Graphics card update - looking for advice...

So I've got a bit of cash to upgrade my graphics card from a HD4670 which has served a purpose but it's time to take the plunge and get a solid card.

I want to drop my cash on the best card possible without having to upgrade elsewhere which will eat into the budget.

My restrictions are one 6pin power lead on my 450w Antec VP450P PSU and a £200 pound budget.

The 7850 seems to cover the bases at the limit of my budget with only one 6 pin required and a reccomendation of 500w PSU.

Basically will the 450w handle it? I'm not running much else on the system. usb and firewire cards + the dvd and samsung spinpoint. Mobo and processor are relatively low power...

Would appreciate thoughts...

I would not advise you to spend money on upgrading your graphics card without first updating your PSU. You will most likely end up with stability issues or worse component failures and permanent damage to your rig.

If in the near or not so near future you might consider building a new rig then first get a really good PSU that you can take with you into the new build when it comes, so something like a 650 to 850 watt PSU would help with a future high powered rig. Good quality 700 watt PSUs start from around £70, it's not a big investment particularly if you find you can use it in future builds. I don't know what you future plans are, but plan accordingly, if you later sell your current rig you can put the 450watt PSU and the old HD4670 back in to do so.

Currently it looks like it works out to about £1 for each additional 10 watts of power a PSU can supply, up until you get to around the 850 watt mark and then the price seems to climb out of control.

I disagree with what KeyboardDemon has said, almost completely.

Antec make high quality PSUs, and the 7850 only draws about 150w from the PSU IIRC, so I can see no reason why your PC won't be able to handle a 7850.

Although, I will add, I do believe that your CPU will bottleneck that graphics card, meaning that you'll be spending money on upgrading the card but you won't see all of the performance :(

The VP450P gets a decent review from Hardware Secrets:

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...ly-Review/1487

The HD7850 2GB consumes around the same amount of power as an HD6850 1GB:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...D_7870/24.html

The HD7850 2GB should be fine IMHO.

Regarding the CPU,an Athlon II X3 450 at stock clockspeeds probably will be a limitation in CPU heavy games. However,one of my mates as one at 4GHZ which seems perfectly fine with an HD5850 1GB.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Regarding the CPU,an Athlon II X3 450 at stock clockspeeds probably will be a limitation in CPU heavy games. However,one of my mates as one at 4GHZ which seems perfectly fine with an HD5850 1GB.

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Could the OP expect to get a 4ghz overclock with that new GPU and his current PSU?

Thank you all for replying.

I did think that the PSU i have is solid so might get me by and can see from the responses that it'll probably be fine but to also be aware of risks.

I also know i'm limited by my processor but long term I plan to build a new i5 ivybridge for next year which the 7850 should thrive in with the current build being recycled into a media player type rig for my daughter so the athlon will not bottleneck the GPU for too long but I don't want to, say... go for a 7790 and then once the new build is up and running regret the missing oomph.

Once again thanks - I'm almost certainly convinced i'll take this route now and will stay alert for possible signs of power issues. The limitations of the athlon may mean i can't push the GPU to top load anyway so i'll be circumstantially regulated i hope!

Although I'm acutely aware that a 7770 might be a better match for now and that the 7850 or similar might be substantially cheaper by the time i could fully use it my mind is telling me i m,ust have it now! :iloveyou:

What games are you planning on playing?

Your CPU should still be able to push a decent framerate with a 7850, I'm just worried about games like BF3.. That's an extremely CPU and GPU heavy game.

If you're planning an i5 build in the near future then I can see no reason why you shouldn't get a 7850, you could even consider adding a 2nd 7850 once you build the i5 rig.

If you have any more problems, don't be afraid to ask, there's some REALLY helpful guys here :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hoonigan

What games are you planning on playing?

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Currently skyrim on 1900x1080 low-medium settings AA off etc

Witcher 2 is of a similar genre and on my wish list but i hear it's GPU intensive so the 7770 might disappoint if i drop down from the 7850

Not particularly a FPS player but Dirt showdown interests me and that will also use the power i expect...

I've been content on a 4670 for 18 months so even the above games on medium-high settings to avoid pushing is sure to wow me. ultra settings can wait for the i5.

So my choices are:
a) A Preferred 7850 card but pushing to the limits of my build
b) A more conservative 7770 while i wait for the i5 build
c) Land in the middle with a cheap 6850 but if i'm honest I really wanted a power efficient low temperature/low noise model which the 6850 is not.

Always great advice on this forum.:)