Graphics card decision

[chevymaster]

Hi, I have a intel core2 quad q9400 stock, 8GB ddr2 ram, 750GB hdd, and one cd drive, 300w psu, all from new inspiron 545MT.
I am deciding between getting a 4770 or a 4670, and GT240.
They say I can use a 4670 because it doesnt need connectors, but the 4770 is much faster and is 40nm, so its much more power efficient.
And there is the new GT240, which is faster then 4670 and is GDDR5 and no power connector.

Which one would you recommend without changing my PSU?

 

[Shadow703793]

Imo, 300W is cutting it close. Upgrade PSU to a Corsair 450VX or better and then get a 4850.

In any case, 4670 is probably going to be your limit with that PSU.

 

[chevymaster]

but........ http://www.legitreviews.com/article/963/10/
it doesnt come close to 260 watts!

and the GT240..

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1144/11/

not even 210 at full load, its more efficient than the 4670!

 

[chevymaster]

and thats with corei7s and water cooling, velociraptors, 1866MHZ RAM

 

[pepperman]

I agree with Shadow; you're going to need a new psu. Even the 4670 will put you a tad over 300 Watts. Seeing as the Corsair is out of stock, I'd recommend the Antec 500W Earthwatts . With this, you could power a 4870 if you wanted to.

The load represented in those charts is the graphics load while the cpu is at idle, thus the true load is not represented.

 

[chevymaster]

Dude its when its benchmarking at full hd.

 

[chevymaster]

and ok thanks!

 

[pepperman]

Dude its when its benchmarking at full hd.

Its only using one or two threads, though, and with a core i7, that means one fourth of the total processing power. It won't be quite one fourth the tdp, though, but it will be pretty low. Another thing that some bench markers use is additional psus to power cooling and peripherals. I can't say if that's the case here, but looking at the numbers it seems likely.

 

[chevymaster]

ok thanks.. I'm gonna try to upgrade psu to 400W to get 4770..

 

[pepperman]

A Corsair 400-CX would be good then; it has a 6-pin PCI-E connector as well, and for $50 (with a $15 rebate), its about as cheap as you can go while maintaining quality.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008

 

[capt_taco]

Now that you're getting a new power supply anyway, you might as well get a slightly bigger one and go for the 4870. As long as you're not on a super-tight budget, that's going to be a lot better matched to the power of your quad core CPU.

 

[chevymaster]

I think i'm gonna get a 4770 and just OC it..

 

[Shadow703793]

^Imo, in that case go for a ATI 4850 for a bit more and OC that.

 

[pepperman]

I can understand him just wanting to get a 4770; both 4850's are currently out of stock on newegg, and the cheapest 4870 is ~$50 more than the 4770.

If that's how much he wants to spend, he's picked the best card for his money.