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What Graphics Card for Newly Built Gaming PC?

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Hi!

I'm having trouble choosing what video card to get for my new PC. I'm currently using on-board graphics, but this fails to play games smoothly. I'm hoping to play games like Crysis and GTA IV at very high settings.

My Specs are:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHZ
6144MB DDR2 RAM
640GB Hard-Drive
Vista Home Premium 64-bit

The slot is PCI Express 2.0 x16.

I'm leaning towards the Radeon HD4890, but if there are other suggestions for cards at about this price range they would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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Yeah a 4890 is a good choice and it overclocks well. It won't max out Crysis at certain resolutions but it will for the smaller ones. What resolution screen to you plan to play on. If you've got a big screen your only choice is a dual-gpu solution for maxing it out. I think you only have 1 PCI-E slot (just a guess) so you could get a 4870x2 or a GTX295, if you have the money.

Reply to uncfan_2563

At what resoloution? What power supply do you have? Which motherboard is installed?
For now I'd say either the GTX275 or HD4890 would be the best choice.
If your case is a mid tower check the cooling, a lot of coolers dump some or all of their heat into the case and with summer getting warmer, this could cause issues.
These companies off the best warranties : XFX, EVGA and BFG. Both EVGA and BFG offer 'step up' programs allowing you to 'step up' to a higher card for only the price difference; See their websites for details.


Message edited by coozie7 on 07-02-2009 at 06:04:30 PM
------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

To play crysis at very high settings you would need something like a 4870x2, gtx295, or a crossfire/sli rig to even approach playable frame rates. You would also need to substantially overclock the cpu.

For everything else a 4890/275 would be fine.. though that depends what resolution you like to play at.

I must question the choice of a slow quad core CPU though, when games get the multi threading support in the future it may perform better than a dual core.. but as far as a budget system goes a fast dual core would have been a better choice. Of course you can always overclock the CPU.

------------------------------ CPU: Q9550 at 3.6ghz (FSB 425mhz) | MB: P5E3 Premium | Ram: 4*2Gb Corsair DDR3 @1417mhz | GPU: 2 HD4890 1Gb (925core/1025mem) CF | PSU: OCZ ELiteXtreme 800W | Sound: Creative Titanium Fatal1ty Pro | 2*120gb OCZ Vertex SSD Raid0 and 2 500gb Raid0 HDDS
Reply to daedalus685

yeah overall man, i think we need your resolution here. Because attaining max settings can be easy or impossible, depending on that 10 letter word spelled resolution.

Reply to uncfan_2563

^ Do not mock the afflicted.

------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

Thanks for all the responses!
The resolution I will be playing at will only be 1280x720 until I get my new screen, and I have a 650w PSU

Reply to Gordan_Freemans_Toaster

What resolution is the new monitor you plan on buying?

Reply to Paranoidmage

Yeah the Q8200 and the 4890 should easily max out games like crysis at that resolution

Reply to thefox14

man you need a new monitor badly, 1280 x 720 ouch. Shop around you can get the standard in gaming now (24" ) 1920 x 1200 for less than $300. The 4890 is a good choice but the 5000 series( Direct X11) is just around the corner from ATI I would wait and see another month or so.

 

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i145/Soldier36/DSC047732.jpg

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by soldier37 on 07-03-2009 at 01:48:06 AM
------------------------------ Phen 2 955 @ 4 GHZ MSI 790FX AM3 Gskill 8Gb DDR3 1333 ATI 5870 1 Gb 2 x Velociraptors 600Gb Gateway 24" 1920 x 1200 DVI 32 GB Iphone 3GS and Blu Ray...life is good!
Reply to soldier37

The 4890 or a 275 would be great for your setup and allow a better monitor in the future.

Reply to chef7734

OC your Q8200 to about 2.7GHZ and then buy yourself a HD 4890 or GTX 275

Reply to teja92

soldier37 wrote :

man you need a new monitor badly, 1280 x 720 ouch. Shop around you can get the standard in gaming now (24" ) 1920 x 1200 for less than $300. The 4890 is a good choice but the 5000 series( Direct X11) is just around the corner from ATI I would wait and see another month or so.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/ [...] 047732.jpg



Well you at least hid the hand cream...

Reply to croc

Gordan_Freemans_Toaster wrote :

Thanks for all the responses!
The resolution I will be playing at will only be 1280x720 until I get my new screen, and I have a 650w PSU



'a 650w PSU'...

How about 'this 650w PSU'? Not all PSU's are created equal. I'd give a rosewill 650 to someone that I didn't like, but I'd have to really not like them...

Reply to croc

@ Gordan_Freemans_Toaster: At 1280x720 I'd drop in a 9600GT/9800GT/HD4850 and hold on until some DX11 hardware is released and reviewed. The Internet Rumour Mill has the release about October or possibly August depending on which source you use. Both cards can play most games at high provided you keep the AA low or off.
Also, it will allow you a little longer to save for a screen/card upgrade which will, trust me, be stunning. (Well I was stunned moving up from 19 to 24" and a 8800GTS 640 to a HD4870).

------------------------------ Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding: Eienstien
Reply to coozie7

For your current mnitor, go for a 4850/4770/9800GT/GTS 250. Rest is awaste of money and resources.

If you plan to upgrade your monitor on the same card, then go for 4870 1GB/4890/GTX 260/GTX275.
Also, keep in mind that the DX 11 cards are rumored to be here by October ( thats the time when all the major games release- call of duty MC 2, NFS, Assassins creed 2 etc). A $150 DX11 card would easily beat all the above mentioned cards in DX11 games, but not at DX10 Games.

So, tread carefully on the path you choose henceforth....lol... Kidding....

------------------------------ AMD Phenom II 720BE, ASUS M4A78T-E, 4GB Transcend DDR3 1333MHZ, Powercolor 4870 1GB DDR5, Corsair 750TX, WD 1TB Green, Maxtor Basics 500GB, Logitech G9x, Wolfking Warrior keyboard, Samsung 2233SW, CM Elite 33x, XBOX 360 Controller for Windows
iPOD Nanoch
Reply to hellraiser06

In a couple of weeks I will be playing on a 40" Samsung at 1920X1080, would the 4890 still max games like Crysis, GTA IV ect. at this resolution? Thanks

Reply to Gordan_Freemans_Toaster

^ Most games, but not Crysis

Get a 4890, OC your CPU and be happy. You will be able to run Crysis on High at that res, most likely anyway. If you want to raise your settings to very high at least lower some of the more CPU intensive options to high or medium to prevent your CPU from bottlenecking your GPU as much.

------------------------------ Playing X-Men Origins: Wolverine Athlon 64 X2 5000+ @3.24 Brisbane | GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-DS4 | 4GB Mushkin DDR2 1066 | Plextor 760A| 2x 3850 512M CF| WD 1TB Black| Fortron Blue Storm II 500W | APEVIA X-Dreamer Black | Win XP Pro & Vista Buisness 32bit
Reply to megamanx00

croc wrote :

Well you at least hid the hand cream...




correction, hand sanitizer !

Reply to soldier37

soldier37 wrote :

correction, hand sanitizer !



I stand corrected, O Bling Master!

Reply to croc
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