View Full Version : PC Graphics Cards
For PC graphic card discussion and questions.
What's the best graphic card I can get on cheap with great performance?
You need to specify what you want to do on your computer (if playing games, which ones) and how much you're willing to spend.
I have no idea how much that money relates to here.
The G92 architecture nVidia Geforce 8800GT (512MB version) comes close to the 8800GTX and Ultra at resolutions possibly up to 1680x1050 but then the gap widens. It is as good as the 640MB Geforce 8800GTS and has made the 320MB Geforce 8800GTS obsolete. All cards except the 8800GT are G80 architecutre.
Now isn't a good time to buy though. ATi will announce/release on the 15th and nVidia on the 19th more cards. ATi's will be an intended rival to the 8800GT, likely sitting below their best current card the Radeon HD2900XT. nVidia are expected to announce G92 architecture 8800GTS models.
I also posted this a week or two ago:
For anyone buying components be aware:
The newly released 512MB Geforce 8800GT priced at around £170 is much better than the 640MB Geforce 8800GTS priced at around £240 and is a gaming card. The 320MB Geforce 8800GTS will no longer be manufactured.
The 8800GT is based on G92 architecutre, a 65nm process which makes it cheaper yet more powerful than the G80, 92nm architecture 8800GTS and is aimed at Vista, DirectX 10 users though it works perfectly fine in XP under DirectX 9 as one would expect. The 8800GT comes ridiculously close in performance to the stupidly expensive 8800GTX and Ultra until you game at a resolution higher than 1680x1050. The only time an 8800GT beats a GTX is for HD-DVD and BluRay playback as G92 cards do the decoding on the chip while G80 cards (GFX included) get the CPU to decode.
The 8800GT boasts 112 stream processes working at 1.5Ghz, far in excess of the 96 at 1.2Ghz on the 8800 GTS. The GTX which just shades performance at lower resolutions has 128 at 1.35Ghz. To compensate, the memory bus bandwidth is 256-bit on the 8800GT, 320-bit on the poorer 8800GTS and 378-bit on the GTX, hence the latter's performance gains at extremely high resolutions.
ATi are to release a new video card in around three weeks which could rival the superb price/performance ratio of the 8800GT and though new GTS releases with 112 stream processes are rumoured, if these remain G80 architecture they are unlikely to match the performance of an 8800GT.
Fun times ahead on the graphics front for PC users with the 9th series of Geforce cards just around the corner and looking fantastic.
MacBook Pro
12-11-2007, 20:33
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
This is what you need wan109
-=[101st]=-
13-11-2007, 00:45
the 8600 cards are pretty average, if you can afford a 8800gt then definately get that, if not the 8600 arent bad for the price.
However i'd wait a little longer and put together a money for a 8800gt if you're serious about wanting to play the latest games.
I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the 8800 GT now.
I've read what Sweey posted a few times already! :tongue:
Pique, remember the dates above though: ATi expected to launch a new card on Thursday, nVidia next week. If nVidia launch a new GTS it will certainly cost more than the GT but it should still have a good price/performance ratio.
It should be expensive and I can't afford anything more than that.
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
This is what you need wan109
This is what you need Pique.
o0oGedo0o
13-11-2007, 12:47
i have a 7600 gs 512 MB, it's a decent graphics card, maybe not the best around but i read in a lot of reviews that it has the best performance/price ratio.
512MB 8800GT benchmarks
GameSpot (http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6181908/index.html) (compared to 768MB 8800GTX, 512MB Radeon HD 2900 XT and 640MB 8800 GTS)
Tom's Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/page6.html#test_drive_unlimite d) (compared to 768MB 8800GTX, 512MB Radeon HD 2900 XT, 640MB 8800 GTS, 320MB 8800GTS, 512MB 8600GTS)
More news to follow in the next few weeks with the Radeon HD 3700 series being launched on Thursday and nVidia expected to launch their G92-based 8800GTS and 8800GTX. The forthcoming GTS and GTX are expected to obliterate the existing ones.
Nvidia was offering us only small bites around the perimeter of the GeForce 8 shortbread cookie, when what we really wanted was the dollop of strawberry jam sitting in the middle. If you imagine the most delicious jam in the world--made from ambrosia, beautiful strawberries, and hand-stirred by Oompa-Loompas--it would probably taste like a GeForce 8800 GT.
I love that bit. I've phoned a few 'computer shops' yesterday but none of them had the 8800 GT. I'll be phoning more of them today but unless I can't find the 8800 GT, what are any other cheap/good alternatives? There was a shop that had 256/320 mb 8800 GT, will that be good to play new games like Gears of War and the upcoming games?
I love that bit. I've phoned a few 'computer shops' yesterday but none of them had the 8800 GT. I'll be phoning more of them today but unless I can't find the 8800 GT, what are any other cheap/good alternatives? There was a shop that had 256/320 mb 8800 GT, will that be good to play new games like Gears of War and the upcoming games?
What resolution are you going to be gaming at? I can't recall. If 1280x1024 or below, the 256MB GT might be fine but nobody is certain it is identical to the 512MB version. If gaming up to 1680x1050 you want the 512MB version only. Anything above and you're firmly in GTX territory. Some users claim they game at 1900-odd x whatever the other value is on an 8800GT but I think that's stretching the card. ATi release tomorrow...
I'll be gaming on a 17-19 inch LCD screen. :tongue:
NO ONE has the 8800 GT which sucks.
Yes ATI is releasing tomorrow but whether the bastards will have them, I don't know.
You have to get them on pre-order. There are so many 8800GT's on pre-order that when new stock is arriving, it is all being despatched and still not clearing pre-orders. Overclockers UK were expecting lots this week so have a nose over there (http://www.overclockers.co.uk) but it'll be a similar issue. No website will say they have stock until pre-orders have been cleared.
There are concerns that although ATi's cards sound good, they've struggled recently with translating the on-paper impressiveness into the real world and that for this reason, nVidia haven't yet brought out the 9000 series - they don't need to. I'm no fan of ATi but their cards really need to challenge nVidia's properly or we consumers are going to be continually fed tiny revisions of existing hardware. I'm now toying with the idea of not buying a card until the 9000s are released and settled.
I live in Mauritius! which explains why I'm not getting 8800 GT anywhere.:tongue:
EDIT: Sweey, I managed to find a guy whose got a small company. I just talked to him. He told me he'll need to order it and I'll get it within a week.
I've posted what I'm thinking of buying in the Electronic Problem thread as this thread is for Graphics Cards.
o0oGedo0o
14-11-2007, 12:38
I live in Mauritius! which explains why I'm not getting 8800 GT anywhere.:tongue:
EDIT: Sweey, I managed to find a guy whose got a small company. I just talked to him. He told me he'll need to order it and I'll get it within a week.
I've posted what I'm thinking of buying in the Electronic Problem thread as this thread is for Graphics Cards.
Mauritius? weren't you with us in the same group in the african qualifiers?
I don't know Gedo. I've watched the(my) national team play only a few times, normally when I felt like sleeping and Liverpool isn't on TV.
I live in Mauritius! which explains why I'm not getting 8800 GT anywhere.:tongue:
Well, that sucks. I thought you were Indian. I even thought Sweey was, but.. he isn't.
