTX 260 is a power hog, though, and it might well overwhelm your present PSU. As someone pointed out, available amps on the line is more important than the total watts, though the two are related. Beyond that, only the Thermaltake Toughpower PSUs of 650wt or greater have good recommendations from the Thermaltake line. Personally, I'm always puzzled by people who want to install the biggest, most power hungry hardware they can find, yet they don't want to upgrade their PSU to handle the extra load. A PSU is the heart of a computer. If it fails, nothing else works.

As some others have pointed out, a GTX 260 card is more than the rest of you machine can handle well. I addressed the questions of the video card and PSU only. Of other changes, I would first get rid of your present ram and install two sticks of ram (2x1 gig) to have a matched set that would run under dual channel and 1T timing instead of 2T timing. A good set of ram can be later transferred to a new motherboard, as long as it uses DDR2. After that, a better CPU would be a good move. Last would be a better motherboard.

A question that remains is; How much money are you able to spend? First and foremost, a good video card is a good investment, in my opinion. You can always move the video card to a new computer later. If you can overclock your present CPU, then do it. If you can afford to buy a new CPU, motherboard and ram, then that would be better. It really wouldn't matter if you stayed with an Intel setup or went with AMD. The last I saw, a person could buy a 9950 BE and a new mobo for around $300, for instance. But it all comes to an old adage: "Speed costs money. How fast can you afford?"

 

[rezwan22]

If your case is big enough, then well and good. The GTX 260 is a power hog, though, and it might well overwhelm your present PSU. As someone pointed out, available amps on the line is more important than the total watts, though the two are related. Beyond that, only the Thermaltake Toughpower PSUs of 650wt or greater have good recommendations from the Thermaltake line. Personally, I'm always puzzled by people who want to install the biggest, most power hungry hardware they can find, yet they don't want to upgrade their PSU to handle the extra load. A PSU is the heart of a computer. If it fails, nothing else works.

As some others have pointed out, a GTX 260 card is more than the rest of you machine can handle well. I addressed the questions of the video card and PSU only. Of other changes, I would first get rid of your present ram and install two sticks of ram (2x1 gig) to have a matched set that would run under dual channel and 1T timing instead of 2T timing. A good set of ram can be later transferred to a new motherboard, as long as it uses DDR2. After that, a better CPU would be a good move. Last would be a better motherboard.

A question that remains is; How much money are you able to spend? First and foremost, a good video card is a good investment, in my opinion. You can always move the video card to a new computer later. If you can overclock your present CPU, then do it. If you can afford to buy a new CPU, motherboard and ram, then that would be better. It really wouldn't matter if you stayed with an Intel setup or went with AMD. The last I saw, a person could buy a 9950 BE and a new mobo for around $300, for instance. But it all comes to an old adage: "Speed costs money. How fast can you afford?"

well inmy country things are pretty expensive and i have been saving alot of cash so yeah i was planing to get core 2 duo e8400 at 3.00ghz and four sticks of ddr2 1.00 GB ram (800 Mhz) and i was planing to take a gigabyte 45 chipset baised mainboard ..so would be a good gaming configuration...

 

[goonting]

Go for a Processor/Mobo/RAM upgrade instead as the rest are saying

 

[husky mctarflash]

Unless it is a new 216-series 260 vs. the older 192 series, it is not really much of an upgrade from what I can tell. It might be a smidgen better, but probably not worth the hassle.

I saw a recent article about how the new Catalyst 8.12 driver brings some performance gains across the board. It may be worth at least waiting a week to see how the new drivers pan out.

I agree with the other posts: you should explore other upgrade areas first, especially your PSU. There are some killer PSU deals these days...

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[kelfen]

wait to upgrade man or at least wait till new drivers

 

[Kl2amer]

upgrading the card is not money well spent with your processor.

 

[Winly]

like stated before its better if you upgrade your CPU, Mobo and ram. you are ok with that graphic card you have now.

 

[jzsang]

While the GTX 260 is certianly better than the HD 4850, it's not exactly a night and day difference. If you want to upgrade your graphics card, wait for the next generation of cards.

Personally, if it's more performance you are looking for, I'm going to agree with everyone else and say that upgrading your processor and eventually your RAM is probably your best bet. I don't know what your budget is, but 4 GB of faster RAM and a Core 2 operating at 2.8 ghz + would be something to shoot for.

 

[B-Unit]

if things are expensive why on earth would you make such a small upgrade(if you can even call it that)

 

[sailer]

well inmy country things are pretty expensive and i have been saving alot of cash so yeah i was planing to get core 2 duo e8400 at 3.00ghz and four sticks of ddr2 1.00 GB ram (800 Mhz) and i was planing to take a gigabyte 45 chipset baised mainboard ..so would be a good gaming configuration...

Try to get two sticks of 2 gig ram. That will run faster (1T instead of 2T timing) and should be cheaper, though I can't be sure of pricing in your country. The e8400 is a great CPU and a Gigabyte P45 mobo is a good one as well. Two sticks of good ram, a good CPU, and a good mobo should make for a good gaming computer.

 

[jsc]

Based on my last generation video card (an eVGA 640 MB 8800GTS), testing indicated that at about 3.2 GHz (E6600 CPU),the video card started bottlenecking. Using 3dMark and increasing CPU speed in 100 MHz steps, frame rates increased linearly until 3.1 GHz. Frame rates started leveling off at that point. By 3.3 GHz, I had no corresponding increase.

So I doubt that an E6420 running at stock speed is going to keep a 4850 fed.

I agree with the other posters. Upgrade the rest of the system first.

 

[crusoe74]

I'm gonna add my two cents by saying that with your current set up, I really can't see that you're going to see a lot of difference.

Unless you play at 1920 x 1200 resolutions or higher it would be a waste of money.