Help finding the best graphics card

[zephyr948]

My graphics card recently died, so I'm looking for a new one. My specs are: amd phenom II x4 955, 750w PSU, and amd chipset mobo.

I mostly play games like rift, aion, ect. My budget is 300 at the top end, but I'd like to spend less if possible. Looking at my mobo if I did crossfire the cards would be fairly close together leaving little breathing room, so a single dual slot card is probably best. If you need any information let me know.

 

[purple stain]

Can you list your full system sepcs plz? Model's/types.

What is the make/model of your PSU?

What reosultion do you game at?

Depending on what resoultion you play at I would suggest a GTX560ti or a 6950 2G.Both perform around the general area but more as a preference(Nvidia/ATI).

 

[zephyr948]

Antec 300 illusion mid-tower atx case
asrock 870 extreme3 mobo
amd phenom II x4 955 BE
cooler master hyper 212 plus
gskill ripjaws pc312800
corsair HX750

As far as gaming goes I tend to play at 1920 x 1080, but it's only mmo type of games. That's all I can think of to help you out.

 

[purple stain]

Well I think either the GTX560ti or 6950 2g would best suite you.I'm not able to find any benchmarks for the cards in those games specificly.I do know that if you play Blizzard games like WoW then you would want to go with a Nvidia card like the GTX560ti thats all really.

Your motherboard is fine if you wanted to SLI or Crossfire.Their is plenty of sapce between the 2 slots to allow suffient airflow to the top card.

Asus GTX560ti $250=$230 after MIR + Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121424&cm_re=gtx560_ti-_-14-121-424-_-Product

MSI 6950 2G $280+ Free Shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127588&cm_re=6950-_-14-127-588-_-Product

The 6950 2G version is a little more expensive than the GTX560ti but thats because it comes with 2G of RAM instead of 1G.Basicly you pay $30 more for an extra 1G.But well worth it in my opinion,can never have enough RAM.

Both cards scale very well in SLI/Crossfire so if you ever see your graphics deminishing a year or so from now just add another for almost double the performance.

What speed is your 955 at?

 

[zephyr948]

I used to play wow on a 5850 and never had any problems, but perhaps it was just that card that did ok with blizzard games. I don't play blizzard games very often though.

 

[zephyr948]

Forgot to add my 955 is at stock right now. I've never Oc'd before, so was kinda hesitant to try it. Those video cards sound good, but since you mentioned I would have room for SLI/Crossfire would that be a better route?

 

[jjb8675309]

get a single hd 6950 2 gig, imo that will suit your needs quite well, games like rift are more cpu intensive you you would def benefit from a cpu oc in that case the 955 is easy to oc look at my sig below, just increase the multiplier and you should easily be able to achieve say 3.8ghz with 1.35v but every chip is different.

In fact I am currently rifting and it runs quite well on my sig rig

 

[purple stain]

Well a 5850 is a very powerful card for WoW it and many other AMD cards can play WoW just fine.I was just saying that Blizzard games tend to favor Nivida cards.So if 2 cards are exactly the same specs from AMD and Nvidia the Nvidia card will get the higher FPS with Blizzard games.Thats just a good way to dertime which card is better when they both perform around the same area.

You don't need to go for a Crossfire/SLI setup.It's just more simple to go with a single more powerful card.I'm just saying when you feel the need to you can, your mobo is fully capable.

You will need to O.C. just a little to not bottlenck a higher card like the 6950 or the GTX560ti,it is truely effortless and well worth it for the performance you gain from such a small chore.If I was you I would ask jjb8675309 for some pointers on O.C.ing your processor.I myself actually have the model above yours the 965 but the voltage's are tad different so I would probably be a 2nd best.

Here's a guide to help you understand O.C.ing espically with a BE like yours(I know it will,it did for me)...

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258573-29-black-edition-overclock-guide-raising-multiplier

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah mines at 1.35v at 3.9ghz a multiplier of 19.5x Id try to go for 3.6ghz right out of the gate by just increasing the multiplier, heck maybe even 3.8ghz but it is def worth trying especially with that hyper 212+ I have one and known darn well it is a beast for its price, bring the multiplier up and run prime 95 which is free to download and monitor temps in something like amd overdrive (but obviously do not use software to overclock) rather increase the multiplier save your bios settings (F10) and give it a shot. Not all processors are the same but the 955 is a good ocer in my opinion and there is a lot of performance to be picked up for free especially when you will be playing mmos and such which are generally more taxing on the cpu, I'd overclock your cpu and go with something like a 6950 or gtx 560ti, hell even a gtx 570, I got mine for 304 After rebate about four months ago.... the deals are out there you just have to be ready to snipe them by immediately pulling the trigger when you find a good one, good luck and have fun!

