new gfx card: ati 2950pro(3800?) or nvidia 8800gt/8800gts640/112?

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a new graphics card within the next month or so to play the new batch of games coming out soon - crysis/ut3/cod4 etc. I will probably also need to buy a new psu. I haven't gone for the current 2900pro or 8800gts since the 2950pro/8800gt are supposed to be released within the month and should offer better features and performance for the same amount of money.

My base specs are as follows:

Opteron 180 @ 2.6ghz
socket 939 epox nforce 4 ultra
3gb DDR400 corsair value ram (2x1gb & 2x512mb)
7800gt pci-e @ 425/1000
480w hiper type-r psu
(2xdvdrw & 3xsata2 hds)

I have about £300-350 max to spend on a new graphics card + psu and I am hoping that this upgrade will see me through for another year before needing to upgrade completely. Originally I was looking at a 8800gtx - but since I have a relatively old machine I don't think its worth it. Which graphics card and psu would you recommend given my specs - and do you think I could run a 8800gt with my current psu?

You'll probably be fine with your current PSU. Its not the greatest, but should run one of those cards you mentioned.

Its hard to recommend future cards, as we have no idea in pricing or many in depth reviews. Personally I would be looking towards the 8800GT. The extra streams will make a big difference.

A 8800GTX wouldn't be a bad choice either, its within your budget and your PC is still a decent spec really.

What monitor and res do you play at?

I think it might be the best card to buy considering my system - but I have read that the 2950pro may be being released as the HD3X00 series - it also supports dx10.1 which im not sure the 8800gt does...

I may upgrade the psu anyway to be ready for a fully system upgrade with-in the year. I am looking in the 600-700w range - what could you recommend for under £100?

If i went the gtx route I will need a new psu as the hiper only has 1 pci express connector. I'd prefer to play games at 1650x1050 as this is my monitor resolution (22inch samsung widescreen)

The 8800GT and the ATI 2950pro will be good cards, affordable and popular. As for a psu@£100 there are lots to chose from, stay with a good brand like Enermax, Silverstone, Corsair, PC Power and Cooling and you will be fine:)

I have a Hiper Type R 480w and read a rather worrying review from HardOCP recently. http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?...wxLCxobmV3cw== . This would indicate that the Hiper Type R 480w would be fine if rated at 350w but can't actually consistently supply 480w. You never know - Hiper's OEM may have changed and it was obtained recently in North America rather than a while ago in Europe but I'd advise caution. I looked into what it meant for me and I reckon I'm about on the safe limit with an X2 4600+ and X1800XT.

The other thing to bear in mind is that these new cards will be PCI-E 2.0. Motherboards with PCI-E 1.1 will be compatible but there's still a question mark over motherboards with PCI-E 1.0 and 1.0a (quite a lot of recent boards). I wouldn't worry too much but I'm taking a 'wait and see' approach to make sure my motherboard's compatible before buying.

what about tagan? I had my eye on this one, though it is a tad expensive:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=420472

thanks for the heads up uriel - I will check this out. I'm pretty sure my board is pci-e 1.0a spec, but I'd prefer to get the newer card so it will slot straight into a new pci-e 2.0 motherboard when I do decide to upgrade. I think it would be a rather big oversight to release new mid-range cards that don't have pci-e 1.0/a compatibility.

just read that hiper type-r review :S. I must admit I've never had a problem with mine but I might go ahead and buy a new psu sooner rather than later

i think you should realy go for a GTX. i would if was in your position but unfortunatly i have a AGP system still so a GTX is a no no for me :p

on a side note how long did the 7 series last? i thought that the new 9 series cards will appear this year but looks like it wont. a more of a reason to buy a GTX now rather then wait for the next big thing

From what I can gather, it looks like PCI-E 2.0 graphics cards will be compatible with earlier PCI-E motherboards. There's enough doubt in my mind to warrant waiting for confirmation though.

Edit: I just had a re-read of that Hiper Type R 480W review. It's almost certainly not the same model as mine, as I don't have a 6pin PCI-E connector.

A little more info on the Hiper Type R 480w PSU. It turns out that there are two versions. The current version is dreadful. The earlier version isn't bad. There's a review of the earlier version here: http://www.nordichardware.com/index....on=more&id=912

A quick warning - If yours has a 6 pin PCI-E connector, chances are it's the poor quality later version.