What is the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport like? Have you been there? or were you born in the island?
The Macs doesn't sound like a bad idea, I'll be getting that this week.
Looking forward to using my flight simulator, finally.
It's a small airport. Nothing special really. My family is Mauritian but of Indian origin. I always thought you were 15!
Bare in mind that you won't be able to play PES and the like on a MAC unless you use a windows emulator. My elder cousin who's got a mac book uses/used a software to switch between OS. He had both mac and windows installed on separate partitions. I'll find out more and tell you about it.
Now enough of the off-topic. :offtopic:
It's a small airport. Nothing special really. My family is Mauritian but of Indian origin. I always thought you were 15!
Bare in mind that you won't be able to play PES and the like on a MAC unless you use a windows emulator. My elder cousin who's got a mac book uses/used a software to switch between OS. He had both mac and windows installed on separate partitions. I'll find out more and tell you about it.
Now enough of the off-topic. :offtopic:
I thought you were 13, I still think so. Ah, I've got a Macbook, but I'm getting the Macbook Pro. It's Bootcamp, the software that you need to switch OS.
Have you ever been to your motherland? or anywhere else?
Why not continue that via msn Dmitris? Mine is aristarchos@fastmail.fm
nVidia Geforce 8800GT vs ATi Radeon HD 3870:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3151&p=6
nVidia have announced that the G92-based Geforce 8800GTS is expected to be available from December 3/4 and early rumours suggest that it will match the G80-based 8800GTX and Ultra. It is expected to cost around £210 but nothing is set in stone as yet.
How can someone determine that a graphic card is good?
More pipeline is better?
No.
The Radeon HD 2900 has 320 stream processors (pipelines) and the 8800GTX which always beats it has 128. In addition, the Radeon HD 2900 has a core clock speed of 743Mhz and the 8800GTX a slower 610Mhz. The ATi card also has more memory bandwidth yet the memory clock speed is slower, the fill rate much slower, and it has 2/3 as many ROPs and half as many TMUs as the 8800GTX.
After all of that, take into consideration the fact that both cards deal with graphics in a different way, utilising their chosen processing path which is why ATi have more of some things and less of others and vice versa.
Finally, despite how things look on paper it is real-world performance which counts and while ATi appear to promise a lot from their cards on paper, the performance doesn't quite match up to it.
Confused? Good. It means I'm doing my job.
Stella Artois
20-11-2007, 10:39
Trust me, you are.
nVidia announce 8800M series for notebooks; for those of you wanting to waste money on a high-end gaming laptop:
Nvidia has introduced its new top-of-the-range GeForce 8M-series mobile graphics processor, as forecast.
The GeForce 8800M GTX and the 8800M GTS both have cores clocked at 500MHz, but while the GTX incorporates 96 Stream processors - what Nvidia calls its unified shaders - the GTS has but 64. Both GPUs connect across a 256-bit bus to no more than 512MB of graphics memory, clocked at 800MHz.
The chips can use memory technologies up to and including GDDR 3.
The two GPUs can also be paired up within a suitable notebook enclosure to work together on rendering scenes using Nvidia's SLI technology. The chips support Microsoft's DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0.
Each has on separate, on-die video processing engine, the VP2, for handling HD codecs like H.264, VC-1, MPEG 2 and WMV 9 decoding. They'll feed dual-link DVI ports to support resolutions of up to 2560 x 1600, more than enough for 1080p HD, which the chips can also generate via analogue TV ports, should notebook makers include them.
Sweey, I'll be buying the 8800GT itself. I've got a question in mind though. After how many years would I need to change a graphics card then? Because spending roughly 160 bucks on a graphics card and needing to get another one after a year would be rather silly.
Sweey, I'll be buying the 8800GT itself. I've got a question in mind though. After how many years would I need to change a graphics card then? Because spending roughly 160 bucks on a graphics card and needing to get another one after a year would be rather silly.
Make sure its the 512MB version.
The card should last a couple of years to be honest. The G92 architecture 8800GTS is being released now and early reviews show that it only just outperforms the GT which is a let down in respect of what people were hoping for.
Personally I'm still waiting for February's release of the 9 series but the rumour amongst consumers is that the 9800GT and GTS are going to be minor tweaks of their G92 architecture 8800 counterparts. That being the case, you wouldn't be going too far wrong with the 8800GT and ATi's inability to truly challenge the 8800GTX and Ultra means that nVidia aren't being rushed into producing more powerful graphics cards.
Yeah, thanks for the heads up man.
Yesterday Tom's Hardware, found pictures of the new G92 architecture graphics card from nVidia.
That's how it looks like:
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/geforce_9800gx2_front.jpg
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/geforce_9800gx2_front.jpg
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/geforce_9800gx2_connectors.jpg
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/geforce_9800gx2_top.jpg
http://images.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/geforce_sli.jpg
We know that the 9800GX2 has 2 printed circuit boards (PCBs), as did the 7950GX2 in its time, two graphics processing units (GPUs) using 65 nm nodes (most likely G92s with 128 stream processors), 1 GB of memory (512 MB for each GPU) and two DVI outputs.
We don't know yet if the GeForce 9800GX2, which is supposed to be 30% faster than the 8800 Ultra, will support Quad SLI configurations.
The expected price: around $449 US. Expected announcement date: February 14, 2008.
I'm so glad my EN8800GT isn't so big. It is only a slot big, that's one of the reasons I love it! :tongue:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/01/05/exclusive_nvidia_geforce_9800g x2/
The supposed "real" D9E (G100) specs of forthcoming nVidia cards:
55nm
~1800 transistors
DirectX-10.1
650 MHz core clock
1000 MHz memory clock
512-bit memory bandwidth
1024 MiB GDDR3
384 shader processors
The 9800GX2 (don't buy one!) is a G92 the same as an 8800GT but GX2's are two cards plonked together on one board which run as a single card unless a game is written for SLi - and as far as I'm concerned SLi isn't worth it. The 9800GTX which I likely won't buy (I never go for the absolute best card due to the relatively short life-span) is rumoured to be G100 but with the GX2 coming in Feb/Mar I'm not sure quite when the 9800GTX is meant to be arriving - and nobody is certain it'll be G100. Hmmmm.
The 512-bit memory bandwidth sounds lovely as does the 1GB memory.
I'll stick with my 8800GT for quite a while. I don't think there's much difference with the actual high-end GeForce cards and 9800GX2, :erm:.
That is a very good deal. Anyone looking for a new graphics card, I'd say go for it! http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/142746/inno3d-8800gt-g92-512mb-256bit-gddr/
The new GeForce 9600GT is out. Looks like it has a great price to performance ratio and makes the 256MB 8800GT a useless buy.
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=3&id=2491
Here's the XFX version of the card. Methinks the box looks sexy.
http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/view.php?id=10028&cid=6
Ive just bought a new DELL XPS420 with a 8800 gt card, its great BUT playing pes 6 with vista there TERRIBLE screen tearing. Forcing Vsync to `on` makes no diffrerence. Does anyone know how to solve this? is it a vista or driver issue and will it be rectified with SP1? thanks for your help
Am I seeing things, mrbob7, or did I not say the 256MB 8800GT?
P.S: I own the 512 MB 8800GT.
