What video card(s) to get?

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rottweiler

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My wife needs a video card upgrade. It's been a while since I built the computer and actively researching new technology. So I would like some help with this one.

Currently she has an ASUS P5N-E SLI with a Radeon X1950GT 256MB and a C2D E4300. She currently plays WoW, Fallout New Vegas, and Civ V and she will be playing Fable III, COD: Black Ops, and other future games. I'd like her to be able to play the listed games at max resolution and hopefully some future games at least at medium.

First of all, do you think the CPU would be/become a bottleneck and should I think about upgrading the whole system. If a video card upgrade is enough, then what would you recommend. Could I get a single SLI card to play today's games at max and get another to match when future games come out?

Thanks for any help.
 
what resolution are you using?
what's your budget?

If you are willing to overclock, your 4300 has some life left. CPU bottleneck is not that big of a deal unless you get a gtx470 and up.

Either a gtx 460 or a radeon 6850 are great options, there are several great deals on the 460 now and I guess it can only get better coming black friday.

Depending on what resolution you want, even a 460 768mb should do.

I would only consider a 5770 if you are on a really tight budget.
 
For a 20" monitor the 460 768mb GTX should be fine.The processor could really stand a upgrade to get full use of the video card.A 6850 would also be a good card to buy,just depends on your wants.
 
Thanks for the quick responses. I'm not on a tight budget, I just got a new job and a nice raise. She does have a 20" monitor running at 1680x1050, but as for the games, I don't know. WoW and Fallout don't let you choose, unless in windowed mode, which she doesn't play.

I don't mind upgrading the CPU, but would/should I upgrade the MB as well? I also need to get her more ram as I didn't realize she was only at 2GB.

I know this is the Video Card forum, but a simple CPU question. What's the deal with these CPUs? I see the 1MB cache difference, but is that all? How big of a difference would it be. Why wouldn't I go with the faster/cheaper option? Would you recommend anything else for sticking with the same MB?


Reverze said:
This card would work perfect for your wife. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks, but I think this, for ~$100 less, would probably be enough until she needs a new PC.
 
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BTW what video card are you using? you may want to upgrade yourself and give your card to your wife.

I wouldn't upgrade your cpu for another C2D. get more memory instead.

I'd save some cash and go with a core i5. That means new mobo and ram but it will be much faster.
 
I'm using a Radeon 3850 512MB 256-bit. A bit better, but not enough for her to run max res today. I might upgrade my video card too. Although all I play is WoW.
 
OK, I think I've decided to wait until BF/CM and see what's on sale. I might even get the 470 if it's a good deal. However, will I have to worry about the PSU? She has an Ultra ULT-VX600. Then, next year or so I'll upgrade the mobo/cpu/ram/psu and get another 470 and SLI them.

Sound good?
 
What's wrong with the 470?
That is a good card, but I'd have to buy today to get the $25 rebate.

On BF/CM what price difference should I look at to make the less clock, mem, and bit worth it?
Comparing to something like this.
 
A 470 for that rig and monitor, and those games? Get out

A 460 gtx will be much cheaper, price and wattage, and virtually the same speed with your setup
 
the overwhelming response is to get the 460 for 130-140 with that 20 incher 1680* monitor
 
rottweiler said:
What's wrong with the 470?
That is a good card, but I'd have to buy today to get the $25 rebate.

On BF/CM what price difference should I look at to make the less clock, mem, and bit worth it?
Comparing to something like this.
Click to expand...

heat and noise for one. I never have cared for them and really with your requirements that 460 is not a bad deal. wait around and you should be able to find even better. If your not liking the 460 look at this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&cm_re=6850-_-14-161-348-_-Product 6850. 180 shipped. they OC well, use less power then the 460 and is very easy on PSU (in your wife's computer that is probably a plus). for me the 6870 kinda kills the 470 unless its price way under. the high end GF100 based line really only shows its value when your trying to go flat out. it fails pretty hard anywhere else as both Nvidia (the GF104 based cards) and AMD provide a better value there. I really would jump on one of the 460 deals or pick up a 6850. if your wanting better performance go with 6870, or a pair of any of the above even.
 
