New Graphics Card

[TifaLockhart]

My old one is kinda dying on me with the PC hanging on bootup and Windows Solution pointing to the gfx not responding.

I thought it might be a good time to get a new GFX, so far i've only been buying package PC even though i'm pretty much a hardcore gamer due to the fear of messing up the tech stuff since other than changing afew rams and breaking the PC apart, i really havent much knowledge in this sector.


http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01477474&tmp_task=prodinfoCategory&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3746700&key=null&site=null

The above site is basically what i'm working with, i havent done anything except getting 4 GB DDR 2 rams for it, other than that its pretty much still vanilla.


I'm thinking of getting a mid to high end graphics card to max out games like Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age etc on my 26 inch 1920 x 1200 Samsung SyncMaster T260HD 1080p and watching BD anime on it.


I'm also worried if the current PSU is capable of supporting a new high end graphics card so if i'd have to get a new PSU, it'll also be good to have some reccommendations on that as well.

Budget is something below 400USD

[Sosseres]

Your PSU will not handle a card that can max out SC2. Those will need 2 extra cables of power in most cases. A 350w simply can't output enough for that. The computer would boot, but wouldn't work well in-game.

On the nvidia side the weakest card for maxing SC2 on is around a gtx 275. I have one and turned down a few settings since I occasionally ran into problems when playing outside of campaign or 1v1.

[TifaLockhart]

Dont they have new cards out which supports Direct x11 and new PhysX and stuff? I'm not really good with the nitty gritty but from what i know there seems to be a new wave of cards out this year? Was hoping to get a mid-high range card out of those, though i have no idea what the pricing is.

Currently looking at the cards at

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-card-geforce-radeon,2761-7.html

if theres any major complains about the hierarchy, voice it out so i could put into consideration.

For starters i have my eye on


1)Radeon HD 5850 (Performance)
2)GTX 470
3)GTX 460 (Price)

Also, i would like to know if my system is able to support the cards i've mentioned above.

[vuzedome]

Your system can support those, but you're gonna need to get a bigger power supply unit, preferably 550~600W.
And better check your casing's length, HP cases aren't very long to begin with.

[rostheferret]

For the PSU, get a corsair. 650W should be plenty powerful enough.

[TifaLockhart]

Any reason particularly to getting the Corsair 650W? Last i check the price was on the steep side and anything between 550w to 600w could go somewhere between 50 to 100 bucks cheaper depending on the brand.

[equivocal]

If I understand correctly, you are looking to upgrade your gfx card and psu while keeping everything else. From personal experience, I think there are several things that you might want to take note:

1) The cpu case that HP provides is not proprietary: simply put, there are no weird mountings, fittings etc. Most importantly, check that the new PSU you want to buy can fit. I faced this problem when I tried to change the PSU on my mum's pre-packaged Dell PC.

2) Still on size issues, make sure that you  measure the dimensions of your new graphics card that you want to get. New cards are HUGE compared to the 9500GS so make sure that everything will actually fit into the HP case (see point 5 below).

3) Make sure the stock fans that come with your case is sufficient ventilation for your upgraded hardware; newer cards run much hotter.

4) I suggest you go for the 460GTX. Judging by http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts/2010-gaming-graphics-charts-high-quality/3DMark06-v1.1.0,2484.html, the 460 and the 5850 are quite close in performance. At the resolution that you're running your games in, you shouldn't really notice a big difference in fps rates. Regardless, imo all the cards that you've shortlisted pair well with your CPU, any higher and your CPU will be bottlenecked, if it won't be already.

5) My second suggestion is in order to avoid these issues, get a new well ventilated PC case and port all your components over (or get someone else if you're not confident). This will ensure everything fits, is well ventilated and has a longer lifespan.

Hope this helps

[datora]

.

For the PSU, get a corsair. 650W should be plenty powerful enough.

+1

There should be no need to exceed 650W for your system.  Corsair is rock solid, but you don't have to go with the brand name; they just happen to put out very good gaming gear, so it'll run quiet and efficient and cool.  A large PS that has a low efficiency rating can chew up a bit of electricity, thus running hotter (& more expensive).