I have no idea what your are seeing. I own the 512mb GT
This really isn't the place for your question to be completely fair but I can't think of any solution other than changing your monitor's refresh rate.
Back on the intended topic in-hand, nVidia continue to release their 9-series cards with the 9800GX2 on March 11. It is essentially two 512MB 8800GT's together which act as a single card for games not written for SLi and obviously as a 2-in-1 solution for SLi games. In late March the 9800GTX will be released (believed to be an overclocked 512MB 8800GTS) followed by the 9800GT in early April. Nobody is impressed.
Those of us who didn't buy an 8800GTX or Ultra when they were first released are now eating our words as they almost certainly remain on top into the second half of this year, two years after their release which is virtually unheard of.
a 8800 gt card, its great BUT playing pes 6 with vista there TERRIBLE
I said that because I thought you responded to my initial post with that. :mellow: I understood after seeing the thread you made. ;)
Back on the intended topic in-hand, nVidia continue to release their 9-series cards with the 9800GX2 on March 11. It is essentially two 512MB 8800GT's together which act as a single card for games not written for SLi and obviously as a 2-in-1 solution for SLi games. In late March the 9800GTX will be released (believed to be an overclocked 512MB 8800GTS) followed by the 9800GT in early April. Nobody is impressed.
Those of us who didn't buy an 8800GTX or Ultra when they were first released are now eating our words as they almost certainly remain on top into the second half of this year, two years after their release which is virtually unheard of.
Nobody in general, but, I am! I'm fucking glad there aren't any major changes or I'd wave goodbye to playing games on high settings.:tongue:
How about making a 'Electronic Advice thread' and indexing most if not all of the problems listed in this thread. I'm well aware it is huge task but if everyone gave a hand, the job could be done. It will be much easier for people to search.
25/02:
Don't you mean indexing the problems from the Electronic Problem thread? :>
If someone wants to do it and then PM or email me with it all done, that'd be good. I've been meaning to sort out a few things as I've had three or four instances where I've not been able to find an old post and therefore had to type for ten minutes to walk someone through all potential fixes to a problem they're having. Not fun.
08/03:
Goodbye PhysX hardware:
http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6157&Itemid=1
Not a shock.
Not a surprise really. Why would a gamer want a PhysX card when he has a dual/quad core that does the job pretty well.
If we were still in the ages of single core processors, I think it might have worked.
EDIT: http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6162&Itemid=65
That cooler on the MSI 9600GT would help for some good overclocking.
10/03:
Not a surprise really. Why would a gamer want a PhysX card when he has a dual/quad core that does the job pretty well.
If we were still in the ages of single core processors, I think it might have worked.
Jesus, a slight lack of knowledge there :doh:
The processor does not do the physics calculations as quickly as a graphics card will. Graphics cards have/will have GDDR3, GDDR4 and GDDR5 RAM which can/will be used to perform the task. It is more a case of the seperate PhysX cards being too costly when they were launched and not enough games taking advantage of them in any case. Graphics cards will integrate physics processing removing the requirement for a seperate physics-only card.
nVidia bought AGEIA and have now put an end to their products. This will ensure that physics are dealt with in the way nVidia have always intended - with a PPU (physics processing unit) on the GPU. The downside is that without sufficient bandwidth the graphics card will not be able to do its present job quickly enough as the same bandwidth will be used for physics calculations.
Whether we like it or not, this is the direction in which graphics cards are heading. It is also why we've now seen three-way SLi motherboards...two graphics cards used in SLi and a third, dedicated to physics, joining them
EDIT: http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6162&Itemid=65
That cooler on the MSI 9600GT would help for some good overclocking.
Not a top-end gaming card though so still not worth buying for games unless money is tight. In fact, even then it may be better to go for an 8800.
20/03:
The 9800GX2 has been released. Its performance really doesn't make it a worthwhile purchase due to the ridiculous price of it.
The 9800GTX which everyone is waiting for has been moved back a week - to April 1st! That card will tell everyone a lot...are the 9 series cards really all going to be recycled 8 series architecture maxed out or do they actually have a serious advantage to them?
ATi are also lowering the price of their 3870 cards with some believing this is a move aimed at clearing old chips before they release their R700 architecture.
23/03:
I've just seen the official specs for one of the 9800GTX cards and there is so little increase from previous cards that this should be considered a non-event as expected :doh:
Hopefully AMD/ATi will bring out their next big thing soon AND it puts a fire under nVidia because if not, we're going to be waiting a long time for improved graphics cards.
02/04:
The Geforce 9800GTX came out yesterday. Really not worth purchasing for anyone using an 8800GTX, GTS or GT. Rumours are that a 9900GTX and GX2 will be released in two or three months. I never buy a GTX as I don't game at over 1680x1050 and my PSU doesn't have two six-pin power connectors. I've had a GX2 before and frankly its too expensive for what it provides - SLi support but only in SLi-enabled games...which isn't enough games. I await the next GT or GTS.
10/04:
Graphics card "league table" as at mid-March:
9800GX2
HD3870 X2
8800Ultra
8800GTX
8800GTS 512MB (G92 Revision)
8800GT 512MB
8800GT 1GB
HD2900XT 1GB
HD2900Pro 1GB
HD3870 512MB
9600GT 512MB
HD2900XT 512MB
HD2900Pro 512MB
8800GTS 640MB
HD3850 512MB
8800GS 384MB
8800GT 256MB
8800GTS 320MB
7950GX2
HD 3850 256MB
X1950XTX
X1900XTX
X1950XT
X1900XT 512MB
7900GTX
X1900XT 256MB
7900GTO
7800GTX 512MB
7950GT
X1950Pro 512MB
X1950Pro 256MB
7900GT 512MB
8600GTS
X1800XT 512MB
7900GT 256MB
X1800XT 256MB
X1900GT
X1950GT
8600GT
X1900GT Rev2
7800GTX 256MB
7900GS
7800GT
X1800XL
7800GS
X1800GTO
HD2600XT
X1650XT
7600GT
HD2600Pro
X850XT/XTPE
X800XT/XTPE
6800Ultra/EE
6800GT
6800GS
X800XL
X850Pro
X800pro
X800GTO/GTO2
8500GT
X1650Pro
X1600XT
7600GS
HD2400XT
X800
6800
X800GT
7300GT
X1300XT
X1600Pro
8400GS
6800XT/LE
6600GT
HD2400Pro
X700Pro
9800XT
5950Ultra
9800Pro
5900Ultra
9700Pro
5800Ultra
9800
9800SE 256bit
S3 Chrome S27
X700
9700
5900
5800
X1300Pro
6600
5900XT
X600XT
TI4800
TI4600
9600XT
TI4800SE
X1550
X1300
5700Ultra
9500Pro
9800SE 128bit
X600
9600Pro
TI4400
9500
6600LE
X1300SE
5700
7300GS
9600
7100GS
6200
TI4200
X550
5600
5600XT
9550
9600SE
7300LE
5500
X1050
X300
7300SE
9550SE
9200Pro
9000Pro
Matrox Parhelia
8500Pro
GeForce3 TI500
8500
8500LE
5200Ultra
9200
9250
GeForce4 MX460
5200
9000
9200SE
GeForce3
GeForce3 TI200
GeForce4 MX 440
7500
GeForce2 Ultra
GeForce2 GTS
GeForce4 MX 420
Radeon (later renamed Radeon 7200)
GeForce 256 DDR
Voodoo5 5500
GeForce2 MX 400
GeForce 256
Savage 2000
GeForce2 MX
Radeon VE (later renamed Radeon 7000)
Voodoo4 4500
Matrox G400
TNT2
Rage128 Pro
Voodoo3
TNT
Rage128
Savage 4
Matrox G200
Riva128
Intel i740
Rage3D Pro
Voodoo Banshee
Voodoo2
Riva
Rage3D
VooDoo1
Taken from here (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17860755)
That 9800 GTX is a disgrace. :)
http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/3507/humorkb5.jpg
9900?! :huh:
9900?! :huh:
02/04:
The Geforce 9800GTX came out yesterday. Really not worth purchasing for anyone using an 8800GTX, GTS or GT. Rumours are that a 9900GTX and GX2 will be released in two or three months. I never buy a GTX as I don't game at over 1680x1050 and my PSU doesn't have two six-pin power connectors. I've had a GX2 before and frankly its too expensive for what it provides - SLi support but only in SLi-enabled games...which isn't enough games. I await the next GT or GTS.
