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I'm thinking it might be time to upgrade my 8800GT card to something a bit cooler running and maybe quieter.
I've got a 23" (2048x1152) TFT monitor, so hi-res gaming would be nice, but not I guess essential.
I'd like to stick with nVidia, sadly though my budget isn't that great.
Would a GT2xx card be worth the expense?
Also, would I need a beefier PSU than my current Tagan 480w one?
Any suggestions and advice welcome.
If you want to stick to Nvidia then wait for fermi to come out hopefully in March. Though it could be as late as May depending on reports you read.
The high end gt2xx (gtx 260 and onwards) series is eol so prices are really high compared to the 5xxx cards from Ati.
How much do you want to spend?
This hierarchy is about right.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...rd,2521-8.html
I think you're limiting your opyions unnecessarily by only going with NV. Either wait for Fermi, or get an ATi car5d now.
I did the same upgrade as you last year, and went to a 4890. Other options include the 5770, and there are vapor x versions of both for quieter running.
tbh the GTX200 / HD4800 series are very difficult to source now and probably not worth the money - the prices seem to have been hiked up since the cards are all EOL and are therefore considered "rare" :rolleyes:
Of the current generation retail cards (obviously that's ATI only since we're still waiting on Fermi) the 5770 would be a step-upgrade (it outperforms the GTS250 (a heavily overclocked and tweaked 8800GT) consistently) @ £120ish. The 5850 would be a massive upgrade, but then you're doubling the price.
My personal advice would be to wait, for 2 reasons:
1) When Fermi finally does get released it'll provide competion for HD5000, lowering prices and providing a genuine alternative, so you'll have a decent range of cards to choose from rather than the last few EOL products being sold off at hiked up prices.
2) ATI are strongly rumoured to be releasing a HD5830 card, which should etail for < £200, and be a significant step up from the 5770. If you can be tempted away from NVidia, this might be the card to do it :D
A friend of mine upgraded from an 8800GT to an ATI 5770 and seems very happy with the new found performance. Definitely worth considering.
Part of my reason for wishing to stick with nVidia has been to do with their Linux drivers, whilst I'd be using Windows XP or Windows 7 for playing games (hence wanting performance), my day-to-day tasks would likely be spent booted into Linux, and my experience has shown nVidia's drivers are better in that regard than ATi's.
What are other peoples experiences with Linux + ATi? as I've never owned admittedly a newer generation ATi card (been using nVidia since GeForce2 days pretty much, with just an 9800Pro in between iirc).
What people say about waiting for fermi does seem to make sense to me though, and it is doubly so thinking that I've now got to budget for a new car after mine failed its MoT :/
kelly
Probably best to stick with nvidia if you use linux. From what other people have said ati has improved but still not to nvidia standard in this regard.
I've installed Linux on ATI systems a few times......the drivers have always worked for me but I haven't tried to game on it at all.