Looking for some insight on buying a new video card.

[Hardkore]

Hello people, i recently started looking at prices all over the net for a new video card, my budget is limited to around 250$ cnd, i live in canada so the prices are slightly higher here. The card that caught my attention is the GTX 260. My knowlege on computers is limited so i figured this was pretty much the best place to ask for help.

My current system is:

Intel e8400 cpu(Stock)
Asus p5k-e motherboard
4 gigs of kingston 800 mhz ram
Power supply OCZ 600w
Egva 9600 GT 512 mb
Audigy 2 zs sound card
320 gig western digital HD
LG dvd burner

I think overall the system still run games pretty damn good, but the video card is showing its age as it was already a budget card when i bought it last summer.


My main concerns are my power supply and my actual case, as i heard the GTX 260 is a huge card. I will probably have to buy a larger case for it to fit.
Also i know the card takes quite a bit of power, will my 600w psu do? And does my psu have everything needed to run the gtx 260?

Thanks in advance, i am looking forward to replies.

 

[Brandon00000]

if you are going to get the 260 you just assume save a little more and get the 285 since the rapid rate video card get outdated i could understand why somone would not want to spend 300+ on a card considering you might have to upgrade your psu as well it all depends on what games you plan to play or if you are going to do coding with it that will determine what card you need

 

[Hardkore]

if you are going to get the 260 you just assume save a little more and get the 285 since the rapid rate video card get outdated i could understand why somone would not want to spend 300+ on a card considering you might have to upgrade your psu as well it all depends on what games you plan to play or if you are going to do coding with it that will determine what card you need

Thanks, what about my power supply, will it be enough to run one of these gtx 2xx cards?

 

[gkay09]

Thanks, what about my power supply, will it be enough to run one of these gtx 2xx cards?

Well about the GTX260, make sure you get the core 216 version and the core 192 version...

And about the GTX285, you can get the GTX 275 instead...its about $100 less than the 285 and performs nearly the same at resolutions upto 1900X1200...
So no point wasting $100 for just few FPS more...
And the 275 will be about $50 more than the GTX260(Core 216) and performs significantly better...

But a suggestion though...If you are not company specific(Nvidia), then you can look into the 4890 from ATI...

And as for your PSU, it should be ablt to handle all the GTX 2XX series except the GTX295...

 

[ravenware]

I agree with gkay09 about the GTX 275 which should be released in the next week or 2.

What is the native resolution of your lcd and what games do you plan on running?

Here is the 216 core version of the 260 that gkay had mentioned.
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143155

 

[Hardkore]

Native resolution is 1280x1024, i have a rather old monitor. Thats most likely my next upgrade.

As for games, i play Age of conan currently, runs good even on the 9600 GT but fps drops quite a bit when in sieges with about 100 people running around. Also, call of duty 4, left 4 dead, godfather 2.

As for the the 216 core version of the card, these are the same right?

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD7958&vpn=896-P3-1255-AR&manufacture=EVGA

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12980BD7749&vpn=N260GTX-T2D896-OCv2&manufacture=MSI

I would most likely go with the EVGA, heard a lot of good things about them and my 9600 gt is by them too.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I can tell you first-hand EVGA is a solid brand with excellent support. Just remember to register your EVGA products within 30-days or the "Lifetime" warranty of their -AR suffixed model # cards becomes a 1-year warranty...

I'm not certain I would bother replacing the video card until you're going to replace the monitor, too. Current high-end video cards are aimed at resolutions of 1680x1050 and above, though you'd get great performance at 1280x1024. I'd suggest waiting a little while to do them both at the same time. It could save you shipping costs and it might just completely "WOW" you if you did it all at once.

I'm all for "WOW" factors when it comes to upgrades. The more the merrier in my book And in that case, I'd probably lean towards a GTX 275 or HD4890 for any monitor with 1680x1050 or greater native resolution.

 

[gkay09]

Get this...Factory overclocked...though not as much as the MSI but still at thesame price...
http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11610BD8669&vpn=896-P3-1257-AR&manufacture=EVGA

 

[DiscoDuck]

I agree on the new monitor issue. Until you have a monitor capable of higher res for games, A new gpu wont give much buyer satisfaction.

 

[RazberyBandit]

Though I tend to agree with gkay on most of his points, I have to give a thumbs down to the "factory overclock" model purchase. Standard, or "vanilla" cards can be overclocked to those same settings by the user using the standard driver suite. What's the difference? Nothing, other than saving some cash. Ask yourself, is $21 worth the possible extra, oh... 1 or 2FPS gain in performance? Most people wouldn't notice that difference at all. And unfortunately, overclocking doesn't always lead to increased performance, but oftentimes does shorten the lifespan of the item being overclocked... That's another issue to consider.

Lastly, in reference to the size matter... GTX-series cards are about 10.5 inches long, but may need a little more room for power cable attachment. That depends on the plug's location on the card.

 

[Hardkore]

Thanks for all the replies guys, i really appreciate. From what i could gather the GTX 275 is going to release next week. I'll look into getting that one. If its too expensive it might just make the gtx 260 go down in price anyway.