I currently have an 8800GTS 320mb and was looking to upgrade. Looking around at various websites i managed to pull up these cards for around my price range. I have a 500W power supply will that be enough for these cards?
4870 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-188-SP
or GTX 260 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-104-GW
4890 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-195-AS
or GTX 275 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-116-OK
Suggestions and comments would be much appreciated.
Upgrading my graphics card
Burton2000
Elder III
Whether your current power supply will be enough or not depends on what else you ahve in your system and on what power supply you have... all PSUs are NOT created equally. 
Also, many of the higher end video cards on the market now will require 2 or more 6-8 Pin connectors - does your power supply have that?
Also, many of the higher end video cards on the market now will require 2 or more 6-8 Pin connectors - does your power supply have that?
Burton2000
Yeah I have three 6 pin connects so thats not a problem. Do those cards use much more power than an 8800 does?
Notorious Bob
The Radeons will almost certainly be too much for your 500W supply. I can't speak on the nVidia's as I haven't any personal experience. But my 450W supply couldn't handle a Radeon upgrade and given that the symptom is your PC shutting down mid-game then you'd really be way better off spending a few bucks on a new PSU.
I went up to 650W and the machine runs like a dream.
If you ever intend going for X-fire or SLI then maybe consider a wee bit more now and save the hassle of replacing the PSU again later.
I went up to 650W and the machine runs like a dream.
If you ever intend going for X-fire or SLI then maybe consider a wee bit more now and save the hassle of replacing the PSU again later.
moriz
a 500W PSU can handle the 4890. in fact, even the 4890 box stats that it requires a 500W PSU, and those numbers are usually inflated.
all in all, as long as you can get a combined 32A on your 12V rail, it should be sufficient.
all in all, as long as you can get a combined 32A on your 12V rail, it should be sufficient.
Notorious Bob
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Originally Posted by moriz
a 500W PSU can handle the 4890. in fact, even the 4890 box stats that it requires a 500W PSU, and those numbers are usually inflated.
all in all, as long as you can get a combined 32A on your 12V rail, it should be sufficient. |
If you believe that your PSU is all it's cracked up to be, slip in a 47xx or 48xx, throw a copy of World in Conflict into the DVD and wait to see if you're machine browns out.
More than likely, you'll be cursing the guy who wrote the box slip cover!
moriz
i've done so, and my system didn't brown out. in fact, a full core 2 duo system, with a HD4850, will need only 270W. remember, the 4800 series are manufactured on a much smaller die process than the old G80 cores used in the original 8800GTX/GTS/Ultra, and are therefore much more power efficient.
keep in mind, that the PSU requirement on the boxes are INFLATED, just to make sure people with poor quality PSUs can still use the cards.
keep in mind, that the PSU requirement on the boxes are INFLATED, just to make sure people with poor quality PSUs can still use the cards.
Notorious Bob
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Originally Posted by moriz
i've done so, and my system didn't brown out. in fact, a full core 2 duo system, with a HD4850, will need only 270W. remember, the 4800 series are manufactured on a much smaller die process than the old G80 cores used in the original 8800GTX/GTS/Ultra, and are therefore much more power efficient.
keep in mind, that the PSU requirement on the boxes are INFLATED, just to make sure people with poor quality PSUs can still use the cards. |
Guess you just have to suck it and see.
Elder III
Often people seem to just look at the Total Max Watts for a PSU and not look further than that. Just because a PSU says 500watts or whatever doesn't mean it's as good as the next 500watt PSU. In the case of PSUs, you nearly always get what you pay for - don't try to cut costs here or buy off brands. You will have better system stability with multiple +12V rails and 18amps or more on each is a must. That may be slight overload, but imo it's assuredly worth it. Buy name brands, and ACTIVE PFC or Continuous is a big plus towards your overall system stability. In many ways it's the most important part in your computer, just not the most showy or noticeable to the avg. person.
Burton2000
But what do people think nvidia or ati?
Snograt
I'll plonk my butt squarely on the fence and say "take your pick."
Brianna
I'd get a GTX 260, that's what I plan to upgrade to from my 320mb 8800GTS. If I went for a GTX 275 I'd just go buy a 285 instead.
dilan155
i have GTX 260 and i havent looked back, if your going for the 275 you might as well save a bit and go for the 285. as for power, there are many things to consider, how many things your running( peripherals, HDDs etc), how many Watts, how many Rails and how many Amps in each rail etc.
rick1027
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Originally Posted by Burton2000
But what do people think nvidia or ati?
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moriz
nvidia or ati? honestly, the choice of upgrade depends on what you already have. if you already have nvidia, go with nvidia. same for ati. the two are so close right now in terms of pure performance, performance/dollar, performance/watt, that its a complete coin toss. going with what company you're already using will simplify driver installations, since both use unified drivers for all their products (unless of course, your current card is REALLY old).
as for power consumptions, take a look at this:
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16681/11
a complete system with a 4890 draws 309W from the wall socket at full load. and that was with a core i7 965EE to boot. assuming 80% efficiency, that means the full system is using only 247.2W. and just in case i'm not being clear enough: this is a full system. a quality 500W PSU can easily do this.
as for power consumptions, take a look at this:
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16681/11
a complete system with a 4890 draws 309W from the wall socket at full load. and that was with a core i7 965EE to boot. assuming 80% efficiency, that means the full system is using only 247.2W. and just in case i'm not being clear enough: this is a full system. a quality 500W PSU can easily do this.
