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Question on Buying a New Graphics Card
Faraz
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm thinking it's about time I got rid of my 8800 GTS (which has served me great for more than 3 years) and got a new card. I don't want to spend too much but still want to get something that will do the job (gaming) for a couple of years.
My motherboard is an Asus P5N-E SLI (with PCI Express x16 slots). My power source has a total power of 550W and two +12V rails with 18A and 20A amperage and max combined wattage of 420W.
I'm looking at two options for DX11 capable cards from stores in my area:
1. Zotac Geforce GT 430 1GB GDDR3 PCI-E ($10 cheaper than option #2)
2. MSI GeForce GTX 460 Fermi Cyclone OC 725MHZ 768MB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E
#2 seems quite a bit more powerful but seems to need more power. So guess I have a few questions:
1. Can I use these cards with that mother board and power supply (my understanding is that PCI_E x16 slots work with these cards, but I'm not entirely sure how to determine if I have enough power to run them)
2. Am I correct in thinking that the second card is quite a bit better? Anything specific I should know about either of them?
3. NVIDIA lists the 430 card as needing only 300W power but the store website lists it as needed 450+W (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/zotac-zotac-geforce-gt-430-1gb-gddr3-pci-e-video-card-zt-40603-10h/10158489.aspx?path=afa0b053e5b0dfb34d52d7551a0c3ecaen02). Is that a mistake on the part of the store or is there something special about that card?
Thanks a lot for the help.
My motherboard is an Asus P5N-E SLI (with PCI Express x16 slots). My power source has a total power of 550W and two +12V rails with 18A and 20A amperage and max combined wattage of 420W.
I'm looking at two options for DX11 capable cards from stores in my area:
1. Zotac Geforce GT 430 1GB GDDR3 PCI-E ($10 cheaper than option #2)
2. MSI GeForce GTX 460 Fermi Cyclone OC 725MHZ 768MB GDDR5 Dual DVI Mini-HDMI DX11 PCI-E
#2 seems quite a bit more powerful but seems to need more power. So guess I have a few questions:
1. Can I use these cards with that mother board and power supply (my understanding is that PCI_E x16 slots work with these cards, but I'm not entirely sure how to determine if I have enough power to run them)
2. Am I correct in thinking that the second card is quite a bit better? Anything specific I should know about either of them?
3. NVIDIA lists the 430 card as needing only 300W power but the store website lists it as needed 450+W (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/zotac-zotac-geforce-gt-430-1gb-gddr3-pci-e-video-card-zt-40603-10h/10158489.aspx?path=afa0b053e5b0dfb34d52d7551a0c3ecaen02). Is that a mistake on the part of the store or is there something special about that card?
Thanks a lot for the help.
Faraz on
0
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As for your 12V rails, I wouldn't be too worried. The 460 maxes out at, IIRC, like 150W under load, so you should be fine.