Best Graphics Card that will work with my computer.

Krix Luther

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Hi All

Firstly this is what I started with:

HP a6582I (Less then a Year old)

Windows Vista 32bit
Mother Board - Intel Core (™) 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz
RAM - 1GB DDR 2
Graphics Card - GeForce 9300GE 3D
Hard Drive - 320GB 3G
Power Supply - 320w
Windows Vista 32bit
Monitor - HP 19” 1440x900

I want to learn to upgrade & build my own beast of a games computer, I upgraded to this so far:

Windows 7 - 64bit
RAM - 4 GB DDR2
Samsung Monitor 23” 2048x1152

Now I want to get an awesome Graphics card, I learnt that I have a PCI-Express something so I can use most Cards & I know I would need to upgrade my power to a 650w or more

I was researching the Geforce’s & ATI’s & I believe a Geforce would work better with my Mother Board but I was looking at the ATI’s 5850 HD as it has DX 11 support & Eye Finite which I would love to use in the future.

If my Mother Board prefers Geforces but I get an ATI what is the worse that could happen?

What is the best card that would work with my monitor’s resolution too?

I am getting this Card in preparation to buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R the 3rd game

Thanks guys… & please school & educate me on anything I may be wrong about because I would hate to the buy the wrong thing. :p
 
Solution
Agreed. With your current processor, I would suggest something along the lines of a 4850 on the low end, 4890 on the high end, or if you want DX11, a 5770 is a pretty good upper mid range, decent priced card that would go well with the rest of your system. I don't know if you can overclock your HP, probably not. But at 2.4 ghz, your processor is going to keep a modern-mid to high end graphic card from reaching it's peak performance. IMHO, a 58 series card is too much card for your processor to handle. If you want a 5850 or 5870, and they are quite impressive, you are going to need a processor running at a least 3ghz+ to really get the most out of them.
I am not including any nVidia cards in my suggestion because right now I think that...

JofaMang

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The 5850 would be a strong card, especially for that resolution. Any weaker card would punish you. You will need a stronger psu, 650w is a good rating to go for, though you could get by with less.

Video cards are limited by the speed of the cpu, and vica versa. Your cpu may hold back the 5850 a bit, but I don't think it will be crippling. Overclocking or replacement are options if it is, fair warning.

The only time the motherboard chipset matters (nvidia or ati) is when you are trying to run multi-card set-ups (Crossfire or SLi). For single card systems, there is no difference, as the single card bypasses all the parts on the motherboard that the company provides.
 
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2521.html

The $90 9800 GT provides "Exceptional 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in most games with lowered detail".

The $125 cards (GTS 250 / HD4850) provide "Exceptional 1680x1050 performance in most games, 1920x1200 in most games with lowered detail"

With your 1440x900 resolution being substantially lower, a $300 GFX card seems a bit of overkill.

 
Agreed. With your current processor, I would suggest something along the lines of a 4850 on the low end, 4890 on the high end, or if you want DX11, a 5770 is a pretty good upper mid range, decent priced card that would go well with the rest of your system. I don't know if you can overclock your HP, probably not. But at 2.4 ghz, your processor is going to keep a modern-mid to high end graphic card from reaching it's peak performance. IMHO, a 58 series card is too much card for your processor to handle. If you want a 5850 or 5870, and they are quite impressive, you are going to need a processor running at a least 3ghz+ to really get the most out of them.
I am not including any nVidia cards in my suggestion because right now I think that ATI has the most to offer from a value and performance standpoint. If you want an nVidia GPU, then by all means get an nVidia GPU, but you will have to look to someone else for suggestions.
PS...ATI or Nvidia, your motherboard does not care which brand you choose. The only time it makes any difference at all is if you are running SLI or Crossfire, then the board must support that feature. Other than that, get which ever you want. Makes no difference and one brand of GPU will not outperform the other because of the motherboard chipset.
Anyhow, that is my 2 cents.
 
Solution

shubham1401

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He mentioned that he upgraded monitor to a Samsung 23" :)

+1 to jitpublisher...
OC your CPU a bit so as to match the performance of a HD5850 or whatever you buy.
 

Krix Luther

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Ok guys I got a 5870 instead & one day I will Crossfire it when I have the dosh, but I can’t even get the first one to work :(

I bought a new 750w Blue Diamond Power Supply to go with it, which works fine with the old Geforce Card... But when I take that out & replace it with the New 5870 it doesn’t get past the boot screen, it’s a big Blue screen with HP logo in the middle saying:

Press Esc for Boot Menu
Press F5 for Settings
Press F10 for Diagnostics

But when I press one of them options it Freezes???

Any Ideas? :(
 

charlesbego

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If you have other old monitor with less resolution, try to boot with that monitor until u are inside windows, then set the resolution to... say... 1360 x 768 @ 60hz), ok... shut down, than try it again with your new samsung 23 " (WHAT A MONITOR U HAVE), good luck
 

2ndtimer

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You did remove the Nvidia drivers before attempting to install the new card, I hope. Trying to install that ATI card with Nvidia drivers still in windows is not recommended. Uninstall your old Nvidia display in device manager, then shut down and remove the old card, install your new card, then install your ATI drivers. (Some people say to download the ATI drivers before installing the card, but it seems to make little difference in my experience.)
 

Krix Luther

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I formatted my Hard Drive about a month back when I installed Windows 7 but I never re-installed any Drivers, the old Geforce just worked. I have installed the ATI Drivers now for the new Windows 7 & still its the same thing :(

Maan... I am confused I thought it would be just Plug & Play :(
 

Krix Luther

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I tried removing the old graphics card drivers and then installing the Radion 5870 Card. Same results. it is not getting past the HP invent welcome screen. I can not enter the F10=Setup/Esc=Boot Menu/F9=Diagnostics. When I insert the old card it boots up fine.

The motherboard is Foxconn n15235 and the graphics card is Radeon 5870. Can anyone confirm the card is compatible with this motherboard? The PC is a factory build (HP Pavilion A6582i) RAM has been upgraded to 3GB and the power supply is now Blue Diamond 750W

anyone got any ideas???