Yep.
I was talking about the image I found and posted. It is edited, surely?
It is similar to one of the 7900 cards...
I was talking about the image I found and posted. It is edited, surely?
It is similar to one of the 7900 cards...
Chances are its a 9800...or 8800. After all, the 9800 is a recycled 8800.
I.N Extasy
24-07-2008, 19:29
If anyone gave a shit; Ati have made two new cards, the 4850 and 4870 which had an outstanding price to performance ratio, which led to nVidia drastically lowering the prices of most of their cards.
Nice, to see Ati making a move. I wonder what the two of them have in store for next year.
Thanks to ATi, nVidia have been forced to drastically reduce the price of their GTX260. At launch, the HD 4870 undercut the GTX260 by about £60 and was faster in almost every game. I've bought a HD 4870, my first ATi card ever, and don't regret it.
The HD 4850, available at around £110, is an exceptional card for its price. The HD 4870, typically £170-190, is hugely overclockable (as is the HD 4850) and can run games such as Race Driver GRID at 1920x1200 with an FPS of over 50 and as much as 100 using 8xMSAA. nVidia brought the GTX260 out at around £250 and the GTX280 at around £450. Both ATi cards support DirectX 10.1, as did the HD 38XX cards but nVidia's cards only support DirectX 10. This isn't a major issue at present due to the lack of games supporting DX10 but shows future-proofing.
The GTX280 remains the fastest single graphics card but only starts to pull away at a distance when gaming at 2560x1600 which is the native resolution of a 30" monitor.
Add to that the fact that SLi (nVidia's dual-card technology) far inferior to CrossFire (ATi's dual-card technology) and you can buy two HD 4850's for under £240 and two HD 4870's for under £400. The GTX280 costs £300-400.
nVidia have announced a big surprise in September which there are rumours about. Thanks to AMD, though, prices are continuing to fall and PC hardware has already blitzed "next-gen" console hardware.
PESFan92
23-10-2008, 12:10
I need a new graphics card. I play Flight Simulator X and i want a new graphics card, so i can play it with all settings set to Ultra-high and not have any lag.
Anyone know a good one? price is not an issue, but would be nice if its below £300.
I need a new graphics card. I play Flight Simulator X and i want a new graphics card, so i can play it with all settings set to Ultra-high and not have any lag.
Anyone know a good one? price is not an issue, but would be nice if its below £300.
The very top cards tend to be under £300 now. I believe the latest top-end cards are the ATi Radeon HD4870X2 and nVidia GTX280. Both require two 6-pin PCI-E connectors on your power supply.
You might want to look into that a tiny bit more as I've not paid attention to the market for a couple of months.
Im thinking of getting a 9800GT, specifically this (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-009-ZT) one, as it seems pretty cheap.
I checked my PSU last night and it was 400W max - the 9800GT specs show it doesnt use too much power, but I was wondering if anyone could fill me in as to whether 400W would be enough? I ask because I dont exactly know how much the average PC uses, and also, if anyone knows the power consumption of an 8500GT (?)
http://www.xfxforce.com/en-us/products/graphiccards/9series/9800GT.aspx
The PSU requirement for a 9800GT is 400W and for an 8500GT is 300W due to the former being more powerful. If purchasing the 9800GT, ensure your PSU has a 6-pin PCI-E connector.
If you had a greater PSU, you could buy a vastly superior card for not much more.
In fact, have you considered the ATi Radeon HD 4670? Check some reviews comparing this to the 9800GT.
I'll have a look at the HD4670 for sure.
I looked at the 9800GT because it was under £100, I didnt want to go too much over that, however I now understand that if my computer starts fecking up (i'm aware of the signs of an overloaded PSU) then I might just have to get a 500W. Lucklily PSU's seem to be fairly cheap.
In terms of replacing the PSU, I would assume theres a bit more hassle invloved than a simple swap as with the GFX card. Could you clarify that?
Dont have a PCI-E connector, i'm getting an adapter though.
I'll have a look at the HD4670 for sure.
I looked at the 9800GT because it was under £100, I didnt want to go too much over that, however I now understand that if my computer starts fecking up (i'm aware of the signs of an overloaded PSU) then I might just have to get a 500W. Lucklily PSU's seem to be fairly cheap.
In terms of replacing the PSU, I would assume theres a bit more hassle invloved than a simple swap as with the GFX card. Could you clarify that?
Dont have a PCI-E connector, i'm getting an adapter though.
I'm not sure if adapters are any good. As for a cheap power supply - never buy a cheap one. Unless you're buying a good one and it just so happens to be a good deal :>
All recent graphics cards will require at least one 6-pin PCI-E connector, some will require two although those are generally top end cards for heavy gaming.
Im hoping it requires just the one. I've now ordered both the 9800GT and the adapter, not sure if the adapter is going to be that great, but we shall see. What other options are there, can you buy 6-pin PCI-E connectors?
Im hoping it requires just the one. I've now ordered both the 9800GT and the adapter, not sure if the adapter is going to be that great, but we shall see. What other options are there, can you buy 6-pin PCI-E connectors?
Sorry I'm awake now :faceplm:
The adapter will be fine. Not sure where my head was when I said I don't know about them. You just have to make sure the rated amps on the 12V rail are able to handle the graphics card.
And how do I go about doing that :faceplm:
Im pretty nub-ish when it comes to the PSU. Is it on the table printed on the sticker of the PSU?
And how do I go about doing that :faceplm:
Im pretty nub-ish when it comes to the PSU. Is it on the table printed on the sticker of the PSU?
Yep. A quick Google search will tell you precisely what you're looking for.
In response to your earlier question I forgot to answer, the PSU is pretty much the most cumbersome piece of equipment to change. All connectors to components have to be disconnected and its likely that in order to remove the PSU from its cradle/slot you'll have to remove the motherboard and perhaps some fans too.
Oh :/
Well in that case I hope my 400W manages to cut it, i'll be fucked if not. Thanks for all your help, its appreciated.
