Upgrading GPU

[unionplumber]

Hello everyone, I'm planning on upgrading my 9800 GT within the next week or two and was wondering if my power supply would be sufficient enough to run some of the cards i was looking at.


This is my current power supply (Antec Earthwatts 500w)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007&cm_re=antec_earthwatts-_-17-371-007-_-Product

I'm currently running in the computer :

1 Sata HDD
1 9800 GT
E8400 @ 3.0Ghz
Mobo - EP43-DS3L
~5 USB devices
~2-3 fans

I'm looking to upgrade the 9800 GT to something around the $200-250 price range, and was currently looking at the 6850/6870 or a GTX 460.

Now i'm not sure any of these cards would bottleneck my system at all either? The only processor intensive game i play currently is BFBC2 I am looking to play that and Aion @ 1920x1080 maxed.

I am not sure the 6870 could run with my current PSU, but am pretty confident the 6850 could.

I just purchased this monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236049 so i need a new card to go with it and any help would be very much appreciated.


Thanks in advance!

 

[bystander]

The PSU is strong enough, it meets the manufacturer's requirements for the cards, and it's a good brand, so it should be just fine.

All 3 cards you are looking at should work great with your new system. The CPU may be the bottleneck on some games, but it won't be on others. It's a pretty good fit.

 

[SHIELDHEAD]

IMO, the HD 6870 is a great buy, but if u plan on maxing out both those games, id look first at a new motherboard and cpu to further expand for the future. (remember xmas is around the corner xD) but if you need a card and have no money for a huge upgrade get the 6870 and ull get prob BC2 on high but w/ no AA and itll be good. (maby 2-4 AA im not sure though) If you wanna wait a bit, the GTX 500 series is fully coming out in December, and the GTX 560 or 570 might be up ur alley =)

 

[blahbot90]

I highly recommend you upgrade, because down the road, you may upgrade hdd, add a fan or something small and the cards you're looking at, a 500W PSU is on their minimum requirements side and it might not be enough. If you can fit this into your budget I'd recommend:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018&cm_re=ocz_modxstream_pro-_-17-341-018-_-Product

If you can't try going lower, like a 460 gtx or 5830. Better to be on the safe side when it comes to PSUs.

 

[purple stain]

Just looked it up and your at about 450 Watts(give or take a few) with a 5870,so i think it's safe to say that you can get a 6870 with your current PSU.Would reccomened to go with a 6870,but you won't be able to get it's full potential due to your prossesor,Maybe O.C.?

 

[jay2tall]

The earthwatt 500W is my PSU of choice for mainstream PC's. It is just a rock solid unit. It will run a 6870 just fine, which is what I would probably recommend especially if you play Bad Company 2. the GTX470's are a good deal right now, but do exceed the requirements of the 500W PSU you have. So 6870 is my suggestion. The GTX560 is supposed to be great, but won't be here until Q1 2011.

PS, nice monitor choice. My buddy has a build right now he is working on and was on his bench. Looked nice, especially for the price.

 

[unionplumber]

Well I think I'm gonna go with the 6850... and if need be i could overclock it in the future.

I just don't think the 6870 is worth the extra cash right now, (thought i found a deal on it yesterday - but was actually the 5870)

So with that out of the way now is the 6850 even compatible with my motherboard? EP43-DS3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128347

It's an older board and the 6850 says something about 2.1 pci-express and mine is only 2.0 - though I did read and see that that should work with 2.0, but just want confirmation.

Also about the bottleneck situation - as I said the only cpu intensive game I play is BC2 and it runs well above 40 frames and never drops below 30 during explosions etc with my e8400 @3GHz would i notice any increase in performance at all in it or will it decrease since i am going from 1440x900 to 1920x1080?

What about other non intensive cpu games? Mostly just some newer MMO's and maybe Battlefield 3 when it gets released (but by that time i hope to have an i7 system)

Sorry for all the questions but this is my first time upgrading my monitor and kind of just made a quick decision on buying it then later forgetting that my 9800 GT probably wouldn't be able to play anything at decent frames.

Again thanks everyone for the help


Oh forgot to add : Which version of the 6850 would be best to go for http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048&IsNodeId=1&Description=6850&name=Desktop%20Graphics%20%2f%20Video%20Cards was looking at the xfx since i think they have a lifetime warranty? My 9800 GT is but i forgot to register it on their site within the first 30 days or whatever it was...

 

[purple stain]

If you found a deal on the 5870 and it's cheaper than the 6850 you should get it,it's better than the 6850 and maybe the 6870.

Yes ANY card will work for your mobo,it's not that old.

With a faster card and running at your new resoloution you should see a performance gain,should be running at 50+FPS on high setting in BC2, it won't matter that much playing at a higher res because it's a fast card.

You will have to eventually upgrade your CPU down the road to keep up with demmanding games,as for BF3 i think it will beinfit most from a quad core,but just get another 6850 and you should be fine,Beta starts next October.

I like the Asus version because it has the voltage tweak ability, also like the gigabyte version cause of the 2 fans but they are both sold out right now on newegg.

One last thing you should do before you buy the card is check if your Power Supply has a 6pin connector,the 6850 requires at least 1 -6pin connector.Would be a bummer to buy it and find out that your PSU doesn't have one.

EDIT: Just checked you'll be fine.

Goodluck and happy gamming.