Video card???

[ahumphers91]

I would like to know if anyone might be able to steer me in the right direction. I have a MSI-7100 MOBO with Nforce 4 chipset. I have a AMD athlon 64 ( Winchester ) but I am going to be upgrading my cpu to a dual core soon. My main question is I want to get another video graphics card but don't know where to start. I currently have a Geforce 6800, my motherboard is SLI equipped as well. But I dont want to spend too much money. I would like to go with ATI but its not a biggie.

Thanks

 

[TheViper]

First we need to know what your PSU is. If the PSU isn't adequate, putting a high end GPU in there is digital suicide.

 

[ahumphers91]

I have 500 Watt Apevia power supply. 1x24 pin main power, 2x sata, 2x floppy, 1x ATX 12 V 4 pin, 6x4 pin peripheral, 1x pci express.

 

[ahumphers91]

Its the Apevia 500 Watt JAVA POWER MODEL.

 

[TheViper]

Alright now what is your GPU budget? Knowing this will allow us to focus in on the cards that would do best in your system and within your price range.

 

[ahumphers91]

I don't really want ot spend 100.00 but I will. No more than one hundred I guess. I know there are some steep prices. I shop on NewEgg for everything.

 

[ahumphers91]

Is the power supply I have good enough?

 

[ahumphers91]

I don't really want ot spend 100.00 but I will. No more than one hundred I guess. I know there are some steep prices. I shop on NewEgg for everything. Is the power supply I have good enough? What would be good for me, I am a moderate gamer but want to start gaming more because I dont have a 360 or ps3 anymore. Thanks

 

[TheViper]

Then I recommend the HD 4850.

Right at $100 on Newegg and works best with a 450 watt or more PSU.

 

[ahumphers91]

Will I be able to tell a big difference when I switch cards?

 

[TheViper]

From a GeForce 6800?

Night and day.

EDIT:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html

Check this chart. Notice the position of your 6800 against the HD 4850.

 

[ahumphers91]

Which formatt should I go? the 512MB or 1GB, and what is the bits do? like mine i think is Geforce 6800 32bit . I think it runs something like core 347 MHZ and memory 642 MHZ

 

[TheViper]

If your monitor has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 then I'd suggest the 1 GB model. Or if you plan to use Anti-Aliasing (AA) in your games.

If it is 1680 x 1050 or smaller or you don't expect to use AA, then the 512 MB model will suffice.


The bit depth won't change between the 2 models as they are 256 bit GPU's. It is related to how much bandwidth or data the GPU can process at one time.

 

[ahumphers91]

Thanks a-lot. My max res. is 1280 x 1024. So I will go with the 512 model. thanks again.

 

[TheViper]

Not a problem. Enjoy the card.