What is the Best graphics card for me

[nibir2011]

My current Configuration is


Processor: Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8 Ghz
Mother Board: Gigabyte EG45-UD2H
Memory:2 GB
HDD: 500 GB 7200rpm
Monitor: 18.5 at 1368x768 resolution
Graphics Chip: Intel X4500HD
PSU: Standard 400 watt
Pci-Express 2.0 capable

I bought this pc three years ago was able to play crysis, far cry 2 and many opther games both at playable frame rates and with a satisfactory quality because of my monitors resolution.

Now I can not play any new games at all. Even the strategy games lag. So i am thinking to buy a graphics card soon. As the kepler series and also the 7000 series is out in the market i think there will a price drop in the older cards. so i can buy cards a little bit less price than before.

Now please suggest me the best graphics card for my resolution. As i am not going to change it any soon. And i am not going to change my processor and motherboard any soon too. So the graphics card should be capable of playing all games of today and the games are upcoming in next two or three years both at 45+ fps and at high to ultra high quality. And when suggesting please remember about my processor and monitor's resolution.

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

First no GPU is going to give you high or ultra for the next 3-4 years, especially with your CPU. You will be CPU bound.

What is your budget? Without that information we can't recommend anything. By the way you might even have to upgrade your power supply. Even a "weak" 6770 requires at least a 450W PSu, and you only have a 400W one.

What games are you trying to play anyways?

 

[caqde]

Depending on how much you would normally spend on a GPU you might be better off moving to a new motherboard/CPU/Memory because you are going to be very CPU bound and you will need more memory in order to play games at an acceptable level. That and onboard GPU's like those found on AMD's Llano can play games at your resolution a lot better than what your current X4500HD could.

 

[nibir2011]

I will buy a new good psu and some memory too

What i need to know from you guys is that if i buy gtx560ti as it a powerful card how much my processor will bottleneck it at my resolution. I am going to change my processor and motherboard after three years but still i am not going to change my monitor. Now if i buy that card will i able to play the games that will be available after three years if i change my processor and motherboard at my resolution. Or then it will be backdated. If that is the case what should i do. Should i buy a low level graphics card and play,until i buy new processor and motherboard and then buy a new powerful graphics card. Or should i buy a powerful graphics card now. Another thing i can do is buy a new processor and motherboard now and wait for another two years and buy a new powerful graphics card.


The problem is i can not buy a powerful processor, a powerful motherboard , a powerful graphics card and a powerful psu at the same time.

and if i am going to buy one item then budget does not matter. i have 400$ currently and it will not be more if i wait.

 

[caqde]

$400? Just a wonder is your HDD and Burner SATA based?

Build 1: NOTE MB has no IDE ports
For $332.83 (Included shipping) on Newegg I can get you

Gigabyte GA-A75M-D2H http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128517
Seasonic S12II 380B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151072
G.Skill 8GB(4GBx2) DDR3-1600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
AMD A8-3870K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819106001

More than capable of playing at 768P and has a high quality PSU that is capable of handling mid-range GPU's.

Build 2: MB has no IDE ports
HIS Radeon 6750 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161395
Seasonic S12II 430B http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151074
G.Skill 8GB(4GBx2) DDR3 1333 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422
Asus P8H61-M http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131724
Intel i3-2120 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

No holds bar $400 upgrade ($399.82 [385.95 before] after shipping at least where I live) This should handle everything a CPU upgrade and a really good GPU for 768P a 6750 would actually be decent at gaming at (1440x900) 900P and alright at (1680x1050)1050P

 

[nibir2011]

i do not want to go with this cpu upgrade because i3 is not going to give me more than core 2 duo, if upgrade is possible then only it could be i5 or i7

My philosophy is if i got one generation cpu or gpu then i can easily ignore the next generation.

sandy bridge is almost old now the ivy is coming very soon

so i do not want to change cpu and mobo. another thing is in my country only the cpu comes in almost the same date as international release.

Now if ivy bridge comes after two years then i think gtx560 ti will be good enough to handle games after two years if i buy that

It is very very confusing

How much core 2 duo will bottleneck that

 

[Sunius]

Ivy bridge is coming in a month, not 2 years.

 

[Deemo13]

My buddy has 2 GTX550Ti's in SLI with an E8400, and it doesn't bottleneck that I know. I would have to say though that I agree with caqde in that you can build a whole new system with $400. You can use the same case as well as the same version of Windows. The i3 is definitely viable and much better than the Core 2 Duo. One of my other friends has a i3-2100 and he blows the E8400 my other friend has out of the water.

