GPU ugrade recomendations for ultimate 3D experiences...

[retroborg]

GPU upgrade recommendations for ultimate 3D experience...

My current Rig:

ASUS P5B-E M/B (intel965 chipset) PCI-E 16x
Intel Quad Core 9550 @2.83GHZ 1333MHZ FSB
2GB Cellshock DDR-2 RAM 800MHZ 4-4-4-12 @833MHZ
Asus nvidia 7950 GT 512MB
Creative Sound Blaster Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
2x 1TB Seagate 32MB Cache HDs (Sata II)
2x 512GB Seagate 16MB Cache HDs (Sata II)
Corsair 1000W PSU SLI Certified
19" EIZO TFT 4:3 monitor
WinXP PRO En SP-3

With the exception to the graphics card, what else do I need to upgrade in order to play Crysis, CrysisWarhead, FarCry 2 and pretty much all current 3D games at 60fps with all graphics settings set to full @ 1280x1024 Resolution?

Also, what GPU do you guys recommend that I get? Nvidia or Ati?
I'm looking forward in using this new GPU (and Rig) for at least another 2-3 years for future 3D games like Doom4, if possible
I could spend around 400-450euros...

Thanks in advance.

[PeterStoba]

£310-£350 is alot for a graphics card and would get you a 4870x2, 2 4870's, 2 4850's, 2 GTX 260s or a GTX 260.

Although at a low resolution like that, I'd stick with a single card, a 4850/4870 or a GTX 260, unless you play to upgrade soon?

With the money saved from the small ammount spent on a graphics card (£100-£200) You could get;

P45 motherboard - Click
Aftermaret Heatsink - Click

More RAM - Click, although this isn't really needed it will help!

Then sell off your old components so you only spend about £250-£300

However, I noticed you said Euros, are you in Ireland or France/Spain etc...? Prices could be higher there so you may habe to spend a bit more...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I am not sure whether any GPU can play Crysis at 60fps constant with all options set to maximium at 1280x1024!! According to Anandtech even a GTX280 cannot achieve this:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3341&p=13

However with Crysis if you get above 30fps gameplay is still very smooth unlike some other games. Crysis Warhead also does seem to run a bit better than the original game too.

I supposed a HD4870X2 or a GTX280 would be the best cards available today. I doubt even those could last three years IMHO!!Look at the best graphics card three years ago such as the 7800GTX and X1800XT - they will not play any of the new games at maximum settings. I would personally get an HD4870 1gb or a GTX260 216sp card and save the rest of the money for an upgrade in 18 months time.

The HD4870 1gb has got very good reviews though. According to Anandtech it can achieve around 50fps in Crysis:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3415&p=4

I would also upgrade your ram to 4gb(2x2048mb) or 3gb(existing ram + 2x512mb)

[staffsMike]

I agree. At your resoultion there is no need to spend more than £100 - £130 (Ati HD4850 money).

So unless the monitor is being upgrading stick with something like the HIS ICEQ HD4850

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I agree. At your resoultion there is no need to spend more than £100 - £130 (Ati HD4850 money).

So unless the monitor is being upgrading stick with something like the HIS ICEQ HD4850

I doubt that even an HD4850 will be capable of running a game like Crysis at very high settings and high aa.The OP wants to run Crysis at maximum settings. The HD4870 1gb or GTX260 216sp will have a longer gaming life IMHO even at 1280x1024.

[staffsMike]

Is it really worth it though.. Fair enough you could drop £300 on a GTX280 which won't break a sweat for god knows how long just to play a couple of power hungry games.. Of course the better the card is the longer it will last but at this resolution I don't see the point in spending that much personally. The perceived differences in quality will be minimal imo.

But if you really do want to play them maxxed out then I suppose a GTX260 of HD4870 is the way to go.

Also with the resolution being this low surely we stray into the CPU limiting arena.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is it really worth it though.. Fair enough you could drop £300 on a GTX280 which won't break a sweat for god knows how long just to play a couple of power hungry games.. Of course the better the card is the longer it will last but at this resolution I don't see the point in spending that much personally. The perceived differences in quality will be minimal imo.

But if you really do want to play them maxxed out then I suppose a GTX260 of HD4870 is the way to go.

Also with the resolution being this low surely we stray into the CPU limiting arena.

Also the fact that more games are cross platform too means that more games should(hopefully) have less nutty hardware requirements.

The cheapest HD4870 1gb in the UK is 200 quid which is twice the price of the cheapest HD4850.

[dangel]

For me the GTX280 made sense on offer from Scan at £240 - it's faster than the HD4870 and doesn't have the scaling problems of the HD4870X2 (never mind the heat/cost).

nVidia wins out in crysis simply because the engine doesn't scale well across GPUs (I think - feel free to correct me gentlemen)

[staffsMike]

For me the GTX280 made sense on offer from Scan at £240 - it's faster than the HD4870 and doesn't have the scaling problems of the HD4870X2 (never mind the heat/cost).

That was a great deal yeah, shame they brought out the second GTX260 to fill the gap really as the prices have gone stupidly high again.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Whether the GTX280 is worth 40 quid more than the HD4870 1gb is another question! The 512mb of extra ram seems to have made a large difference according to the reviews!!

[staffsMike]

Whether the GTX280 is worth 40 quid more than the HD4870 1gb is another question! The 512mb of extra ram seems to have made a large difference according to the reviews!!

The least it should do is grind the 280 sales to a hault so they have to lower the prices again, including the 260.

It does seem like a very good card though £200 isn't bad at all, if you need all that power.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The least it should do is grind the 280 sales to a hault so they have to lower the prices again, including the 260.

It does seem like a very good card though £200 isn't bad at all, if you need all that power.

True!! I wonder how long my HD3870 will last though??

Here are some initial performance benchmarks for FarCry 2:

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

The game seems to be able to run quite well in DX10 on high graphical settings. Also the game makes use of DX10.1 too!!

[dangel]

Whether the GTX280 is worth 40 quid more than the HD4870 1gb is another question! The 512mb of extra ram seems to have made a large difference according to the reviews!!

I have much respect for the ATI cards (I just got a HD4670 today actually) but for me it was the X2 or the 280. I actually played crysis again at the weekend because it feels and looks much better - the 280 handles it rather well at 1600x1200 and i was amazed how much stuff i'd 'missed' because of the poor framerates with my old 8800GTX.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...4870_1gb/7.htm

Seems to be just about the 260 as per usual.

I think the HD4870 is a VERY good card - but the 280 had the edge for me at the res i play in. Thank you ATI for making it cheap enough for me to buy

[Zsev]

Any card above HD4850 will be an overkill for that resolution for today's games. Crysis is an exception cause its so poorly optimized, for a 280gtx to struggle you can safely assume their game programmers aren't doing a good job with their game engine.

[dangel]

Any card above HD4850 will be an overkill for that resolution for today's games. Crysis is an exception cause its so poorly optimized, for a 280gtx to struggle you can safely assume their game programmers aren't doing a good job with their game engine.

But it's gob smackingly yummy to look at. I'm still waiting for something else to look that good!
(the 280 copes very well at 1600x1200 for me)

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

But it's gob smackingly yummy to look at. I'm still waiting for something else to look that good!
(the 280 copes very well at 1600x1200 for me)

Tried Crysis Warhead??