new graphics card. advice needed.

The bearded clam · 10-01-2014 6:07pm #1

Hi, i'm thinking about getting a new graphics card. I recently decided to try pc gaming and my current graphics card is not up to scratch (built in intel hd 4000). I did a bit of research and determined that i'd need either a radeon hd 6670, hd 7770 or higher (not sure what nvidia's equivalent would be)

i was considering this one: http://www.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsps?aid=65388&agid=1004

A few things to consider the motherboard i have is an asrock z77 extreme 4. My budget is fairly low so i'm not expecting the best card going but i'd like to be able to play relatively new games at a decent level.

any help would be appreciated.

SterlingArcher · 10-01-2014 6:15pm

Need to know your PSU wattage and the PCI Express power connections it has.

The bearded clam · 10-01-2014 6:23pm

400 watts, but i'm not sure how much of that is being used already and it has 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slots

SterlingArcher · 10-01-2014 6:28pm

The bearded clam wrote: »

400 watts, but i'm not sure how much of that is being used already and it has 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slots

Not PCI Express slots. That's your mobo. Power supply depending on how decent they are come with " pci express" connectors. Some have 2 6 pin. Others have 2 8 pin with detachable 2 pin sections. Some cards require one or more of.these to hook up to.

Does your PSU have a brand name model number. I can look up.

marco_polo · 10-01-2014 6:31pm

The bearded clam wrote: »

400 watts, but i'm not sure how much of that is being used already and it has 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 Slots

Can you peek inside for the the brand/model? (Or if no obvious branding note down what it says on the PSU label under the DC +12V)

If you could you give an ideal maximum budget, and what games you'll like to play as well and we should have everything we need.

The bearded clam · 10-01-2014 7:27pm

ah sorry, it has one of each...the 8 pin with detachable 2 pin and the 6 pin connectors. the brand name of my psu is "be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER BQT E9-400W 80+Gold"

here's a link with info https://www.hardwareversand.de/300+-+400+Watts/51129/be+quiet!+STRAIGHT+POWER+BQT+E9-400W+80%2BGold.article

i'd like to be able to play games like Nether, Rome total war 2 and State of decay. That's all i have in mind at the moment...

Serephucus · 10-01-2014 7:36pm

You'll be able to run pretty much whatever you want then. A 780 would be absolute borderline for your PSU, and that's a €450 card.

http://www.hardwareversand.de/1024+MB/113745/Palit+GF+GTX+650Ti+1GB+with+GeForce+Experience.article

That's a GTX 650 Ti. It's a little more than the 7770, but it's about 15-20% faster too.

marco_polo · 10-01-2014 8:08pm

There's a pretty decent HIS 7850 on pimania for about €122 at the moment as well.

The bearded clam · 10-01-2014 8:23pm

marco_polo wrote: »

There's a pretty decent HIS 7850 on pimania for about €122 at the moment as well.

it's unavailable...i would've bought that now if i could. good price and it's in ireland...so delivery would be free.

marco_polo · 10-01-2014 9:24pm

The bearded clam wrote: »

it's unavailable...i would've bought that now if i could. good price and it's in ireland...so delivery would be free.

Damn thats a shame.

From what I can see around this Sapphire HD 7850 1GB I guess this would be the next best thing about €120 with super saver, its only the 1GB version but most of the time it doesn't make much difference. (And thats all the VRAM any lower cards would have anyway). I'm guessing you don;t want to spend much more than that.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11200-16-20G-HD7850-GDDR5-Graphics/dp/B008RJZ5Z6/ref=sr_1_25?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1389388512&sr=1-25&keywords=HD+7850

I haven't had much time to look around though, so I'm sure others will be along with decent alternative suggestions.

Serephucus · 10-01-2014 9:32pm

One important thing though: VRAM means nothing for your purposes, so just ignore it. Whether a card has 1GB or 3 will make no difference.

marco_polo · 10-01-2014 9:34pm

Serephucus wrote: »

One important thing though: VRAM means nothing for your purposes, so just ignore it. Whether a card has 1GB or 3 will make no difference.

True I've only every once seen a frame rate difference in any review of 1GB vs 2GB 7850s @1080p, and that was a heavily modded Skyrim.

The bearded clam · 10-01-2014 9:39pm

Ah, what a coincidence...i was on dabs.ie and i found that sapphire. was just about to ask for some opinions on it. they have it for 124, it's coming up as 158 with the shipping price added on from the amazon seller...

Edit: i chose the wrong delivery option on amazon. changed it back to super saver like you said and it's €128. €4 cheaper than dabs.ie

new graphics card. advice needed.

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