the usual :D

sebastianlieken

im looking to upgrade a little for the likes of fallout 3, farcry 2, crysis, s.t.a.l.k.e.r clear skies ....etc.

I currently have:


evga 680i mobo
Hiper PSU ATX 580W Black, Type-M, 120mm
Point of View GeForce 8800GTS 320MB,
OCZ nVIDIA 6400 DDR2, 2048MB CL4
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz Socket
and some ****ty hdd

ive lost touch a little bit in the last few months so need to be pointed in the right direction. I want cost efficient, but not to the point where it limits my options.

I reckon I get another 2 gigs of the same ram? (i know about the 32bit OS, dont need a lecture)
need new graphics card to go in my 680i ?....options?
ill keep the 680i, it's still grand a a pretty capable overclocker
the cpu will stay also, it clocks with my board to 3,4 easily.....3,6 if I need it. so it's more than enough either way.
Hdd, ill prob get a samsung F1

so, graphics card....hd4870?....go for an x2 for the sake of it? will both of those be capable with my 680i mobo and my PSU?

Anti

more ram, 4gb is the minimum these days for a gaming pc, a 4870 or a x2 would be a good addition. And maybe a quad core. Should keep you going for a while longer.

sebastianlieken

4gigs it is so

jus lookin at komplett for some reference there for grfx cardsEvga 9800gtx for 206 squids
and theres the hd4870 1gb for 260 squids

also.... im playin at 1680*1050

for that price is the evga not more than cabable for most of everything??? or should I step up and go with the ATI. could spend the €60 saved with the evga on a cooler and overclock....? comments?

or are there some affordable x2 knockin about out there?

also, ill stick with the dual core, the graphics is by far my biggest bottleneck i reckon....

Anti, I love the new avatar and sig

and if it was those pesky admins again.....god bless them!

TerrorFirmer

At 1680x1050 I'd just get the cost efficient option, a 512mb 4870. Will power through any game. Best price: performance card out there, full stop. If you've got the money, the 1gb version wouldn't hurt either, but 512mb is enough at 1680x1050.

4Gb is a problem with a 1gb card on 32-bit, because first of all, windows will address 3.25Gb, then take away the 1gb from the card and you've got 2.25gb - a whole monster 256mb extra

At least with a 512mb card you'd get the 2.75, which does make a noticeable difference actually.

I think I'm a bit crap at giving advice on these sort of threads, because I always assume everyone is like me and come at it from that angle - playing games at max resolution, max settings, AA/AF. The 8800GTS 320MB is old enough that a 9800GTX would be a pretty sweet upgrade too....but it's not got the raw power of the 4870. Anyway, no point looking at the 9800GTX considering the HD4850 is just as fast and costs quite a bit less. Ati have the graphics market in terms of gaming tied down in every aspect:

Budget end: 4670
Mid-range: 4850
High-end: 4870
Bleeding edge: 4870X2

Also - pleeeeeeeeeeease consider me if you're selling that gts card, I'm looking for a budget piece to last me until Christmas till I can get something to go with my new build, but can't find anything in the 100 euro bracket, soon I'll have to resort to getting a 4670...:(

Anti

ill actually be selling my 8800gts 512mb shortly, will let you know

TerrorFirmer

The MSI one I sold you? Would fit the bill though. Great card.

I'm currently using an X1300Pro, lads just knowing it's in there....desecrating my beautiful new build.....I can't take it much longer.

sebastianlieken

hey cheers terror, and sorry but im in germany and my PC is in Ireland until January. so I cant swap them just yet and give you my gts.

but thats cool, ill defo go with the 4870 then, well see what prices are like around january when Im back and then see if I can afford an X2. I assume neither will have any problems on my nvidia 680i board....?

i'll get myself a copy of vista 64bit aswell so I can adress all that ram. was planning to get around to that some day anyway.

also, didnt even cop that ATI had surpassed nvidia in the graphics dept....nvidia had a good run there for a while

until then, cheers lads, I know now what type of money ive to put aside for this.

should be worth it for the games I mentioned above

im stuck with an xbox360 here for the moment, pretty **** for fps's, i threw crysis warhead on my PC when I was home there a while ago and theres just no comparison....PC is just the bees knees for games, especially FPS'S