Don't want to buy "too much GPU" for my system

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diableri

Gawd
Joined
Dec 13, 2006
Messages
737
I recently juggled some old parts around and now I'm looking at upgrading a single card GPU solution for the following system:

C2Duo e6600
4gig DDR2 800
Intel G35 Express Mboard
eVGA 7800 GTX GPU
1600x1050 LCD
Now running Vista

I would "like" to use the system for a few more months on my 1920x1200 LCD but by Feb no matter what I'll have my new gaming rig up and going so it really only needs to make it a few more months.

This system is having a tough time with Warhammer online even when I tone down the res and settings. It's also not performing where I'd like it to be on the lesser games I play like TF2 and Spore. Most important for me is smooth playing of Left 4 Dead in late November for a few months until the real gaming machine is finished.

So the question, what's the best single slot GPU I can put in here before the board/CPU limits it? No budget concerns but I'd rather not blow $500 if there's no performance gain due to the other parts. That's just wasting cash. If this box can actually use all of a 280 or 4870x2, I'll buy one; but I'm guessing it can't. As always, your guidance will be greatly appreciated.
 
Something like this is what I am thinking about but again, if it's way over powered for the rest of the machine, I'd rather not waste the money.

eVGA 260 "Superclocked edition" with 896MB GDDR3 for $239.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3952603&CatId=3585

If I go Nvidia (don't care either way) I'll be getting an eVGA card because of great experiences over the years with the company. BTW, who is the eVGA equiv company for the ATI cards? ASUS?
 
really the wrong question. an E6600 is only going to be CPU limited at lower resolutions, and single GPU solution will work just fine. If your going to be using a 1680 by 1050 display then a 4850 would work. for the bigger screen or the GPU hungry games get a 4870 or a GTX260.

now there is a difference in dual gpu scaling. to get an idea go read this.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770
for the 4870X2

and http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=775
for the GTX280

should give you an idea but again really its a matter of FPS, your actual game playing experience is likely to be unchanged.
 
diableri said:
Something like this is what I am thinking about but again, if it's way over powered for the rest of the machine, I'd rather not waste the money.

eVGA 260 "Superclocked edition" with 896MB GDDR3 for $239.99
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3952603&CatId=3585

If I go Nvidia (don't care either way) I'll be getting an eVGA card because of great experiences over the years with the company. BTW, who is the eVGA equiv company for the ATI cards? ASUS?
Click to expand...

they don't have one. asus is ok, visiontek is ok but they don't have the equal of say BFG
 
Valset said:
really the wrong question. an E6600 is only going to be CPU limited at lower resolutions, and single GPU solution will work just fine. If your going to be using a 1680 by 1050 display then a 4850 would work. for the bigger screen or the GPU hungry games get a 4870 or a GTX260.

now there is a difference in dual gpu scaling. to get an idea go read this.

http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=770
for the 4870X2

and http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=775
for the GTX280

should give you an idea but again really its a matter of FPS, your actual game playing experience is likely to be unchanged.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the fast responses guys! The articles are great but I want to make sure I understand them. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. I won't out pace the CPU unless I play at lower resolutions than I am talking about.
2. There won't be a noticeable game play difference between the 4870x2 and a 280 with the rest of my parts.
3. The noticeable difference between the 4870x2/280 class cards and the 4870/260 cards will be fairly small at the resolutions I'm talking about with the rest of my kit.

This leads me to believe that the 4870 and the 260 are the level of cards I need to look at. From all the other reading I've done, this is going to be a favoritism thing for the most part if $'s aren't the main concern. Also the 4870 will have a slight (10% or so iirc?) performance edge between it and a 260 (but the 260s are a bit more price competitive)? I am not the sharpest tack in the box on this stuff and I know it. I just wanted to make sure I read all that correctly.

Those were great links for my situation. Thank you!
 
diableri said:
Thanks for the fast responses guys! The articles are great but I want to make sure I understand them. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1. I won't out pace the CPU unless I play at lower resolutions than I am talking about.
2. There won't be a noticeable game play difference between the 4870x2 and a 280 with the rest of my parts.
3. The noticeable difference between the 4870x2/280 class cards and the 4870/260 cards will be fairly small at the resolutions I'm talking about with the rest of my kit.

This leads me to believe that the 4870 and the 260 are the level of cards I need to look at. From all the other reading I've done, this is going to be a favoritism thing for the most part if $'s aren't the main concern. Also the 4870 will have a slight (10% or so iirc?) performance edge between it and a 260 (but the 260s are a bit more price competitive)? I am not the sharpest tack in the box on this stuff and I know it. I just wanted to make sure I read all that correctly.

Those were great links for my situation. Thank you!
Click to expand...
it almost more of a preference, the 4870 will pull ahead of the GTX260 if you crank up the AA. with now or little AA they trade blows with the overclocked versions beating it. a good rule of thumb is that ATI cards are prettier and nvidia cards are faster, though really right now its a toss up on both counts. If your looking to go high end the 4870X2 can be had for 450 AR. not bad. at that price it kinda puts the GTX280 out at 390. the GTX260 are a good buy as well for the next step down.
 
Valset said:
it almost more of a preference, the 4870 will pull ahead of the GTX260 if you crank up the AA. with now or little AA they trade blows with the overclocked versions beating it. a good rule of thumb is that ATI cards are prettier and nvidia cards are faster, though really right now its a toss up on both counts. If your looking to go high end the 4870X2 can be had for 450 AR. not bad. at that price it kinda puts the GTX280 out at 390. the GTX260 are a good buy as well for the next step down.
Click to expand...

Every time I ask for help here you guys make it clear and easy to understand. Many, many thanks!
 
I was worried too but I couldn't resist that 30% live cashback from ebay. I ended up picking up a 4870x2 for 450 shipped used which makes it 315 after cashback. I hope my e8400 @4.2 and my dinky monitor are happy. I figure I can always pick up a bigger monitor if I feel like I'm not getting my money out of it.
 
What power supply are you using. Make sure it's up to the task before you invest in a high end graphics card. You'll need one that has two six pin PCI-E power connectors for the NVIDIA 260 you are looking at.
 
zerodeefex said:
I was worried too but I couldn't resist that 30% live cashback from ebay. I ended up picking up a 4870x2 for 450 shipped used which makes it 315 after cashback. I hope my e8400 @4.2 and my dinky monitor are happy. I figure I can always pick up a bigger monitor if I feel like I'm not getting my money out of it.
Click to expand...

where did you get that? I know about the 30% but you had to start at 450!
 
mbmadness said:
What power supply are you using. Make sure it's up to the task before you invest in a high end graphics card. You'll need one that has two six pin PCI-E power connectors for the NVIDIA 260 you are looking at.
Click to expand...

It's a Thermaltake Toughpower 750. I think it's fine. Maybe not the cleanest possible solution but should be plenty of juice. I am REALLY looking forward to a modular PSU on the new build though my god. I've wondered for years why the PSUs didn't have plug cables.
 
That's a good power supply for this application. It has four dedicated 12 V rails and two 6 pin PCI-E connectors. Should work out nicely.
 
Valset said:
where did you get that? I know about the 30% but you had to start at 450!
Click to expand...

I looked for 4870x2 as soon as I saw the 30% hit on the deal forums out there EARLY this morning. I picked up the cheapest one I saw which was a sapphire.
 
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