Gaming Upgrade to GPU

[AnOniM]

Hello guys,

First off let me say this is one of the best suggestion forums I've ever been a part of and it's the quality of the people on it that make it so. I received a lot of good advice int he past and alas I need a few more.

I am thinking of upgrading my GPU and possibly add some ram because my gpu is overheating like crazy and it's idling at around 75C which is not letting me play any games, let alone new generation games.

I want some pertinent opinions on what to get (I dont have a lot of cash or I would otherwise buy a new pc so pls take this under account as well) and more importantly what fits my current configuration (basically how to maximize and get the best possible gpu without creating system bottlenecks).

I currently have:

mobo: Gigabyte P35-DS3R
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT OC
CPU: Intel Dual2Core E6850
Power Supply: Earth Watts 500W that came together with the case - an Antec Sonata III
Memory: Corsair CM2x1024 6400C4DHX 4-4-4-12 at 2.1V

I would like a GPU that can deal with newer generation games (for instance Witcher2) - I'm not expecting ultra graphics ofc, just medium (hopefully) and something that has good cooling as the 8800gt was an absolute nightmare and still is.

Also what's the difference between a GPU with 128bits over the 256bit ones? 1gb memory I think would also be needed..what do you guys think?

 

[Overclocked Toaster]

let us know your budget and monitor resolution.

radeon 6850 a good mainstream GPU that offers great performance at a low price.

 

[AnOniM]

let us know your budget and monitor resolution.

radeon 6850 a good mainstream GPU that offers great performance at a low price.

I just came back to add just that haha..Well int he lines of budget - around 200$ - 250$ and this was prolly the mistake I made that got me into this situation - I got a big monitor Samsung SyncMaster that I use. The resolution is 1920x1080 and I wanted to ask if maybe that's part of the reason it heats up so much? having to render more pixels than on a smaller sized monitor..not sure if it matters that much.

One other thing - do you think if I add a third party cooler on the 8800gt and maybe re-apply its thermal paste that it will perform better? it would be cheaper tbh than getting a new gpu no?

 

[Outlander_04]

It may be that your graphics card is over heating because the heatsink is lose or the fan has stopped working .

But you will definitely get a good boost from a 6850 , or a 6870 depending on your budget

 

[AnOniM]

It may be that your graphics card is over heating because the heatsink is lose or the fan has stopped working .

But you will definitely get a good boost from a 6850 , or a 6870 depending on your budget

Heatsink is firmly attached and fan is working his little heart out..it's just they did a piss-poor job when they created the cooling for the 8800gt - one small fan to the front and nothing more, plus the heatsink is not that great to begin with.

 

[FunSurfer]

Hello guys,

First off let me say this is one of the best suggestion forums I've ever been a part of and it's the quality of the people on it that make it so. I received a lot of good advice int he past and alas I need a few more.

I am thinking of upgrading my GPU and possibly add some ram because my gpu is overheating like crazy and it's idling at around 75C which is not letting me play any games, let alone new generation games.

I want some pertinent opinions on what to get (I dont have a lot of cash or I would otherwise buy a new pc so pls take this under account as well) and more importantly what fits my current configuration (basically how to maximize and get the best possible gpu without creating system bottlenecks).

I currently have:

mobo: Gigabyte P35-DS3R
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT OC
CPU: Intel Dual2Core E6850
Power Supply: Earth Watts 500W that came together with the case - an Antec Sonata III
Memory: Corsair CM2x1024 6400C4DHX 4-4-4-12 at 2.1V

I would like a GPU that can deal with newer generation games (for instance Witcher2) - I'm not expecting ultra graphics ofc, just medium (hopefully) and something that has good cooling as the 8800gt was an absolute nightmare and still is.

Also what's the difference between a GPU with 128bits over the 256bit ones? 1gb memory I think would also be needed..what do you guys think?

If you have a 32bit OS you will need to take into consideration that you will not be able to use 4GB of RAM and if you will install a 1GB card the OS will be able to "see" only 2.5GB+/- RAM so you will need to settle with the GTX460 768MB for optimum performance.

 

[4745454b]

You can upgrade to the GTS450 or 5770 without increase your power load. The 8800GT, GTS450 and 5770 all use around 105-110W. The 5770 is the fastest of the 3. Assuming you have a stock 6850 it would be pointless to get anything much stronger then a 5770. That slow of a dual core would hold the GPU back to much.

I wouldn't worry about your OS. The difference in ram won't make a lot of difference in your frame rates. The performance difference between the 8800GT and the 5770 will.

 

[Outlander_04]

His 500 Watt psu will run a 6870

so if the monitor resolution is high enough its worth it

 

[4745454b]

His PSU can power it yes. But can his CPU feed it enough data to make it perform better then the cheaper 5770?

 

[Outlander_04]

His PSU can power it yes. But can his CPU feed it enough data to make it perform better then the cheaper 5770?

Yes

At high resolutions and high details it definitely can .

But on a low res monitor it will be overkill

 

[4745454b]

And I disagree. I doubt his CPU will be able to feed a 6850 data fast enough to make it worth while over the 5770. A dual core that's sub 3GHz and based on the now slow Core2 Arch doesn't cut it in gaming anymore.

 

[Outlander_04]

I run a C2D , with a 6870 and get 50ish FPS on a 1080p monitor in Crysis . Some times it drops to the high 30's .

Your total fps might be processor limited , but you can turn gfx textures and distances to maximum because the card is handling those tasks .
If the resolution is lower then a faster cpu will let it run faster . Often much faster . But this is not clever since anything over 60 fps is a total waste on an LCD monitor refreshing at 60Hz [ 60 fps] .

The OP's processor is effectively an e8400 with less headroom for overclocking . It will be fine with a 6870 .
But its not worth it if hes using a 19 inch monitor , and probably not worth it on a 1650 x 1050 22 inch monitor . For that resolution Id guess a 6850 is a smarter choice

 

[AnOniM]

Some more information and/or corrections:

-I want to use it at 1920x1080 @ 60hz (this is the rez I'm using it atm)
-I have win7 ultimate (x64)
-monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 2233 so a 22' monitor

 

[Outlander_04]

So for your 1080p monitor IMO use the most powerful gfx card your power supply will support

And that is a Radeon 6870 , if you want to spend a bit less then a 6850 .

These are a better choice than nVidia equivalents because they use a bit less power

 

[4745454b]

I think you are missing the point I'm trying to make. It's not that the CPU won't provide playable frame rates, but that it won't be much higher then if he had bought the 5770. (some games will vary more others of course.)

This is one of those things where people will disagree. I say 5770, no higher then the 6850, while others will say the 6870 or even the 6950 is fine. The only way I would get one of those higher cards is if I was upgrading the system soon after. I wouldn't put a "big" card with a dual core.

 

[AnOniM]

Thank you for the answers guys..will start checking them out and see which one I'm better off with. I do have a question though - why do you instinctively all jump on ATI? I thought Nvidia was top dog in the gpu market or am I mistaking?

As far as I know ATIs are unreliable, they break easily and some games are optimized for Nvidia..so why ATI? and can you give me some alternatives from Nvidia?

 

[4745454b]

AMD (formally ATI) usually provides the better bang for buck. Their cards aren't crap, they dont' die early, or any of the other issues you mentioned. Yes, Nvidia does work with game dev's to help their cards along, but AMD isn't usually that much farther behind. For the record my last three GPUs have been an ATI x1800XT, an Nvidia 8800GS, and my current 5750.

Similar Nvidia cards would be the GTX460 if you want 6850 performance, or the GTX470/GTX560(TI) if you want 6870 performance. The GTX570 should be similar to the 6950.