Need help on buying a new graphic card!!

[computersplus]

Power

like I said an OEM base is not a good way to go the boards they use are not meant for gaming or overclocking and you have no way to adjust voltages on those boards

 

[Adrian]

this might sound stupid but is there anyway u can add more power to your cpu? and like i said before is there anyway to really check how much power your cpu has just be on the safe side and make sure, becuase if am only stuck on 300-350 watts, then am basically screwed..

You are able to manipulate voltage of several components using your bios, however I would strongly caution against it. Your questions indicate an interest but I don't beleive you posess the skill level and the understanding of what the consequences will be. I think what you are asking is can you overclock your processor, again you must possess a basic understanding of processor speeds and the reasons for either O/C or under clock. Gamers have a high understanding and have a need to overclock their processors to enhance the performance demands of their systems to get optimal performance. Your initial inquiry concerning graphics cards leads me to suspect that you are a fledgling gamer. So power demand is crucial for you to pursue your gaming goals.


Adrian

 

[computersplus]

AMPS

like i said in an earlier post don't forget about Amps it's not just all about the watts I stated earlier I use 25 amps on the +12 volt rail as a minimal starting point for a basic computer if you plan on having a high end computer then you would want a lot more but like I said you can get a pretty nice Corsair power supply for a decent price or PC Power and cooling never try to get by with a minimal power supply you risk damage to your whole system

 

[Diabolical]

watts

is there any other possible way to look at your watts or how much power does ur cpu has, becuase am having a difficult time lifting the top part off :sarc:, and i changed my mind to buy a ATI Radeon 5770 since everyone is persuading me to go with the 5000's series how much watts do i need for that?

 

[ThePizzaMan]

hm... if you go get a good 500 or 600 watt psu you'll be covered look at brands like corsair, ultra, pc power and cooling, antec, and thermaltake and modular is nice but its up to you if you want that option or not... the 5770 is a great card, and yes you can't overclock with a prebuilt system, but since you are just upgrading graphics now you will be fine with a new psu and card, and later on think about building a new computer

 

[Fumz]

Read this: PC Power Consumption: How Many Watts Do We Need? - X-bit labs

Here's a tiered list, albeit from last year, that should get you headed in the right direction: Official XS Power Supply Ranking Phase I - XtremeSystems Forums

As has been stated before, do not devote too much attention to overall wattage, because that's going to differ from PSU to PSU, and more importantly, overall wattage is meaningless when it comes to powering a high end graphics card. You'll just give yourself a headache comparing wattage; psu's have different efficiency ratings, some are cleaner than others, etc etc etc...

What you want is a PSU with really stable rails. Most of the PSU that have been recommended in this thread will deliver, but again, some are better than others (refer to link 2).

It's all about the amps. Period. Get one with high amperage on the +12 volt rail and much of your concerns will evaporate.

To summarize: a lot of guys have already done the guinea pig work of figuring out what's good and what's not. Hit up link 2.

 

[skunksmash]

Read this: PC Power Consumption: How Many Watts Do We Need? - X-bit labs

Here's a tiered list, albeit from last year, that should get you headed in the right direction: Official XS Power Supply Ranking Phase I - XtremeSystems Forums

As has been stated before, do not devote too much attention to overall wattage, because that's going to differ from PSU to PSU, and more importantly, overall wattage is meaningless when it comes to powering a high end graphics card. You'll just give yourself a headache comparing wattage; psu's have different efficiency ratings, some are cleaner than others, etc etc etc...

What you want is a PSU with really stable rails. Most of the PSU that have been recommended in this thread will deliver, but again, some are better than others (refer to link 2).

It's all about the amps. Period. Get one with high amperage on the +12 volt rail and much of your concerns will evaporate.

To summarize: a lot of guys have already done the guinea pig work of figuring out what's good and what's not. Hit up link 2.

agreed......

IMO always buy a larger PSU than you think you need, invariably its one of the longest lasting components in a machine & if you buy good quality now it'll serve you for your future builds & any upgrades that may take your fancy.

i'll tell you about a GREAT PSU i picked up a year ago.......