Wrath Of Dragons
If planning to overclock, I would say get a 260 core 216. If not, get the 4870.
I dont think the 4890 is really worth it compared to the 4870/260, but I got the 275 instead of the 285, and love it.
I dont think the 4890 is really worth it compared to the 4870/260, but I got the 275 instead of the 285, and love it.
Burton2000
Well I decided to go with the 260/216 card as it was a good price and free delivery from Novatech. Should hopefully arrive within a few days
AmbientMelody
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Originally Posted by Burton2000
Well I decided to go with the 260/216 card as it was a good price and free delivery from Novatech. Should hopefully arrive within a few days
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Elder III
Often people seem to just look at the Total Max Watts for a PSU and not look further than that. Just because a PSU says 500watts or whatever doesn't mean it's as good as the next 500watt PSU. In the case of PSUs, you nearly always get what you pay for - don't try to cut costs here or buy off brands. You will have better system stability with multiple +12V rails and 18amps or more on each is a must. That may be slight overload, but imo it's assuredly worth it. Buy name brands, and ACTIVE PFC or Continuous is a big plus towards your overall system stability. In many ways it's the most important part in your computer, just not the most showy or noticeable to the avg. person.
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Burton2000
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Originally Posted by AmbientMelody
No, cancel that order while you can. 275 costs almost the same money as 260/216
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Elder III
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Originally Posted by Burton2000
The 275 costs nearly an extra £50 over the 260 which is quite a bit.
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moriz
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Originally Posted by AmbientMelody
No, cancel that order while you can. 275 costs almost the same money as 260/216 but has so much better scores over 3D marks and FPS performance well between 280 and 285. 260/216 is a much slower card, you will regret it if you get it. As for ATI, they are not worth your money. In my local stores 4890 is 20% more expensive than GTX 275 but it's still noticeably worse in performance when it comes to games. If you chip in a bit more money then get 285 instead and overclock it. It has quite good heat sink and better OC limits than 275, which seems high-clocked by default.
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according to this:
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16681
the 4890 and GTX275 are practically identical in terms of performance. in fact, in most of the games, the frame rates are well above 60fps. now, you might be one of those people who can actually tell the difference between 70 fps and 75 fps, but for the vast majority of us, both cards are equally sufficient.
as for differences in cost, according to newegg, the 4890 and GTX275 are roughly the same cost. you might've accidentally compared one of those 1ghz 4890 OC models with a stock GTX275. or maybe all your local stores are nvidia fanboys. who knows. either way, the two can be easily bought for identical prices.
as of right now, AMD (since ATI doesn't exist anymore) and nvidia are just about equal in terms of graphics power. good thing too, 'cause otherwise, the GTX280 would still cost around $600, as it did on release.
rick1027
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Originally Posted by AmbientMelody
No, cancel that order while you can. 275 costs almost the same money as 260/216 but has so much better scores over 3D marks and FPS performance well between 280 and 285. 260/216 is a much slower card, you will regret it if you get it. As for ATI, they are not worth your money. In my local stores 4890 is 20% more expensive than GTX 275 but it's still noticeably worse in performance when it comes to games. If you chip in a bit more money then get 285 instead and overclock it. It has quite good heat sink and better OC limits than 275, which seems high-clocked by default.
Agreed. Motherboard is most important piece of PC just after the PSU. Everything else just comes on the top of it. You can't build a solid house on a sand, you need a rock as a fundament. |
AmbientMelody
Like I've already said, over internet shops in Poland and most local stores Gigabyte GTX 275 costs around 20-40$ less than 4890 and it is on par with the latter either slightly (the latter being stock OC-ed) or up to 2-3 fps more. Nvidia cards usually start to shine with higher resolution and details, nuff said. I told him to get 275 because I believe he isn't going to OC his card.
go to this site http://www.chip.pl/chip/testy/podzes...rty-graficzne/
then pick up any graphic card, then scroll down till you see Porównywarka produktów and in 'produkt 1' choose any of the 4890 models and in 'produkt 2' and 'produkt 3' other graphic cards, preferably 260 and 275 to compare. Site is in polish but it's easy to navigate enough. 'Porównaj' in bottom-right corner of main article means the same as 'compare', use it with at least two positions selected. Prices to USD/EURO can be easy converted by using this site - http://kursy-walut.mybank.pl/ - simply divide the price by the values from the table, the one on top being USD and the one below being EURO. Yes, I know prices in your countries might differ, I guess I'm lucky enough with GTX being so cheap but if you indeed wanna OC, I'd go for 260. As for 260 and 275 difference, they cost almost the same for the same brand, unless 25-30$ is much to you.
Interesting enough, since from my experience for the past decade computer stuff in Poland used to be up to 30% more expensive than on your Newegg and other sites.
go to this site http://www.chip.pl/chip/testy/podzes...rty-graficzne/
then pick up any graphic card, then scroll down till you see Porównywarka produktów and in 'produkt 1' choose any of the 4890 models and in 'produkt 2' and 'produkt 3' other graphic cards, preferably 260 and 275 to compare. Site is in polish but it's easy to navigate enough. 'Porównaj' in bottom-right corner of main article means the same as 'compare', use it with at least two positions selected. Prices to USD/EURO can be easy converted by using this site - http://kursy-walut.mybank.pl/ - simply divide the price by the values from the table, the one on top being USD and the one below being EURO. Yes, I know prices in your countries might differ, I guess I'm lucky enough with GTX being so cheap but if you indeed wanna OC, I'd go for 260. As for 260 and 275 difference, they cost almost the same for the same brand, unless 25-30$ is much to you.
Interesting enough, since from my experience for the past decade computer stuff in Poland used to be up to 30% more expensive than on your Newegg and other sites.
![Ec]-[oMaN](/static/static/../Img/avatar8384_2.gif){kind=avatar}
Ec]-[oMaN
At this point Burton can your current card last you till the Fall of this year, if so just hold off buying anything. There will be a good number of titles released in the fall that might warrant an upgrade but no so much right now. Also Nvidia/ATI will be announcing+ maybe releasing their latest batch of new cards then also, when such occurs any current card you purchase now will have a major price drop, all the top models now will be 200$ or sub 200$ by then, no sense buying now unless you think you will get your money worth/usage now out of the top models.
Burton2000
Playing the waiting game with computers seems quite pointless as newer technologies are always being announced and prices are always falling.
moriz
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Originally Posted by AmbientMelody
Like I've already said, over internet shops in Poland and most local stores Gigabyte GTX 275 costs around 20-40$ less than 4890 and it is on par with the latter either slightly (the latter being stock OC-ed) or up to 2-3 fps more. Nvidia cards usually start to shine with higher resolution and details, nuff said. I told him to get 275 because I believe he isn't going to OC his card.
go to this site http://www.chip.pl/chip/testy/podzes...rty-graficzne/ then pick up any graphic card, then scroll down till you see Porównywarka produktów and in 'produkt 1' choose any of the 4890 models and in 'produkt 2' and 'produkt 3' other graphic cards, preferably 260 and 275 to compare. Site is in polish but it's easy to navigate enough. 'Porównaj' in bottom-right corner of main article means the same as 'compare', use it with at least two positions selected. Prices to USD/EURO can be easy converted by using this site - http://kursy-walut.mybank.pl/ - simply divide the price by the values from the table, the one on top being USD and the one below being EURO. Yes, I know prices in your countries might differ, I guess I'm lucky enough with GTX being so cheap but if you indeed wanna OC, I'd go for 260. As for 260 and 275 difference, they cost almost the same for the same brand, unless 25-30$ is much to you. Interesting enough, since from my experience for the past decade computer stuff in Poland used to be up to 30% more expensive than on your Newegg and other sites. |
and really, you are judging cards because of the above, AND a 1-3 fps difference? um.... ok.
Elder III
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Originally Posted by moriz
not to offend you or anything, but all you've said is that the prices can be wildly different in a backwater eastern european nation. burton lives in the UK, where prices are a lot more equal.
and really, you are judging cards because of the above, AND a 1-3 fps difference? um.... ok. |
this is off topic, but if Poland is a backwater eastern european nation, what is Romania??? The hairy backside of the planet??? (it is by the way too
)
moriz
sorry i didn't quite meant it to come across so bluntly. what i was trying to say, is that you should never judge a product JUST BECAUSE of the prices in your own country. hell, if i try to do the same, i'd have to say that hagen daaz (sp?) is the best ice cream brand in the world, purely because they are ridiculously expensive in china (and yet, priced far more reasonably in canada).
AmbientMelody
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Originally Posted by moriz
sorry i didn't quite meant it to come across so bluntly. what i was trying to say, is that you should never judge a product JUST BECAUSE of the prices in your own country. hell, if i try to do the same, i'd have to say that hagen daaz (sp?) is the best ice cream brand in the world, purely because they are ridiculously expensive in china (and yet, priced far more reasonably in canada).
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Oh, and UK is not the center of the world. We don't live in XVIII/XIXth century. I wouldn't go too far with categorising europe as west and east, or europe a,b and c. Economic crysis has struck mainly west countries and Poland is likely to get a positive income this year, so I wouldn't go too far but perhaps rethink some things first. 20-30 years and typical eastern citizen will point fingers at you for labelling them a some kind of 'category b citizen' of 'category b country'.
Well, enough of this. TC will buy the card he wants to anyway.
Burton2000
Well my card arrived today and its so much bigger than my 8800 so much so that I didn't think it would fit in my case at first. But now it all works with no problems and it runs super cool as well at max load so gives me quite some room for overclocking.
so much so that I didn't think it would fit in my case at first. But now it all works with no problems and it runs super cool as well at max load so gives me quite some room for overclocking.