Upgrade my what?

[MrSamHideki]

First of all this is my first post and if i have posted this in the wrong place i do apologize but it seems my graphics card needs to be replaced. My XFX 1GB 6870 doesn't seem to satisfy me. I normally do find comparison vids or sites to see which would be the best upgrade but i just keep hitting a virtual brick wall. I normally stick to the lower cost graphics card due to the fact that certain low cost graphics card are enough for me. I do want to own a Nvidia but the price tag on a standard it ridiculous and im not a fanboy of AMD. Just clever with my money


XFX/HD6950/DD/Cooled/AMD/Radeon/2GB
MSI/HD7850/Twin Frozr/OCAMD/ATI/2GB
Asus/Radeon HD/7770 AMD/1GB.

P.s Hey

[Rookie1986]

Hey and welcome

Two questions I guess, what resolution do you game at and what's your budget for the new GPU??

Rookie

[Bambooz]

I normally do find comparison vids or sites to see which would be the best upgrade but i just keep hitting a virtual brick wall.

In German, but that shouldn't really be an issue as it's basically just one huge chart
http://www.pc-erfahrung.de/grafikkar...rangliste.html

Neat thing is that they also list the official power consumption of the card alone (the two rightmost columns are maximum and idle in watts), rather than the power consumption of the whole system the card is in (like so many review sites do) which is completely useless

[MrSamHideki]

Spending limit is around £200 and thanks for the link

[csgohan4]

what resolution and how many monitors do you intend to use?

[MrSamHideki]

Damn i should have really listed that info too so just in case you guys need to know any other information im just going to list everything.

Asus p8z68-v Mobo
XFX850Pro Psu
Corsair Vengeance 8gb RAM
XFX1GB/6870
Corsair H80
Toshiba Regza 1920x1080
Intel i5 2500

Just found a link but i have yet to unlock link pages on this forum but the site is Anandtech. Bench site and just did a comparison with my graphics card which is a 6870 vs 6950 and shocked at the slight difference and i did not even bother looking at the 7770, so that model is out of the picture.

[Rookie1986]

TBH at 1920 x 1080 and a £200 budget I would just stick with what you have, the difference gained at this level would be minimal from the GPU's within the budget you have. You would need to be looking at a 7870 (£250 area), take a look at this chart over on Toms Hardware it should give you an idea of where you need to be looking and budgeting for.

Rookie

[MrSamHideki]

I suppose the difference would be minimal but what if i corssfireX my current GPU? I suppose a upgrade would happen if my budget was higher and congrats on your 9.19mb/s, i dont even reach that with crappy ass sky. Thanks for the info.

[nightcypher]

You could crossfire your current GPU, if you're going to do that I'd recommend getting exactly the same card as you currently have if you can, if not then as close to it to maximise stability and compatibility.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would wait a few more months to see what effect the GTX660 will have on pricing. ATM,the HD7850 2GB is probably the best value for money 28NM card IMHO especially when you consider how well it overclocks. The HD6870 1GB would be a cheaper way of improving performance,but the 1GB of VRAM might be a limitation now with some games.

[MrSamHideki]

You could crossfire your current GPU, if you're going to do that I'd recommend getting exactly the same card as you currently have if you can, if not then as close to it to maximise stability and compatibility.

Not sure if XFX still do the special edition to my current GPU but thanks for the info.

[ironleg1963]

whay cpu are you running and how much system memory do you have.what operating system are you running and is it X 86 or X 64. I would download gpuz and run it to make sure you dont have any bottlenecks going on before I purchased anything.

[MrSamHideki]

whay cpu are you running and how much system memory do you have.what operating system are you running and is it X 86 or X 64. I would download gpuz and run it to make sure you dont have any bottlenecks going on before I purchased anything.

Intel i5 2500, X64, Windows 7 Ultimate and im not sure what you are referring to about system memory but im guessing i have 208GB space left. Just searched up what the bottleneck effect is but im not even sure how to check if im effected by it.

[Samwood]

Ive seen the 7870 for just over £200. Performance of the 7870 is v.close to the 7950, and for close to £200 thats a bargin.

If your still undecided, this link might help:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3107.html

[Zak33]

...but it seems my graphics card needs to be replaced. My XFX 1GB 6870 doesn't seem to satisfy me. I normally do find comparison vids or sites to see which would be the best upgrade but i just keep hitting a virtual brick wall. I normally stick to the lower cost graphics card due to the fact that certain low cost graphics card are enough for me. I do want to own a Nvidia but the price tag on a standard it ridiculous

hey Sam

First off, welcome.

Secondly, what is wrong with your card? What games are you finding it holding you back on? It's not a slow card, and with one monitor, at 1920 x 1080 I am suprised you want to upgrade to what you describe as

the lower cost graphics card due to the fact that certain low cost graphics card are enough for me

that's what you've got already!

If you want a new toy.. and most of us do, often.. by all means blow some money on a new card, but don't expect it to make you sing with joy.... unless you do opposite of what you said. ie you must spend a lot more money to get a massively notable increase.

Assuming you sell your old card once you get the new one, you COULD get a noteable increase in performance. And you could, if you want, get an nVidia card, but AMD are very good card and sometimes slightly better value unless the entire nVidia suite of hardware does something for you.


What I think is a bit .. odd.. is that your system link says you have a Toshiba 32" monitor.. a Regza.

that's a telly.. not a monitor.

YES it's a good telly.. but if it's right in front of you, 32" screen for 1920x1080 is gonna look..... less than pin sharp. It's designed to be a telly quite a way away from you.

Maybe you should treat yourself to a specific PC monitor? if you have the space?

[ONEK]

You're not a fanboy, so this shouldn't be the worst solution http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1280m...dmi-plusfree-b
exact card that I have, pre-overclocked non-standard PCB with dual fans and is quiet on load. I'm planning to get a second to run in SLI, I love it and since it's dropped £100 since I bought it. BARGAIN.

Or alternatively buy a second of your current card, that should make you smile a bit.