Looking to upgrade NVIDIA 9600GS

Hi all, I'm looking for a good video card upgrade from my NVIDIA card to play SW:TOR on. The frame rate on my card gets around 70fps with low settings but I want something that can run the game with high settings. I've been hearing ATI cards tend to perform very well with this game, but I want to be sure what I get will work with my PC.

My budget is $200-$350 and here's my system info:

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System Information
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Time of this report: 12/8/2011, 09:05:17
Machine name: LEE-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.110617-0336)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: KT608AV-ABA d5000t
BIOS: BIOS Date: 12/17/08 16:25:45 Ver: 5.21
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 8190MB RAM
Page File: 5682MB used, 10851MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 7.00.6002.18107 32bit Unicode

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DxDiag Notes
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Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

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DirectX Debug Levels
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Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 9600 GS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0623&SUBSYS_90151B0A&REV_A1
Display Memory: 4069 MB
Dedicated Memory: 741 MB
Shared Memory: 3327 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: HP w2408 Wide LCD Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver Version: 8.17.0012.6658 (English)
DDI Version: 10
BGRA Supported: Yes
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 1/7/2011 21:27:00, 12859496 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4563-11CF-B862-19B01FC2C535}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0623
SubSys ID: 0x90151B0A
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1

Reply to Groo1111

Hello & Welcome.
What's your gaming resolution ?

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by ilysaml on 12-08-2011 at 06:32:22 PM

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Reply to ilysaml

ilysaml wrote :

Hello & Welcome.
What's your gaming resolution ?

Right now I'm running Skyrim on 1280x800 and getting reasonable framerates, TOR on the other hand seemed to run better with higher resolutions and lower shader settings during the beta.

Reply to Groo1111

at such low resolution you should be fine with something like GTS450 / HD5750 / HD5770 / GTX550 Ti.

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Reply to renz496

Welcome, it'd be beneficial if you could post your motherboard, and your Power supply so that we can see what your options can be.

Reply to exeedorbit

Your CPU is good, and if your monitor max resolution is 1280 x 1024, then your best option like renz recommend a HD 5750/70, other high end cards would be useless and overkill for such a resolution.

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Reply to ilysaml

What kind of PSU do you have and what's your resolution? Since you already have a 9600GS your PSU should also be able to handle at least a Radeon 6850 (though perhaps not a GTS 450). If you have a low res then like ilyami says a 5770/6770 would be a good choice though the card will fall below 60fps if you want to play on max. A 6850 would do good without AA or AF up to 1680x1050. If you want to play at 1080p though I'd suggest getting at least a 6950, but you may need a new PSU depending on what you have right now.

ok guys here's additional info that was requested:

PSU: Delta Electronics DPS 460DB-1A @ 460w

Motherboard had no clear model# but here's what is on it:
IPIBL-TX Rev 1.
HP P/N 5189-0477 CB6R522-00307
and another part number:
P/N 5189-0477

haven't Googled all that as it's gutted in the floor atm.
Also my resolution will go MUCH higher but the vid card won't do a great job at say 1900x1280 that's why I play in lower res, so improved frame rates and resolution would be pluses.

edit:apparently that's a stock ASUS board according to google results, the 1st link in the list shows my motherboard

Message edited by Groo1111 on 12-08-2011 at 07:53:29 PM

Reply to Groo1111

if your monitor supports 1080P, then go for HD 6950 or GTX 560ti
if you always stay at such resolution to play games, stick with HD 5750/70.

But if you're going a high end GPU, you need a quality branded 500W PSU.

Message quoted 1 times

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Reply to ilysaml

ilysaml wrote :

if your monitor supports 1080P, then go for HD 6950 or GTX 560ti
if you always stay at such resolution to play games, stick with HD 5750/70.

But if you're going a high end GPU, you need a quality branded 500W PSU.

OK, based on your answers I'm looking at these:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] 8&csid=_21

and

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] CatId=7005

The data sheet on this video card doesn't specify a 500w PSU like some of them do, so I'm not sure if what I have isn't already enough, what do you think?

Reply to Groo1111

With the PSU the best you can do is a 6850, but considering your budget it make sense to get a better PSU so

Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W 64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371035

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 2GB $259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127588

That's a good PSU and will be enough for a single 6950. It's up to you if you want to invest in a better PSU or not. If you're unsure about PSUs newegg even has a little calculator

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/ [...] supply.jpg

Of course, always do your research on any PSU you may want to use.

Message quoted 1 times

megamanx00 wrote :

With the PSU the best you can do is a 6850, but considering your budget it make sense to get a better PSU so

Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W 64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817371035

MSI R6950 Twin Frozr II Radeon HD 6950 2GB $259.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814127588

That's a good PSU and will be enough for a single 6950. It's up to you if you want to invest in a better PSU or not. If you're unsure about PSUs newegg even has a little calculator

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/ [...] supply.jpg

Of course, always do your research on any PSU you may want to use.

I used their tool and after including my 2 HDs and 2 DVDs they recommend 650w, lol
maybe I should get a higher wattage?

Reply to Groo1111

Thanks for the help guys, I went with a 650w supply just to be safe since it was only 10 bucks more.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to Groo1111

Groo1111 wrote :

Thanks for the help guys, I went with a 650w supply just to be safe since it was only 10 bucks more.

That's a good move. I know I'm getting here late, but Delta is actually a very well-respected PSU maker. That doesn't mean your (now "old" ) PSU was a good one since even the best make cheapies, but it seems a lot of people don't know that many name-brand PSU brands are simply brands and not PSU makers themselves. OCZ, Corsair, Antec and most other brands use PSU makers such as Delta and Seasonic to actually make the units. They just provide marketing, slick packaging, support, and, well, a name.

Reply to larkspur

Actually you don't need more than 450W in your system with the GPU in full load, but i doubted your PSU to be a quality branded one. And you provided items cheaper than what megamanx00 provided.

Anyway you're more than fine with a 650W PSU, and great pick for the HD 6950.

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Reply to ilysaml