Antec, Thermaltake, OCZ all good.  I have a Cooler Master I'm quite happy with, but it's "only" a 550 watt and I don't push a juiced up video card with it ... however, it does push 5 hard drives without problem,and sometimes two or three USB drives.  I'm pretty sure a 550 would handle your needs, but not 100% certain.  If I were you I'd look pretty hard for a 600 or 650, whichever turns up at a good deal first.  A 700 won't kill you if a good special falls in your lap.  You have to estimate the juice your entire system uses (likely under 500W) and then buy something with at least an additional 20% capacity; 30% better, 50% big overkill unless you plan more upgrades.

Anyway, best bet is to check out the offerings at newegg and visit twice a day.  They discount power supplies about five times a week.  Just got to have an idea ahead of time what you want & then jump on it when it shows up.  Probably you can get what you need for ~$65, maybe even $50.

currently "featured" deals:

 - http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=32

These look like solid deals right now:

 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

I'd spend the $70 instead of $50 & get the 650 Corsair, but that's me.  I'm pushing a bunch of hard drives & would feel more comfortable with the extra juice.  That leaves ~$300 budget for your card, which is substantial.

Put the term "promo code" in the search box ... it will take you to their full page of specials, which changes every two days or so.  Check every day, sometimes they run a 24-hour special with mad deals.  Might also find a video card for your needs at something like 50% off.

Current page, not sure if it changes or if the URL remains static:

 - http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/latest/index-landing.aspx?Tpk=promo%20code

[rostheferret]

Any reason particularly to getting the Corsair 650W? Last i check the price was on the steep side and anything between 550w to 600w could go somewhere between 50 to 100 bucks cheaper depending on the brand.

Reliability. Part of it is the brand name admittedly, but do you want to mess around with unreliable brands when an overload could fry a far more expensive component? You could get a 550w which would save some money, but its only a little less and would mean upgrading later could need another PSU. Tbh, this PSU is going to last longer than any other component in your PC.

[Xtras]

If you don't want to mess around with the PSU though, for a 350W PSU one of the cards I found to be a really good balance was the Radeon 4770. More performance power than the Nvidia 9800GT, and its 40nm core allows it to operate off of just 75W. I don't think it can max out games and there may be a better fit for your system, but I've got the Q6600 and the Radeon 4770 on 350W and it is running just fine. The card barely even needs the 6pin connector. Just a recommendation.

[TifaLockhart]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Sapphire HD5850 1GB DDR5 Dual DVI === 725MHz core and 1000MHz (4000 MHz effective)
Sapphire HD5850 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5 === 735MHz core and 1050MHz (4200MHz effective)
Sapphire HD5850 Toxic 1GB DDR5 === 765MHz core and 1125MHz (4500MHz effective)


They range between 310-370 USD

I know they're basically variations with overclocking and different cooling systems but without reviews and numbers its pretty hard to distinguish which from which with only price points.
Anyone care to shed some light on this?

Ok, so i just got the numbers from the Sapphire site, its totally foreign to me so if the numbers represent what they are in reality, is it worth the extra cost for that extra amount of core and memory speed?

[rostheferret]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Sapphire HD5850 1GB DDR5 Dual DVI === 725MHz core and 1000MHz (4000 MHz effective)
Sapphire HD5850 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5 === 735MHz core and 1050MHz (4200MHz effective)
Sapphire HD5850 Toxic 1GB DDR5 === 765MHz core and 1125MHz (4500MHz effective)


They range between 310-370 USD

I know they're basically variations with overclocking and different cooling systems but without reviews and numbers its pretty hard to distinguish which from which with only price points.
Anyone care to shed some light on this?

Ok, so i just got the numbers from the Sapphire site, its totally foreign to me so if the numbers represent what they are in reality, is it worth the extra cost for that extra amount of core and memory speed?

The difference would probably be minimal. You might be able to find benchmarks but I would hazard a guess and say the difference between the framerates would be less than 5%. We're talking about being able to run Crysis at either 25fps or 26fps. If you're using a small case, I'd go look for which has the best looking fan. You'll probably get more out of a cooler GFX card than a marginally faster one.

