G Card for Core 2 Quad Q9505

[Cromat88]

Ive got a old PC iam selling to a friend but he wants a graphics card in it as well. Hes willing to pay for the card with the rest of the system. He would prefer to have a ATi card. Iam basically looking for the best ATI card for this setup which wouldnt cause bottlenecks. These are the system specs.

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 2.83ghz
RAM: Corsair DHX XMS2 4GB kit 800mhz DDR2
MOBO: Gigabyte EP45-UD3L
PSU: Coolermaster Extreme 550watt

Any help would be appreciated

 

[master_chen]

Get HD 6850 (I highly recommend getting Gigabyte's model, it's THE best HD 6850 out there), it would be more than enough and it won't bottleneck at all. Simple as that.
Have a nice day/night and I wish for best of results for the both of you.

P.S. That PSU is quite of a crappy one (I'd even say that it's dangerous, actually)...I doubt you would change it, but I'd still highly recommend changing it to AT LEAST this.

 

[Cromat88]

i was thinking about the 6850 i can get the MSI R6850 Cyclone for cost price from my supplier not sure about the gigabyte model though. But that coolermaster PSU is still working after more than 5 years of use. i know its not the best brand around but i put this PC together from old PC parts lying around. I just want to get another opinion before selecting the best answer regarding G cards for this build

 

[spentshells]

I agree the psu is pretty bad, 6850 is getting cheap and I'm not terribly sure a 6870 is a good buy due to that psu 7770 is another option and is cheaper and draws less power

7770 and 9505 two lower power draw components will run games fine and might even allow for a little overclock even on that low quality PSU.

Great OC motherboard as well, not on that PSU mind you but I bet 4.0ghz is very possible low heat due to low cache.

 

[master_chen]

MSI R6850 Cyclone

Better not. MSi's video cards start getting good only after HD 6970, their HD 67--/68--s are quite crappy.

But that Cooler Master PSU is still working after more than 5 years of use.

You are one lucky guy to run on that garbage for such a long period of time...here, read it.

HD 7770

Gigabyte's HD 6850 would actually perform somewhat better than 7770 (not by much, but still better), especially if it's the "OC" version.

 

[spentshells]

6850 deff more powerful but draws more power but it's not worth 30 dollars more.

 

[master_chen]

draws more power

Not THAT much more.
Seriously, moving to newer tech-process of course helped, but temps and power consumption rates haven't changed DRASTICALLY, they just moved a tiny little bit down.
It's not like comparing friggin' "Netburst" to Mobile Ivy, you know? It's more like comparing i5 2500K to i5 3570K, lol.

 

[spentshells]

16 watts at load and 10 idle I guess your right, until you overclock.

 

[Cromat88]

thanks for the info guys ill see what i can do about the PSU since you guys are confident its rubbish ill see if i can grab a antec 550. unfortunately my suppliers in south africa (where i live) dont exactly have the best stuff in the world.... I can maybe try one of my other suppliers for a Gigabyte 6850 since they are cheap over here atm. thanks again

 

[Cromat88]

Best answer selected by cromat88.

 

[master_chen]

My supplier is in South Africa (where I live) don't exactly have the best stuff in the world...

Do you have a link to the nearest internet hardware store, or the site of local hardware store where you usually buy hardware (Probably Bedford or Grahamstown)?
Maybe I could pick up something good for you, to change in stead of that "eXtreme" poo. >: )


Anyway, you're always welcome.