Which Graphics Card should I get?

[youngwolf0]

Hey guys,

I am planning to get a new GPU to replace my 8800GT 512mb. I want a card that can max out Crysis at a resolution of 1680x1050 and I can pay up to £300 for it. I also have a preference for nvidea because they support phys x but if an ati card is significantly better I may go for it.

My spec is as follows:

Case: Cool Master Cosmos S
CPU: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.0GHZ
GPU: XFX 8800GT 512mb
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 700W
CPU Fan: ZEROtherm Nirvana NV-129
Memory: Geil PC2 6400 2gb with heat sink X 2
Motherboard: ASUS p5n-d
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
also I have a small pci soundblaster sound card and a pci usb card.

 

[Silvune]

You'll probably be wanting to look for a GTX 470, as these will be between £250 and £300 in price, whilst giving you the best best quality and framerates for a card under £300. Unfortunately they are hot and noisy.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

Alternatively an HD 5850 should be the same or cheaper for slightly slower and much less power/heat/noise.

 

[youngwolf0]

Alternatively an HD 5850 should be the same or cheaper for slightly slower and much less power/heat/noise.

I don't really need it to be the fastest card in the as long as it can max out Crysis at the resolution of 1680x1050. Will the ati card manage this? Also does physx really make a big difference to graphics?

 

[guanyu210379]

Personally...I don't give a damn about PhysX.
ATI HD5850 should do just fine.

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

physx just slows down the graphics card to show you slightly different ragdoll physics. To most people it's a resounding meh.

 

[doogansquest]

5850 will be perfect for what you're hoping to achieve. It can play Crysis without a sweat. What's more, the 5850 scales really well if you ever go Crossfire in the future.

 

[youngwolf0]

is crossfire/sli really worth it? I heard that you only get roughly 30% increase in performance and the cost and heat are conciderable.

 

[youngwolf0]

in the end I ordered this, http://www.dabs.com/products/xfx-ati-radeon-5850-hd-1gb-pci-express-2-1-x16-hdmi-dx11-avp-6Z11.html. The question just occurred to me... is the hd version the right one to order?

 

[False_Dmitry_II]

That link doesn't work. That's just the full name, I used it in one of my posts.

It can help to crossfire but in my experience by the time you're ready to buy the second card you might as well sell it and buy a newer one.