Upgrading 9600GT, £200 ish budget

[shenglong]

OK here we go

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: sooner the better but i can hold out if there are new cards on the horizon leading to lower prices of current cards, i cant find any info for the next batch :S


BUDGET RANGE: £200 ish


USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Games on high settings (rage, arkham city, skyrim)


CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY:
- MSI 9600GT 512MB OC
- Enermax Noisetaker 600w


OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 SLACR 2.4ghz (OC'd to 3ghz)
- MSI P35 NEO2-FR iP35, 6GB Geil Ultra DDR2 PC6400 800MHz (4-4-4-12),
- OCZ Vertex 2 60GB,
- Coolermaster Elite 330 Black


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: U.K sites i guess
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.K

PARTS PREFERENCES: any

OVERCLOCKING: Maybe
SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080, AOC f22s

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
Hello, what is the best card i can buy before the rest of my pc components become a bottleneck ? is it worthwhile sticking a 6950 in this pc, i think my mobo pci-e is 1.1 and i know different versions are compatible at a lower speed ... but how much of a lower speed is it ? how much performance do i lose by having a lower version pci-e ?

i am considering the following cards:-
hd 6950
560 ti
hd 6850
hd 6770

i dont really want to upgrade all of my pc, just want a gfx card that will run the games specified above at high settings with room for future updating when i do upgrade everything

also some of the gfx cards look preeetty darn big, will they even fit in my case ?


thanks in advance, plz reply all suggestions welcome

 

[purple stain]

How many amps are on the +!2/v rail(s) of your PSU?

The best card you could get without causing a bottleneck would be a 6850,6870 or a GTX560.Anything more than those would start to get bottlenecked by your CPU.

Their's no confirmed date yet on the new GPU's from Nvidia and AMD but their are rumors saying Q1 2012.

They should fit in your case but it will be tight.I suggest upgrading your case if you have any spare money.But if you don't,don't wory about it.

 

[kajabla]

I think you might be able to handle a 560 Ti.

 

[purple stain]

If it's at 3ghz I doubt it.

 

[shenglong]

How many amps are on the +!2/v rail(s) of your PSU?

The best card you could get without causing a bottleneck would be a 6850,6870 or a GTX560.Anything more than those would start to get bottlenecked by your CPU.

Their's no confirmed date yet on the new GPU's from Nvidia and AMD but their are rumors saying Q1 2012.

They should fit in your case but it will be tight.I suggest upgrading your case if you have any spare money.But if you don't,don't wory about it.

22A on both 12v rails (http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/enermaxnoisetaker/index.htm)
is that enough ? ive been meaning to upgrade my psu for a long time too, maybe i can if i get a 6850 for £135 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Radeon-6850-DirectCU-PCI-/dp/B004HXW5OU/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1317878438&sr=1-1) leaving me with £100 spare any quick recommendations for £100 psu before i head over to the psu forum area ?

yeah ive been mostly looking at the 6850 recently as the best to buy, how does it compare to the gtx560 price/performance wise ?

hmm Q1 2012 is too long to wait for me

that asus 6850 seems to be only a tiny bit longer than my current 9600gt plus i have a few more inches of space as i shifted the hard drives around, should fit

 

[shenglong]

I think you might be able to handle a 560 Ti.

hmm might? because of the psu or cpu bottleneck ? if it is bottlenecked, would the 560ti still outperform a 560 or hd 6870 ?

i just read Rage requires alot more vram to support higher textures, are there 2gb versions of any of the aforementioned gfx cards ?

 

[purple stain]

If your just getting a single 6850 then you can still use your current PSU if you wanted.

I would suggest going for a Seasonic PSU.A 500 watt will work fine for you.But if you were thinking of SLI or Crossfire in the future then you might want a 650watt.Seasonic can start to get a little pricey after 500watts so look for an Antec if think it is.

The GTX560 and 6870 are very similiar which is about 10-20% faster than the 6850.

Yah I'm sure your case will work fine.They guy I just talked to is using a 6970 with that case.Did the same thing with the Hard Drives.

