Upgrading gfx card

Hi presently I have a 8800 GTS 320mb. I have a 400w PSU - FSP400-60GLN . I do however have a spare 450w thermaltake kicking about somewhere from my old rig. Would this pc be capable of running 512GB XFX GTS 250 Green x 2 in SLI that are currently available from scan, for £54.03 + P&P? Would this even be a good deal for me as im not looking to spead alot and cant really afford to go much over £115-120 as the other half will kill me!!!

The FSP400-60GLN seems a decent unit for its age:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article280-page1.html

Whereas one GTS250 should be hopefully fine I don't think that powering two would be a good idea(the 12V lines are supposed to be only 14 amps and 15 amps respectively). AFAIK

It seems the XFX GTS250 does use only one PCI-E power connector luckily:

http://www.yougamers.com/forum/showt...t=99147&page=3

http://www.3peeps.com/mj/gadgets/xfx-geforce-gts-250/

http://diy.pconline.com.cn/graphics/...3/1581488.html

I would stick with one card instead.

So in a nut shell, if i change my psu then go SLI but if i dont then just stick with picking up one of these cards? My concern with buying just one of these cards is the performance boost wouldnt be that much surely? And at the cost of purchasing two being cheaper than a 4850 ddr5 would i not be wiser perhaps to purchase two and perhaps just run one sell my current 8800GTS 320mb for say £25-30 and put that cash toward next month and a bigger PSU?

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Originally Posted by WaKKo-

So in a nut shell, if i change my psu then go SLI but if i dont then just stick with picking up one of these cards? My concern with buying just one of these cards is the performance boost wouldnt be that much surely? And at the cost of purchasing two being cheaper than a 4850 ddr5 would i not be wiser perhaps to purchase two and perhaps just run one sell my current 8800GTS 320mb for say £25-30 and put that cash toward next month and a bigger PSU?

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If you could get a better PSU then yes a pair of GTS250 cards in SLI would be pretty fast.

Running one at the current time would also make sense until you get a newer PSU.

This one is on offer at Ebuyer for £55:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/127861

It is a good unit for the price:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/451

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...ream_pro&num=1

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1401

This is an even better unit for the price:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/132563

Perhaps your other half could let you get all the bits together??

When you sell your existing graphics card you will get some money back anyway.

Thanks for your help going to purchase 2 of them to run in sli and get the psu next month. Prefer the easier life from the other half. Thankfully February is a short month so only 3 weeks go to for the psu think i can wait that long :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WaKKo-

Thanks for your help going to purchase 2 of them to run in sli and get the psu next month. Prefer the easier life from the other half. Thankfully February is a short month so only 3 weeks go to for the psu think i can wait that long :D

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If you have 20 posts on Hexus you can get free postage from Scan:

http://forums.hexus.net/scan-care-he...tup-guide.html

The posts have to be constructive ones of course!

Well since this most likely wont be considered constructive i still need to make a further 12! But thanks for the info.

Well Cat it appears that scan are no longer doing this offer :( So any suggetions on what to buy for around the £110 mark?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WaKKo-

Well Cat it appears that scan are no longer doing this offer :( So any suggetions on what to buy for around the £110 mark?

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I would get an HD4870 1GB but it needs a decent PSU for even one card so you would need to upgrade the PSU to something a bit better first!!

There is one on Novatech for under £110:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...h/48701GB.html

You can also get cashback from Novatech purchases using Quidco and TopCashBack.

OTH,the HD5770 1GB has around the same performance as an HD4870 1GB,DX11 and lower power consumption than a 8800GTS 320GB:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-P...-DL-DVI-I-HDMI

http://www.dabs.com/products/best-va...ml?q=HD%205770

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=39034

http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...16&tid=gsearch

There is also the HD4890 1GB for a few pounds more:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=37323

However it consumes a bit more power at load than an HD4870 1GB but is faster.

might opt for the ati 5770 but for an extra £15 would u get http://www.scan.co.uk/product.aspx?ProductId=33930 instead?

The HD5770 Vapor X is a nice graphics card:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/S...D_5770_Vapor-X

However the HD5830 is coming out in the next few weeks too so I would not go too OTT on buying an expensive HD5770. However I suspect that the HD5830 will be well over £140 at launch.

hehe very true as at this rate i'll end up keep saying well for an extra £15 i could get this and end up spending £300+

The revision two cooler on the cheaper HD5770 cards is not too bad:

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=664

The HD5770 1GB should be able to run quite a few games at decent settings:

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/...o_card_review/

Being an avid online gamer, running at decent settings isnt a priorty but high fps is with a half decent view.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WaKKo-

Being an avid online gamer, running at decent settings isnt a priorty but high fps is with a half decent view.

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The HD5770 1GB will put less of a stress on your existing PSU when compared to your 8800GTS 320MB and have better performance too!