Graphics card upgrade

[kyle33kt]

Hey guys

small question if anyone can help me please

I currently have a fairly old zotac gtx 260 896mb ddr3 synergy edition. Its cramped into a dell studio xps 8100 case, very tight fit but just bought a nice big coolermaster case with fans to transport all my components in to help airflow because the old dell is getting very hot.

Spec:
Intel core i5 650 3.2ghz
6gb ddr3
zotac gtx 260 896mb ddr3
creative sound blaster x-fi sound card
800w psu
64bit windows 7

My problem is that untill now the only game i played was world of warcraft on medium settings and my card didnt even break a sweat but now i just bought battlefield 3 and it jitters and overheats on medium setting so im only playing on lowest setting to be safe. So no i need advice on buying a new card ive been looking at a few but any advice guys would be great my budget is £150-160 max.

heres a few ive seen:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-evga-gtx-460-superclocked-3800mhz-gddr5-gpu-763mhz-shader-clock-1526mhz-336-cores-2x-dl-dvi-i-mi

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-msi-gtx-550-ti-cyclone-ii-oc-40nm-4300mhz-gddr5-gpu-950mhz-shader-1900mhz-192-cores-mhdmi

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-evga-gtx-560-sc-%28superclocked%29-40nm-4104mhz-gddr5-gpu-850mhz-shader-1700mhz-336-cores-plusfree-b

Thanks in advance for your advice guys just want to know if any of these will run battlefield smooth on medium settings or if theres any other card thats better for the money i should look at thanks again.

kyle33kt

 

[rolli59]

The GTX560 would be the best performer. I am not sure if you could find GTX560Ti or HD6950 in your price range but that would be the next performance level above.

 

[joemama069]

^ what he said... i love my 560ti

 

[Deemo13]

The GTX 560 is a very good choice (as well as the Ti) yet I might get my head bitten off by saying that the 6870 would also be a decent contender. Yet for BF3, the GTX560 would do you best

 

[eric8705]

560 is definitely a nice a card to have
the choice here would be the EVGA GTX560 for me!

 

[kyle33kt]

Hey guys thanks very much for the tips.
Think i will go for the gtx 560 its the top end of my budget but as long as i can play most games on medium im happy

 

[lpedraja2002]

Post your PSU specs and monitor resolution you game in, your card should be able to handle WOW at max settings and BF3 with fairly decent settings. I'm curious if performance drop is due to the PSU or the resolution you play.

I have an 8800gt and It still performs decently with the latest games. The GTX260 is a better performer than a 8800 Ultra so you should be able to run BF3 decently and with some options on high. This is of course assuming that you don't have Anti-aliasing maxed lol.

 

[Deemo13]

+1 to lpedraja2002, the raw power of those 8800GT's are unbeatable

 

[kyle33kt]

Hey again
My psu is a fairly cheap one because my last one died i did have a ocz stealth 600w but now i have 780w g7 from maplin just a cheap fix :

http://www.maplin.co.uk/780w-g7-atx-psu-393044

my gfx card is pretty old i dunno if performance deteriates over time on these cards but it was second hand given to me from a friend when he upgraded so it was well used.

I currently have a 24" benq monitor running at 1920x1080 / 1080p its probly the big screen at high res thats killing my graphics.

thanks again
kyle33kt

 

[rolli59]

Hey again
My psu is a fairly cheap one because my last one died i did have a ocz stealth 600w but now i have 780w g7 from maplin just a cheap fix :

http://www.maplin.co.uk/780w-g7-atx-psu-393044

my gfx card is pretty old i dunno if performance deteriates over time on these cards but it was second hand given to me from a friend when he upgraded so it was well used.

I currently have a 24" benq monitor running at 1920x1080 / 1080p its probly the big screen at high res thats killing my graphics.

thanks again
kyle33kt

Well it has 600watts available for the +12 volts which is plenty for all the cards discussed here. http://www.maplin.co.uk/780w-g7-atx-psu-393044?C=73669

 

[kyle33kt]

Hi again guys ive been looking at the gtx 560's and see that the cooler exhauset fan is in the centre of the card.

My problem is that i have a soundblaster x-fi pcie sound card right underneath my gtx 260 but at the moment is fine because the cooler exhaust fan is on the end of the card so if i was to buy a 560 the sound card would be in the way of the exhaust fan? so would it be ok or would i start to get overheating problems.

Anyway heres a link to a picture inside my case:

 

[Deemo13]

You will probably be fine with that 560. If you like, you can try to find a refrence 6870, the fan is at the rear like your 260. You can probably find a 560 in that format though if you look hard enough.