My old gpu kicked the bucket, not familiar with new choices to replace

[croson]

Hello all (first time forum user here)

I have just had to start looking for a new GPU as my old XFX 8800GT Alpha Dog XXX thingy edition card has decided stop working as far as I can tell. The problem I have is that I can guess many cards around right now will be an improvement on this but choosing one in my situation is bugging me as I am not up to date knowledge wise on them. My current monitor is a Formac 19" so the max resolution is not great I imagine by todays standards. I am looking to get a whole new system sometime in the future (prepared with a 800w PSU) but for now mine is ok for me and I just need a new budget card to get up and running again. I have seen a Gainward GTX 560TI 448core card on Scan.com for around £160 and was wondering if this (and perhaps a new 24" monitor for the future build if I realy treat myself) will be a good replacement before going the whole hog on a new system after the 660 cards have been around a while. Would this be too much money for a noticable improvement for now? Or would a EVGA 560TI SC be better? I'm looking around the £150 mark, maybe £170 max depending on some daft offer or mass difference.

Argh.... a little help would be much appreciated
Thanks.

 

[unksol]

ok? um? why tell us your monitor size? we need the resolution... What is your ACTUAL budget. And WHAT do you WANT...

Really i could have told you you were screwed with a "Alpha Dog XXX thingy edition card"

 

[mactronix]

ok? um? why tell us your monitor size? we need the resolution... What is your ACTUAL budget. And WHAT do you WANT...

Really i could have told you you were screwed with a "Alpha Dog XXX thingy edition card"

Not helpful and full of attitude try again.

@ Croson,
Ok well one thing unksol said was relevant and useful and that was what is the resolution of your monitor ?
Another thing that will help with a worthwhile recommendation are what are the rest of your system specs / Specifically what processor are you running ? Please state the exact make and model. Too many people post things like a CD2 @ 2.4 GHz.
that could be more than one CPU so please specify.

My initial reaction would be to go with a 560Ti and a 24" monitor, 1920 X 1080 is it ? Do you want to consider AMD cards at all ?

Mactronix

 

[croson]

Ok I am grateful for your time but I did find that reply a little harsh. I will appologise for not reading the *How to Ask for Advice about Choosing a New GPU* part of the forum first but as I stated I am new here so I just found it, sorry about that.

I'll start again
My max monitor size right now is 1280x1024
Intel Core 2 quad q6600 @ 2.4ghz
4GB of ram
800w Corsair PSU
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherbard

Hopefuly that is enough as it is hard to do a quick dxdiag or read the load screen with the pc flickering but somehow working in poor color on a 17" monitor i tested to check the 19" lol.

I would like to stick with Nvidia card

Thanks!

 

[locomoco321]

The GTX 480 is still a good option, but if you want a newer generation card, a 560Ti (448 Core, optional) would be a great choice! Resolution and monitor size would help a lot as others have stated, as this affects performance as well. The newer GTX 600 series cards do pack a punch, but at a price.
Also, what games will you play and at what resolutions/textures will you like to play?

 

[locomoco321]

Ok I am grateful for your time but I did find that reply a little harsh. I will appologise for not reading the *How to Ask for Advice about Choosing a New GPU* part of the forum first but as I stated I am new here so I just found it, sorry about that.

I'll start again
My max monitor size right now is 1280x1024
Intel Core 2 quad q6600 @ 2.4ghz
4GB of ram
800w Corsair PSU
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 motherbard

Hopefuly that is enough as it is hard to do a quick dxdiag or read the load screen with the pc flickering but somehow working in poor color on a 17" monitor i tested to check the 19" lol.

I would like to stick with Nvidia card

Thanks!

