• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Need advice on a GPU for older PC

S

syd2o2

Limp Gawd
2FA
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
229
Hi
I've been thinking about replacing a GPU for one of my older PCs. I want to get the best GPU without going overboard. Something that won't be bottlenecked by the rest of the components. I've been thinking about a AMD 6950. Is that too much? What would you suggest? Below are the current specs of the system.
Asus P5N-D, Q9400, 8GB DDR2 800MHz,, Ati 4890, WD Blue as system drive.
 
syd2o2 said:
Hi
I've been thinking about replacing a GPU for one of my older PCs. I want to get the best GPU without going overboard. Something that won't be bottlenecked by the rest of the components. I've been thinking about a AMD 6950. Is that too much? What would you suggest? Below are the current specs of the system.
Asus P5N-D, Q9400, 8GB DDR2 800MHz,, Ati 4890, WD Blue as system drive.
Click to expand...

Get a HD 7850 2GB. overclocks very well to 1.2 Ghz and can get close to GTX 580 performance. your CPU might need to be overclocked a bit to 3.5 Ghz if possible so that you don't bottleneck the HD 7850 .
 
Yeah I'd also get the 7850 unless you pick up a used 6950 for cheap. The 6950 is quite a power hog.
 
Monitor resolution?

What do you want this computer to do?

The 4890 is still a very good card, especially at 1050p :D
 
Monitor is 1600x1050. Computer is used for gaming. Borderlands 2 is actually running really well as it is.
I'd rather go for a used card here, and 6950s are going for $150.
Power supply could be another concern. Currently it's a chieftec 550W unit.
 
550w is plenty for a single gaming card. As long as you stick to the 7850s that need one PCIe power cable instead of two, you should have plenty of amps on your 12-volt rail. That PSU is likely to have a split rail, so I wouldn't get anything beefier.

Gigabyte, MSI, Sapphire and Asus all make good units. My research indicates to me that Sapphire and MSI are a toss-up at this tier. XFX apparently has some trouble with fan noise this generation. Powercolor's engineering is looking better than usual, but its customer support is pretty bare-bones.

Also double-check to make sure that you have enough clearance in your case. Some of these cards are surprisingly long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top