Some advice about a new graphics card

[cmann1]

I'm thinking about getting a new graphics card but I'm not sure it's worth going to be that much better then what I already have.

This is the card I'm looking at:
Leadtek WinFast GTS 250

And here are some specs from Belarc Advisor:
2.50 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Board: XFX MI-A78U-8309 Ver1.1
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz

2048 Megabytes Installed Memory DDR2 800

NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT

Considering this is there going to be much of an improvement?

 

[Mousemonkey]

It's a bit of an upgrade but not enough of one to warrant spending any cash on. If it helps think of the GTS250 as a 9800GTX.

 

[cmann1]

OK Thanks.
What would be the next highest card that would be worth buying that would still work with that machine?


Also, what about this pc which is almost identical:

2.60 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M2A-VM HDMI 1.XX
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz

2048 Megabytes Installed Memory

NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT

 

[Mousemonkey]

A GTX260 216 would be a better card but whether it would run or not depends on the PSU fitted.

 

[cmann1]

You mean like this:
Club 3D CGNX-X2696DD
How much better is the GTX260?

This is from the side of the PSU:
-----------------------------------------------------
model:atx-500W-p4

+5V & +12V combined load 220W
+5V & +3.3V & +12V Combined load 470W

Total output is 500W max
-----------------------------------------------------

And the second computer?
Will it be worth it to get the GTS250 for that one?

 

[shadow187]

I'd get an HD5770 for that PSU. It's equal to a GTX260 but much cheaper, and it runs cooler and uses much less power.

 

[Mousemonkey]

You mean like this:
Club 3D CGNX-X2696DD
How much better is the GTX260?

This is from the side of the PSU:
-----------------------------------------------------
model:atx-500W-p4

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7045/psu.png

+5V & +12V combined load 220W
+5V & +3.3V & +12V Combined load 470W

Total output is 500W max
-----------------------------------------------------

And the second computer?
Will it be worth it to get the GTS250 for that one?

The 8600GTS and 9600GT are similar to each other in performance whilst the 8600GT is below both of them in performance, closer to a 7600GT so a GTS250 would be a step up from that particular card.

 

[cmann1]

So it's definitely worth it to go from the 8600 the GTS250?

And for the HD5770 would this be fine:
Club 3D CGAX-57724IDP
And if the HD5770 really is just as good as the leadtek GTS250 would it be wiser to get that for the second pc with the 8600 as well?

mousemonkey: would you agree that the HD5770 equal to the GTX260 and therefore a better choice?

An extra question:
What really is the difference between NVidia and ATI? Is ATI usually cheaper, and does that mean that the more expensive NVidia card is of a higher quality?

 

[shadow187]

nVidia has lower supply, which means increased prices. Currently ATI beats nVidia at every price segment in the market, except for $70 (9600GT), though ATI has the better HD5670 for $85.

the HD5770 is much better than the GTS250, but equals the GTX260.

 

[cmann1]

Thanks for the reply.

A few questions:

1. If that's true, why would anyone event want to buy NVidia?

2. So then the HD5770 is the better choice, is the one I provided (Club 3D CGAX-57724IDP) a good choice?

3. If the Club 3D CGAX-57724IDP is fine would it better to get this one for both pc's (the 9600GT and the 8600GT one) because it's better then the GTS250 but it costs the same.

4. Would this one work on these two computers?

 

[Mousemonkey]

So it's definitely worth it to go from the 8600 the GTS250?

And for the HD5770 would this be fine:
Club 3D CGAX-57724IDP
And if the HD5770 really is just as good as the leadtek GTS250 would it be wiser to get that for the second pc with the 8600 as well?

mousemonkey: would you agree that the HD5770 equal to the GTX260 and therefore a better choice?

An extra question:
What really is the difference between NVidia and ATI? Is ATI usually cheaper, and does that mean that the more expensive NVidia card is of a higher quality?

I'd say they were comparable and if DX11 and Eyefinity is important to you then the ATi card is the one to go for, I'm not an ATi fan though and as I've been watching the GSOD issues for a while now I can't say that I would want one but each to their own.

 

[shadow187]

1.
At one point nVidia had higher supplies, but that time is of the past.

2.
Yes, that one will work fine.

3.
Yes, that card will be a significant upgrade from either PC.

4.
Yes.

 

[cmann1]

Thanks for all the help and the quick response, I think I can make a real decision now.

Just one last question, why are the Batman stats so terrible?
That's not even playable and I've really been wanting to get Arkham Asylum.

 

[Mousemonkey]

PhysX, when enabled does not run on ATi cards or if an ATi card is in the system as it's a propriety feature that ATi do not wish to use.

 

[shadow187]

you would want to look at the chart above that for ATI cards.

 

[bystander]

If you have 2 pcie slots, have XP or Win 7, you could hold onto your 9600 and use it as a dedicated physX card along with either upgrade, and Batman will perform well with either the 5770 or 260.

If you do this with the ATi card, you'll either need the GenL hack, or use older nvidia drivers.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The 260 and 4870 are about 10% faster than the 5770....in DX9/10 ...... Problem with the 260 is that it's now selling for $215 in the US at least whereas 3 months ago it was $155.....the 260 also does not support DX11 which should start to get important between XMas 2010 and 2011

As for Batman, it's a PhysX Game......ATI cards don't do PhysX.

here's some commentary on Batman and PhysX as well as what is needed to run it

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/batman-arkham-asylum,2465-11.html?xtmc=batman_physx&xtcr=1

To decide for yourself whether PhysX is worth your while, watch the video:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/batman_arkham_asylum_physx_performance/page2.asp

If you wanna save your old card as a dedictaed PhysX card w/ an ATI as your main card, read this:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ATI-physx-patch-gpu,8786.html?xtmc=play_nice_ati_physx&xtcr=1

Depending on your resolution however, (see page following the video on firingsquad site) the 8600 might not have enough oomph.