I wrote my message as you posted that! my bad!
As for cards, if you can squeeze a 1920x1080 monitor in, you will see great visuals and improvements over what you are considering.
As for cards to be able to display that, I will stick with either the GTX 480, or the GTX 560 Ti 448 cores.
I have one and at 1920x1080, with the Ultra settings I get around 50 FPS plus or minus outside in Battlefield 3. Most games seem to play really well on the GTX 560Ti at high or max settings (GTX 480 as well). One big difference is the OpenGL support but as for DX, the are both DirectX11.

 

[Guest]

Gainward GTX 560TI 448core card on Scan.com for around £160

nice price. that would be a good choice.

 

[teh_gerbil]

I replaced my 8800TG with a 6870, it's been the absolute best, Every game at over 60fps on ultra - Bf3 included!

 

[croson]

Sorry if my replies are not clear in direction but thanks for all the input folks! I need to get the hang of forums, this is the second one I have ever used as the first one gave me similar treatment as my first reply here. In terms of gaming I like alsorts, preferably first person shooters but I must admit I am not into the whole war theme at the moment. This card put me off new games so it would make a change to replace it. Crysis 2 ran reasonably for me on this system, also Elder scrolls with GFX tweaks but now I see where the blue screens came from. I like music production too so I survived with that until the whole screen went blank, now I want to get gaming again with nicer visuals.

 

[croson]

Am I allowed to post links to cards on shop sites here? I have found 2 cards:

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 900MHz 1GB PCI-Express HDMI Superclocked @ £159.99 on Dabs.com (Mfr#:
01G-P3-1563-KR)
Gainward GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Core Limited Edition - 1280MB @ £155.47 on Scan.co.uk (Mfr#: 426018336-2456)

I don't know if there are better alternatives but these 2 seem to get my attension, mainly price wise. I don't know how to choose between them as I don't understand enough about clock speeds vs more cuda cores etc? I am not looking to overclock either as I am not familiar with it.

 

[Guest]

Tom`s monthly GPU bang for buck article.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

Considering monitor upgrade too?

 

[Guest]

cool. The EVGA 560ti

Only because i`ve got an EVGA.

Also, the 560ti is a decent card. It`s considered a budget 570. Check reviews and benchmarks

 

[croson]

Sorry I somehow pasted the words 'GeForce GTX 560 Ti' way more than needed? Would you be able to offer any info as to how the EVGA would be better than the Gainward with more cores? I see the EVGA is 900mhz and the Gainward 732mhz for the GPU speeds is this a big decider over it? (I am trying to read up on these terms to understand lol) I do get the impression that EVGA are a big name now in the Nvidia side of things. There is no rush for the monitor as the one I have now still works fine but it would be a shame to put the new GPU power to waste. I will look for one later but I just need to see more than black for now.

 

[croson]

Would I be better off waiting for the 660s to come out? It was anoying when I saw a Zotac 560 ti 448 core go to £157 on Ebuyer I think for about a day or so? now it has gone back up by about £30? I dont want to get some sort of 560 now and then they drop loads in price over next week but then I would have the choice of a cheaper 560 or 2 or a 660. Bah ill wait a few days I think.

 

[ballinb0ss]

660 will probably be out of your budget, try to find a 560ti, and, 900 and 732mhz are just the speed of the core clock, they can make a small to big difference, if i had to guess, i would say between those two speeds, no more than 5-10fps, probably not even that much, and yes, evga is a good name for reference cards, as far as these go, just look for the one with the best price, other good options could be the 6950, if you could find one for a decent price, and with these cards i dont think you will see any bottlenecks, although anything more powerful and you probably will, i am the proud owner of the 560ti 2gb evga overclocked card, it is a great performer,
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1758992&CatId=3669
pretty good deal i would say

 

[croson]

Thanks for the advice. I may wait for a 660 when I do a whole new build and go 560 ti for now then. Should have snapped up the Zotac 560ti 448 when I got an email saying it was £157.99 free delivery, now it has gone up to £184.46? ah well. Any thoughts on Gainward cards? are they any good? as there is still a cheap 560ti 448 by them.