 

[kajabla]

hmm might? because of the psu or cpu bottleneck ? if it is bottlenecked, would the 560ti still outperform a 560 or hd 6870 ?

i just read Rage requires alot more vram to support higher textures, are there 2gb versions of any of the aforementioned gfx cards ?

CPU bottleneck would be the problem.
Yeah, there are 2gb 560 Ti's out there. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100006662&isNodeId=1&Description=560+ti+2gb&x=0&y=0

 

[shenglong]

If your just getting a single 6850 then you can still use your current PSU if you wanted.

I would suggest going for a Seasonic PSU.A 500 watt will work fine for you.But if you were thinking of SLI or Crossfire in the future then you might want a 650watt.Seasonic can start to get a little pricey after 500watts so look for an Antec if think it is.

The GTX560 and 6870 are very similiar which is about 10-20% faster than the 6850.

Yah I'm sure your case will work fine.They guy I just talked to is using a 6970 with that case.Did the same thing with the Hard Drives.

hmm will my enermax noisetaker 600w really struggle with a 6870 ? it is quite old but never had any problems with it...seems kinda strange to go from a 600w down to 500w, have psu's changed alot ? (also these psu's are darn expensive !!!) my psu does have two pci-e power connectors, im not interested in sli or cf either

 

[purple stain]

The thing is,is that your Enermax can't really deliver what it says on the label.It's a poor made PSU.The reason why they cost so much is because your pay for a high quality PSU.Also a lot has changed since your PSU.Lots of advancements have been made in protecting compoents from over voltage and clean power.

 

[Kishere]

hook up a gtx 260 or a gts 450 to it then u will have more then enoough for a better cpu maybe a new mobo and a new cpu

 

[shenglong]

The thing is,is that your Enermax can't really deliver what it says on the label.It's a poor made PSU.The reason why they cost so much is because your pay for a high quality PSU.Also a lot has changed since your PSU.Lots of advancements have been made in protecting compoents from over voltage and clean power.

thanks purple for all ur advice

psu:
http://www.ebuyer.com/159920-antec-truepower-new-650w-modular-psu-0761345-07660-9?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products

hd 6870:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-xfx-hd-6870-dual-fan-black-edition-4600mhz-gddr5-gpu-940mhz-1120-stream-processors-dvi-hdmi-mdp-

the cheaper ones seem to be clocked lower ?

 

[shenglong]

hook up a gtx 260 or a gts 450 to it then u will have more then enoough for a better cpu maybe a new mobo and a new cpu

yeah then i will need new memory too and new psu, all starts adding up quite quick,

altho do you know of any cheap i5 2500k + mobo + memory setups/deals ?

 

[purple stain]

That's a good PSU.

That XFX 6870 you picked out is an O.C. version.Which means it will probably cost more.But still a 6870 with a 40mhz O.C. with dual fans for $190 is a pretty good deal.I remeber back when I bought my reference 6870 it was $240 .

 

[shenglong]

ahh cool i dont really oc too much myself so i dont mind plus that same card was £10 less (plus free shipping) about 4 weeks ago but i missed it doh !!!

its also out of stock argh

 

[shenglong]

how much difference does 2gb vs 1gb 6870 make ?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-xfx-hd-6870-4200mhz-gddr5-gpu-900mhz-1120-stream-processors-hdmi-2x-mini-displayport-2x-dvi

 

[purple stain]

If your using a 1080p or less display it won't really make a difference.Some says it does but their is no difference at all in benchmarks.Of course if it was the same price as the other one it would be a good deal but it's not so I suggest looking for a different one.

This is a very very good 6870.I suggest getting it.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-msi-hd-6870-oc-hawk-with-twinfrozer-iii-4200mhz-gddr5-gpu-930mhz-1120-stream-processors-dvi-hdmi

 

[Kishere]

yeah then i will need new memory too and new psu, all starts adding up quite quick,

altho do you know of any cheap i5 2500k + mobo + memory setups/deals ?

ill start that calculation

lets see...

ima go some way i never done myself but will be worth it.


this may be out of your limit by just a little

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157249

Graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125391

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072



this will be a performance upgrade if u need a alternative...this is where amd comes in

let me convert USD to euros.... 306.485 EUR

okay now..time for AMD


Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128521

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808

Graphics card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102873

lets see... 276.584 EUR for this one..


let me do the power requirements and add it

AMD:495W needed

Intel:552W Needed

id pick the AMD it will relieve stress on your psu

ok so...the intel beats the AMD but the 5770 beats the gtx 260 so u got a choice do u want a good cpu with a tiny bottleneck and a DX10 card or do u want the Slightly less performance cpu and a good DX11 card that is your pick also the 6850 will be the same performance almost as the 5770

 

[shenglong]

unfortunately newegg.com prices dont transfer across to uk prices, plus they dont ship world wide.