Well, having checked, it appears the 400W is wank.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120675/show_product_reviews
Do you think this would be any good?
Due to the brand, no. If the brand is bad enough, the PSU will blow up before it actually reaches its wattage capacity. Any power supply that cheap will likely cause problems.
You want a PSU made by Akasa, Antec, Corsair, Enermax, OCZ, Seasonic, Tagan or Zalmac. Yes they're more expensive but then they aren't going to die at the drop of a hat either.
Hmm, my friend recommended it for me, he has a 400W version of that same one I gave, do you think the 9800GT would break a 500W?
He too said that i'd be better off getting a proper brand but, he also says that for what im using it for, that would be fine.
In case your wondering, im just using it for general use as well as playing a few games, and the PSU is only powering one drive along with all standard components.
Hmm, my friend recommended it for me, he has a 400W version of that same one I gave, do you think the 9800GT would break a 500W?
He too said that i'd be better off getting a proper brand but, he also says that for what im using it for, that would be fine.
In case your wondering, im just using it for general use as well as playing a few games, and the PSU is only powering one drive along with all standard components.
I'm just unsure as to the quality of that 400W PSU. By all means purchase it if you want to as the price isn't steep but I'd personally not recommend it as I've no guarantee its of decent quality.
A 9800GT should never ever cause issues for a 500W PSU.
Right, so I ran a little diagnostic using the 'run' tool, and found out that my graphics card is the 'ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400'.
Is this any good? Would I need to upgrade to play Dragon Age and similar games?
How does it compare with other graphics cards now? I assume its a little bit out of date :laugh:
From a desktop point of view:
The latest card from ATI is a Radeon HD 5870, the world's first DirectX 11 card.
I'm using a 512MB Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 and I play games without issue. One could go more extreme than that but it'll be perfectly fine for the likes of Dragon Age, Devil May Cry 4 (which was surprisingly intensive on the graphics card), Race Driver GRID, Modern Warfare 2 and pretty much anything else you care to think of. Bought it for something like £150 when it was new.
Where laptop graphics cards are concerned, look here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
You could always try playing Dragon Age with your existing card and see if it struggles. That way you'll only buy a new graphics card for your laptop if you need to.
Good luck changing it over if you need to :|
Ahh. I just found out that my graphics card may be integrated :faceplm:
Im running with win7 64bit and the ati 4870 1gb g/gard on the specs below .Im very impressed its runs every game ive tried on it(cod4,cod mw2, gta4,coh,arma2,bf2 etc)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz Overclocked to 3.20GHz!
- Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
- Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX Dual Channel
- LG GH22NS30 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
- Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply
You were looking for this ;)
http://www.pesgaming.com/showthread.php?t=5776&page=16
oops sorry:blush: i was just trying to point out that the 4870 is a great g/card and will run pretty much any game that's out there.
That it is - my 512MB runs everything I ask it to. Brilliant price when I bought it too.
CRISSGRAN
20-11-2009, 20:39
The card I use for gaming is a GeForce 9600 GSO 1.5GB and it runs everything perfectly.
requiem7
20-11-2009, 21:37
Hmm, my friend recommended it for me, he has a 400W version of that same one I gave, do you think the 9800GT would break a 500W?
He too said that i'd be better off getting a proper brand but, he also says that for what im using it for, that would be fine.
In case your wondering, im just using it for general use as well as playing a few games, and the PSU is only powering one drive along with all standard components.
You should go for a proper brand with a rating of at least 500w +.
It'll be a good investment if you go on to upgrade.
If you go to custom pc website. You'll get more details on the best PSUs.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/psus/2009/10/29/first-look-seasonic-x-series-psu/1
Might as well make a post.
If you're buying a graphics card (like I did yesterday) then you can't go too wrong with ATi's Radeon HD 5xxx series. The equivalent nVidia Geforce cards are worth looking at but there's little point buying a Radeon HD 4xxx series card now.
Dundon's
05-02-2013, 00:30
A brand new Asus 7850 for 150 euro?
Mightn't be the top of the food chain but it's still a decent card that might tie me over for a year or so. On top of everything my TV is giving me shit running 1024x768 when it didn't in the past. Stuck here now on 800X600 so it looks like I need to shell out on a monitor sooner than I had hoped for.
Tis a pure balls I tell ya!
EDIT: Raised the refresh rate from 60 to 75 and it seems to of done the trick, it was gone out of control, and all of a sudden aswell it seemed, even at a low resolution 800x600. I though the thing was knackered, I'm still not able to run 1024x768 for some reason so I'm stuck on 800x600.
It's never easy.
Given your current predicament, it might make sense to get the 7850 for €150. As long as you know what sort of performance to expect from it, there isn't any issue.
Dundon's
05-02-2013, 20:31
Well I dug out the old warhorse of a monitor I used to use and hooked it up at 1280x1024 to make sure the PC wasn't acting the cunt and the good news is that it's showing zero signs of any flickering.
A few of the forums I read up on had even suggested it been a RAM problem and even an issue with the HD4000 onboard graphics, another suggest the MB. As soon as I got wind of this I got on the case straight away to rule out the problem coming from he PC side and like I said, all is well again.
I'll buy a graphics card soon and hopefully it works better on the TV than the on board. On the display front, the old monitor has severed me well but it's giantnormous and the colors on it aren't vibrant anymore. Just happy it's not something with the PC.
Dundon's
22-02-2013, 19:44
Right, me TV is going spastic now again with the PC, like I said I tried the PC on an old tank of a monitor and it worked perfect. That said I'm getting forced to play my hand and get any kind of GPU as soon as possible. I'm trying to hold out for the XFX 7950 but this is driving me mad! At this stage I'm even limited to viewing certain web pages then it goes all epileptic.
Fucking sake need cash now. :angry:
Dundon's, the general consensus is to steer clear of XFX because of their RMA policy - they do everything possible not to issue you with a replacement card.
Gigabyte/MSI are highly regarded in this area but I'd still consider the HIS as well.
Dundon's
23-02-2013, 12:02
Dundon's, the general consensus is to steer clear of XFX because of their RMA policy - they do everything possible not to issue you with a replacement card.
Sake, typical. It was the best price and looked the bomb. Had visions of that card in my dreams.
What would you grab off this page Sweey?
€300+ is way out of the question.
http://www.scan.ie/shop/computer-hardware/all/gpu-amd/radeon-hd7950-pci-e
They were giving away 5 free games around a month ago, not happy with that like, missed out. But shur 2 is better than a kick in the balls.
Just go with either of the MSI cards from there. The ASUS card is triple-slot (all others are dual-slot) which means it has weight issues and would need a backplate for solidity to stop the card bending and snapping while I'm not convinced the premium on the Sapphire is worth it.
The better MSI might be the V2 one but to be honest you aren't going to go far wrong with the one that is in stock at £238.55. As usual, read reviews of those specific cards to be sure in your own mind about what you're buying.
Dundon's
23-02-2013, 12:47
I'll have a good looking into all the MSI cards now, good tip aswell about the Asus cards. The Gigabyte card looks weak out and fragile.
Dundon's
28-02-2013, 00:39
They won't ship it to me. :(
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007G5HMN0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AJ1X1FSMF7YWQ
Why are you looking only into ATi cards. What's wrong with NVDia? I have a radeon in one comp and a geforce in another and they're both equally good.
