Wanting a better graphics card, is it worth replacing a 9600gt?

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aidynphoenix

aidynphoenix

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hello i have a 9600gt in my rig, and am wondering what videocards are better than the 9600gt for a reasonable price..
when i bought the 9600gt on newegg it was about $160.

im also wondering if it is worth the upgrade considering the specs of my computer.
AMD64 dualcore 5000+ @2.6ghz.
4GB DDR2-800
nvidia 9600gt
asus m2n sli deluxe motherboard.
im running windows 7 ultimate..


i seem to be maxing out my graphics card in games like bioshock2 and farcry2
the windows gadget gpu meter shows the videocards at its max in these games.
i am willing to get a card that is better than what my processor can feed it. than upgrade the rest of my system later..
but with the changes in series. im not sure exactially how to determine what cards are superior to the others..

i have been unable to find a list showing what cards are better than the others in order..
i would find that really helpfull.

oh yea,, Btw. im a nvidia man!
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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Go to the last page of this article, it will list many cards by tiers. If you upgrade, jump several tiers, or you will be disappointed by a small change.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850,2782.html

To help assess the situation, run these two tests:

1) Run your games, but reduce the resolution and eye candy to a minimum. This will simulate what will happen if you upgrade to a stronger graphics card. If your FPS improves, it indicates that your cpu is capable of driving a stronger graphics card to higher levels of FPS.

2) Keeping your graphics resolution and settings the same, reduce your cpu power. Do this by removing the overclock, or by using windows power management to set a maximum cpu% of perhaps 70%. If your FPS drops significantly, it indicates that your current cpu is a limiting factor, and that a faster cpu would help.
 
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nforce4max

nforce4max

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Honestly yes and there are plenty of options even when you don't consider the second hand market not there isn't any thing wrong by being thrifty (we got mostly millionaire euro brats here). For Nvidia you could go for a cheap GTS450 or a used GTX260 if you are on a small budget or go for a 6850 or a GTX460 is you want speed to burn. In any case its up to you.
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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You haven't really stated a budget or your monitor's resolution so it is hard to give specific advice but if you are looking for a around what you spent for the 9600GT then the 768mb model of the GTX 460 is the way to go;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125334
It's quite a large upgrade, over twice as powerful as the 9600GT.
If the price on that is too much the GTS 450 can be found for around $100 these days and would also be a large upgrade but more along the lines of 50-70% depending on the clock speed of the model you buy.
 
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cheesesubs

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budget? power supply? purpose is use(gaming, watch movie or work)? application&graphical setting? please list detal so people can help you.

since you had 9600gt which i assume your psu are above 400w then the highest you can get is 9800gt or gts 250 (since you are nv fan so you'd miss many opportunity.)

gts 250

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134078&cm_re=gts_250-_-14-134-078-_-Product

9800gt

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500115&cm_re=9800gt-_-14-500-115-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187126&cm_re=9800gt-_-14-187-126-_-Product
 
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aidynphoenix

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im useing two identical monitors side by side.. (i use single display performance mode in nvidia settings)
each screen is a 21 inch 1600x1200 max resoulution.. and thats the rez i use them at..

im not concerned much by price. im going to have to save up for it.. i would like something under $200..
but i know when the new series hits the market prices are going to drop more and it would probably be best for me to spend my money right after they drop prices..
i wont ever spend $500 on a videocard..
does anybody have a guesstimation on when the next series is due to hit the market?

Edit: useing a 600w psu. but hoping to get something better.
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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The high end of the HD6000 series is being released today/tonight. The high end of the GTX 500 series came out over the last month. The only major releases to come at this point is the dual GPU HD6990 and the mid-range GTX 560 but those may take a few months. Might want to hold off a bit and see if the new AMD cards push down the prices of cards in your price range, specifically the GTX 460 1gb, but it is already well priced at $180-200.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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At your resolution, with two monitors, something like a GTX460 1gb card would be appropriate. It is in the $200 ballpark. The new AMD cards might target that price range, so something might happen. The marketplace is very competitive, so you will get good value in every price range. New products must compete in the marketplace with the old cards. If they are not better or cheaper, they will not sell. Sometimes older products increase in price because of scarcity and unique demand. Think about those who are trying to match their old card tfor SLI. I don't think Nvidia will have the next generation ready for a year. The recently announced 5xx cards are just a stopgap.

Your 600w psu should run just about any single card, unless it is a crummy cheapo brand. How many amps does it deliver on the +12v rails?

--------------------------bottom line------------------------------
Dont sweat the timing. Get what you need when you want it.
 
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cheesesubs

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then wait until january 6th because gtx 560 is going to release at that date. but do you have to be NV exclusively? or do you have to get the card now? if not then gtx 560 is worth the waiting.
 
