Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Need help with graphics upgrade

Need help with graphics upgrade

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - Need help with graphics upgrade

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
mmk92   09-21-2009 at 11:16:23 AM

I have been running low on my PoV 8500GT graphics card for about a year, only but recently i accuired the money to buy a new graphics card, so I got hung up between "pov GTS 250 512MB DDR3" and "inno3d 9800GT 1GB DDR3".

My current gpu is DDR2, and my biggest worry is that a DDR3 gc wouldn't work on my mobo.

So my questions are, which graphics card is better between the two? will a DDR3 graphics card work on my current specs? Will the new graphics card run at maximum power with my specs?

450Watt PSU
E4500 2.2GHz c2d cpu(oc'd to 2.93GHz)
945GCM-S2L mobo http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ProductID=2669
64bit vista os
2gb ram(upgrading to 4gb pretty soon)

Thanks in advance


PS: What's with the PCI-e 2.0? Should I worry abt it? or is it simply a power managment solution?

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
alikum   09-21-2009 at 03:33:36 PM

Do not worry. You can even use GDDR5 cards without a problem. What's the brand of your 450W PSU? You do not have to worry much about PCI-e 2.0. It provides double the bandwidth of PCI-e 1x. However, in practical, cards do not use as much. Assuming that you have a quality PSU, and I mean real quality like Corsair VX450, get an ATI Radeon HD4850 or even HD4870 1GB. What's the amps on the 12V rails?

Reply to alikum
outlw6669   09-21-2009 at 03:48:55 PM

Welcome to the forums!

Of the two, the GTS 250 faster and, assuming the 9800GT is not tons cheaper, your best choice of the two.

Do not worry about what type of RAM the GPU uses.
The RAM used by the GPU has no bearing at all on anything else used in your system.

PCIe 2.0 is the latest PCIe specification.
It offers twice the bandwidth of PCIe 1.x and more power is available through the slot.
All PCIe 1.x and 2.0 cards/motherboards are compatible with each other.

As the current generation GPUs can not fully saturate a PCIe 1.x 16x connection, you will still get the full performance from a new card on your current motherboard.

------------------------------ If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce today would cost $100, get a million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside.
PSA
 Reply to outlw6669
leo2kp   09-21-2009 at 03:48:57 PM

My biggest concern would be the PSU.

Reply to leo2kp
regi23   09-21-2009 at 04:32:12 PM

You can also visit gpureview.com to compare both of the card to see wish one best for you

Reply to regi23
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > Need help with graphics upgrade
Go to:

There are 1358 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.454 seconds
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
Related Topics
See all relatives topics
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them