Purchase second graphics card

[lmartinefc]

Hi,

I am running an Intel q6600 @ 2.4Ghz, with 4Gb DDR2 (soon to be DDR3) RAM.

The graphics card plugged to this setup is a Gainward 8800GT 512Mb DDR3 Dual DVI. This card support SLI and so I would like to install a second card (Asus P5KC iP35 Motherboard).

Can I have an opinion on my current card? I do not know a great deal about graphics cards. The RAM size is not that important (i have gathered) and it is more to do with the frequency of the cores and the RAM. Is there an iditios guide anywhere? Trying to see why one 512mb card costs £25 where another will cost £90

What would be a suitable second card to plug into the existing one (or maybe buy a better card and have the Gainward act as the lesser card)

Regards

Luke

 

[shadow187]

For E25? Thats good; go ahead and get it. 2x 8800GT's would equal a GTX275 or better, which is $260.

 

[lmartinefc]

Sorry, i should have been clearer. I cannot get an 8800Gt for £25. I was wondering why there is such a price difference in cards. Some 512mb card (inno3d, asus etc) are £25+ on eBuyer....but other 512mb may cost up to £90. What is the difference. SLI, core speed, memory speed?

I'm a newb to graphics card...is there a general guide somewhere?

Any suggestions on a card to link to this one, or a better card to purchase, and use the 8800Gt as a slave card

??

Thanks

 

[Derbixrace]

that motherboard of yours doesnt support SLI, only crossfire

 

[lmartinefc]

Hmmm ok...

So what can I do in this instance to beef up the graphics side.

Purchase new 1Gb Graphics card or get a second 8800GT (92 GPU chipset if anyone has one going spare ) or other 512mb card?

Surely Crossfire is better than SLI as the two cards dont have to identical (forgive my ignorance)

Regards

Luke

 

[JDFan]

Hmmm ok...

So what can I do in this instance to beef up the graphics side.

Purchase new 1Gb Graphics card or get a second 8800GT (92 GPU chipset if anyone has one going spare ) or other 512mb card?

Surely Crossfire is better than SLI as the two cards dont have to identical (forgive my ignorance)

Regards

Luke

Thing is Crossfire is for ATI video cards !! - Nvidia runs SLI and needs a MOBO that supports SLI to run 2 cards - your MOBO only supports having 2 ATI video cards running together not 2 Nvidia cards so you would need to get rid of the Nvidia 8800 and buy 2 new ATI cards in order to run crossfire !!

 

[Rustyy117]

Well You have just 1 option really and that is to get a single better card, rather than SLi-ing your 8800GT with another (as your motherboard doesn't support SLi)

2 cards that have the same amount of memory doesn't mean they will perform the same at all. That applies for alot of things E.g...2 cards with the same core clock won't necessarily perform the same.
Its quite complicated, you'd have to learn about ROP's, Bandwidth, Texture fill rate......

If you could post your budget and also the rest of your PC spec's including your monitor's resolution and also your power supply make and model we can suggest a graphics card for you.

 

[lmartinefc]

I only have 500w PSU.

Looking to spend up to £100. I know not alot to work with but def an improvment on the 8800GT ?

Intel Quad Core Q6600 @ 2.4Ghz 8Mb Cache
Motherboard is Asus i35
4Gb Corsair DDR2 RAM (going to upgrade to DDR3)

Regards

Luke

 

[lmartinefc]

Sorry, monitor is 22" full HD

 

[Derbixrace]

is 100£ enough for a 5770? a 5770 would be a good choice

 

[Rustyy117]

well you'd be looking at a GTX260/4870/5770 to be a worth while upgrade, I'd recommend a 5770 as it has DX11, uses less power than the other 2 cards and produces less heat. Also the 4870 is hard to come by and the GTX260 is more expensive than either of the other 2

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-131-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515

You might find it cheaper else where, here are a few sites that you might want to shop around at:

Scan.co.uk
Novatech.co.uk
Overclockers.co.uk
Aria.co.uk
Ebuyer.co.uk


Mousemonkey this is for you: @OP You may have problems if you choose to buy a 5770, problems such as GSOD or vertical grey lines....

 

[lmartinefc]

So if i drop £130 on a 5770.... i will be able to play Crysis on max settings. And Bioshock 2 etc.... Alien v Predator.... without having to upgrade hardware for next year or two.

?

Regards

Luke

 

[lmartinefc]

Also, is there any difference between the different brands? other than price.