Asrock P67 PRO3 REV 3.0 1155 Motherboard by ASRock £84.76

G-Skill 8GBXL Ripjaws X for Intel Sandybridge Platforms DDR3 PC12800 1600MHz 8GB Kit by G-Skill £42.49

Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) by Intel £168.70

Antec TruePower New 650W Modular PSU £79.99

GIGABYTE GV-N26UD-896M REV2.0 GeForce GTX 260 ... pretty much non-existant in uk/eu, plus its slower than even the 6850 according to the graphics heirachy chart sept 2011....anyway plus £116 for cheapest 6850

= £491.94

never owned amd build dont think im about to start either since intel beats it all over the place


i think i will stick to just psu + hd 6870 upgrade for now and upgrade the rest later on maybe early next year....i think these two parts will do well transfering across into a new build plus prices will be cheaper hopefully !!!

oh yeah i didnt even add delivery costs, uk sucks

 

[Kishere]

Graphics card: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/sapphire-radeon-hd-5770-pci-e-graphics-card-04351404-pdt.html

Different graphics card: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/zotac-nvidia-geforce-gts-250-pci-e-graphics-card-1gb-04810380-pdt.html

 

[Kishere]

unfortunately newegg.com prices dont transfer across to uk prices, plus they dont ship world wide.

Asrock P67 PRO3 REV 3.0 1155 Motherboard by ASRock £84.76

G-Skill 8GBXL Ripjaws X for Intel Sandybridge Platforms DDR3 PC12800 1600MHz 8GB Kit by G-Skill £42.49

Intel Sandybridge i5-2500K Unlocked Core i5 Quad-Core Processor (3.30GHz, 6MB Cache, Socket 1155) by Intel £168.70

Antec TruePower New 650W Modular PSU £79.99

GIGABYTE GV-N26UD-896M REV2.0 GeForce GTX 260 ... pretty much non-existant in uk/eu, plus its slower than even the 6850 according to the graphics heirachy chart sept 2011....anyway plus £116 for cheapest 6850

= £491.94

never owned amd build dont think im about to start either since intel beats it all over the place


i think i will stick to just psu + hd 6870 upgrade for now and upgrade the rest later on maybe early next year....i think these two parts will do well transfering across into a new build plus prices will be cheaper hopefully !!!

oh yeah i didnt even add delivery costs, uk sucks

oh umm...lets see...price over performance is amd advantage im from the us and people think us amercans is just plain out morons as that is true, intel is performance for the price i dont see a nvidia gtx 580 beating a 6950 crossfire

 

[kajabla]

Intel processors are definitely better, but not exactly great values. There comes a point when AMD just doesn't make a good enough processor that it makes sense to use.
What does that 580 comment have to do with price/performance? The 580 is an excellent single GPU; 2x6950 is two very good ones. Yes, they're faster, but they can have microstuttering issues. Also, a 580 is warranted when people want the fastest configurations available (3x580 SLI, for instance). You just can't Xfire five 6950s.

 

[Kishere]

Intel processors are definitely better, but not exactly great values. There comes a point when AMD just doesn't make a good enough processor that it makes sense to use.
What does that 580 comment have to do with price/performance? The 580 is an excellent single GPU; 2x6950 is two very good ones. Yes, they're faster, but they can have microstuttering issues. Also, a 580 is warranted when people want the fastest configurations available (3x580 SLI, for instance). You just can't Xfire five 6950s.

exactly and i dont think u can use a physx on a 6950 either

 

[purple stain]

Did you buy the new CPU yet or is it still in the basket?

 

[Kishere]

i got a Core 2 duo in my desktop with a 8400 GS i think it is a bottle neck