Monitor and Graphics card upgrade

[ShadoWolf]

Hi all

My old monitor has finaly died so I have done alot of reasearch and am looking to buy this monitor to replace it:

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...ource=googleps

Looks like BenQ is the best bet at the moment for budget monitors but If anyone can think of a monitor that is just as good for the same price or cheaper please let me know.

As all upgrades go I have also decied to upgrade my graphics card because there is no way that I will be able to take advantage of this monitors HD res with my old Radion x1900. I was looking at the below cards and was wondering if anyone has any personal experience with either/both of them? Im stretching my budget a bit but I would prefer to get a graphics card which can take advantage of the 1,920 x 1,080 res of the monitor. I would also like it to be DX 11 capabal as I dont want to have to upgrade again because a game i want to play requires DX11. Any advise would be much appreciated!

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/...roductId=40007

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=39514

[nibbler]

I'd say push the boat out and get a 5750 or a 5770 for that res, a 9800GTX is outdated and nowhere near as fast.

[ShadoWolf]

Hmm, thats what I was thinking but that would mean having to put up with my x1900 for a while until i get the money together for it. Will probably be cheaper by the time I get the money together!

Edit: this is a pretty good price for a 1GB model. What do you think?

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Compo...roductId=38291

is everyone agreed that this is the best/cheapest card I can get for the spec I require?

[ShadoWolf]

Hello again

Just been doing a bit of research on the 5770 and would appreciate a little advise. I found this article:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/845/11

Which says that the GeForce GTX 260/216 out performs the 5770 in all tests so the only reason to get the 5770 is th DX11 support. Was just wondering if you guys (who clearly know alot more about this than me) would agree with this? and wether the DX11 support out balances the performance?

[Ulti]

Yes the GTX260 is a better "performer" than the 5770 but it uses more power and doesn't support dx11 (not sure how important dx11 is for you). It requires 2x 6 pin connectors are generally costs more than the 5770 too. If you don't really have enough money for the 5770 then what makes you want to get a GTX260?

Check some benchmarks with the 5770 on the games you want to play and see if the 5770 is enough and if it isn't then check the GTX260 too.

[ShadoWolf]

I would rather save up and buy a card which will last me the longest. So I guess I could stretch to the GTX if its likely to last me longer

The question is which one am I likely going to want upgrade sooner? The GTX because it doesent support DX11 or the 5770 because the performance isnt quite so good.

The problem is knowing if Im going to want DX11. are all games going to use DX11 in the future? would having a DX10 card mean I wont be able to play any games or just some games? or would I be able to plave DX11 games on a DX10 card? Unfortuanly Ive been out of the loop for sometime so Im alittle rusty on these matters.

[Blaineoliver]

5770 cards are getting faster all the time new drivers keep on adding performance.

[Ulti]

You just won't be able to play in dx11 mode which means slightly less eye candy AFAIK. You might wanna wait for someone who knows more about it though but the reason I got the 5770 was because of lower power consumption and it running cooler. However my card does seem to run quite hot on load even with goodish airflow but it's nothing for me to worry about.

[benus]

Hi I am afraid not all of the games will be using DirectX11. I can assure you some of them will be using DirectX12 or above. Make a good choice then.

[Terbinator]

Hi I am afraid not all of the games will be using DirectX11. I can assure you some of them will be using DirectX12 or above. Make a good choice then.

DX12 isn't even out and possibly not finalised AFAIK. For the moment seen as your considering a GTX 260 - you would be best going for a 5830 form Aria for around £160.

[ShadoWolf]

Upgrades always spiral out of control! Its happend before, I wanted to replace my Motherboard and ended up building a completly new rig!

Anyway, thinking about it I will prob stick with ATI for the DX11. Will just have to see how much I can get for my x1900 and other various bits and peices before I decide wether I go for the 5770 or the 5830.

Looking at ebay I could prob get £20/£30 for the x1900 but I doubt they are in demand so wether I sell it is a different matter. Dont suppose I would get anything for a broken Monitor???

[benus]

The problem is knowing if Im going to want DX11. are all games going to use DX11 in the future?

DX12 isn't even out and possibly not finalised AFAIK.

It's supposed to be joke.

[ShadoWolf]

Can anyone speak from experience wether I could sell a broken monitor on ebay? is it likely to go? and my x1900

[Domestic_Ginger]

Can anyone speak from experience whether I could sell a broken monitor on ebay? is it likely to go? and my x1900

No.No. Maybe £10.

The 260 is out of production afaik. Finding a new one is going to be about £150. Aria has a 4890 for ca 130 (?). Aria also slap on postage usually.

The 5770 is pretty much performance wise on a par with a 4870 512mb. The 260 is about 5-10% better with the 4870 1gb.

The 5750 is slightly better than a 4850.

Toms hardware has the most easy to understand list of GPUs. Some of the bundling is suspect but its the best representation I can find.

[ShadoWolf]

any advise on a ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2 card? I onli have one PCI-e slot on a p5b-e board but I read it only needs 1 pci-e slot. what kinda power would it need? I have a 550W Antec Neo HE PSU, would that handle it do u think?

[Domestic_Ginger]

It does only need one PCI slot but it is 11.5" long. I would check out some reviews on for a similar system to yours and the power consumption it needs. If your PSU is new then it should power it but check first.

The 4850x2 are quite scarce iirc.