Best GPU for gaming, on a budget?

[Smoj]

Hey people,

I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card; I have a budget of £50-75 to replace my 7950GT.
It's for a Shuttle XPC Barebone SN68SG2.
Anyone recommend a good card for gaming??? (As the 7950GT seems to be struggling a bit lol)

Thanks for any replies

[staffsMike]

HD4770 or HD4830 would be good at the top end of the budget.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The orientation of the PCI-E slot is such that only a graphics card with a single slot cooler can be used from the pictures I have seen of the motherboard in the SN68SG2. This is the same issue I had with my old SN41G2 and hence I could only use a dual slot card with the case panel off.

The SN68SG2 has a 250w PSU so it could be a limiting factor here. The HD4770 is the best mix of performance and power consumption but I am uncertain whether the cooler will fit in the case properly. The 8800GT and 9800GT are slower than the HD4770 in most games and both can be bought with a single slot cooler.However they do consume much more power than the HD4770 and this may be too much for the PSU(even a Shuttle one).

The other cards in your price range which have single slot coolers and relatively low power consumption are the HD4670 and the 9600GT. The HD4670 is a bus powered card.

I would also look at the Sudhian forums as they have a section dedicated to Shuttle barebones systems:

http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/

[PAz]

I think the 4770 is the best choice here?

I'm also in the same boat, and after spending a few days researching it I'm going to go with the 4770

[scaryjim]

Having checked the Shuttle website CAT's quite right - single slot Graphics cards only. I suppose you could buy a 4770 then try to fit an aftermarket single-slot cooler...

What resolution are you gaming at?

[Smoj]

Thanks for the suggestions; I'm gaming at 1650x1050.

Yeah it needs to be a single slot card, as the first card I stupidly bought without checking was a double slot 7950GT which didn't fit lol

So you guys think the HD4770 is the best option?

What do you think of the following single slot HD4670 I found?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-A...ink-DVI-I-HDMI

Would it defiantly be worth going for the HD4770 instead? If so are there any specific cards you guys would recommend?

Cheers

[Jonnster]

Another vote for the 4770

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I need to get a new gpu but onl y got like 80 to spend what is the best for that of should i just save more???

Scan have the XFX HD4850 for aound £80 on the Today Only webpage:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

If you had at least 20 posts you would have had free postage from Scan also!

The normal price for the HD4850 on Scan is £86:

http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=28125

Novatech also has the GTS250 512mb for £89 which is a tad faster:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...e.html?NOV-250

The HD4770 is a bit overpriced ATM.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Thanks for the suggestions; I'm gaming at 1650x1050.

Yeah it needs to be a single slot card, as the first card I stupidly bought without checking was a double slot 7950GT which didn't fit lol

So you guys think the HD4770 is the best option?

What do you think of the following single slot HD4670 I found?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-A...ink-DVI-I-HDMI

Would it defiantly be worth going for the HD4770 instead? If so are there any specific cards you guys would recommend?

Cheers

All the cards currently use the same cooler. If you are willing to run the computer with case panel off or modify the panel I would get the HD4770.

If not either a single slot HD4670 or 9600GT would be the best bet IMHO.

I would go for a 512mb HD4670:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB...-DL-DVI-I-HDMI

1gb of video RAM is not really worth it IMHO for an HD4670.

The other alternative is this single slot XFX 9600GT:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=9600+GT

It is on Today Only for around £69:

http://www.scan.co.uk/TodayOnly/Index.aspx

However I do not know how noisy the cooler is as I believe it has a fixed fan speed.

This should be more powerful than the HD4670.

[neologan]

any reason why the 8800 GT isn't mentioned? can get those second hand for about £50. could get a GTS for almost the same if you can fit a dual cooler.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

any reason why the 8800 GT isn't mentioned? can get those second hand for about £50. could get a GTS for almost the same if you can fit a dual cooler.

Power consumption has to be low as possible as the SN68SG2 is an SFF pc and only has a 250w PSU. You maybe able to run an 8800GT but down the line overstressing the PSU may cause more problems than what it is worth and Shuttle PSUs are expensive.

Also the chassis cannot accept a dual slot graphics card unless you remove the cover on the case.

Some of the other Shuttle case designs can accept dual slot cards but not the G2. The H series and P series are improved in this regard.

[neologan]

going by these numbers: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3140&p=13 the difference between a 7950 GT and an 8800 GT is quite low really. 8800 GT is single slot.

Still, i do agree with you somewhat.

[Smoj]

I agree with you guys the HD4770 defiantly looks the best card in my price bracket.

But will it fit in my shuttle? Its single slot, but it does have a big fan on it. :/

Yeah my brother bought the more expensive shuttle which has plenty more space for a dual slot card; defiantly a big advantage.

I'm not too keen on having it sticking out of the side, but may consider it if its the only option I have.

The HD4670 will fit in easy, but the HD4770 looks much better, but will it fit?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I agree with you guys the HD4770 defiantly looks the best card in my price bracket.

But will it fit in my shuttle? Its single slot, but it does have a big fan on it. :/

Yeah my brother bought the more expensive shuttle which has plenty more space for a dual slot card; defiantly a big advantage.

I'm not too keen on having it sticking out of the side, but may consider it if its the only option I have.

The HD4670 will fit in easy, but the HD4770 looks much better, but will it fit?

I used to have a Nvidia 6800LE with a VF900 cooler in my old Shuttle G2 and as a result I had to run the case with the cover off.

The other way is to cut out a section of the cover using a dremel.

I currently use a Shuttle SD37P2 now which has more space.

Shuttles are great SFF barebones IMHO.

[malice19]

I've been looking at 3D cards a wile back and at the time i was recommended to go with Nvidia cards for the price range i was looking at £170-£250
as they were the best at the time.

So is it still the case to go Nvidia for the high price range or ATI as i don't quite understand ATI when
comparing them to Nvidia card as ATI seem to have Much much more cores than Nvidia cards but are much cheaper?

Could some one enlighten me please?

[neologan]

the SP's are different. Imagine the tiny little, basic cores (SP's) as cpu's for a moment. Now imagine an Atom or P4 against Core i7. In other words, you can build the SP's to any spec you desire, and in this case Nvidia and ATI went down different routes - the SP's on the ATI cards are not as powerful but they use more to compensate. Neither path is better, its just a different way of doing things.

At the moment you can find the 4890 for £165ish and it's comparable to a GTX 275, which i think answers which one you should go for