[Tech] Graphics card update

Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
I've been noticing my fps in L4D2 / TF2 being particularly lame as of late (dropping down to 10fps at times). The rest of my desktop isnt too bad, core2quad, 8gb rams, windows 7 x64, so wouldnt have thought that would have bottlenecked it too much.

My graphics card atm is a 512MB 8800gt running at PCIe x8, which is the one I bought over 3 years ago now when i got my desktop. That, along with a 9600GT runs two 1920*1200 and one 1680*1050 monitors.

So I'm looking to possibly upgrade my gfx card at some point. Although ive gone with nvidia so far, the niceness of eyefinity stuff on ATi devices is a temptation at the moment.

So what would people recommend these days? Generally all i run is tf2 / l4d2 / portal 2 and minecraft, and then other graphics software which can use hardware acceleration.

Dont have a budget, and will generally go along the line of "ill pay more if its worth it".

Ideas anyone?
 
Ronin Storm

Ronin Storm

Administrator
Staff member
I'm very pleased with my XFX GeForce GTX 260 896MB (I have the black edition, which I don't think is available any longer). That was my upgrade from a very similar card to yours and I'm now also running an identical monitor configuration off it.

That said, it wasn't cutting edge when I bought it and I'm sure it's been superceded by a generation or two by now.
 
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elDiablo

Guest
Been looking into upgrading recently, and think I'll be going for a 480 (being one generation behind top from nvidia), or something similarly priced from ATI. We shall see. But that's what I'm currently thinking...
 
Chuchurocket

Chuchurocket

In Cryo Sleep
I was eyeballing the older 5850 which i saw in Novatech but also ridiculously cheaper in OCuk (Is there a difference between the two?) Has Eyefinity and Crossfire capabilities. Review for it is here (October 09)

If you find a gem of a card for a good price let me know :D
 
Chuchurocket

Chuchurocket

In Cryo Sleep
Soz meant to link that one :P but yeh still quite a price difference but i cant see what the actual difference is between the two (the two 5850s not the 5850 vs 5830)
 
Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
How does the 5870 and 6870 compare then. Based on price, the 5870 one is more expensive base price (on ocuk), but has 20% off atm making it cheaper than the 6870 price (at £160)

How do they work out the numbering scheme then? I'd have said that 6xxx would be better than 5xxx, but i'd also say, that from the same manufacturer, a card £30 more expensive (5870) than another (6870) would be better.

The vague image i just botched together in paint/wikipedia comparing the tech stats of them: http://imgur.com/YYmwY.
 
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elDiablo

Guest
I usually go by the Tomshardware graphics card comparison as a rough guide. Obviously tests aren't the be all and end all, but it's a nice look.
 
Ki!ler-Mk1

Ki!ler-Mk1

Active Member
I know this is mostly irrelevent, and a matter of personal taste, but do these framerate drops occur when the game is on lower settings (lower settings means to me, same resolution, at least 2xAA) or when the program's cpu priority is at above normal?

If either of these are not the case, it may not be necessary to upgrade as yet, especially as you are not pushing past source engine games.
 
Chuchurocket

Chuchurocket

In Cryo Sleep
Saw this on a forum post hope it helps:

Regarding ATI Numbering Scheme

"First number denotes generation Second number denotes class (low end = 3, mid range = 5, performance = 6 and 7, Enthusiast = 8)
Last two numbers further distinguishes the performance (LE/Lower performance = 30, Standard/Pro = 50, High Performance/XT = 70, 90)"

EDIT: Would the power of Crossfired 5850s exceed a 5870?
 
Iron_fist

Iron_fist

Super Moderator
Staff member
also should be noted that most of the 6000 series cards are not quite as powerful as 5000, however they are much less power hungry
 
Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
Iron_fist said:
also should be noted that most of the 6000 series cards are not quite as powerful as 5000, however they are much less power hungry
Click to expand...

I have a 750W power supply, and I want to use it! :p

Ta for that link eld. Seems that the 5870 fairs fairly well.
 
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elDiablo

Guest
That is a link to a very specific test for the 2010 cards. It's worth looking at the other charts for those cards and the 2011 cards. And be sure that you notice the differences between the tests, such as the AA and stuff.
 
thatbloke

thatbloke

Junior Administrator
I have a 5870 and it goes OMNOMNOMNOMNOM with everything I throw at it.

Regarding the comparison between the 5870 and the 6870, the 5870 is actually (intentionally, too) the more powerful card (still) though the 6870 isn't that far behind and has a few extra features relating to Blu-Ray playback I believe. For an ATi card that's better than the 5870, you either want a 5970 or one of the 69xx cards - but then we're talking REALLY silly monies :)

My personal recommendation would actually be to look at the nVidia GTX 570 - though if you're willing to pay for a 480, the 570 actually betters it and is cheaper...
 
Spicypixel

Spicypixel

New Member
Fairly sure the 5850s OcUK are getting in soon to clear EOL are cheap as chips. Pair of those would set you up good for a while. Reason I didn't link it is that the boards they're shipping don't have 2 DVI and figured you wanted to run all 3 monitors off a single gpu. That said, 2 of them in crossfire for a shade over 200 pounds and you're golden.
 
Traxata

Traxata

Junior Administrator
Just a word of advice, the manufacturer your pick also has a fairly large impact on your cards...

I've had BFG cards die on me whilst installing (they've since vanished as a company due to various things) and never had any problems with an XFX card. I only pick XFX cards because their help support team is awesome, and give you double lifetime warranty. This means an XFX Card will be sorted for the entire time you have it (not like a cars 'lifetime warranty' of say 60-80,000 miles) and when you get rid of it and pass it on second hand the next owner has a lifetime warranty too. They're also very happy for you to mod the cards with non-custom coolers, they're less enthusiastic about you OCing the cards though :p but will still help you for the most part.
 
Wol

Wol

In Cryo Sleep
the 570 is cheaper?

£300 - 570 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-073-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010

£250 - 480 - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-065-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

Does the 570 support more than 2 outputs, or would I have to leave my mobo in PCIe x8 mode, and run my 8800 on the other port to get three monitor outputs?

@Trax: Yeah. The 8800 I've got atm is a gainward one I think IIRC. The 5870 on offer atm is an XFX one (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...tm_source=newsletter20110323&utm_medium=email) at £160, although that page says 2 year warranty. Or is that just the middleman warranty?
 
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