Xclio 850w

what a great unit this is from an underdog company, this is their top end unit, superior build quality......

this has a whopping 70A on the 12v rail , & its bloody cheap..

it also has more connections than you'd know what to do with..

1 x 4pin ATX 12V
8 x 4pin Molex
2 x 6pin PCI-E Power <
1 x 8pin CPU +12V
2 x 8pin PCI-E Power <
1 x FDD Power
8 x SATA Power

its only downside is the fact its not modular, but that hasn't really bothered me (might be a problem with a smaller case due to cable storage)

but on the whole you cant go wrong with one of these.

 

[Frostmourne]

The 5770 will suffer with only a 128-bit memory bus. I'd choose between either a 4890 or a 5870. However, if you have a factory PSU I would upgrade that too or build a PC for gaming - your quad-core may bottleneck the graphics card.

 

[Dom]

The 5770 will suffer with only a 128-bit memory bus. I'd choose between either a 4890 or a 5870. However, if you have a factory PSU I would upgrade that too or build a PC for gaming - your quad-core may bottleneck the graphics card.

If he buys some watercooling/very good aircooling he can overclock it to the standards of the power it needs to run freely with those graphic options.
That is if he wants to spend yet more money...

 

[Fumz]

New quad cores and fancy water cooling... all for a relatively minor upgrade? Let's slow down.

His Q6600 may be the system's bottleneck, but only in the sense that it's the slowest component should he opt for a 5870. That's a bit different that suggesting his core will bottleneck the card; that games will be choppy because the card has to wait for the core.

For some reason I doubt that will be an issue.

 

[Dom]

New quad cores and fancy water cooling... all for a relatively minor upgrade? Let's slow down.

His Q6600 may be the system's bottleneck, but only in the sense that it's the slowest component should he opt for a 5870. That's a bit different that suggesting his core will bottleneck the card; that games will be choppy because the card has to wait for the core.

For some reason I doubt that will be an issue.

Not a relatively minor upgrade, if he chooses the wrong one or doesn't modify his current system, it will bottleneck completely. Ask this person from vista forums :
Vista Forums
and tell him the situation. first thing, he will say go nvidia, second he will state an upgrade like a 5870 will bottleneck the rig.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

its will have some bottlenecking yes, you might want to go ahead and build a new rig anyway and think about getting a i5 or a i7

 

[Fumz]

New quad cores and fancy water cooling... all for a relatively minor upgrade? Let's slow down.

His Q6600 may be the system's bottleneck, but only in the sense that it's the slowest component should he opt for a 5870. That's a bit different that suggesting his core will bottleneck the card; that games will be choppy because the card has to wait for the core.

For some reason I doubt that will be an issue.

Not a relatively minor upgrade, if he chooses the wrong one or doesn't modify his current system, it will bottleneck completely. Ask this person from vista forums :
Vista Forums
and tell him the situation. first thing, he will say go nvidia, second he will state an upgrade like a 5870 will bottleneck the rig.

its will have some bottlenecking yes, you might want to go ahead and build a new rig anyway and think about getting a i5 or a i7

Oh please... we're talking about going from an 8600 GT to a 5870... this is a relatively minor upgrade... no different than if he installed a gtx 295. Yes, the card is stronger, but not to the degree that he's going to need ianything, and no, the card will not be bottlenecked: games just don't require insane amounts of cpu these days.

Not sure why I should go ask Archie from the Vista forums... been having coffee with this guy all morning, Vista Forums, and he assures me the extra expenses you've suggested, although nifty, cool and neat to have, are not a requirement.

 

[Dom]

New quad cores and fancy water cooling... all for a relatively minor upgrade? Let's slow down.

His Q6600 may be the system's bottleneck, but only in the sense that it's the slowest component should he opt for a 5870. That's a bit different that suggesting his core will bottleneck the card; that games will be choppy because the card has to wait for the core.