I do thank everyone for the response. The reason I am thinking about getting the 470 is that I'll probably be upgrading the pc in a year or so and I'd like to not upgrade the video card again at that time. Then maybe after another year add another cheap 470 in sli. Do you think that's a bad idea?

From what I'm seeing the 470 is about $50 more than the 460. If I can find a 460 for $100 on BF/CM then I'll get that for sure.
 
rottweiler said:
I do thank everyone for the response. The reason I am thinking about getting the 470 is that I'll probably be upgrading the pc in a year or so and I'd like to not upgrade the video card again at that time. Then maybe after another year add another cheap 470 in sli. Do you think that's a bad idea?

From what I'm seeing the 470 is about $50 more than the 460. If I can find a 460 for $100 on BF/CM then I'll get that for sure.
Click to expand...

yes, as a long term plan going dual cards as an upgrade has not historically been all that great. but 470 SLI isn't that much better then 460SLI. I am getting the impression that you are not really considering AMD so lets look at the 460GTX. The high end OC models do well against and use less power. also SLI 460GTX scale awesomely. I just don't think that the cost here justifies the difference. but that is JM2C
 
you might need to upgrade that psu
I suppose if you are thinking about the future
then maybe 470s then maybe
 
rottweiler said:
I do thank everyone for the response. The reason I am thinking about getting the 470 is that I'll probably be upgrading the pc in a year or so and I'd like to not upgrade the video card again at that time. Then maybe after another year add another cheap 470 in sli. Do you think that's a bad idea?

From what I'm seeing the 470 is about $50 more than the 460. If I can find a 460 for $100 on BF/CM then I'll get that for sure.
Click to expand...
Upgrading surrounding components does not mean the 460 will become weaker :rolleyes:


Valset said:
yes, as a long term plan going dual cards as an upgrade has not historically been all that great. but 470 SLI isn't that much better then 460SLI. I am getting the impression that you are not really considering AMD so lets look at the 460GTX. The high end OC models do well against and use less power. also SLI 460GTX scale awesomely. I just don't think that the cost here justifies the difference. but that is JM2C
Click to expand...
The whole point of the 460 is to not fall for the those factory OC'd models, you get the cheapest one and clock just as high or higher still. :p
 
iviyth0s said:
Upgrading surrounding components does not mean the 460 will become weaker :rolleyes:



The whole point of the 460 is to not fall for the those factory OC'd models, you get the cheapest one and clock just as high or higher still. :p
Click to expand...

yes and no. with the 460 (and esp the 6870 apparently ) the cooling that comes with it makes a big difference. MSI for instance seems to be awesome right now
 
iviyth0s said:
The COOLING yes, but everyone thinks that buying the most expensive one gives you the best overclocks.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125333&cm_re=460_1gb-_-14-125-333-_-Product
that one for instance has interesting looking cooling and is one of the cheaper ones
Click to expand...

hum, 180 vs 215 for this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127534 though it comes with higher clock (comes at 810mhz, vs the 715 of the gigabyte, 675ref) but the heat sink doesn't look to be the quality of the MSI brand if you look at them. I don't know how the gigabyte does but I know you can crank the MSI cards pretty well and the heat sink is awesome.

now the question is whether its worth it for the extra 35 bucks

sorry for going off topic, though not very far off topic.
 
OK, if SLI 470s arn't going to make much of a difference then I guess I should go with the 460. And if SLI isn't a good upgrade option then I guess I should go with a relatively cheap option to work for the next year.

I'm not opposed to AMD, I guess I'm just remembering the days when motherboards only supported SLI or Crossfire, like the one she currently has. But I have seen that most now seem to support both, even 4-way which seems amazing. So if AMD is a better option/price I'll certainly consider it. It seems that the 460 usually beats the 6850 in price though.
 
But going for the cheaper option, to just last one year until a full system upgrade, does anyone think there's a better option than the 460 768MB?

The most graphics intensive game I think she'll play is COD: Black Ops. But since I don't play much besides WoW myself, is there anything coming out in the next year that the 460 768MB might not be able to play at high settings? If so, will the 6850 handle it?
 
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