Suggestions on GPU Purchase

NovembersChopin

I currently have a 9600GT 512 right now. It has been a great budget card for the last 2 years, but I think it's time for a upgrade. The main reason I'm upgrading is to make sure I can run FFXIV in September a bit better.

Specs:
Win7 64 Pro
C2D 2.8
4 Gig Ram
Native Resolution: 1680x1050

Is there going to be a drop in pricing from now till September?

I'm currently looking at the 5770, 5830, and 5850. I would like to keep price below $300 if possible.
I was leaning towards the 5770 before since the pricing is perfect but I'm wondering if bumping up to a 5830 is worth it.

5830 & 5850 seem like a big card but I think it should fit into my case. I think my main concern is the power connectors...I've seen a few that are on the side, which IMO makes it much easier.

Scrublet

Last I saw, the 5830 is completely irrelevant at its price. Granted that may have changed since I checked, but I doubt it. I don't think you're going to see any kind of price drop given the appalling (my opinion) release set from NVidia. My recommendation is to go ahead and wait and see just what kind of horsepower that game really needs to judge whether the 5850 will be worth it. They're both solid cards but the 5850 starts to distance itself as the resolution gets closer to 1080p, especially if you want to use anti-aliasing on FFXIV.

NovembersChopin

Yeah, I think I might go with the 5850. After doing a bit of research, the 5830 seems a bit too big to fit in my case.

nstf

NovembersChopin wrote: »

Yeah, I think I might go with the 5850. After doing a bit of research, the 5830 seems a bit too big to fit in my case.

5830 is the same size as the 5850, if anything some 5850's are better. At the res you're using a 5770 should be fine. Keep in mind the 5770's OC pretty well, especially the custom ones.

NovembersChopin

nstf wrote: »

NovembersChopin wrote: »

Yeah, I think I might go with the 5850. After doing a bit of research, the 5830 seems a bit too big to fit in my case.

5830 is the same size as the 5850, if anything some 5850's are better. At the res you're using a 5770 should be fine. Keep in mind the 5770's OC pretty well, especially the custom ones.

Is it? This is a shot of the 5830 (Top) compared to the 5850:



Is this just the updated version of the one listed on Newegg? Every review I look up
shows the one newegg has listed with the fan more towards the rear.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000101&pid=338

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=n82e16814102857

nstf

I must be mistaken, I could have sworng it was longer, my bad.

NovembersChopin

Well, been browsing reviews and buyer feedback all day...decided to spend a extra $50 for this HIS model:

Scrublet

nstf wrote: »

NovembersChopin wrote: »

Yeah, I think I might go with the 5850. After doing a bit of research, the 5830 seems a bit too big to fit in my case.

5830 is the same size as the 5850, if anything some 5850's are better. At the res you're using a 5770 should be fine. Keep in mind the 5770's OC pretty well, especially the custom ones.

As someone using a 5870 at 1920x1080, which is pretty close to his resolution, I will say that is incorrect if you like turning all settings up on newest games, and grossly incorrect if you like 4xAA at those resolutions. Particularly if you turn on FSAA instead of MSAA or if you notice screen tearing so much you need v-sync. Keep in mind that if you're using reviews with benchmarks to make that statement on the 5770 I would consider finding some min-fps benchmarks to go with the averages they like to show. Can make a huge difference.

DrunkMc

I'm going to piggy back onto this thread cause I have the same question. My GeForce 8800GT just died (please let it just be the GPU and not the motherboard/chip).

I was wondering what's a good card these days, the equivalent of what the 8800GT was a couple of years ago. Something that's less then $200 and plays all the current games at max Res, AA I don't care all that much about.

On the bright side, this has forced me to realize my PS3 can be a pretty good web browser!

Dark Shroud

Less than $200, your only option is the ATI HD 5770. The MSI Hawk is the strongest tested model at the moment, though a new over clocked one from Gigabyte was just released. My preference is for Sapphire's Vapor-X models, they run cooler & quieter.

DrunkMc

Hey, thanks! I went with your suggestion with the Sapphire's Vapor X HD 5770. It was $180 off Amazon, and it should be arriving today. I'm really hoping that it's just the video card that went bad and not my MB.

::crosses fingers::

Otherwise I'll be back in this Forum asking for suggestion on MB + CPU; but I really don't want to be spending that kind of cash right now!

azith28

While we are on the subject, I have another question.

I've got a dell system a few years old, quad core 2.6ghz so No real need to upgrade everything. I would like to upgrade the video, only thing holding me back is that I know in the past upgrading video cards in dell computers usually would require a better power supply but i also know there have been lots of reduced power technology coming out. My current card is an 8600, should i be able to upgrade without worrying about power at all as long as i only get one card (no sli/xfire) or are there some that still require the higher power supplies?

Michael H

Dark Shroud wrote: »

Less than $200, your only option is the ATI HD 5770. The MSI Hawk is the strongest tested model at the moment, though a new over clocked one from Gigabyte was just released. My preference is for Sapphire's Vapor-X models, they run cooler & quieter.