They are all DDR5, all same pec (correct?)

Might as well get the cheapest

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-131-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515

Or would the extra £20 for a diff brand make any difference?

 

[JDFan]

I wouldn't say MAX settings (don't think there is a system yet that can run crysis at MAX settings - and your 6600 CPU will limit performance in some games) but it should play everything pretty well and will be a big improvement over your 8800 !

 

[Mousemonkey]

Mousemonkey this is for you: @OP You may have problems if you choose to buy a 5770, problems such as GSOD or vertical grey lines....

[:wolfen18:9]

 

[lmartinefc]

I was going to build a new system with a Q8300 as has higher clock speed. But only 4Mb cache

So stuck with the Q6600 as has 8Mb and a higher multiplier.

Thinking do the tried and tested overclock on the Q6600. Not sure what the max overclock is but lends itelf well to 3Ghz+ without additional cooling. Although beyond this will be getting the water cooler plugged in

Any other suggestions to boost it going forward (DDR3 ram will come next)

Eventually will move to i7 but OC Q6600 is a monster for now!

 

[Rustyy117]

I was going to build a new system with a Q8300 as has higher clock speed. But only 4Mb cache

So stuck with the Q6600 as has 8Mb and a higher multiplier.

Thinking do the tried and tested overclock on the Q6600. Not sure what the max overclock is but lends itelf well to 3Ghz+ without additional cooling. Although beyond this will be getting the water cooler plugged in

Any other suggestions to boost it going forward (DDR3 ram will come next)

Eventually will move to i7 but OC Q6600 is a monster for now!

Your Q6600 @ 3Ghz will be just fine, and a 5770 will play pretty much all games at high/max... Don't worry about Crysis. It would take over £1000 worth of GPU power to play crysis at max (2x 5970's) + a heavily overclocked Core i7.

 

[lmartinefc]

That's good to hear. Still a bit new to this level, previously only used PC for data processing (mining, in depth database analysis and comparison).

Was the Q6600 a better choice than the Q8300? Higher multiplier and cache so more potential, but at stock does not hit the same mark.

Got the whole rig, Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Corsair memory - 4GB DDR2 800MHz
Nvidia Gainward 8800GT 512MB Graphics Card
500GB Seagate Hard Drive
Asus P5KC iP35 Motherboard
LG DVD±RW/DL/RAM drive
Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower Case
KWorld Dual Digital TV Tuner with Remote for Windows Media Centre
Belkin N1 Wireless desktop Card
Windows 7 Ultimate
Bioshock, Bioshock2, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Assasins Creed etc...

£400!! Case alone costs £100 on eBuyer

Now just to bring the graphics up to scratch

Regards

Luke

 

[lmartinefc]

Would I see much difference between the £110 version or the £135 XXX version that runs at 875Mhz core clock (extra 25Mhz) and 5200Mhz memory clock (cheaper one runs at 4800Mhz) + some other techie bits

???

Worth the extra £20

Luke

 

[Rustyy117]

I'd say no it isn't worth it, as you could easily overclock a standard 5770 to XXX performance

 

[lmartinefc]

Thinking the Club3D is a better choice than the VTX. Same price except Club3D ive 2 year warranty. Or am i missing something?

 

[Rustyy117]

Nope your right, have you searched through the list of websites I posted earlier? You might find a better deal

 

[lmartinefc]

had a search. im thinking this is the best deal :

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/ATI+Radeon+5000+Series+PCI-E/HIS+ATI+Radeon+HD+5770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=39068

Also has 2 year warranty.

Should work with my MOBO???

Which is better (in your opinion) the HIS or Club 3D???

Regards

Lke

 

[JDFan]

had a search. im thinking this is the best deal :

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/ATI+Radeon+5000+Series+PCI-E/HIS+ATI+Radeon+HD+5770+1024MB+GDDR5+PCI-Express+Graphics+Card+?productId=39068

Also has 2 year warranty.

Should work with my MOBO???

Which is better (in your opinion) the HIS or Club 3D???

Regards

Lke

On the HIS which version are they actually shipping ?? - the main pic shows a model with 2x DVI connectors but the gallery image and product specs show the model with just 1 DVI connection (which might make a difference if you plan on using multiple monitors at some point !!

 

[lmartinefc]

Seems to be a common issue.

That solves it...the VTX it is (heard that the club also ships with 1 x DVI)

Now the big question...anybody got a voucher for overclockers.co.uk ??