[Sosseres]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

[rostheferret]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

ATI's driver issues are easier to fix than nVidia's overheating issues

[TifaLockhart]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

So which card would you reccomend against the 5850 for Nvidia at similar price points, i'm actually pretty much more comfortable using a Nvidia card than a Radeon because they support more games than Radeon and alot of games are much more compatible with Nvidia than Radeon but cant really find a competition at the current price/performance.

[rostheferret]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

So which card would you reccomend against the 5850 for Nvidia at similar price points, i'm actually pretty much more comfortable using a Nvidia card than a Radeon because they support more games than Radeon and alot of games are much more compatible with Nvidia than Radeon but cant really find a competition at the current price/performance.

Faster clock speed is better, but I wouldn't really worry about it. Like I said, the difference would be close to negligable; just get whats cheaper. Save your money for when you need it and upgrade to an SLI. As for a comparable nVidia model, the answer you were looking for was the GTX470. $300, benchmarks show it works about as well (its between the HD5850 and HD5870, which is to say there really isn't a lot in it) but it draws 50% more power, runs ten degrees closer to 'pushing it' and generally has poorer heat dissipation (they all come with safeguards these days, if it runs too hot then it'll automatically slow down to lower the temperature, but naturally this affects its ability to perform). The plus side is, as was said, quicker driver updates.

[TifaLockhart]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

So which card would you reccomend against the 5850 for Nvidia at similar price points, i'm actually pretty much more comfortable using a Nvidia card than a Radeon because they support more games than Radeon and alot of games are much more compatible with Nvidia than Radeon but cant really find a competition at the current price/performance.

Faster clock speed is better, but I wouldn't really worry about it. Like I said, the difference would be close to negligable; just get whats cheaper. Save your money for when you need it and upgrade to an SLI. As for a comparable nVidia model, the answer you were looking for was the GTX470. $300, benchmarks show it works about as well (its between the HD5850 and HD5870, which is to say there really isn't a lot in it) but it draws 50% more power, runs ten degrees closer to 'pushing it' and generally has poorer heat dissipation (they all come with safeguards these days, if it runs too hot then it'll automatically slow down to lower the temperature, but naturally this affects its ability to perform). The plus side is, as was said, quicker driver updates.

So 5850 Vapor is a better buy at the same price point? Pretty much looking at it since it offers the same thing with better cooling and power consumption.

[rostheferret]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

So which card would you reccomend against the 5850 for Nvidia at similar price points, i'm actually pretty much more comfortable using a Nvidia card than a Radeon because they support more games than Radeon and alot of games are much more compatible with Nvidia than Radeon but cant really find a competition at the current price/performance.

Faster clock speed is better, but I wouldn't really worry about it. Like I said, the difference would be close to negligable; just get whats cheaper. Save your money for when you need it and upgrade to an SLI. As for a comparable nVidia model, the answer you were looking for was the GTX470. $300, benchmarks show it works about as well (its between the HD5850 and HD5870, which is to say there really isn't a lot in it) but it draws 50% more power, runs ten degrees closer to 'pushing it' and generally has poorer heat dissipation (they all come with safeguards these days, if it runs too hot then it'll automatically slow down to lower the temperature, but naturally this affects its ability to perform). The plus side is, as was said, quicker driver updates.

So 5850 Vapor is a better buy at the same price point? Pretty much looking at it since it offers the same thing with better cooling and power consumption.

That sounds like a solid bet, yeah.

[Sosseres]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

ATI's driver issues are easier to fix than nVidia's overheating issues

Any overheating issues requires you to install rivatuner, set that up and forget about it. A one time fix. How is that harder?

[rostheferret]

I've pretty much set my mind on the Sapphire 5850 gfx card but after browsing around i found that there seems to be variations even in the particular manufacturer itself.

Just get the one you think has the most silent cooling, if that isn't an issue get the cheaper one. I would never recommend an ati/amd card due to how much more often they have driver issues, but some people seem to like them.

ATI's driver issues are easier to fix than nVidia's overheating issues

Any overheating issues requires you to install rivatuner, set that up and forget about it. A one time fix. How is that harder?

That's downclocking. I was under the silly assumption we wanted to use the full potential of the overpriced silicon we shell out for