Need Final thoughts on my vid card update plan

[ern88]

Ok gang,

I am going to upgrade my Vid card from A BFG NVIDIA 9800 GTX tomorrow. My sys specs is E8400 3.0 dual core. 4 gigs ddr2 1088 ram. And ASUS P5K-E MoBo. My power supply is a 610 watt Silencer 49 A, 12V rail, SLI ready PSU. I am looking at the XFX 5850 Black edition. Is this over kill for my system. I am also thinking ahead for future upgrades as well. Thanks guys. I just want to get some final opinions.

 

[branflakes71]

What resolution are you gaming at? That'll decide if it's overkill.

I'd go with it, though. The E8400 is a nice cpu. It will enjoy the new card.

 

[ern88]

1680 x 1050, probably higher with the new vid card

 

[deadlockedworld]

You wont really see the full power difference until you move above 1680x1050. Its a good choice though. The 5850 will last a while, and might even be worthwhile to crossfire in your next system. It also uses less power and creates less heat than your 9800GTX, so you are good there too.

I would overclock your E8400 if you haven't already to go along with the new card. It should reach 3.5-4ghz no problem.

I would also look into turning the 9800GTX into a dedicated physX card if you dont plan to sell it.

 

[ern88]

You wont really see the full power difference until you move above 1680x1050. Its a good choice though. The 5850 will last a while, and might even be worthwhile to crossfire in your next system. It also uses less power and creates less heat than your 9800GTX, so you are good there too.

I would overclock your E8400 if you haven't already to go along with the new card. It should reach 3.5-4ghz no problem.

I would also look into turning the 9800GTX into a dedicated physX card if you dont plan to sell it.

How do I do that? Because I am sure I can with my ASUS P5K-E

 

[deadlockedworld]

Tom's article on overclocking a Core 2 Duo:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-2-overclock,2316.html
They use an E8500--so its exactly the same as the E8400.

I dont know a great deal about PhysX cards and havent ever used one. What I do know is that it allows the secondary card will give you better graphics in Nvidia "the way its meant to be played" games with PhysX graphics. The last Nvidia driver blocked the use of PhysX cards along with ATI GPUs, but there is a hack available to circumvent. This would be a bit more difficult than overclocking.

Similar thread: (search for more)
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/278595-33-dedicated-physx-card

 

[ern88]

Best answer selected by ern88.