Older card purchase question

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Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Hi Knowledgeable folks, i have an issue regarding what card/cards to put in a machine i have recently inherited.

The machine is a phenom 9550, with 6 gb of ram, it currently has an 8500gt in and a 7600gs, i was tinkering with trying to get them sli'd but the custom firmware thing didnt work. Anyway in my reading up on that someone suggested a good setup from around that time would be 2 x1950 pro. These are reasonably cheap on ebay and if im lucky i could probably get both for about £30. Is this a wise move though? I'd be willing to spend about £40 and i dont care how old the cards are. I know i wont be able to play the latest games at the highest res the old monitor will do (1440x900). But being able to play the new releases at a lower res would be fine.

At the mo, i mostly play TF2, L4D2, Day-Z and I just reinstalled Arkham City to test the setup a bit (its bad)
 
COLGeek

COLGeek

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Going with 2 x1950s will really not perform all that well with modern games. They also produce tons of heat and are power hogs and could require you to get a new power supply.

That being said, I would dump both Nvidia cards you current have and forget about the ancient x1950s. Instead, I would suggest you go with a single modern video card, like an AMD/ATI HD6XXX or HD7XXX series or equivalent Nvidia product.

What are the complete specs for the system in question and how much budget do you have to work with?
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Thanks for the reply. The complete specs are Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DS5 mobo, 6gb of ram 2 x 2gb crucial, 2 x 1gb Kingston, can't see the brand of PSU but its 450w and a good quality modular one, processor is actually the Phenom 9500. Win 7 ultimate 64bit.

My budget is about £40-50 because as i say, its an old inherited machine, just after getting a cheapish card from a few years ago, something that was good-ish at the time.
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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That looks great, but rare and more expensive on ebay bizarrely. I'm actually surprised i could get a new card that looks that good for that sort of money. Any other suggestions to go have a hunt on the bay for?
 
whooleo

whooleo

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That 6670 is just a tad bit weaker than a 9800 GT/8800 GT and more expensive.
 
COLGeek

COLGeek

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I really suggest a new GPU. If you are willing to spend the money, you'll get a card that you know has no issues.

The HD6670 is a great choice, BTW. I have one in my wife's machine and it does quite well for all sorts of computing needs, including mid-range gaming.
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Yeah op should really stump up a bit more cash :p but as i say this is a bonus machine so wasn't really planning on much outlay, plus if my missus saw i was going over the 50 ish mark there would be scowls and bad moods.

The 6670 looks like it might be the wiser choice, but as someone pointed out there might be issues. Is it one of the cards where its worth going for the 2gb model too?
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Nice one fellas, been keeping an eye on a couple of HD6670s, but there's not many about, is there a slightly better and slightly worse card or setup you can recommend to give me more options please?
 
jjb8675309

jjb8675309

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if you are on a budget and need a gpu, hit this guy up in the toms classifieds,

I already bought one of his zotac (reference) gtx 460s and this is the 1gb 256 bit kind not the se or 768mb variant!

80 w/shipping is a good deal imo

much more performance then youd get out of anything new in that price range

check it:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/104042-8-zotac-shipped

edit: maybe a bit more to the UK but im sure the guy would work with you...

also make sure you have the psu to run it
 
J

Jamston

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Is the 5570 worth considering as a lower option? Also thanks for the input jjb, do you know how the 460 compares to the 6670 etc, if there is a chart either of you guys know about that would help a lot.
 
jjb8675309

jjb8675309

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its almost 100% faster then the 6670, 5570 even worse...

id put the 6670 @ ~ the level of the 9800gt
the gtx 460 is a great deal for 80 shipped!

cod4_1920_1200.gif


a gtx 460 is comparable to a 6850 or a 6870 when oc'ed

in terms of 5 series nVidia gpus, its almost as fast as the 560 when oc'ed.. some of the ssc models even faster!
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Cool thanks very much for that. Its a pretty good price, about £50 delivered, i wonder if he would swap it for an x-fi titanium fatal1ty Pro, because i really don't see the point in keeping it.
 
J

Jamston

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Yeah, its modular and has three sockets for the 6 pins pci-e power, there is also a molex on the board the mobo manual says i should also use if using two cards.
 
Deemo13

Deemo13

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Just about what I was going to recommend. Great option right there.
 
J

Jamston

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Aug 7, 2012
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Nice one verbalizer, thats why i came here, you guys know about this stuff. I know what a bottleneck is, but what does that mean for this setup, that there is no point going for newer cards?
 
verbalizer

verbalizer

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May 28, 2010
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honestly it's time for some strategic planning and upgrading.
but if keeping this set-up for a minute then think about what and when you will be upgrading.
prioritize..
 
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