Abit IP35 Pro Graphics Upgrade

[Prestonian]

Hi

I currently run 8GB Crucial PC2 6400 DDR2 RAM along with a Geforce 8800GTX.

I want to upgrade to something like a Radeon 6870 or a Nvidia 560ti , or is there another card that is better around the £150-£200 price range?

Will this motherboard run these cards ok.

I have a 850W Coolermaster PSU already installed, along with a quad core 2.4Ghz Q6600 processor.

Thanks

[MSIC]

Hi there, i'm not an abit rep so will let them answer your questions as they see fit...
However in principle the chipset that your motherboard uses will be perfectly fine, and so i'd be 99.9% certain that any new graphics card will work great in your motherboard.
Bit-tech review of your motherboard.

As for which, I wont post a specific recommendation as despite abit not making any these days (to my knowledge, and their website seems to be a bit AWOL these days), i wont discuss any specific competitor within their area of the forum.
Again however, in principle, i'd advise the following:
The Radeon 6870 (and to a lesser extent the 6850) are great cards, but a little old now. I'd pay no more than £120 for a 6870. I own a 6850, it's great, but not worth above £100 now.

A Geforce 560Ti is a great value card overall.
There is a 384-core variant, from £160 ish upwards
and a 448-core version starting from £184.
Looking at Hexus' value analysis of these cards (Nov 2011) they were viewed as being around similar value when the 384 cost £170 and the 448 cost £220 - at todays prices therefore, the 448 is the better value.

The newer Radeon 7850 cards are probably the best of the bunch though, have a read of this review.
The 7850 cards are probably worth the sub-£200 price at the moment IMO, but not really above it.
This Guru3D review is also worth a read, and better compares a number of cards:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ra...-7870-review/1

[Prestonian]

Thats superb information, as im not that clued up on cards these days.

I will have a good read of the links and make a decision from there.

Thank you very much for your time in answering my post.