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Buying a New Video Card (Which One?)

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Ok community, I have a question. For the past month or so, I have been looking at buying a new system. I did buy most of my parts yesterday, except for the video card. The problem is that I have been looking at buying a 4870 1GB card (with 2 DVIs) and I have been looking for weeks and EVERYONE is sold out of them. After all of this waiting, I'm really getting impatient and worried that it will be even more weeks until the new shipments roll in due to the fact that I'm selling my old parts to a buddy who is really getting upset that he still doesn't have a video card. I'm also looking at not buying another computer for 3.5-4 years, so this has to last.

So I evaluated my options:

1.Getting a 4890. I can't do that, my old PSU that I'm keeping only supports 29A instead of the 30A required I'm not getting a new PSU.
2.Getting a 4850. Way too wimpy, not gonna happen.
3.Getting a Nvidia 260 GTX. They cost way too much for what you get.
4.Getting a 5770. This is 1 of 2 options I took seriously. The nail in the coffin for this is its speed compared to the 4870=lame.
5.Getting a 4870, but with 512MB instead of 1GB. This the option 2 of 2 that I am really taking seriously, but it is still quite noticeably slower than the 1GB, and is not optimal for long term use (when more intense games/applications come out in the following years).

Thanks everyone in advance.

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OK Foxer57,

I'm going to brutally honest when I say you need to get a new power supply.
If your power supply is not putting out 30 combined amps total, you definitely need a newer supply, the newer cards now (the good ones) all require At least 30 amps and most need more. A GTX 295 requires a supply that has a total system support of atleast 46 amps, thats total usage for your entire system.

So if your PSU is putting out only 29 amps, I would not recommend a larger more capable graphics card until you have the power to feed it. Corsair has 850watt PSU's on newegg right now with a whopping 70amp total system load on a single rail for 139.00.

Not only is this more than enough for what you are trying to do but the PSU will last you 5-7 years and comes with a warranty to back you up. 70 amps is alot, and for 139.00 you cant beat it, then focus on your graphics card ( or cards now that you'll have the juice to handle it). If you dont need one so big, then go for their 750 or 650 hx series. But best bang for your buck is the 850tx model.

The reason you are having a hard time finding 4870's is because the 5770's took there place and the 4870's are being phased out., But I would recommmend something with slighty more kick if you are planning on making this last 4 years. Either do one 5870 or two 5770's in crossfire , or wait and see what Nvidia brings to the table in 1 month or so, OOOOORRRR....you could shell out the dolla's and go for the 5970, which is currently ahead of the software market by 2 years (hardware wise)...

Either way I hope this helped.

ok this card are based as gaming graphic cards............ so I would go with the GTX 260 due to the PhyX and to have windows 7 for its Dx 11 but if you are a fan of ATI then opt 4 the HD 5770
Graphics card Expert

Check out eBay for a 4890, I saw a Sapphire 4890 1GB with the "Buy It Now" option priced at $165! Great card for a great price!

For the most part, the ATI 5870's and 5850's are back in stock and at reasonable prices; although I noticed a 5850 wasn't one of your choices, it should be! Check it out, here's an Asus 1GB 5850 for $309.

As suggested, if you want a gpu and computer that's gonna last several years, you may want to upgrade your psu. Why limit what hardware you can or can not install in your machine because the psu doesn't have enough amps...that's just silly!





dead_95 said:
ok this card are based as gaming graphic cards............ so I would go with the GTX 260 due to the PhyX and to have windows 7 for its Dx 11 but if you are a fan of ATI then opt 4 the HD 5770
Win7 has DX11 but only the ATI 58xx series of cards actually uses DX11. The GTX260 is a DX10 gpu.

Hey, thanks everyone.
Quote:
As suggested, if you want a gpu and computer that's gonna last several years, you may want to upgrade your psu. Why limit what hardware you can or can not install in your machine because the psu doesn't have enough amps...that's just silly!/dragoncyber's post

As for this, is that I'm building my computer on a really tight budget ($300) which is why I'm selling my parts to my buddy who needs them because his computer crapped out.

But, if I will look into spending the extra $100 for a new PSU/4890, just not sure where it will come from.
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