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Graphics Card Upgrade Help Please

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Hello everyone,

I have an Asus P5Q pro motherboard, 4GB of ram, and an E8400 Wolfsdale Core 2 duo chip.

I have had my current desktop since the summer of 2008 and am planning to build a new system in the foreseeable but not immediate future.

My current card has started to fry and is regularly at 90+ celsius. To keep me going until the new system though I wanted to upgrade my graphics card. So I just bought an EVGA NVIDIA GTX 560 2GB. This one in fact . I got it for $199.99 after a $20 rebate at the local Fry's.

I installed it and it has proven quite a drastic improvement to my old Asus Radeon EAH 4850. My 3D Mark scores improved from the mid 7000s to ~15000. I mostly use my machine for gaming. Everything from FPSs to RPGs. The game I play the most by far is League of Legends.

My questions are:

1) Will my system bottleneck the card?
2) If I keep this card how long can I expect my system to last playing new games at reasonable levels?
3) Will I be able to actually use the extra 1GB on the card?
4) Should I even bother keeping this card or return it and plan to upgrade my whole system sooner than I might otherwise?

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Graphics card Master

TKpro said:
My questions are:
1) Will my system bottleneck the card?
2) If I keep this card how long can I expect my system to last playing new games at reasonable levels?
3) Will I be able to actually use the extra 1GB on the card?
4) Should I even bother keeping this card or return it and plan to upgrade my whole system sooner than I might otherwise?

1) No. The E8400 is quite a powerful dual core. You can always overclock it if your motherboard have good overclocking utility.
2) I see no immediate end. Your system should be able to play great even at 1920x1080 resolution at high settings for a long time. If you are like me who plays game again & again, it will be much worth it. Anyway, there are so many good titles out there that you will probably took a long time to play before the new games with extreme requirements catch up with you.
3) It depends. If you are going to play at resolutions 1920x1080 and below, probably not. But if higher, then yes, you will likely use more than 1GB.
4) I think your PC still have much life left. Unless you want bragging rights of having the latest hardware, your PC will serve you well for a few years more.

In any case, what is your monitor resolution?

Quote:
1) No. The E8400 is quite a powerful dual core. You can always overclock it if your motherboard have good overclocking utility.
2) I see no immediate end. Your system should be able to play great even at 1920x1080 resolution at high settings for a long time. If you are like me who plays game again & again, it will be much worth it. Anyway, there are so many good titles out there that you will probably took a long time to play before the new games with extreme requirements catch up with you.
3) It depends. If you are going to play at resolutions 1920x1080 and below, probably not. But if higher, then yes, you will likely use more than 1GB.
4) I think your PC still have much life left. Unless you want bragging rights of having the latest hardware, your PC will serve you well for a few years more.


1) Yes, Agreed
2) Yes, Agreed
3) Partly Agreed - Today Even At Lower Resolutions In The Newest Games....Yes You Can And Will Use 1GB (In-Fact 1GB Is The Absolute Least Id Reccomend)
4) Yes, Agreed...But If You Running DDR3 I Would Add Another 2GB Or So If You Can (It Will Help But Its Not Requred)

OVERCLOCK! :) 

TKpro said:
Hello everyone,

I have an Asus P5Q pro motherboard, 4GB of ram, and an E8400 Wolfsdale Core 2 duo chip.

I have had my current desktop since the summer of 2008 and am planning to build a new system in the foreseeable but not immediate future.

My current card has started to fry and is regularly at 90+ celsius. To keep me going until the new system though I wanted to upgrade my graphics card. So I just bought an EVGA NVIDIA GTX 560 2GB. This one in fact . I got it for $199.99 after a $20 rebate at the local Fry's.

I installed it and it has proven quite a drastic improvement to my old Asus Radeon EAH 4850. My 3D Mark scores improved from the mid 7000s to ~15000. I mostly use my machine for gaming. Everything from FPSs to RPGs. The game I play the most by far is League of Legends.

My questions are:

1) Will my system bottleneck the card?
2) If I keep this card how long can I expect my system to last playing new games at reasonable levels?
3) Will I be able to actually use the extra 1GB on the card?
4) Should I even bother keeping this card or return it and plan to upgrade my whole system sooner than I might otherwise?

Thanks in advance for any help!


1) there will be no bottlenecking
2) you can stay with this for maybe 3 years
3) not right now.because the games are too low for the card
4) keep it
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Graphics card Expert

TKpro said:
1) Will my system bottleneck the card?


Depends on your resolution and what clock is it running at. Above 3Ghz you should be fine

2) If I keep this card how long can I expect my system to last playing new games at reasonable levels? said:
2) If I keep this card how long can I expect my system to last playing new games at reasonable levels?


Depends on your native resolution and on the games you play. But your set for a while

3) Will I be able to actually use the extra 1GB on the card? said:
3) Will I be able to actually use the extra 1GB on the card?


Again depends on your native resolution. At higher resolutions its needed


4) Should I even bother keeping this card or return it and plan to upgrade my whole system sooner than I might otherwise? said:
4) Should I even bother keeping this card or return it and plan to upgrade my whole system sooner than I might otherwise?


That card is fine. Save up for your next upgrade while you enjoy it

I am not overclocking right now but I am gonna learn how over the next few weeks as I have some spare time. If I remember correctly the Asus P5Q Pro is quite capable of overclocking that E8400. I actually intended to do that when I first got my machine but decided it was busy with school and decided it wasn't necessary.

As for my monitor and resolution, I am working with a 19" Samsung, 1440X900. This one http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SyncMaster-906BW-19-Inch-.... But I am in the process of ordering a new one. I am deciding between 22" and 24", do any of you guys have a model/brand recommendation for my card/setup that is under 200$? If this is the wrong place to ask this my apologies, I'll repost somewhere else.

From your advice I think I will stick with the card and overclock my chip. That should give me a good system for another few years.

Once again, thanks for the help and any future advice!

Will probably last a year, i have a e8400 @ 4.0ghz with a 6950 and it struggles in games like bfbc2/crysis 2 dx11. at 1920x1080.

the 560 ti is a little faster then a 560 ~(like 5-10%faster) up to you if you need the power

2gb oc vers isnt worth it, no difference to the 1gb unless u doing 3 monitors or 1600p, and gpu are extremely easy to oc
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