For some reason I doubt that will be an issue.

Not a relatively minor upgrade, if he chooses the wrong one or doesn't modify his current system, it will bottleneck completely. Ask this person from vista forums :
Vista Forums
and tell him the situation. first thing, he will say go nvidia, second he will state an upgrade like a 5870 will bottleneck the rig.

its will have some bottlenecking yes, you might want to go ahead and build a new rig anyway and think about getting a i5 or a i7

Oh please... we're talking about going from an 8600 GT to a 5870... this is a relatively minor upgrade... no different than if he installed a gtx 295. Yes, the card is stronger, but not to the degree that he's going to need ianything, and no, the card will not be bottlenecked: games just don't require insane amounts of cpu these days.

Not sure why I should go ask Archie from the Vista forums... been having coffee with this guy all morning, Vista Forums, and he assures me the extra expenses you've suggested, although nifty, cool and neat to have, are not a requirement.

Okay your Highness,

Let him go ahead with upgrading to whatever he wants

 

[ThePizzaMan]

now..... a phenom II 940 will bottleneck a 5870 some..... and its way faster than a q6700..... but ok if you say so....

 

[Wishmaster]

IMHO, i would just go with a 4890, or a 5K series.

the 5K are faster, yes.
But in all honestly, there isn't a game on the market the 4890 can't handle with ease.
I think its still a safe bet for a good while yet.

just make sure your Power supply will handle it.


I thought the OP was looking to upgrade just the GPU,
As far as upgrading the system:

the Q6600 is older tech,sure but its no slouch either.
Worst case scenario, a mild overclock will help keep running his socket 775 MOBO for a good while to come.
I honestly do not think it'll have a issue with a 4890.

Another thing to consider, while the core i7 is new and faster than its socket 775 45nm counterparts,
When it comes to gaming it really isn't going to help anything at all.

If we are talking video encoding or something like this, then it will help, however, its speed is only marginally faster than the faster Core2 Quads available. Still, not worth the expense to upgrade to if you have perfectly good running Socket 775 hardware.
<<Unless cash is no issue at all>>

In the end, Core i7 only makes sense if you are building a complete new rig.

It would be cheaper to upgrade to a faster 45nm socket 775 CPU to upgrade your current HW, and get more life out of it. Or a mild OC on the current 660, if it appears to be needed.
Moving completely to I7 for gaming will be expensive for little -> no gain in gaming.


if you are looking to build a new rig, then yes go i7, no doubt.
upgrading what you have now for gaming? new GPU, (possibly a faster quad or OC current one)

 

[Fumz]

Okay your Highness,

Let him go ahead with upgrading to whatever he wants

now..... a phenom II 940 will bottleneck a 5870 some..... and its way faster than a q6700..... but ok if you say so....

C'mon guys... it's too early in the day for this.

Here you can see how the Q6600 stacks up against other cores: AnandTech: The Intel Core i7 860 Review
AnandTech: AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920: A True Return to Competition

Yes, it's true that cards scale better with a stronger cpus, but nothing here indicates that gaming will suck, which is what is implied when you suggest that one's cpu will bottleneck one's video card. Sure, i7 would be great, but if that's not an option, there's no reason to not get the 5870.

I realize I've been away for a bit, but if it's still true that most of work for games is still done by the video card's hardware and DirectX, then the OP is not limited by his cpu... as is clearly demonstrated by the performance of my puny little Core2 Wolfdale here: AnandTech: AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920: A True Return to Competition

I'd like an i7 too, but it's just not necessary yet.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

ok if you say so captain

 

[Fumz]

It's not so much that I say so, it's that the results of the benchmarks say so; however, I could be way off base here, so if you've read something different, I'd like to read it too... as I'm sure would everyone else.

... can you throw up a link that demonstrates this bottleneck so I can educate myself?

 

[ThePizzaMan]

ehhhh i thought i read it somewhere on tom's hardware but i can't seem to find it haha.... so i guess i'm wrong