 

[con310]

i do not want to go with this cpu upgrade because i3 is not going to give me more than core 2 duo, if upgrade is possible then only it could be i5 or i7

My philosophy is if i got one generation cpu or gpu then i can easily ignore the next generation.

sandy bridge is almost old now the ivy is coming very soon

so i do not want to change cpu and mobo. another thing is in my country only the cpu comes in almost the same date as international release.

Now if ivy bridge comes after two years then i think gtx560 ti will be good enough to handle games after two years if i buy that

It is very very confusing

How much core 2 duo will bottleneck that

Not sure who told you this but thats not true...the i3 is WAY better than a core 2duo and im prity sure the i3 2120 is one of the best i3 out there, so if you wanted to build a good but budget gaming PC that would be a good start.

But if you would rather get something more future proof then you could go with the i5/i7.


I recently just built a budget game PC and it has:

i3 2120
msi 6770 ddr5 1gig
4gig ram

(you could get these 3 parts for less than 300$)

WHat i did was take the hardrive from my old computer which you could also do to save cash if you wanted.

anyways im happy with that setup espically for the price.

 

[nibir2011]

how much better i think according to this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

performance is 20% better. will that be very very good. Because i can buy a core 2 quad and need not change my mobo which will better than i3

am i right?

 

[Sunius]

Core 2 Quad Q6700, Q9300, Q8400, Q6600, Q8300 are 3 tiers below i3 2120.
Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400 and Core 2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800
Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400 are 2 tiers below i3 2120 and Core 2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650 + Core 2 Quad Q9650 are 1 tier below i3 2120.

However, it all depends for how much you could buy core 2 quad, because i3 2120 + a decent motherboard would cost you around $250.

 

[caqde]

how much better i think according to this http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

performance is 20% better. will that be very very good. Because i can buy a core 2 quad and need not change my mobo which will better than i3

am i right?

Well you got to think about a few things how much are those Teir 3 Core 2 Quads and how much is the difference between that and the Teir 2 i3-2120 Also remember the i3-2120 is at the top of the 2nd tier it is pretty close to the lower end of the tier 1 processors in gaming. Your current Core 2 duo is a tier 6 part 4 tiers lower than the i3-2120 and there is more than a 20% difference in speed between them depending on the game you play. Largest difference in an Anandtech bench showed a 52% difference. This was in Far Cry 2 (38.9 vs 59.2 on a GTX 280). See for yourself what the differences are and remember that is your processor with an extra 100Mhz (E7400 vs E7500) vs the i3-2100 (2120 is 200mhz faster) http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/289?vs=87

If you want to wait until Ivy comes out to see what Ivybridge processor fits in that price category thats great I was just showing you what $400 can get you as I firmly believe that a whole system upgrade would do you better than just upgrading the videocard. Especially with certain games that are very CPU bound.

 

[nibir2011]

you guys are so helpful

so that is a deal i will wait for ivy bridge and wait for the perfect situation. I think it will take a year or a year and half to the mid range and mid priced cpus like corei5 2500k to come. as soon something like this come i will buy that.

i do not know for sure but there may be a problem i have played all those games at low to medium quality in my pc without any gpu at all. So the performance may not be that great factor after all.

Now until i buy a new cpu and mobo what gpu should i buy. 6790hd or 550ti these can work with the new build too.

so suggest me a low or mid level gpu that can be usable to play metro2033, bf3, diablo3, crysis2 , farcry3 etc at 45+ fps at my resolution with decent quality.

i have to buy a new powerful psu anyways.

 

[con310]

you guys are so helpful

so that is a deal i will wait for ivy bridge and wait for the perfect situation. I think it will take a year or a year and half to the mid range and mid priced cpus like corei5 2500k to come. as soon something like this come i will buy that.

i do not know for sure but there may be a problem i have played all those games at low to medium quality in my pc without any gpu at all. So the performance may not be that great factor after all.

Now until i buy a new cpu and gpu what gpu should i buy. 6790hd or 550ti these can work with the new build too.

so suggest me a low or mid level gpu that can be usable to play metro2033, bf3, diablo3, crysis2 , farcry3 etc at 45+ fps at my resolution with decent quality.

i have to buy a new powerful psu anyways.

At your resolution a 6790 would be fine, you could even go for something less expensive if your going to be buying a new card in a year or so.

a 550 ti and a 6770 would be around 100$(I think you can find the 6770 cheaper) and they are prity much the same card and would do fine with at 1368x768.

 

[nibir2011]

another thing just came in my mind if i buy 550ti and after two year buy another 550ti with the new build[when i will buy new cpu and mobo] and do a sli. will performance increase? as then i would already have a strong psu.

 

[Sunius]

GTX 550 Ti is pretty weak card for SLIing, it will most definitely run into issues. I'd suggest you to stick with 1 card now, and just buy a single strong card in 2 years again. You won't save any money by buying another 550 ti.