GFX Card Advice!?

TowerGuru

TowerGuru

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Hey guys so to be honest Im quite a noob when it comes to graphics cards and gaming. Never really had the time for it, mostly play console games. But now that Im graduating and will have the time to kill i'd like to get into some games however ive realised the 512mb onboard gpu i have aint gonna cut it. Tried to play gta iv and it was like computer says No. So basically Im looking for a GFX Card so i can enjoy these games but i got No idea what i need? Games i want to play include gta iv, crysis warhead, burnout paradise, COD WaW, Silent Hill Homecoming. My machine is a 2.2ghz dual core, 4gig ram, 22inch LG lcd. Im not sure of my mobo specs can check that Later(posting from phone) so your advice please? Im on budget of about a grand. Im completely open to second hand dealings as Well? Is second had gfx cards a good idea?
 
Goto firesale.digitaladdiction.co.za and see what they have...awesome deals indeed.get a 4850 or 9800
 
You'll probably want to be upgrading/oc'ing that cpu as well tbh. How about a 9800gtx+? I've gotten all my gfx cards 2ndhand and never had an issue. PH is a good place to look.
 
I wouldn't recommend second hand, that problems you get with second hand stuff makes life hell.......
 
I would try get a 1GB 4580 or 4870 considering your screen size :D 4870 ftw :D
 
scalywag1 said:
I would try get a 1GB 4580 or 4870 considering your screen size :D 4870 ftw :D
Click to expand...

His screen resolution is probably 1650x1050 so a 1GB will make no difference in all games, bar one. Even at 1920x1080, it has been shown that 1GB makes almost no difference vs 512MB. Except for a few more fps in one game, GTAIV.
Don't bother getting a 1GB card. 512MB is good and will play GTAIV at 30+ fps. Just make sure it's a 4850 or even better, a 4870.

There is great misconception about the amount of ram needed on cards. It's mostly a marketing ploy to grab people who don't know better. For example a friend at work bought a 3650 1GB card for R1000 a few months ago and was admant that it was better than my 4870 512MB card :rolleyes: ...until he realized he couldn't even start up GTAIV...whereas I'm getting a steady 35fps.

So my point is, dont go get a 4850 1GB for the same price as a 4870 512MB and think that you're going to get better performance. The 4850 1GB will be weaker, even in GTAIV because it's the clockspeeds (on the same tech) of the cards that matter the most, not the amount of ram.
 
Just one more thing. Your 2.2Ghz will definitely bottleneck a 4870 so you'd be better off (i.e. not wasting money) with a 4850 if you're not going to upgrade the CPU for a long time. My 3.3Ghz E5200 bottlenecks my 4870 ffs! Note, for GTAIV you're going to need at least a 3.0GHZ dual core or a 2.4GHZ quad core to get 30+ fps. So if that game is important to you upgrade your graphics and then upgrade your CPU asap.

If your're looking to spend as little as possible with your current setup, go for a 4870 and a Q8200. A 4890 is best bang for buck at the moment but costs over R2k.

Another thing, what power supply do you have? You'll need a 500W power supply for the 4870. Can get away with a good 460W (quite common) power supply though.
 
My Mobo is a Biostar TF7100P-M7 with GeForce 7100 onboard. Im only going to be buying the card in January 2010 when i have the cash!
 
SaiyanZ said:
Just one more thing. Your 2.2Ghz will definitely bottleneck a 4870 so you'd be better off (i.e. not wasting money) with a 4850 if you're not going to upgrade the CPU for a long time. My 3.3Ghz E5200 bottlenecks my 4870 ffs! Note, for GTAIV you're going to need at least a 3.0GHZ dual core or a 2.4GHZ quad core to get 30+ fps. So if that game is important to you upgrade your graphics and then upgrade your CPU asap.

If your're looking to spend as little as possible with your current setup, go for a 4870 and a Q8200. A 4890 is best bang for buck at the moment but costs over R2k.

Another thing, what power supply do you have? You'll need a 500W power supply for the 4870. Can get away with a good 460W (quite common) power supply though.
Click to expand...

Well i was kinda hoping to get away with not having to buy extra stuff. But I'll look into the the cpu thing. I have No idea Wat psu i have. I'll ask the guy that built my machine. Again Im only looking at getting the card in next year january.
 
GayTechie said:
My Mobo is a Biostar TF7100P-M7 with GeForce 7100 onboard. Im only going to be buying the card in January 2010 when i have the cash!
Click to expand...

Then it's pointless shopping around now, prices will change over that period.
 
ponder said:
Then it's pointless shopping around now, prices will change over that period.
Click to expand...

Im not shopping around now. I just need to know what i need to look at getting. Thats not going to change in two months i dont think.
 
SaiyanZ said:
Just one more thing. Your 2.2Ghz will definitely bottleneck a 4870 so you'd be better off (i.e. not wasting money) with a 4850 if you're not going to upgrade the CPU for a long time. My 3.3Ghz E5200 bottlenecks my 4870 ffs! Note, for GTAIV you're going to need at least a 3.0GHZ dual core or a 2.4GHZ quad core to get 30+ fps. So if that game is important to you upgrade your graphics and then upgrade your CPU asap.

If your're looking to spend as little as possible with your current setup, go for a 4870 and a Q8200. A 4890 is best bang for buck at the moment but costs over R2k.

Another thing, what power supply do you have? You'll need a 500W power supply for the 4870. Can get away with a good 460W (quite common) power supply though.
Click to expand...

If one runs SLI configiration of two 5870's would an intel i7 core cpu 920 be enough? or would it bottleneck? *off topic

Thanks.
 
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