Graphics card and memory

[Dreaming]

I need 2gb of PC 6400 stuff thats fairly stable, a new graphics card as this one doesnt seem to work properly (dx10 would be nice), and the budget is £200. so GPU thats 8600 / 2600 isnt it? But everyone says they're really crippled...

But then again, at the end of the day, they'll run company of heroes 1680 x 1050 full settings at nice FPS all day long, wont they?

Also, it would be nice if the grahics card came with a cooler that exhausts heat from the case (essentially a 2 slot graphics card). I tried sticking some zalman memory sinks to the VRM on mine but it still just turns off when it feels like it, and tbh working full time now I have the money to afford a new one but not the time to fix the old one!

Unless someone is a genius and knows how to fix it? It happens when running underclocked for me

[Andy3536]

The trouble with the 8600's is they don't really represent value for the performance.
Up your budget by £40 and get these
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=546950
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=255300
There ar 3 or 4 8800's under £190 any will do very nicly!

[sawyen]

be careful of nvidia as well, the current drivers are notoriously bad.. Various bugs here and there is preventing me from enjoying this card to the fullest..

The drivers are both equally bad for Vista and XP.. and even more so if you have an older Nvidia chipset.. ironic really..

[Dreaming]

The trouble with the 8600's is they don't really represent value for the performance.
Up your budget by £40 and get these
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=546950
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=255300
There ar 3 or 4 8800's under £190 any will do very nicly!

Ok... that's doable. But then, which of the 8800GTS would be the best value?

Some points:
- 1 monitor @ 1650 x 1050 which will be going up to two monitors at that res later in the year,
- apparently there can be issues with very long graphics cards in an antec p180
- I'm running vista so drivers can be hit and miss?
- sound is an issue also, my PC is effectively silent, at least over the A50 which is about 1/2 a mile away and behind trees / embankment lol
- finally, PSU considerations. I'm running an Antec NEO HE 550w psu which runs my x1950 pro fine until the VRM death issue

[sawyen]

nvidia on vista = near hit or a complete miss.. you have been warned..

[Andy3536]

Sawyen would you stop scare mungoring.
I have an 8800 on vista and only have a little glitching at the start of a few games and no other problems.
Xp there a little more troublesome but thats probobly why they've just released another beta driver.
As for which graghics card would be best value with a tight budget, i would go for this one.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=545050
It's the only one under £190 that will give you a 550mhz clock speed.
I'm unfamiliar with your case and psu but the power rating will be fine as i'm using the hx520. You just need to have the 4 pin connecter for the card.

[Dreaming]

It's ok, someone has already confirmed the 8800 fits inside a p180. PSU is great then. Thanks.

Now there is an issue of noise, but hopefully if temps can stay down it wont get too excessive. Without doubt though it will be the loudest component in my PC .

Hopefully still quieter than the A50 though

[Dreaming]

Hey,

Just wondering if anyone can say 'looks fine' or else, seeing as I've two different opinions already. I just don't want any more faff! But hopefully make the order this weekend. I'll have to check out scan today only and see whats on there.

Just a last push of encouragement or a final warning would be great lol. My windows has gone to complete buggery, which I believe is due to my younger cousin installing something to do with 'nickolodeon' whilst I was on holiday. So a reformat is in order. However, during the process of installing windows, I got a 0x0000050 error which I believe is down to GPU issues.

[Dreaming]

Sawyen would you stop scare mungoring.
I have an 8800 on vista and only have a little glitching at the start of a few games and no other problems.
Xp there a little more troublesome but thats probobly why they've just released another beta driver.
As for which graghics card would be best value with a tight budget, i would go for this one.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=545050
It's the only one under £190 that will give you a 550mhz clock speed.
I'm unfamiliar with your case and psu but the power rating will be fine as i'm using the hx520. You just need to have the 4 pin connecter for the card.

I might get the 320MB BFG Technology 8800GTS OC2, PCI-E (x16), Mem 1700, GPU 580MHz, 96Streams, HDTV/2xDual Link DVI - its on today only for 190.35GBP (ok I'm using a laptop and someone hasnt setup the keyboard, lol).