Why are you looking only into ATi cards. What's wrong with NVDia? I have a radeon in one comp and a geforce in another and they're both equally good.
Dundon's is looking in the price range of the 660Ti and HD 7950. When overclocking, the 7950 has the best price-performance ratio. The 670 (£300+ over here while there are quality 7950s at £250) is better than the 7950 but it should be when it costs more.
Dundon's
28-02-2013, 19:11
Why are you looking only into ATi cards. What's wrong with NVDia? I have a radeon in one comp and a geforce in another and they're both equally good.
The AMD cards are kicking ass dude, especially when you go pound for pound against the Nvidia range of cards. I had my heart set on a 7950 but the price that 7970 in the link I posted was great value.
AMD cards are easy to OC aswell where as the Nvidia cards are locked.
the Nvidia cards are locked.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I think you're completely wrong on that point.
One thing I don't like about nVidia cards is that they run hotter. As I rely on air cooling, I don't want extra heat in the case.
Dundon's
01-03-2013, 11:18
Sweey you know now at this stage your knowledge of computers is far beyond mine so I'm not going to challenge what you said, but I've read on numerous forums that the Nvidia cards (especially the high end ones) are either a balls to OC or are locked.
Again, I'd go with your call on this, I could be way off.
Moyesavelian
01-03-2013, 11:24
GPU overclocking isoverrated, unless you spend all day doing 3d benchmarks.
I don't see the point either. I understand that you get a significant boost, but I'm not going to overclock something that wasn't meant to be performing at an increased speed.
I'd much prefer to wait a month or two - if money is an issue - and get a proper card and a RAM upgrade.
I don't see the point either. I understand that you get a significant boost, but I'm not going to overclock something that wasn't meant to be performing at an increased speed.
I'd much prefer to wait a month or two - if money is an issue - and get a proper card and a RAM upgrade.
But these cards - the high end ones anyway - are intended to be overclocked in the same way that Intel processors are intended to be. It isn't like it was years ago where you were pushing the hardware beyond its real limits.
That said, I don't like to overclock my graphics card much - I only play at 1080p, not 1440p and the cards I buy can do 1080p without the need for ridiculous overclocks.
Oh, I see. That's nice.
I didn't expect there to be a similar feature for GPUs. I imagined some sort of manual tweaking involved. I don't quite see the point of not having a GPU go on full blast at all times.
Oh, I see. That's nice.
I didn't expect there to be a similar feature for GPUs. I imagined some sort of manual tweaking involved. I don't quite see the point of not having a GPU go on full blast at all times.
MSI Afterburner, for example, allows you to set the voltage plus the core clock and memory clock speeds while also allowing you to customise the fan profile so that it doesn't run at full pelt if it doesn't need to. Some cards will only overclock a little but there have been a couple in the Radeon camp in recent years which have overclocked with ease to the superior cards in their range (e.g. 6950 overclocking to 6970 speeds without causing issues). As with any overclocking, care and common sense are needed but its a very easy thing to do these days. I was never keen on the slightly more technical ways of overclocking from years ago.
I've got an MSI Radeon HD 6970 lightning which I haven't overclocked beyond the factory overclock of 940/1375 (core clock/shader clock) at 1.149V. However, I do have a fan profile where the fan spins at 40% up to 50 degrees, and then rises incrementally to hit 50% at 60 degrees, 60% at 65 degrees and 100% at 85 degrees (but it never goes over ~65 degrees anyway).
The default fan profile is for quiet but potentially hot operation. The graphics card I had when playing Devil May Cry 4 a few years ago (HD 5850?) wasn't overclocked but would shut down having reached over 100 degrees because the fan profile was set to be really quiet...which meant cooling was dire. The defaults aren't so ridiculous now but I still prefer the control of MSI Afterburner. It should never ever be used in conjunction with Catalyst Control Center though. There would be similar software for nVidia cards.
Dundon's
06-03-2013, 01:55
Any advice on buying Grade B items from overclockers.uk Sweey?
Chaka khan...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=595
I want to buy a DDR5 but the prices are putting me off.
It's not that I can't, but I refuse to pay such amounts. I feel they're all overpriced. The bitch is that I need a proper one to fully enjoy the latest games at a decent resolution.
I may go for either a 1024MB DDR5 GeForce 650GTX(384PIPE) for 170$ or a 1024MB DDR5 ATI HD6770(800 PIPE) for 100$. They're the cheapest DDR5s that I can get right now. Which one would you go for?
Of course, I could opt for a 4GB DDR3 GeForce 630GT or a similar Radeon for almost half the price, but I'm going to guess that the difference in performance is considerable.
I want to buy a DDR5 but the prices are putting me off.
It's not that I can't, but I refuse to pay such amounts. I feel they're all overpriced. The bitch is that I need a proper one to fully enjoy the latest games at a decent resolution.
I may go for either a 1024MB DDR5 GeForce 650GTX(384PIPE) for 170$ or a 1024MB DDR5 ATI HD6770(800 PIPE) for 100$. They're the cheapest DDR5s that I can get right now. Which one would you go for?
Of course, I could opt for a 4GB DDR3 GeForce 630GT or a similar Radeon for almost half the price, but I'm going to guess that the difference in performance is considerable.
You can do a comparison of the two cards here:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/372
Any advice on buying Grade B items from overclockers.uk Sweey?
Chaka khan...
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=595
I would never buy B Grade personally. The warranty on them is understandably short as they're products which generally suffered from a fault and were already repaired once. You could be lucky, you could be unlucky.
That's a nice site, but the comparison list doesn't have any HD67xx model in it. :(
Question: What resolution would you go for when playing games on a 23" LED, with an old GT220 card? This card is shit, but the CPU makes up for it, so I want to wait a bit before purchasing a new one.
I can run most games at 1920X1080 with full quality, but I'm having problems with the likes of Black Ops II. For example, the performance decreases radically as soon as I aim down the sights.
What would be the highest/best possible res, without having to go down to, say, 1280X720? I know a lot of people that play at that resolution, but I can't. The gulf in crispness is just too wide for my liking.
What res do you guys play in?
That's a nice site, but the comparison list doesn't have any HD67xx model in it. :(
Question: What resolution would you go for when playing games on a 23" LED, with an old GT220 card? This card is shit, but the CPU makes up for it, so I want to wait a bit before purchasing a new one.
I can run most games at 1920X1080 with full quality, but I'm having problems with the likes of Black Ops II. For example, the performance decreases radically as soon as I aim down the sights.
What would be the highest/best possible res, without having to go down to, say, 1280X720? I know a lot of people that play at that resolution, but I can't. The gulf in crispness is just too wide for my liking.
What res do you guys play in?
I tend to play on 1920 x 1080 although occasionally I'll go up to 2560 x 1440 - that's on a 27" though.
The next 16:9 resolution down from 1920 x 1080 is 1600 x 900 but some games end up with black lines at the top and bottom of the screen.
I'm going to stick my neck out and say that the 7770 is better than the 650 which in turn is better than the 6770. I believe the real choice would be between a 6770 and GTX550. Makes sense really but depends on what you want to do in the future. If you're not upgrading again any time soon, go for the 650 as it is a more recent card.
