Upgrading 8800GTS, 200€ budget

[drevin]

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my GPU from the current 8800GTS. Which graphics card do you think would be the best deal for around 200€? Do the MB and PSU (below) support the current generation of GPUs or would I run into compatibility problems?

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: december 2010

BUDGET RANGE: 100-200 €

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming

CURRENT GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
PSU: Antec Earthwatts 500W
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2,4GHz,
MB: Asus P5N32-E SLI LGA775 nForce680i
RAM: Kingston 4GB HyperX 800MHz DDR2

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050

OVERCLOCKING: No

SLI/Crossfire: No

 

[mrjericho1991]

overclock the processor,ram is fine,mobo is fine.ummmm get gtx 460, it would be great or if you cannot afford it than ive got 1 gpu ati hd 5770,for sure it has dx11 plus horsepower to run it.

 

[HostileDonut]

Discard the gtx 460, not to be mean to the other guy though. The hd6850 normally beats the gtx 460 by a few FPS and I own one and I am very impressed at its performance. Get the SAPPHIRE TOXIC edtion hd6850, it is a great card, and yeah, OC a bit.

 

[wa1]

GTX460/HD6850 is more than enough to maxed out almost everything at 1680x1050. Your current PSU is enough to run either single card above with no problem...

I assume your board has 1.1 pcie slot version then make sure you get 2.0 card instead of 2.1. Like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102912
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130566

 

[HostileDonut]

wa1, I revieved my hd6850, on the box it actually said PCI-E 2.1 instead of the 2.0. I have a 1.0 slot and it worked like a charm. The only problem I have had was that it told me my drivers did not respond sometimes.

 

[wa1]

Yes, I know, technically 2.1 cards are backward compatible with 1.0 slots, but in the real life many people confirm that 2.1 card is compatible with 1.0 slot and the others not. That's why I recommend 2.0 card just for "safe" side.

 

[HostileDonut]

Oh, okay, I must have gotten lucky.

 

[drevin]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I suppose it's a choice between GTX460 and HD6850.

GTX460/HD6850 is more than enough to maxed out almost everything at 1680x1050. Your current PSU is enough to run either single card above with no problem...

I assume your board has 1.1 pcie slot version then make sure you get 2.0 card instead of 2.1. Like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102912
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130566

Yes, it has 1.1 pcie slots. So 2.0 cards will be safer choices than 2.1 cards? Does there exist 2.1 versions of GTX460/HD6850, and is there a difference in price?

 

[wa1]

Difference in price? No.
All GTX460 are 2.0, some HD6850 are 2.0 and some 2.1.
All the cards above (my links) are 2.0.

 

[HostileDonut]

Get the sapphire toxic hd6850. I have one and the performance is amazingly high for a mid range card.