This is a tangent to the thread, but all over my blogofeeds this morning is the new nvidia GTX 460, DX11 @ $200. Looks to be a competitor to the 5770. (Despite the $50 difference, I think it's closest.)

http://kotaku.com/5584580/nvidia-launches-new-affordable-graphics-card

Dark Shroud

Michael H wrote: »

Dark Shroud wrote: »

Less than $200, your only option is the ATI HD 5770. The MSI Hawk is the strongest tested model at the moment, though a new over clocked one from Gigabyte was just released. My preference is for Sapphire's Vapor-X models, they run cooler & quieter.

This is a tangent to the thread, but all over my blogofeeds this morning is the new nvidia GTX 460, DX11 @ $200. Looks to be a competitor to the 5770. (Despite the $50 difference, I think it's closest.)

http://kotaku.com/5584580/nvidia-launches-new-affordable-graphics-card

Actually that's more of a competitor to the 5830 and it wasn't out when this thread was started. The real question is will GTX 460 models bring down the prices of any of the ATI cards.

DrunkMc

Hey guys, I have a question. I ordered the HD5770 From Amazon.com.

I got it yesterday, and realized it didn't fit. It just had two little nubs for the connector. I was like FUCK, I thought PCIe 2.0 would work in a PCIe x16 slot. So I was looking this morning for PCIe x16 cards with no luck, and I see the HD5770 again and I look at the picture on Amazon and it's connector is exactly what's on my board! But didn't match what I got.

I Googled around and PCIe 2.0 should fit into a PCIe x16 slot.

So, something is fucked. Amazon says this is the card they sent me, but the connector isn't right. Any ideas? I'll go home today and look at the box more closely, but I was looking for ideas while I'm at work and have access to a working PC.

Edit:

So after googling around, it may be a PCIe x1.0 slot that I need. My board specs I have it. But, googling around more I see the PCIe x1.0 is slower, though the pic on Amazon seems to show PCIe x16. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Zxerol

First, just a clarification on terminology. You're conflating two different things, "PCIe 2.0" refers to a specification/version of the PCI Express standard (high version is newer, obviously), and "x16" refers to the lanes (size, more or less) of a particular slot.



The 5770 is a PCIe 2.0 card that uses a slot length of x16. What you mean to say is that PCIe 2.0 devices are backwards compatible with PCIe 1.x hosts, which is true. A PCIe 2.0 card can work with 1.x motherboard, so long as it fits into the proper slot. 5770s (in fact, practically all discrete video cards) only come in x16, and if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit. What's the make of the motherboard are you trying to fit the card in?

Mugsley

He said it's a Dell board. I'm not sure if Dell has any specific specs on their motherboards, however I find it hard to believe that your 8800GT wasn't a x16 card, DrunkMc.

And, as Zxerol said, 1.0 and 2.0 are two different versions of PCI Express specs/bandwidth. The connector did not change.


---
Also, I think you're underestimating video card prices these days. You can get a great motherboard for under $200 (similar pricing for procs).

DrunkMc

Thank you! My brain feels so much better now.

I am shocked too that the 5770 has a x1 connector. I will go home and double check to see exactly what is going on. Either they sent me the wrong one or I was hallucinating when looking at the card. I too can't see them bothering making anything but an x16 for this card.

I am using an ABIT IP35 PRO I believe.

Thanks again for schooling me on the terminology, I had a feeling I was fucking it up hard.

Mugsley

Drunk: If you zoom in on the card's connector, the "nubs" on either side of the x16 connector have no plating. They are just guides to make sure the card lines up properly. The nub that looks like a hook should latch into the tab on the x16 connector.

Take your time and give it another shot. It should fit just fine.

DrunkMc

Wow, so is my face red. I apparently was hallucinating yesterday. Long story short, it is very much an x16 card and there are more then 2 nubs. I remember clearly looking at the card and being like, what the fuck, no way is the data connector this small. I pull it out of the box today.........normal size.

I honestly feel like I was glitched in the Matrix or someone slipped me LSD.

Thanks for your help guys, the drivers are downloading now, and I'll splash water on my face next time I know, no way in hell something can be right!

vamen

Let me get in on this discussion while I may.
I got a new computer of late that came with a 2GB Radeon HD 5570.
My old card is a 1GB Radeon HD 4850.
I would automatically think a 2GB one with a high number is better but I know that stuff is tricky! They each have more than the other in various parts. Could anyone with some knowledge of this stuff tell me which one would be the superior?

Here are the specs:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-5000/hd-5570/Pages/hd-5570-specifications.aspx

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/ati-radeon-hd-4000/hd-4850/Pages/ati-radeon-hd-4850-specifications.aspx

The new PC has a smaller case (my old one had a huge tower) and the 5570 is a smaller card, but I think the 4850 could squeeze into the case. It looks like they left room specifically for that.

Thanks!

Dehumanized

The 4850 will deliver better performance for graphics-intensive games, at the expense of a couple 5xxx line features (eyeFinity, directx11, more power efficiency). If you're not playing a bunch of graphics-heavy games, the 5570 is probably the better card. If you are, then you'll want to swap in the 4850.

Generally speaking, video card memory is a case where more doesn't always imply greater performance. As long as you have enough for your GPU to process at your resolution/AA level without bottlenecking, there's sharp diminishing returns past that point.

I don't have any hard/fast numbers available, but -- as an example -- my system with 512MB of VRAM running at 1200x1024 is just fine. Running again at 2048x1152, VRAM is now a significant bottleneck.

vamen

Thanks for the info. I do play a few graphics heavy games. Let's hope it will fit in my case!