8800 GTS Replacement

[Kralnor]

My 8800 GTS 320MB just died on me. When I boot, it doesn't display anything at all yet the fan spins like crazy. I've tried replacing it with a 6600 GT which works fine, but is of course completely out of the question for gaming, so I need a new video card.

These are my relevant system specs:

C2D E6600
GA-965P-DS4
ViewSonic VX922 (1280*1024)
4GB Corsair XMS2 PC5400

I don't game at a very high resoultion because the monitor simply doesn't support it. Lately, I have been considering replacing it, especially for study work, as I do a fair bit of programming.

I am considering the 5850 but I assume it would be completely overkill at only 1280*1024 and I am also worried about how much it would be bottlenecked by the CPU. However, I expect to build a new system within the upcoming year. Unfortunately, I obviously can't postpone purchasing a new video card, since I do a fair bit of gaming.

What about the 5770? I considered plugging that into my current system for now and then purchasing a new video card once again when I do a completely new rig. Would the 5770 be heavily bottlenecked in this system at 1280*1024? Would a lesser video card do? I'd like to play with as high detail as possible, given the current system constraints.
I'm not really considering the 5750, as its price is nearly identical to the 5770 in my country.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[shadow187]

Get the HD5770. It'll go perfectly with your CPU, and it'll max out everything at your resolution. It'll be fine.

 

[Kralnor]

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I will go with the HD5770. As you say, it should handle anything at this resolution and it would still be fine once I upgrade.

I wonder why there are so many variations of the card, though? I see 30 different ones available near me.

 

[jyjjy]

It's a good choice and should be slightly over twice as powerful as your 8800 GTS at your current resolution and a bit more at higher resolutions. There are so many variations because it is popular. The only significant variation among the cards is there are a few 512mb versions. The difference between that and 1gb actually wouldn't really matter at all at your current resolution but it would when you upgrade the monitor. The other differences would be fan/heatsink, warranty and most importantly imo, price.
BTW assuming that is one of the older e6600s (2.4ghz) overclocking it would be a good idea as it will limit the card some especially at low resolutions like yours. It should OC pretty easily up to at least 3ghz.

 

[Lutfij]

in support of jyjjy's post - @ kralnor - for that you'd need to invest in a good/cheap cooler go for a coolermaster hyper 212+ ,you shud b more than happy with it, and if your migrating to a new mobo - you'll get multisocket support

 

[jyjjy]

He said he is considering replacing the monitor

 

[shadow187]

He also said he wanted good advice.

 

[Lutfij]

@ kralnor - pay no attention to I M Weasol aka ^^^^^

 

[Mousemonkey]

@ kralnor - pay no attention to I M Weasol aka ^^^^^

Why not? ct1615 has been here longer than you, has a higher post count than and communicates in an adult fashion as opposed to the frankly rather annoying text speak that seems to be the fashion these days.

 

[Mousemonkey]

And that's not a weasel by the way, it's a ferret.

 

[Kralnor]

Thanks for the advice, folks.

I went ahead and ordered the XFX HD 5770 and it arrived today. In games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R the difference is phenomenal. You're right when you say it was probably overkill at this resolution, but ah well. I value low noise components highly and this card is quite silent. It can maintain 70C even at only 50% fan speed, probably due to the low power consumption which coupled with DX11 support is another plus. My old 8800GTS was quite verbose and got very hot (near 90 degrees) during stressful gaming.

All in all, I am satisfied with the purchase. I did consider buying a cheaper card like the 4850, but in the end the price difference didn't bother me all that much compared to the benefits that the 5770 provides.

Now all that is left is to find a way to use SpeedFan to read its temperature

 

[coozie7]

^ Use GPU-Z or Rivatuner.
And Lutfij has a point with the overclocking, using the Hyper 212+ my previous E6600 (also on a Gigabyte 965 board) ran to 3.2 GHz with only a small voltage tweak and still kept below 60C, even under heavy load.