Dundon's
07-03-2013, 06:26
It is done.
Just ordered the MSI 7950 boost edition, including shipping to Ireland it cost me €275 from Overclockers who are running a today only offer with a savings of €40.
This is their latest version of the card and was only released recently so I'm happy I held out to now to buy the GPU and didn't jump on that XFX card I had planned on getting (Tips hat). The Boost version runs cooler and quieter and also has a higher core speed out of the box, supposed to OC like a boss aswell so we'll see how that goes.
It also comes with Crysis 3 & Bioshock so that's a nice touch even though I might consider selling them on.
Had 8 left when I placed my order so I might of been lucky.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-MS
Last thing to get now is a monitor but that's another day.
Edit: Just noticed there that it's sold out at the price I got it for so I was blessed to wake up early and see it this morning.
It is done.
Just ordered the MSI 7950 boost edition, including shipping to Ireland it cost me €275 from Overclockers who are running a today only offer with a savings of €40.
This is their latest version of the card and was only released recently so I'm happy I held out to now to buy the GPU and didn't jump on that XFX card I had planned on getting (Tips hat). The Boost version runs cooler and quieter and also has a higher core speed out of the box, supposed to OC like a boss aswell so we'll see how that goes.
It also comes with Crysis 3 & Bioshock so that's a nice touch even though I might consider selling them on.
Had 8 left when I placed my order so I might of been lucky.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-190-MS
Last thing to get now is a monitor but that's another day.
Edit: Just noticed there that it's sold out at the price I got it for so I was blessed to wake up early and see it this morning.
I expect you'll be rather happy once you've installed it.
Dundon's
07-03-2013, 10:53
I imagine I would of only for my monitor situation. The TV is completely bolloxed at this stage and I'm going to have to use the PC with a VGA lead on that old warhorse monitor which will suck balls.
That's a beastly piece of hardware you got there. Way too pricey for my taste, but the graphics on that thing must be orgasmic.
I imagine I would of only for my monitor situation. The TV is completely bolloxed at this stage and I'm going to have to use the PC with a VGA lead on that old warhorse monitor which will suck balls.
Gah!
Dundon's
13-03-2013, 13:26
Ok, the card came yesterday and I got around to installing it after the CL matches, at first all seemed fine and then I downloaded Crysis 3 and said I'd test her out only to find that the the fucking thing started whining like a baby and the fans wen't mental and I was seriously hating.
Then I dropped the spec settings from ultra high to high and it didn't seem as bad. Regardless I emailed OC.UK and moaned, they replied this morning and said that high end cards tend to do this especially with a game like Crysis 3 but they'd take it back if I wasn't happy. They also said that they couldn't guarantee that a replacement wouldn't whine or run loud when the fans went full load, especially on that model of the card.
A few minutes ago then I booted up the game to show the Girlfriend the problem and it worked fine, even when I put all the settings back upto ultra again which is after confusing the shit out of me. I'm going to install Far Cry 3 in a while and test that, I'm not sure if the loudness was down to my machine maybe getting a bit hot but it had never reached over 55 temps and either did the card.
Is coil whining something I should expect or should I return it if it returns as loud again when I give it a good test? I'm also getting between 30 and 70 FPS on the highest settings with Crysis 3. Another thing I discovered when I researched coil whine was that when the FPS goes into the hundreds it was suggest that the whining does gets worse and someone mentioned that capping them @120 sorts out that problem because the whining does calm when it goes below that number.
I have it in my brain aswell that the sleeve from the driver disk looked used and rough, this might be me getting paranoid because the velcro seemed glued stuck when I was first opening and maybe that was their way of sealing it as there wasn't any tape on either end of the box that required me to cut it in order to get into the product.
All in all a bit confused right now what to do, it does seem fine now and I am a moaner by nature. :/
Ok, the card came yesterday and I got around to installing it after the CL matches, at first all seemed fine and then I downloaded Crysis 3 and said I'd test her out only to find that the the fucking thing started whining like a baby and the fans wen't mental and I was seriously hating.
Then I dropped the spec settings from ultra high to high and it didn't seem as bad. Regardless I emailed OC.UK and moaned, they replied this morning and said that high end cards tend to do this especially with a game like Crysis 3 but they'd take it back if I wasn't happy. They also said that they couldn't guarantee that a replacement wouldn't whine or run loud when the fans went full load, especially on that model of the card.
A few minutes ago then I booted up the game to show the Girlfriend the problem and it worked fine, even when I put all the settings back upto ultra again which is after confusing the shit out of me. I'm going to install Far Cry 3 in a while and test that, I'm not sure if the loudness was down to my machine maybe getting a bit hot but it had never reached over 55 temps and either did the card.
Is coil whining something I should expect or should I return it if it returns as loud again when I give it a good test? I'm also getting between 30 and 70 FPS on the highest settings with Crysis 3. Another thing I discovered when I researched coil whine was that when the FPS goes into the hundreds it was suggest that the whining does gets worse and someone mentioned that capping them @120 sorts out that problem because the whining does calm when it goes below that number.
I have it in my brain aswell that the sleeve from the driver disk looked used and rough, this might be me getting paranoid because the velcro seemed glued stuck when I was first opening and maybe that was their way of sealing it as there wasn't any tape on either end of the box that required me to cut it in order to get into the product.
All in all a bit confused right now what to do, it does seem fine now and I am a moaner by nature. :/
Coil whining can happen but you're in the market for a card that doesn't sound like a thunderstorm when its at full load. Have you tweaked the fan speeds yourself in MSI Afterburner though? If not, the fan could be going at 100% - I need never put mine above around 65% as it can deal with the heat and around the card and that's moderately loud already. 100% sounds like a bloody jet.
If your card is only going up to 55 degrees, you've got lots of headroom. I'd be 100% comfortable with the card hitting 70 degrees. Not much more though - but that's my personal preference. I consider 80 degrees unacceptable for an AMD card but wasn't happy when in my old case I would be dealing with 74.
EDIT: Think I've posted my fan settings previously and I'm not at home to check but it is something along the lines of 40% up to 50 degrees, 50% up to 60 degrees, 60% up to 65 degrees, 65% up to 75 degrees (which it never reaches), 70% up to 80 degrees and 100% at anything more.
The fan constantly at 65% annoys me when cinematics in Starcraft II are on (card at 99% load) but during gameplay the fan is less due to the lower temperature as a result of less stress.
Dundon's
13-03-2013, 16:53
Thanks Sweey I just got back home there now so I'm going to fuck around with it. I loaded Afterburner last night to get a look at it but didn't fine tune anything yet. What kind of FPS should I be expecting for high end games on ultra settings using 720p (TV won't run the 1080) and does is it normal to jump from 30 to 120+ almost randomly?
I have 3 preset speeds aswell for my case fans so I'm going to bang them onto the highest when I'm playing demanding games as they're still pretty silent compared to the GPU on 100% which sounds like a moon launch.
I've never heard heavy coil whining like that. I'm playing MoH Warfighter (sweet fucking game) and I can hear the fan humming loudly enough to be discernible, but that's about it. It's and old GT220 as well.
I can't wait to get a GDDR5 card.