 

[zephyr948]

Thanks I'll give the ocing thing a try. I believe my mobo has something for ocing is that what you would use?

 

[jjb8675309]

Well a 5850 is a very powerful card for WoW it and many other AMD cards can play WoW just fine.I was just saying that Blizzard games tend to favor Nivida cards.So if 2 cards are exactly the same specs from AMD and Nvidia the Nvidia card will get the higher FPS with Blizzard games.Thats just a good way to dertime which card is better when they both perform around the same area.

You don't need to go for a Crossfire/SLI setup.It's just more simple to go with a single more powerful card.I'm just saying when you feel the need to you can, your mobo is fully capable.

You will need to O.C. just a little to not bottlenck a higher card like the 6950 or the GTX560ti,it is truely effortless and well worth it for the performance you gain from such a small chore.If I was you I would ask jjb8675309 for some pointers on O.C.ing your processor.I myself actually have the model above yours the 965 but the voltage's are tad different so I would probably be a 2nd best.

Here's a guide to help you understand O.C.ing espically with a BE like yours(I know it will,it did for me)...

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/258573-29-black-edition-overclock-guide-raising-multiplier

thanks that is a good guide and def one the OP should read I learned a thing or two myself, makes me want to to try to reach 4.2 ghz but my mobo does not allow me to adjust voltage and I refuse to do it via software so for now I'm happy with 3.9 (19.5 multiplier) for now my board will support bulldozer so I am waiting to see what benches look like on those chips and if not I might go to Sandy/Ivy bridge instead only time will tell but the 955 is still tickin

 

[jjb8675309]

Thanks I'll give the ocing thing a try. I believe my mobo has something for ocing is that what you would use?

do not use the auto oc switch on your motherboard, yeah go into your bios when your computer restarts (for me its delete but check your mobo manual if you are unsure) and you can do it through that, you want to go to the cpu settings and increase the multiplier if you are unsure there are also a million youtube videos on the subject matter good luck and have fun I hope that helps

 

[purple stain]

You have a 8xx series mobo so it should give you a little more leverage on how well/far you can O.C. compared toa 7xx series like I have.

 

[zephyr948]

I was thinking something like this if I went the gtx 560 TI route

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127578&cm_re=gtx_560_ti-_-14-127-578-_-Product

 

[purple stain]

Thats a really nice GTX560ti.

 

[zephyr948]

I actually ended up going with a factory oc 570 gtx from msi

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127564&cm_re=570_gtx-_-14-127-564-_-Product

Spent a little more than I'd hoped, but I don't really plan on upgrading for a couple years unless some card comes out that I really can't live without. I plan to try to oc my cpu to 3.6 ghz or so to help with the bottlenecking.

 

[purple stain]

Sounds good.

Did you start O.C.ing yet?

 

[jjb8675309]

sweet sounds like a good plan you should be able to hit 3.8 easy by just increasing the multiplier

 

[zephyr948]

I haven't started yet should be soon. However, I am considering upgrading to an i7 2600k.

 

[jjb8675309]

^that will not be a cheap upgrade considering motherboard and cpu you will be spending a lot more than you spent on the gpu, either way I'd say your 955 has a lot of life left in it in the gaming arena, heck im in the same boat as you but I will likely wait til Ivy Bridge or BD bc my motherboard is supposed to support it with a bios update so once I see some benches then I will make that determination, imo you should stick with what you got if your main priority is gaming

 

[zephyr948]

ya I realized that and after reading some comments from a gaming perspective the i5 2500 is a lot cheaper route. The i5-2500 seems doable if I can find a decent motherboard.

 

[jjb8675309]

no what I was trying to say is that it is not worth it for gaming if you oc the 955 it will not be too far behind from a gaming perspective imo, so your gonna ditch your whole current system for marginal gains is what im saying, the choice is your if I were getting a SB chip id go with the i5 2500k no doubt you want to get the unlocked sku for 20 extra dollars

 

[zephyr948]

Ya, I think I'll end up waiting for some better cpu's to come out.

 

[purple stain]

Yah,theirs no point in upgrading to the i7 SB if you already have a fully capable CPU like the 955.Their is also no point in spending the extra $100 for an i7 if your just gaming.The i5 2500k and i7 2600k perfrom the exact same when it comes to gaming benchmarks.Don't waste your money on an i7 just to say you have the best.

Also from the looks of AMD's first processor the "Llano" benchmarks it's looking good for AMD's new lineup so far.The "Llano" spanked the competion Intel Sandy Bridge CPU so it's lookin good.I'd suggest O.C.ing your 955 firs to see how much performance you get out of it and if your happy with it.Then start looking twards a new CPU.

 

[jjb8675309]

^yes sounds advice purp stank, thanks