Upgrade from 7900 GS

[i3ananaskin]

To ignore all my BS just skip to sections in bold - Much thanks!

Hi there, did a lot of Googlin' on this topic - well not really a predicament but it sure has helped with my procrastination from studying - and found all the useful literature to have all come from here. I have been out of the computer-tech-loop since I built my current rig so a lot of the new tech has quickly overwhelmed my brain.

So I decided to just trouble all of you experts

Anyways, I was thinking of upgrading my 2 year old rig - I normally just build a new rig entirely - and decided that the only thing I really wanted/needed an upgrade on was my GPU. I just don't need a new rig every year anymore.

Current Rig:
Gigabyte GA-965P-S3
Core 2 Duo E6300 1.8ghz (OC'd to 2.8ghz)
BFG GeForce 7900 GS OC 256mb
2x1gb OCZ PC2-6400 Platinum Dual Channel 800mhz (OCZ2P8002GK)
Ultra X2 550w - Link
24" Samsung T240

Usage:
- Light gaming, enough to handle most current games at higher settings (L4D, CS:S, TF2, Mass Effect... hopefully CRYSIS ) - not necessarily at 1920x1200. 1680x1050 is good enough for me
- 1080p movies
- spreadsheets, PDFs, word docs, the usual office stuff.

Currently I can run L4D,Mass Effect and CS:S on max settings, windowed mode @ 1280x800 without any issues.

Question:
I don't really plan on building a new rig as I don't have a need for it anymore but I would like to optimize whatever potential my rig has. Budget is around $100.

Would tracking down another 7900GS be worth it? Or should I just spend the money on a single/two higher-end OLDER card(s)?

Not really sure but these seem like good deals:
9400 GT 512mb
9500 GT 512mb
8800 GT 512mb

Thank you for taking the time to read my plead!

- Jason

 

[masterjaw]

I suggest you go with an HD 4850. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

It would play most current games at your preferred resolution.

And upgrade from 2gb to 4gb of ram.

 

[i3ananaskin]

I suggest you go with an HD 4850. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102770

It would play most current games at your preferred resolution.

And upgrade from 2gb to 4gb of ram.

I was hoping to stick with nVidia cards but I looked around and the 4850 seems like the best bang for the buck.

I live in Canada so I was wondering if this was the same as the one you linked? - This

Ram should be a pretty easy task. Only around $30 for another pair of the exact same set I already have.

Thanks!

 

[erdinger]

That's funny I've had the exact same ram/gpu/cpu combination as you.

I've overclocked the E6300 to 2.5ghz(withoug a Voltage increase) upgraded to 4 gigs of ram and bought a 9800gt. It was a performance increase you could feel in many situations ,warhammer online didn't lag anymore and I was able to play crysis and Cod.

The 9800gt isn't a great card anymore. I would reccomend you to buy a 4770 (very little energy consume) or a 4850.

Try to overclock your cpu it is a great overclocker and you should be able to reach good results even at stock cooling (2.2 gigaherz shouldn't be a prob) so that it doesn't bottleneck you're new hardware.

 

[i3ananaskin]

That's funny I've had the exact same ram/gpu/cpu combination as you.

I've overclocked the E6300 to 2.5ghz(withoug a Voltage increase) upgraded to 4 gigs of ram and bought a 9800gt. It was a performance increase you could feel in many situations ,warhammer online didn't lag anymore and I was able to play crysis and Cod.

The 9800gt isn't a great card anymore. I would reccomend you to buy a 4770 (very little energy consume) or a 4850.

Try to overclock your cpu it is a great overclocker and you should be able to reach good results even at stock cooling (2.2 gigaherz shouldn't be a prob) so that it doesn't bottleneck you're new hardware.

I did it's running at 2.8ghz on stock cooling as well haha, idles around 50 C - I've been pushing off picking up a better one for a long time now.

I was actually of thinking of just waiting until the new stuff comes out so that I will have more options and the 4850 will be cheaper. Was just itching for an upgrade

 

[4745454b]

Idles at 50c? My load temps don't get that high.

I don't know about canadian pricing, but over here 2x2GBs is very cheap. <$50. I would then sell off your 2x1GB and just use the 2x2GB. The 4850 is a great card. If you have to stay Nvidia, consider the 9800GTX series. Perhaps you can find one for a good price. I wouldn't bother SLIing the 7900GS. If my memory serves, even a single 320/640 8800GTS would be able to equal/beat that setup.

 

[masterjaw]

I was hoping to stick with nVidia cards but I looked around and the 4850 seems like the best bang for the buck.

I live in Canada so I was wondering if this was the same as the one you linked? - This

Ram should be a pretty easy task. Only around $30 for another pair of the exact same set I already have.

Thanks!

That's the same thing. Go with that and be happy. Or go with a gts250 if you want to follow the dark side of the force.