GFX Card

[serajin]

What do you guys recommend? I am currently running a quad core with Windows 7 on it, but also Vista 64 bit ultimate. I have 16 gigs of ram, and a POS graphics card that needs updating(8400 ewwww). What do you guys suggest? I don't want super high end, but I do want to play games on it if I can aswell as run Maya without it lagging like it currently does.

Thanks.

 

[Mark]

I have a GTX260 216core and I am very happy with it although they are a bit expensive, a good value card would be a 9600GT or 9800, I don't take much notice of ATI market so can not advise on a good alternative.

 

[darkassain]

hello serajin and welcome
16 gb of ram???
wow thats mighty MB that you have there...
yeah i would recommend a 9800gt (along with Grim here)
or if you the have the money you can go for the x2 version....

 

[serajin]

Well the 16 gigs of ram is for running maya with high end poly counts, the problem is my card can't display them lol, ^.^ I'll go take a look at the benchmarks for the 9800's and stuff, maybe go for a 260. Card has to last me another year, only getting a new pc in 2010!

Grim, on your 260 what PSU do you have? Thanks

 

[Dragor1]

How about ATI HD 4850 ? Its powerful enough but I guess it has some heat issues.

 

[serajin]

I have decided to go with this

Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

based on some reviews online and comparisons. But I'm not sure what size PSU to get. Like I said, I'm running a quad core Q6600 with 16 gigs of ram, and currently I have like, a 400 watt PSU...it's not going to be big enough. Can anyone recommend a good PSU that will support the pcu and be stable?

Thanks

 

[Decca]

Check out the ATI 4870 1GB.
SAPPHIRE HD 4870 1G GDDR5 PCI-E
ATI Radeon™ HD 4850 & ATI Radeon™ HD 4870 - GPU Specifications
I may get one for my next upgrade.

 

[serajin]

Hey Decca, I looked up the specs on both of those cards, and they're about even. I've always been a fan of Nvidia so I went with the 260 over the 4870 1 GB.

 

[serajin]

I was wondering if anyone know if this would be a good PSU to support my pc.

Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL 550W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Power Supplies

I am going to get this card

Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I used a psu calc on thermaltakes website and it said I only use 359 watts at peak load. Nvidia recommends a 500 watt psu but I'm afraid I'll get one and it won't be large enough.

Thanks

 

[Decca]

Always overkill for the PSU.
Get 850W at least to give you breathing room

 

[Dragor1]

Always overkill for the PSU.
Get 850W at least to give you breathing room

I second that. At the very bare minimum get 600W to 650W. But you'll have to get 800W or so if you decide to go for SLI.

 

[skunksmash]

I was wondering if anyone know if this would be a good PSU to support my pc.

Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550V2-D-SL 550W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply - Power Supplies

I am going to get this card

Newegg.com - EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I used a psu calc on thermaltakes website and it said I only use 359 watts at peak load. Nvidia recommends a 500 watt psu but I'm afraid I'll get one and it won't be large enough.

Thanks

they always overstate the requirements for any card..... i wouldnt worry about the wattage too much.... get something with at least 30A combined on the 12v rail... (they reccomend 34A for the GTX260 but thats a myth.)


may i suggest this one....... $94 after MIR it has a combined 40A on the 12v

this will run your 260 all day long....





SK

 

[serajin]

I'd like to say thank you to everyone that's helped out with what PSU I shold get, and I'm going to go ahead and get the one that skunksmash said. I'm not too worried about the price of it as long as it's going to work so hopefully it will ^.^

I do not plan to go SLI because I do not think it's worth it, I just wanted something that'll last me a while with some of the newer games, and I feel a 260 will do that aswell as let me do my work in Maya.

However, SK, I'm not 100% sure exactly what a "modular" power supply is. Does it have the 2 6-pin connectors that are required for the 260? I assume it does or else you wouldn't have recommended it, but just double checking.

Thanks


Also, How do you tell how many amps are combined on the 12v rails, and how do you know what's recommended for a card?

 

[skunksmash]

I'd like to say thank you to everyone that's helped out with what PSU I shold get, and I'm going to go ahead and get the one that skunksmash said. I'm not too worried about the price of it as long as it's going to work so hopefully it will ^.^

I do not plan to go SLI because I do not think it's worth it, I just wanted something that'll last me a while with some of the newer games, and I feel a 260 will do that aswell as let me do my work in Maya.

However, SK, I'm not 100% sure exactly what a "modular" power supply is. Does it have the 2 6-pin connectors that are required for the 260? I assume it does or else you wouldn't have recommended it, but just double checking.

Thanks

all modular means is that the cables you dont use can be unplugged.....

as seen below....

the card will have its recommended Amperage on the box, or alternatively you can track it down on the nvidia website.....


same goes for PSU specs..... many PSUs with more than one 12v rail, will NOT have the ability to combine the rails Amperage, but the ''HX'' version from corsair does

its a great unit....






SK

 

[serajin]

Sweet! Thanks a bunch, ordering now ^.^

You seem to know quite a bit, I was wondering maybe you could explain RAM timing to me. My friend was saying that ram that has a timing that's low on newegg most of the time doesn't auto clock to that when you put it into the pc.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

My brother wants to get a few sticks of that but I was concerned that we'd have to go into the bios and set the timings manually. Is there any way to know what ram isn't set to a really slow speed or does it not matter so much? And are heatspreaders for ram important?

 

[skunksmash]

Sweet! Thanks a bunch, ordering now ^.^

You seem to know quite a bit, I was wondering maybe you could explain RAM timing to me. My friend was saying that ram that has a timing that's low on newegg most of the time doesn't auto clock to that when you put it into the pc.

sometimes if RAM has a ''certified'' stable timing of 4-4-4-12, it may default to the ''JEDEC'' timing (these are set timings the PC uses as a reference) of 5-5-5-15 for 800mhz

you would have to ''manually'' adjust this in the BIOS, so make sure your BIOS is fully accessible before you buy, or you could end up in a situation where you cant alter any frequencies or voltages.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

My brother wants to get a few sticks of that but I was concerned that we'd have to go into the bios and set the timings manually. Is there any way to know what ram isn't set to a really slow speed or does it not matter so much?

there is a set timing for 4-4-4-12, but b/c the sticks are pc6400 - 800mhz they may default to 5-5-5-15.... they state CL4 so you may be ok.......

so you will need BIOS access, just in case........ its not hard, once its up & running i will walk you through it.. here is the app that's used to check your CPU & RAM specs.... CPUZ

And are heatspreaders for ram important?

RAM can get very hot without cooling pretty close by, the heat spreaders are a must with high performance RAM..




SK

 

[serajin]

Any idea how I would check if my bios is fully accessable?

Want to make sure before I go and buy ram that won't do me any good!!