Graphics card upgrade advice

[Lord-Ilpolazzo]

Hi,

I'm thinking about upgrading my graphics card and i'm looking for advice as to what the best one would be given the constraints of my current case and power supply as I would prefer not to ugrade either at this time

The PSU is an OCZ Stealth Xtreem http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/power_management/ocz_500w_stealthxstream_power_supply (12V1 = 18A, 12V2 = 18A) and the case is a rubbish cheap one with at best room for a card no longer than 25cm. I rekon something bigger might fit if I sacrificed a hunk of my hard drive cage! but thats another matter!

The rest of the PC is a Gigabytye EP43-DS3L motherboard with an E7400 overclocked to 3.33GGGHz on stock voltages, so nothing that power hungry.

Im looking at both the ATI 4890 and the Nvidia GTX260 at the moment as they seem to offer about the level of performance i want, but power and space wise they seem a bit marginal (the 260 would definitely involve some hdd cage cutting!). Has anyone got any advice as to wether power wise things would be ok, or any suggestions of suitable decent graphics cards. I currently have an 8600GTS so anything wouyld be an improvement, but im looking for a sigificant improvment to make it worth bothering!

Thanks

 

[rolli59]

If you are on win XP stick with your selection. Vista or windows seven you might want to look at the new HD5750/70 they perform on par with HD4850/70 respectively and are smaller and power efficient. All of them would be a big upgrade from your current GPU

 

[Lord-Ilpolazzo]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, I probably should have mentioned im on Windows 7 so I will definitely take a look at the two you suggested above

 

[Aertea]

A 5850 might be perfect for you if you can find one. The card is about 24cm long (the same depth as an ATX motherboard). The only thing you might have to watch out for is space for the power connectors on the back corner of the card.

The 5770 is weaker than the 4890, which in turn weaker than the 5850. Saying that they are comparable isn't entirely accurate, the difference is actually quite sizable.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-7.html

You should also take into account that the 5000 line future proofs you a little bit more by having full DirectX11 support.

 

[rolli59]

A 5850 might be perfect for you if you can find one. The card is about 24cm long (the same depth as an ATX motherboard). The only thing you might have to watch out for is space for the power connectors on the back corner of the card.

The 5770 is weaker than the 4890, which in turn weaker than the 5850. Saying that they are comparable isn't entirely accurate, the difference is actually quite sizable.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446-7.html

You should also take into account that the 5000 line future proofs you a little bit more by having full DirectX11 support.

5770 was compaired to 4870 not 4890. In any case a jump from a 8600GTS to 5770 is a big upgrade.

 

[Aertea]

My mistake, you would be right then.

I'd say if you can afford it go with the 5850 ($250-300 USD) , if not go with the 5770. The 4890 is wedged in the middle performance wise, but with its higher power draw than the 5850 and lack of DX11, I would just stick with the new cards.

 

[Lord-Ilpolazzo]

Thanks for all the good advice! The 5770 sounds like it might be a good bet mostly because power wise its well within what my PSU can manage. The 5850 is within my budget but the power requirements look very marginal given my power supply... Do you rekon it might work ok?

 

[Aertea]

Well I was going by your original considerations. To my knowledge the 5850 has a slightly lower power draw than the 260, which you were looking at in the original post.

I'd look up some reviews on it to be sure, but since your PSU only includes 1 connector you probably need one of the adapters, but I think it outputs enough juice.

 

[Lord-Ilpolazzo]

Well I was going by your original considerations. To my knowledge the 5850 has a slightly lower power draw than the 260, which you were looking at in the original post.

I'd look up some reviews on it to be sure, but since your PSU only includes 1 connector you probably need one of the adapters, but I think it outputs enough juice.

Oh ok.. the PSU does have 2 x 6 pin PCIE connectors but I'm not sure how much each can supply

 

[rolli59]

http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers/500wchart.JPG You should be fine with your PSU it looks like it can supply 18amps on both rails simultaneously.

 

[Aertea]

Oh ok.. the PSU does have 2 x 6 pin PCIE connectors but I'm not sure how much each can supply

Yep, you should be good then. I guess the product specs on newegg were wrong, or I found a different model of the psu by mistake.