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aidynphoenix

aidynphoenix

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well my best cards have always been nvidia cards..
i have used a radeon9200 and a x1600 but these were kinda temporary cards..

when i had my geforce 5500 256mb (seems so long ago)
i had gotten ahold of a 9200 128mb and was comparing and benchmarking them..
for some reason i was convinced that the 9200 made images and colors look better than the other nvidia cards i had..

but i never thought anything good about the x1600.. that was just my temporary card when i accidently destroyed my first 9600gt (thank god still under warranty)
i pluged in the S-video output into a RF modulator.. and pluged the coaxial output on that into a television.. little did i know that the coaxial connector in the tv was loose and able to twist freely..
i turned on the tv.. and my videocard went POP! and my computer wouldent boot anymore.. that was a sad lan party.





thanks!!
my psu has two 12v rails.. each at 19Amps..
but i do some mild electronics repair and i know how psu caps can get old (particulary the filter caps)
and i dont want any fluctuating voltages from my psu..
right now my 12v rail is about 12.6v which is at that point where any more is dangerious..
so i plan to buy a new powersupply soon..
im thinking a corsair (they seem to be doing well now)
something between 600-800watts.
 
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aidynphoenix

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not wanting to change the subject but i used to check out newegg at school each day to see the new products and compare cards and stuff..
this was back when the 6 series was new..
i noticed that the sparkle and pyle brands have gotten common sence then..
i am under the impression that these brands are new.. and because of the cheaper prices i see on them.. they probably arent to be trusted..

is there any truth to this?
whenever i hear Asus, rosewell, Pny, XFX, Evga i always feel like it is a name brand that has been around the block and you can trust them...

im only wanting to buy components that come with quality capaciators..
im wondering if i will have to contact newegg or the hardware manufacturers to be sure what kinds of caps they are useing on their components.
i know that all caps arent the same.. some last longer and have a higher tolorance rating than others.. this can mean a more stable machine, and it will last longer..
does anybody else consider anything like this while selecting components or picking brands??
 
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J

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The new cards like everyone is pointing you to, the GTX460 is the best card for the money on the shelf right now, and is more than you need that will match the rest of your current hardware. You ARE going to be limiting that cards potential quite a bit already with your old X2 processor, it's getting pretty tired by today's standards, for gaming anyway. (I know, I have been there, I have done it) I went from an X2 4800+ clocked to 2.8ghz and a 8800GTS 512 to a Phenom 920 and the 8800GTS, and that was a solid 30% gain in 3D Mark 06. 3d Mark 06 does favor more CPU cores and gives a little bit of an over inflated true to life benchmark as you add more cores, but gaming and everyday use the gain was still impressive.
So waiting on better/faster cards is kind of pointless since just about any new mid range card you buy will be more than the rest of your hardware can keep up with.
That 9600GT when it came out new was only considered a low end gaming card at best, just a tick above the 9500, which was considered the very bottom of the barrel for gaming.
 
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aidynphoenix

aidynphoenix

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thanks for this info..
i went from a 6600gt on a athlon xp 3000+ with 2gb DDR400. running winxp

to the 9600gt on a amd64x2 5000+ @2.6ghz. with 4gb DDR2-800 running win7

that was a big change there...

my current motherboard is a ASUS M2N Sli Deluxe..
i have read online that a AM2 motherboard can use AM2+ and AM3 processors..
my motherboad is simply a AM2..
would it be worth buying a newer processor for this particular mobo?


i am willing to have a videocard up and above my current computer can take full advantage of.. by doing this.. later down the road when i get the new processor, ram and mobo. i wont be forced to buy a new videocard at the same time.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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1) Most of the video cards are reference models, that come from Nvidia, but with different cosmetics and cooling solutions. The vendors may differ in warranties, and customer service. For Nvidia, EVGA seems to be the best; they have an active support forum. Many of their units have lifetime warranties.

2) The amps on two +12v rails are not necessarily additive. You have at most 19+19=38a, probably a bit less. Current psu's will have a combined total on their spec plate.
What brand is it? My short list of quality psu's include Corsair, PC P&C, Antec, Seasonic, and XFX. XFX has a nice 650w modular unit for $65 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817207007


3) A GTX470 might be pushing it(550w, 38a, 6+6).

You can be comfortable with a GTX460 which needs 450w, 24a, and 6+6 pcie connectors.
With two monitors, I would get the 1gb version. It is faster, anyway.

4) Today, I would wait to see what sandy bridge brings. I think the 2500K in the $200 price bracket will be the chip of choice for gamers.
 
