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GPU upgrade
Archangel326
Member Posts: 43
in Hardware
Hello all!
I am in need of upgrading my GPU from my 9800gt. I dont fully know what to look for in a GPU. I have a 550w PSU and only around $150 to spend. These are the 2 cards I was looking at.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161371
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130625
One has better clock speeds, the other has more steam processors.
One is 192-bit the other is 256.
Both cards have good reviews and either would do fine. But as I stated how do you determine what is the better card.
And if you have any better sugjestions on a GPU please let me know.
Thanks!
Comments
Get the 6850. Best card on market for "$/Power" and by power i mean benchmark points.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
Also you really cant compare specs on the page because both companies use different processes to get their numbers. I usually just use information i find on computer forums and see what a lot of people have experienced with the cards (never go by newegg reviews) and also check out this website to do a GPU vs GPU benchmark type thing.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188
I normally do nut just rely on 1 source I usually google and read multiple reviews hardware.
Thanks for the imput
No worries, for your price range pretty much everyone should be recommending the 6850. Most benchmarks ive seen across the internet (including tomshardware) show that the 6850 is the best card available right now at that price point. You can get it for about $140ish and it will run games like a champ.
Of those two cards I recommend the HD 6790.
http://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/reviews/HIS/HD_6790_IceQ_X_Turbo/22.html
I would also recommend looking at an HD 6850 , as the power consumption does not differ very much from a 6790 and it offers a performance boost for a few more dollars.
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/3600/sapphire_radeon_hd_6850_1gb_video_card/index17.html
It looks like the cheap GeForce GTX 460s are gone now, so a Radeon HD 6850 would definitely be the way to go:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
If you don't want to just read one review, then read a bunch of reviews.
If you want to compare specs, then AMD shaders are not comparable to Nvidia shaders. They just aren't. TMUs and ROPs are more comparable, though you have to multiply those by the clock speed to get the texture and pixel performance. Memory bus width doesn't matter for its own sake, but it is one factor that feeds into memory bandwidth, which is what matters.
Saying that the GeForce GTX 550 Ti has a 192-bit memory bus isn't entirely wrong, but it's deceptive. The memory channels are mismatched, so it will sometimes act like it has considerably less memory bandwidth than that. Regardless, it's a seriously overpriced card that has never been a good deal unless you found an unusual offer. The problem is that if Nvidia wanted to compete on price in selling it, they'd have to match the much cheaper Radeon HD 6770's price tag (and even at the same price, I'd still prefer a 6770), and then Nvidia wouldn't make any money on the GTX 550 Tis.
what brand and model is it?
Ah yes, I was going to ask about that, too, and forgot. Good catch.
550 W is not a power supply, any more than 1 GB is a video card.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3985/three-550w-psus-for-different-prices
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171038
This is the PSU I got to replace my stock 350w from Dell. And again im upgrading some parts just to get me by for a few months. Then I will be building me a new gaming rig from scratch and selling my current.
Hmm, definitely not fantastic to say the least. It's not only not 80+ certified, but its typical efficiency is listed as "better than 70%", so it might not even have a consistent maximum of 80% efficiency. There is also no PFC, of any kind. And the 12v rails don't inspire much confidence. They don't even say how much the two 12v rails actually deliver, combined (definitely not 32 amps), but if we subtract the rest, it leaves about 300W, out of 550W, on the 12v rail, that's to power your CPU and GPU setup.
Now, if we're assuming you're using a Core 2 Duo, say, one of the 65W ones, then it would seem like that would leave you with 230W+ to play with for the GPUs, but I'd be surprised if that PSU stood up to a constant 60% load without causing problems, so that leaves you with maybe 100 safe watts to play with for a GPU. That's really going to affect what you can get.
Will it explode if you stick a 125W GPU in there and then stress it with a game that pushes your CPU and GPU? Well, we'll see what Quizzical thinks, but I don't think that's a good place to start.
That's a piece of junk. If you're looking at a higher power video card, I'd replace it. For that matter, if you value reliability, I'd replace it even if you're not upgrading anything else.
This one is nice:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151096
So I quess thats what I get for listening to the guy at Frys. Since this is a temporary build to get me past the next few months do you reccomend that I just stick with the build I have with this PSU and the 9800gt I am currently using
Why are you replacing the system in a few months? That means both, why not sooner and why not later?
Dang. I was thinking about starting a thread for a computer, but I can't afford more than a 1 GB video card or a 550 W supply. I'm using a '05 computer with integrated graphics right now, and its taken me all that time to save about $650-700 for a computer...looks like I should stick to consoles (It doesn't help that buying individual parts isn't an option. I can't build or modify computers, and honestly, I don't have the inclination to learn). I was praying that I MIGHT get something as good as a 1 GB. Oh well, still good info to know. Guess I should stop thinking about playing SWTOR.
At the end of January I will have a budget of $2k to build a gaming RIG. But I wanted to be able to play some of the games that are out now and comming out in the next couple of months. I.E. BF3, SWTOR, SKYRIM. And I basicly took my 08 model Dell Studio 540 and added a 9800gt and the CM 550w PSU (the junk one). And I put it in a Cooler Master 430 case with 2 extra fans. This was my first time puting anything together. So I figured I would practice with my older PC rether then a $2,000 PC. But I do still wanna be able to play the newer games. I dont really care to wait 3-4 more months to play BF3.
I will also say that I am currently beta testing The Old Republic and it works OK on my current rig with mid settings. WoW, Lotro and Rift all play Ok on this rig also.