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New graphic card needed-advice please!

B

Bruce2

n00b
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
40
Hi there,

One of my graphic cards show in my specs below went out last night. I believe the other one is possibly on its way too. I like to keep my unit for while.

I would like to hear some suggestions on a BEST VALUE card that will perform at least a little better then my old SLi cards. I don't need to spend a load to get one just comes out the market for my old rig.

Please keep in mind that a possible cpu upgrade to such as a Q9550 in the future; may be even another card for SLi when it became dirt cheap.

I appreciate any suggestions and pointers.

Bruce
 
I'm thinking a GTX 260 would be good and those can be found for about $200, sometimes a little less, now.
 
5850 is the lowest card I'd personally put in any gaming machine today. I wouldn't consider DX10/10.1 cards either. That's just me though, most guys would..
 
Just wait a couple months and get a 5850 or 5870, the prices should come down a bit.
 
Thanks guys!

I am not very confident about the oven solder reflowing thingy but it is pretty interesting though. I am going to go ahead to try a new one. The working 8800 left over goes into another unit for the little girl to play sims.

I am thinking of the GTX 260. Here is two I am looking at and like to know the different between them. One doesn't have any review at all but the price is good. Here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134077

Which one you would get?

As far as for the 5850, do you think my old rig would be a bottle neck comparing to some of your killer specs?

Thanks and hope to hear from you more.

Bruce
 
Bruce2 said:
I am thinking of the GTX 260. Here is two I am looking at and like to know the different between them. One doesn't have any review at all but the price is good. Here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134077

Which one you would get?
Click to expand...

Neither. The GTX 260 is a horrible choice for the money for the following reasons:
- The equally fast HD 4870 1GB is $13 cheaper than the ECS and with free shipping:
$157 - XFX HD-487A-ZWFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB PCI-E Video Card

- The significantly faster HD 4890 is $15 cheaper than the eVGA and with free shipping:
$200 - XFX HD-489X-ZSFC Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-E Video Card

So unless you can find a GTX 260 with lifetime warranty for under $155, the GTX 260 is not a good buy at all.
Bruce2 said:
As far as for the 5850, do you think my old rig would be a bottle neck comparing to some of your killer specs?
Click to expand...

Nah the current CPU is fine.
 
It's a big step up from the HD 4890 IIRC. Good price considering the prices for it I've seen for it in the past month or so.
 
Order completed on a 5850 HD-585A-ZNFC for $311 shipped!
Thanks for your help!
 
Last edited:
One more question, guys.

Is there going to be any compatibility issue between my EVGA mother board and the ATI gpu I am geting. a 5850?

Thanks!
Bruce
 
Bruce2 said:
One more question, guys.

Is there going to be any compatibility issue between my EVGA mother board and the ATI gpu I am geting. a 5850?

Thanks!
Bruce
Click to expand...
There shouldn't be. Make sure you completely remove your old drivers (use Driver Sweeper) before installing the ATI ones to avoid driver conflict issues.
 
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