Graphics card help

[Litts]

I've got the following system:

Q6600@stock (B3)
2gb Corsair Dominator PC8500
500gb Samsung HD501LJ
nVidia 8600GT 256mb

Running XP so not really an issue only having 2gb ram so obviously my graphics card is my weak point.

I've got a budget of upto around £100 to replace my card and have been looking at the XFX 9600 384mb GSO XXX for £69 which has had good reviews but is it worth me spending any more on another card? If so, which one?

Thanks in advance
Jon

[Litts]

Oh, forgot to add my power supply is a 650w be quiet and my motherboard is an asus P5K SE

[shadowmaster]

Have a look at this thread

http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-car...-x-thread.html

If you want to go brand new, then I'd probably go for the 4830. However if you look around second hand, you can find 4850's for £90 or so.

What resolution do you run?

[Litts]

Have a look at this thread

http://forums.hexus.net/graphics-car...-x-thread.html

If you want to go brand new, then I'd probably go for the 4830. However if you look around second hand, you can find 4850's for £90 or so.

What resolution do you run?

Cheers

I've got a 24" running @ 1920X1200

On a side note: I keep getting the icons on my desktop refreshing every so often, is it likely to be from the graphics card running at such high resolution?

[shbris]

i recently did similer upgrade, was huuuuuuge increase in fps

but 1920 might need something a bit more meaty, see thread mentioned above

[Litts]

i recently did similer upgrade, was huuuuuuge increase in fps

but 1920 might need something a bit more meaty, see thread mentioned above

You mean something with more ram or just a better card in general?

[Pob255]

Depends on what you'er doing.

Personally for gaming at that res I'd be looking at a 4850 1gb or 9800gtx+ 1gb minimum.
and ideally looking at a gtx260 or 4870 1gb (£170-190) so nearly twice the budget

If all you're doing is internet browsing, office work and watching dvd's then you should have no real problems with your current card.
esp with xp, all you need to run a desktop at 1900x1200 32bit is a card with a little bit of processing power and 128mb of memory
Swap to vista and you need a chunk more gpu power and memory for some of the fancy effects. (but a 8600gt 256mb should be fine)
basically graphics card requirements breaks down to
desktop = very little
hd video decodeing = a bit
simple 3d apps = a bit
games = a lot


PS please don't get a 9600GSO they are really quite crappy, a 9600gt is a better card (but I'd not game at that res on a 9600gt)

[circuitmonkey]

9800 GT less than £100, not used a Palit product before so you might have to looking to manufacturer reliability. Also looks like quite a serious GPU cooler so might have a bit of head room for overclocking.

[strike-down]

9800 GT less than £100, not used a Palit product before so you might have to looking to manufacturer reliability. Also looks like quite a serious GPU cooler so might have a bit of head room for overclocking.

That particular cooler is a hairdryer

[Litts]

That particular cooler is a hairdryer

You got one buddy?

I have seen the Palit brand when looking for a card, never heard of them either.
Found a review of their Sonic 9800GT which is pre-overclocked: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/152...2mb/index.html

[Litts]

Depends on what you'er doing.

Personally for gaming at that res I'd be looking at a 4850 1gb or 9800gtx+ 1gb minimum.
and ideally looking at a gtx260 or 4870 1gb (£170-190) so nearly twice the budget

If all you're doing is internet browsing, office work and watching dvd's then you should have no real problems with your current card.
esp with xp, all you need to run a desktop at 1900x1200 32bit is a card with a little bit of processing power and 128mb of memory
Swap to vista and you need a chunk more gpu power and memory for some of the fancy effects. (but a 8600gt 256mb should be fine)
basically graphics card requirements breaks down to
desktop = very little
hd video decodeing = a bit
simple 3d apps = a bit
games = a lot


PS please don't get a 9600GSO they are really quite crappy, a 9600gt is a better card (but I'd not game at that res on a 9600gt)

At the moment I use the net, watch HD films and do basic gaming like football manager as my current card isn't upto much. I'd like to play more games tho.

Why do you think the GSO's are crappy? The reviews of the card seem to be quite good...

[shbris]

with those games the gso will probably manage it specially as the rest of ur system is pretty solid

if extra ram is needed try looking into those 768mb gso's, or try whatever ati has these days, check the graphics card for x thread again

[Pob255]

What no don't sugest a 9600gso for gaming at 1920x1200 resolution.
The 9600gt is much better, it uses higher bandwidth memory, has more streams, is clocked higher.
The xfx xxx version may be clocked higher however that's not going to make up for the lower streams and memory bandwidth.

Just double checked
correction the 9600gso 768mb version does have more streams than the 9600gt, it's the 512mb version that has less.
The reviews put this overclocked xxx version running at around the same level as the stock 9600gt

If you are happy playing games below native resolution then you can consider them.
However personally I'd not bother, don't consider anything less that a hd4830 or 9800gt (8800gt) they should be the minimum power cards to look at, as is 512mb of ram a minimum.

If you're happy with 2nd hand you could try to get hold of a old 8800gtx
If you want to keep costs low, try for a 2nd hand 8800gt 512mb (not 256mb) if you can pick up one for around or less than the xxx 9600gso you'd have a good buy that will out perform it.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Get an HD4830 or a 9800GT. The 9600GSO 768mb GDDR3 is supposed to be a bit better at higher resolutions than a 9600GT. However all the available models I have seen in the UK recently have been the inferior GDDR2 model which is much slower.

If you can get an HD4850 or a 9800GTX+ secondhand it would be even better than either an HD4830 or 9800GT.

HD4850 cards usually go on Ebay for between £90 to £110 and 9800GTX+ cards for between £100 to £120.

[Litts]

Cheers guys

Off out now, will have a further look into it tomorrow or maybe when I get home :-)