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bstm400

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I would hold off on buying a GTS 450 or a GTX 460 until the GTX 560 and the Radeon 6750 and 6770 are released. These cards should all be released by February or April and could drop the prices of the 460 and 450 even more. Also, don't buy from crappy brands you don't trust unless they've received a good Tom's, Guru 3d, Hardware Canucks, or Tech Power-Up review. Otherwise, just go off of newegg.com reviews (only verified owners and rated the most helpful). In general, I trust Sapphire, XFX, and EVGA the most because they have better warranties and reviews than other brands. Remember, it is always better to pay an extra 10-20 for a better brand if the warranty coverage is better.
 
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cheesesubs

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6770 and 6750 will come out as rebrand of current juniper core 5770 with higher frequency. it is not worth to buy. do you honest people would throw $150 to buy a 16 rops/128bit bu card just to support a barely dead company to stay alive? this is the real world and bench & price point tell everything. at the same price you can just get a gtx 460 or better why get 6770 when its performance is way weaker than 6850? because of single 6pin or no external power? then upgrade your cheap ass pre-built pc power supply first. if you don't have money to throw on basic power supply then you shouldn't buy a graphic card that only giving you little boot in performance and you shouldn't play video game. simple.

PS: that is the reason why i prefer metro2033/crysis over bad company/black ops as being a true pc gamer bad company/ black ops are just some cheap console ported *** that only exclusive for low end piece of junk system. it's an old joke that amd card can only run console ported game rather than real pc native game and this will be continue.
 
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bstm400

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Nvidia and AMd both rebrand cards and up the frequencies. Do you think that AMD is the only culprit? Also, you don't seem to have a firm grasp of economics; otherwise, you would support both companies. Strong competition leads to lower prices for the consumer, regardless of the nitty gritty techinical aspects and the 5-10% performance increases seen. Do you remember how expensive the GTX 200's series was before AMD 5xxx series came out? So, let me get this straight, you would rather pay for vastly over-priced Nvidia cards than support AMD every now and then in order to keep prices lower all across the spectrum? Please, shoot me now before another Nvidia and AMD fanboy kills me with their Powerpoint-slide propaganda.

Also, Crysis is already a 3-year old game while black ops is just a rehash of MW2. Are you really going to base a review of a graphics card on it's performance with these three titles? Besides those two games, Metro can't be the most appropriate litmus test for GPU performance given that no GPU can play it seamlessly. It is the modern day equivalent of Crysis.
 
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cheesesubs

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paying for "overpriced" 48/64 rops, 384/512bit bus nv card you will get the specification that worth the money you spent. paying 16rop/32rop 128bit/256bit bus and super clocked crappy amd card with just 10% lower than nv's couterpart makes me feel like an idiot that would question myself why buying a card just just basically extremely clock up. there was no point to get these when they aint even worth that value.

remember how 4870 cost at first came out? it was $349 and at that time many financial investor commit that amd would not goes higher spec/larger die space because of risking bankruptcy. while gtx 280 was only $499 at the time and it was 2x of 4870 at rop/tmu/bus/240sp and cost only a hundred bucks more. it was never be the best card for money at that time and not a great card for its price. however that price was so solid even after cypress released it was still around $300. i'm not protest amd don't get me wrong. if amd can come out a 64 rops/512bit bus and 480sp monopolistic chip i will buy it even for $700 dollar. but they instead release crappy chip to save wafer space for more chip to milk it out just like cypress day to save their dying x86 processor which is why amd can never be the leader of industry.

many amd fanboi told me that amd is mid range performer which is not really happen as gtx 560 on the block and when combine current g104 family and new coming g114 family in the price/performance
war i can tell it will smack amd back to old r670 day that filing chapter 11. trust me it will happen! can you list any amd card that's best buy these day? tell you this the only acceptable card for the price are 6870/6850 and rest are non competitive garbage. from 5770/5750 or lower to current 69xx are basically junk on the stock. this where it ended.
 
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bstm400

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I promise to give you an answer when you decide to use spell check and apply basic rules of grammar to your replies.
 
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jyjjy

jyjjy

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I would hold out for coherent thought as well because I don't think better writing skills could make that worth replying to :p
 
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cheesesubs

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i'm too lazy to fix that post and it happen to be like that when the background flash lags my system cause missing word or misspell. especially when i typing the post without check twice.

PS: using virtualpc is not a good idea when your processor didn't have vt-x support...
 
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bstm400

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If you can't use spell check here, then write it down on a good old fashioned piece of paper or in a word processor like Microsoft word. Even google documents has spell check nowadays.
 
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cheesesubs

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wow....wow and wow! what this has to do with this article grammar nazi?

this will make you feel better to read(it took only 15 sec to bebug).



PS: i cant shoot you if i cant even see you. but trust me i will if i get chance...but you will experiencing nv card's power before you die.
 
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