Upgrading Graphics card

[Tahitian]

Hi Guys this is my first time so bear with me, Im trying to decide what to upgrade to for my pc that I built a back in may. Specs are as follows:

MoBo:GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P nForce 630a Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket AM3, nForce 630a Chipset, 1333MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 3.0 Gb/s, RAID, GeForce 7025, Gigabit LAN
CPU: AMD HDT55TFBRBOX Phenom II 1055T Six Core Processor - 2.80GHz, 6MB Cache, 2000MHz (4000 MT/s) FSB, Retail, Socket AM3
PSU: CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 V2 600W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
RAM: (2 sticks 8gb total) Corsair CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 XMS3 4GB DDR3 RAM - PC10666, 1333MHz, 4096MB
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64BIT
HD: WD Caviar 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/16MB/SATA-3G
Monitor:LG E2050T-SN 20" Widescreen LED Monitor - 1600x900, 16:9, 5000000:1 Dynamic, 5ms, VGA, DVI

Current Graphics Card: Galaxy 44GGS8HX3VXZ GeForce GT 440 Video Card - 1GB, DDR3, PCI-Express 2.0 (x16), HDMI, VGA, DVI, DirectX 11 (cheapie I know)

Im not looking into attempting to learn how to crossfire just yet I think it will be years before I get into that. So Im just looking for the best upgrade for my money that will work with my system and not lead to bottlenecks but still be able to play games and have improved fps and quality graphics.

 

[xf1xcaliber]

check out the radeon 6950 2 gig .the price is way down from when it was released.i run crysis 2 at 60fps and settings maxed.

 

[Gman450]

Yeah, a Radeon HD 6950 should do well but it may be an overkill at that resolution. You may want to consider a Radeon HD 6870 as an alternate GPU if you want.

 

[Deemo13]

The 6950 is a nice card and is more future proof than a 6870 (in terms of upgrading your monitor or something. If you plan to keep your monitor, then I would say go with the 6870, its still a good card.

 

[Tahitian]

appreciate the quick feedback guys seems like Im on the right track, and since im kinda new to paying attention to everything I do with my computer would the release of the new radeon 7000 series drop the price on the older series within a few months or does that take a year to affect the market ?

 

[Onus]

The first thing I'd replace is your mobo. That old nForce chipset will hold back everything else, only supporting 2000 MT/s. This would be a nice, relatively inexpensive yet future-resistant choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280 for $85.
Your current graphics card is really not considered a gaming card. Sure, you can spend $250 or more on a HD6950, but you may find a "mere" HD6770 for around $110 to be sufficient, especially if you don't need to play all the latest games with every possible setting maxed out. Somewhere between those two, such as a HD6870, will likely wind up your most reasonable choice. If you prefer nVidia, then you'd be looking at a GTX560.
Keep in mind that both nVidia and AMD are about to release their next series of graphics cards.

 

[Tahitian]

The first thing I'd replace is your mobo. That old nForce chipset will hold back everything else, only supporting 2000 MT/s. This would be a nice, relatively inexpensive yet future-resistant choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280 for $85.
Your current graphics card is really not considered a gaming card. Sure, you can spend $250 or more on a HD6950, but you may find a "mere" HD6770 for around $110 to be sufficient, especially if you don't need to play all the latest games with every possible setting maxed out. Somewhere between those two, such as a HD6870, will likely wind up your most reasonable choice. If you prefer nVidia, then you'd be looking at a GTX560.
Keep in mind that both nVidia and AMD are about to release their next series of graphics cards.

so ur thinking a gpu upgrade would be pointless considering it would bottle neck because of my mobo's 2000MT/s hyperbus? just making sure i under stand what ur saying as im new to this

 

[megamanx00]

For your resolution I say get a Radeon 6870 or a GTX 560. That should be more than enough to keep you gaming on at least high for some time. If you want to spend a little more you could get a GTX 560Ti or 6950 1GB, but it's up to you.

 

[Onus]

A GPU will offer improvement, certainly, but I think you should address underlying platform deficiencies first. Otherwise you'll compare your new card's performance to benchmarks and get pissed off wondering why you don't see the same results.

 

[swifty_morgan]

a 6850 or 6870 or gtx460 would be a good choice. The card you have isn't the greatest. After using the new card for a while you might forget the mother board upgrade suggestion.

and I gotta say it......... to the benchmark guy above........... look at the hardware they use. totally unrealistic for most users but they shove it our faces but nobody picks up on it.

 

[Onus]

Oh, I agree they often use unrealistically high-end stuff across the board. That's not what I'm suggesting at all. I try to be a voice for frugality on these forums, and I'm a big bang/buck fanboy (but I will gamble sometimes, when the downside is tolerable, like buying AMD this summer). Given that even a modest CPU, and a modest GPU can play any game (possibly with reduced settings, sure), I tend to emphasize things like the PSU and mobo; buying solid there is the best way to be future-resistant. GPU and even CPU upgrades come along all the time, and you can use them IF your underlying platform is sufficient.

 

[Tahitian]

thanks a lot guys I appreciate all the help I'm still reviewing my options and everyone's advice has been great! One of my friends who does minor gaming by comparison to me was talking about he'd be interested in buying my computer so I might be building another new one! I appreciate everything and will prolly be back again if I'm building again

 

[Tahitian]

Best answer selected by Tahitian.

 

[Onus]

Thanks. That would be cool if you get to build another one. I'm not sure when my next build will be .

 

[xf1xcaliber]

i built mine in feb.2011 . sabertoorhx58 mobo,i7 proc.10,000rpm raptor hd, radeon 6950 2 gig, 6gigs of dom. ram,600 wt thermaltake psu, 24 inch monitor, wid.7 home ed.,system started crashing. put my old gtx460 se in and it works fine. maybe my psu is too small for the bigger card?not sure but im buying a 1200wt and trying my radeon again.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey