Graphic Card Recommendations Please

[redmanmark86]

Hi everyone,

My ATI X1950 XTX isnt starting to die on me and since ATI dont even support it in windows 7 anymore i wondered if anyone can recommend me a new graphic card to buy, my max budget is ?200...

i dont do loads of gaming but i do game, mainly RTS games and so on...

the rest of my setup is

a 2.4ghz core2duo E6600

2 GB ram

Asus P5W DH Deluxe

Creatice X-Fi Fatality Extreme Gamer Edition

thanks for any advice...

P.S i'd probably prefer an ATI card...

[null_]

I haven't been keeping up with graphics cards as of late, but a quick Google search reveals that you could get an ATI Radeon HD 4870 (which is supposed to be a pretty decent card) for around ?130 incl VAT. If you prefer the last generation, you could get an ATI Radeon HD 3870 for about ?110 incl VAT.

I pulled these prices from http://www.misco.co.uk/ if it helps.

[xirtam]

If you up it ?35 you'd get an amazing 4870 X2

otherwise the maybe look at the 4850 X2

[RAID 0]

The GeForce GTX 275 is very nice.

Either way you go with the 4870 (good card) or the GTX 275, both are going to be such a dramatic improvement over your X1950.

[noroom]

Just FYI, my ATI X1950 Pro works just fine under Windows 7. Aero and everything.

The card will be fine for somewhat older RTS games.

[Genius]

think you can also get a 4890 for that price :)

[redmanmark86]

Just FYI, my ATI X1950 Pro works just fine under Windows 7. Aero and everything.

The card will be fine for somewhat older RTS games.

it only works with the 9.2 drivers for X64 and 9.1 for X86... Plus it is starting to show its age in gaming and defo runs hot...

think you can also get a 4890 for that price :)

Whats better, two 4870X2 or one 4890?

cuz after i buy one im not likely to upgrade for about 2/3 years unless there is some radical change in gaming...

[Andre S. Veteran]

Whats better, two 4870X2 or one 4890?

Two HD 4870X2s represent 4 GPUs, one HD 4890 represents 1 GPU. As they are pretty much the same architecture and clock speeds, the former wins handily... but it's also a lot more expensive and you'll need a kilowatt power supply to keep your computer stable especially if you overclock. With two HD 4870X2 you are well past the point of diminishing returns on your investement; you're getting a few more frames per second now but in the long run you're throwing money out of the window, it's not going to pay off. In 3 years it's not going to make any difference whether you have that monster setup or a single HD 4890, both are going to be very outdated.

I'd always stay near the "sweet spot" in terms of value which is around the HD 4850 and GTX 260. Better to spend 200$ now and upgrade for 200$ next 1.5 years, than 600$ now and hope it's going to last you long enough to warrant the purchase. It's just not going to happen.

[redmanmark86]

well i finally got my money, id rather spend around 150-200 and buy a new graphic card every couple of years than spend 250-300 and have something i hope ill last 4 years...

also i need a card that wont sond like a leaf blower as i use my pc to watch a lot of blu ray movies and don't want leaf blowing going on in the background...

but yhea i finally got my money and looking to buy at the end of the weak, im looking at the 4850 or 4870 but probably not an X2 as i only got a 600Watt power supply....

oh and i was meant to say one X4807X2, when i said two 4870X2 i meant it has two 4870 which is obvious, stupid me...

[RAID 0]

Two HD 4870X2s represent 4 GPUs, one HD 4890 represents 1 GPU. As they are pretty much the same architecture and clock speeds, the former wins handily... but it's also a lot more expensive and you'll need a kilowatt power supply to keep your computer stable especially if you overclock. With two HD 4870X2 you are well past the point of diminishing returns on your investment; you're getting a few more frames per second now but in the long run you're throwing money out of the window, it's not going to pay off. In 3 years it's not going to make any difference whether you have that monster setup or a single HD 4890, both are going to be very outdated.

I'd always stay near the "sweet spot" in terms of value which is around the HD 4850 and GTX 260. Better to spend 200$ now and upgrade for 200$ next 1.5 years, than 600$ now and hope it's going to last you long enough to warrant the purchase. It's just not going to happen.

This is great advice. (Y)

+1

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Two HD 4870X2s represent 4 GPUs, one HD 4890 represents 1 GPU. As they are pretty much the same architecture and clock speeds, the former wins handily... but it's also a lot more expensive and you'll need a kilowatt power supply to keep your computer stable especially if you overclock. With two HD 4870X2 you are well past the point of diminishing returns on your investement; you're getting a few more frames per second now but in the long run you're throwing money out of the window, it's not going to pay off. In 3 years it's not going to make any difference whether you have that monster setup or a single HD 4890, both are going to be very outdated.

I'd always stay near the "sweet spot" in terms of value which is around the HD 4850 and GTX 260. Better to spend 200$ now and upgrade for 200$ next 1.5 years, than 600$ now and hope it's going to last you long enough to warrant the purchase. It's just not going to happen.

Very good advice. I was going to recommend something like the HD 4850 too. It's one hell of a video card and it isn't that expensive. It'll hold you out until you buy a new DX11-based system.