GPUs and chocolates.

[Mama Sumae]

Hello lads and ladies of Hexus

After a rather unpleasant evening spent diagnosing/backing up and replacing a faulty HDD, my own stupidity (and a good measure of bad luck) decided to pay a visit. While doing the usual tests after setting up the new HDD and OS install a nearby and rather poorly disposed chocolate wrapper decided to get sucked in and pay my GPU a visit.

Did i mention the wrapper was made of aluminum? It's also rather nutty so feel free to take a guess.


Story short I need a new GPU and would like to know the best possible option given the budget (£85-100) and the other system parts and limitations.

System:

Core2 duo 6300 / Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
Asus P5B - deluxe
Corsair 2GB XMS2 6400
WD 320 GB /sata
SAPPHIRE HD 4830 512MB (now dead)
Enermax NoisetakerII 485W
AKASA ZEN BlacK
BenQ G2222HDL


Also where i might find some generic Intel LGA775 cooler push pins such as these:



Found them on ebay but it would take ages to arrive (Hong Kong).

Thanks in advance.

[DDY]

The HD6850 at £100 is the first card that comes to mind but will probably be bottlenecked by your CPU, to the lower end of your budget of £80 is the HD6770 which is a tiny bit faster than your dead 4830. Both cards would work fine in your system.

And I don't know where you're looking on ebay but I found a UK source of Intel push pins here

[Mama Sumae]

The HD6850 at £100 is the first card that comes to mind but will probably be bottlenecked by your CPU, to the lower end of your budget of £80 is the HD6770 which is a tiny bit faster than your dead 4830. Both cards would work fine in your system.

The whole system will be a bottleneck but I am getting it replaced soon so I was looking for the best possible GPU.

My major concern was if the PSU and Motherboard (is the6850 powered solely through PIC-E?) can provide the extra power needed?

Also would the 6870 justify the extra £30?

And I don't know where you're looking on ebay but I found a UK source of Intel push pins here

Came across it but at £2.50 per pin I would rather buy a new cooler

Sadly those Thermalright LGA775 Bolt-Thru-Kits are no longer available

[Zhaoman]

Is the actual GPU dead or is it just the fan? You could fit an aftermarket cooler for a lot cheaper if you're still happy with your GPU.

[Mama Sumae]

Is the actual GPU dead or is it just the fan? You could fit an aftermarket cooler for a lot cheaper if you're still happy with your GPU.

The aluminum wrapper touched the GPU pcb and the monitor went black, it was never in contact with the actual fan so I assumed it was the whole GPU. Upon rebooting the problem persisted so I replaced the GPU with an old 7600GT to confirm it.

I assumed the GPU would still provide a signal to the Monitor even with a faulty or unconnected cooler and never considered the cooler as a possible issue, am I correct to do so?

[Zhaoman]

Oh sorry I thought you meant the wrapper got sucked in by the GPU and got stuck in the fan. Carry on!

[Mama Sumae]

Somehow related question is there any reason to get a Dual-link DVI-D cable instead of the single link I have been using?

Monitor is a BenQ G2222HDL @ 1920 x 1080 and the GPU will probably be a 6850 or 6870.

[jim]

Some rough info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

As I understand it, it just provides more bandwidth which you shouldn't need. Every monitor I've bought recently has come with a DVI cable anyway... although maybe I'm just lucky

[Mama Sumae]

Some rough info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

As I understand it, it just provides more bandwidth which you shouldn't need. Every monitor I've bought recently has come with a DVI cable anyway... although maybe I'm just lucky

Mine didn't hence my doubts I just used the old single link cable I already had but wondered if I was losing something.

The monitor's DVI input apparently supports Dual Link cables but there is no reference over what is preferred in the monitor's manual/manufactures website.

[DDY]

... the best possible GPU.

...would the 6870 justify the extra £30?

Yes, IMO it's worth it if you're going to move it to a newer system soon.

[Mama Sumae]

Well I have just noticed my PSU only has one PCI-Express video connector, so unless there is some sort of adapter available that leaves out the 6870 which requires two.

For the 6850 any particular brand/model I should be looking at in terms of cooling or support? they are all similarly price.

[Sprite]

You can get molex to 6 pin adapters (e.g. http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...oogle+shopping)

[jim]

Most video cards with two PCIe power sockets come with an adapter that turns two four-pin molexes into a single PCIe connector.

[Ulti]

Just to add, dual link DVI is required for resolutions above 1920x1200. HDMI and single link DVI(-I/D) only output at a max resolution of 1920x1200. If you wanted a monitor with 2560*1440 or 2560*1600 resolution you would need DisplayPort or dual link DVI. The same is needed for 120hz displays (not totally sure about this one, just a guess from logic)

[Mama Sumae]

So I finally got around this and came up with these 3 options:



ASUS HD 6850 Direct CU 1GB @ Ebuyer for £98.99



XFX Radeon HD 6870 1GB @ Novatech for £119.99

Sapphire HD 6870 1GB for @ amazon for £123.10

Can you spot a better deal?

Also after some reading I found that older PCIe x16 slots sometimes don't support PCIe 2.1, short of contacting Asus how can I be sure mine will?

[DDY]

You can get 6850s for a little less than £90 when they're on the occasional sale where the cheapest 6870s hover around £120, since the Novatech deal has now gone I reckon the Sapphire on Amazon is the one to go for.

As for backwards PCIe compatibility, update your motherboard BIOS and hope for the best. While I think it's unlikely you'll have issues you can return the card under the DSR if the motherboard and graphics card don't co-operate.