Thanks Sweey I just got back home there now so I'm going to fuck around with it. I loaded Afterburner last night to get a look at it but didn't fine tune anything yet. What kind of FPS should I be expecting for high end games on ultra settings using 720p (TV won't run the 1080) and does is it normal to jump from 30 to 120+ almost randomly?
I have 3 preset speeds aswell for my case fans so I'm going to bang them onto the highest when I'm playing demanding games as they're still pretty silent compared to the GPU on 100% which sounds like a moon launch.
720p? Pretty much 60fps all the way without fluctuation I would say given that the resolution is so small compared to the 1080p it is intended to power.
EDIT: By the way Dundon's, a quick Google suggests that while coil whine happens with some 7950s, MSI cards are not among them. Any doubt in your mind whatsoever and I'd send it back immediately. You're paying good money for the card, you deserve peace of mind and complete satisfaction.
Can't comment regarding the driver CD issue you mentioned. All I can go by is the fact I've had zero problems with OcUK personally. Hunter, however, bought a laptop from them, sent it back immediately and would probably never use them again. You probably get disparity like that with everyone.
Dundon's
13-03-2013, 21:46
I've been playing Crysis for the last few hours and the coil whine seems to have disappeared along with the 100% fan speeds. Is it possible that the latest drivers might of sorted it out or even maybe it took a few games to bed in?
If last night didn't happened I'd be happy with the card right now but what you've suggested about the 60 FPS at 720p has me concerned.
This might sound mad but I was expecting the graphics to be a lot less jagged and flickery. I've everything set to ultra high and it's not slowing down at all so it must just be the game, unless 1080p makes things nicer again to my current 720p.
Quick question Sweey, V Sync on or off and is the highest Anti Aliasing something I should always be looking to reach?
I've been playing Crysis for the last few hours and the coil whine seems to have disappeared along with the 100% fan speeds. If last night didn't happened I'd be happy with the card right now but what you've suggested about the 60 FPS at 720p has me concerned.
This might sound mad but I was expecting the graphics to be a lot less jagged and flickery. I've everything set to ultra high and it's not slowing down at all so it must just be the game, unless 1080p makes things nicer again to my current 720p.
Quick question Sweey, V Sync on or off and is the highest Anti Aliasing something I should always be looking to reach?
Anti-aliasing = remove jagged edges.
Vertical sync - I like it on so that the FPS is limited to 60 and doesn't go into the hundreds when my monitor won't display over 60 anyway, causing the card to heat up. However, some people find that having it on causes a negative effect on the immersion when using the mouse to turn around in games due to various reasons. All depends on the individual.
EDIT: I'm always happy with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering at 8x. In fact, I tend to reduce anti-aliasing to 4x.
Dundon's
13-03-2013, 22:01
If you swing left and right with the mouse and the screen tears, what's that most likely to be do you know? Is that what you mean by immersion?
If you have vertical sync on and you get tearing, head to Google. If you get tearing with vertical sync off, turn it on :>
Dundon's
14-03-2013, 01:37
V Sync on, tearing off. FPS 25-60 with everything maxed to death on Crysis. I don't know how I feel about the FPS only because it's using 720p settings, other than that the card isn't whining at all and the fans haven't gone into overdrive either tonight.
I think I she's a keeper but I want to benchmark it proper and see what scores she pulls.
EDIT: Keeping the card. Working like a dream now, last night was defiantly pre new drivers installation.
V Sync on, tearing off. FPS 25-60 with everything maxed to death on Crysis. I don't know how I feel about the FPS only because it's using 720p settings, other than that the card isn't whining at all and the fans haven't gone into overdrive either tonight.
I think I she's a keeper but I want to benchmark it proper and see what scores she pulls.
EDIT: Keeping the card. Working like a dream now, last night was defiantly pre new drivers installation.
Crysis is pretty extreme in its requirements. At least you're not playing the one (I think it is Crysis 2) where objects out of view were having high levels of tesselation applied to them so that AMD cards would suffer FPS drops (still processing the tesselation despite the object being out of view) and nVidia cards would do better in benchmarks.
Its a dirty business and I'm sure things have been done the other way around as well.
Sleeping Dogs, Skyrim with high resolution texture mods, Metro 2033, Battlefield 3 are probably all good benchmarks.
Could also try MSI Kombustor for a few minutes - it is an extreme program some people don't like because it drowns the GPU with work causing constant 100% GPU usage and therefore gives you an idea of where your card's heat is going to plateau based on fan settings. The FPS isn't really of too much interest when using that tool but as I said, some people consider it a GPU killer because no game is ever going to push a card that hard (could've fooled me with The Witcher 2).
For DirectX11 benchmarking, try this: http://unigine.com/products/heaven/. Widely used so you can search the internet to find the scores others are getting with the same card in their machine at different resolutions etc.
Dundon's
14-03-2013, 15:57
I just ran the benchmark there and scored 3336 with everything in the start up menu untouched. 2657 scored with the AA X8 and I'd imagine that @720p aswell as left the resolution option on default.
What do you reckon?
P.S. I got a tiny bit of coil whining but you won't believe this, it's actually coming from the PSU and not the GPU, the GPU is silent. Happy and sad at the same time, even though you have to put your head right upto the side of the case to hear it, little things like that annoy me. Odds are the other night when it was really bad that the sound was coming from that aswell.
Sorry OC.UK, I roasted them in an email and all. :laugh:
Does this make you think/relax/get worried? Haven't read it all the way through so it might be meaningless :>
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167346
Can't say about Heaven scores off the bat - only ever check them when I get a new graphics card or CPU :tongue:
Dundon's
14-03-2013, 18:41
Yeah I think I read that thread last night only. lol
But it's supposed to be nothing to worry about, only annoying. Also the way I'm going on about it is making out to be a lot worse than it is, it's hardly present and on if I have no sound in the room, still though, I don't want it in my life if I can avoid having it there.
I might consider getting onto OCZ and see what they say, a lot of people have reported the same thing with the same model as mine and OCZ in general. Just goes to show no matter how many reviews you read there's always a curve ball around the corner that throws a spanner in the works.
It does this that when the GPU is drawing a heavy load and in certain high FPS menus. So I'm wondering if I use the 2 molex connectors I got with the card over the 2 power leads I'm currently using that I got with the PSU, would it make any difference? I used the OCZ cables because they are black and sleeved over the MSI's poxy rainbow molex cables.
It does this that when the GPU is drawing a heavy load and in certain high FPS menus. So I'm wondering if I use the 2 molex connectors I got with the card over the 2 power leads I'm currently using that I got with the PSU, would it make any difference? I used the OCZ cables because they are black and sleeved over the MSI's poxy rainbow molex cables.
Shouldn't make any difference.
Dundon's
19-03-2013, 19:59
Overclocked the Core Clock to 1150 today and pumped the Memory Clock to 1350, I could go another bit but I'm not seeing enough improvements with the Heaven benchmark to bother.
Using the Extreme preset I'm scoring 1200+ and I think that's a good score, I seen a few 670's coming in at 1100+ using the same preset but to be honest most of the settings you see are random so I can't really tell if I should be happy or not. Haven't touched the voltage at all, she's still at stock.
I'd just like to see a few 7950's bench marked using the same settings but it's not as easy hunting them down on the net as I though.
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