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Question: New Graphics Card or more CPU Power?

Ze-Tomb Raider

Ze-Tomb Raider

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Tommygun Ze-Tomb Raider
Ok, I play EU on medium/high settings and I'm gettin a little bit of lowered FPS when running around, medium-low FPS just standing around. So the big question is, if I want to up my gaming experience, should I be getting a new Graphics card or more CPU Power?

Currently I am sitting on a Nvidia GeFore 8600GT (512MB) and Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40GHz.

I am looking for higher & stable FPS at Flat out high settings.

Also the graphics card I'm looking at, if that's what I need, is a Nvidia GeForce 9600GT.

Thank you for youor answers,
Ze-Tomb Raider.
 
defo more graphics power and go for at least a 9800gtx or 8800 if upgrading. im not sure theres much difference from 8600 to 9600.
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
Ok, I play EU on medium/high settings and I'm gettin a little bit of lowered FPS when running around, medium-low FPS just standing around. So the big question is, if I want to up my gaming experience, should I be getting a new Graphics card or more CPU Power?

Currently I am sitting on a Nvidia GeFore 8600GT (512MB) and Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40GHz.

I am looking for higher & stable FPS at Flat out high settings.

Also the graphics card I'm looking at, if that's what I need, is a Nvidia GeForce 9600GT.

Thank you for youor answers,
Ze-Tomb Raider.
Click to expand...

In my opinion is better the graphic card option. You can use an ATI 4870 or ATI 4890 (better) or ATI series 5 (more better)

GL
 
Thank you for the replies everyone. :)

Now, what would be the price range for ATI 4870, 4890 & 5870?

Trying to make sure I get a good Card that isn't too exspensive. :)
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
Thank you for the replies everyone. :)

Now, what would be the price range for ATI 4870, 4890 & 5870?

Trying to make sure I get a good Card that isn't too exspensive. :)
Click to expand...

shopbot.com.au

A decent lead in searching mate.

Also checkout water cooling for our region... it does get a bit hot like 45 degrees and all :beerchug:

I use Gigabyte Mercury PC casewater cooled and if you decide to go that way you'll need a bit of gear with that so give me a hoy on PM:D
 
How many Watts yours PSU has? If you take 4890 or 5870 you need least 550-650W PSU. If you have less, then take 5770
 
xaph said:
shopbot.com.au

A decent lead in searching mate.

Also checkout water cooling for our region... it does get a bit hot like 45 degrees and all :beerchug:

I use Gigabyte Mercury PC casewater cooled and if you decide to go that way you'll need a bit of gear with that so give me a hoy on PM:D
Click to expand...

I'll see what happens mate, and it seems to be hotter than usual this Summer already. :D

fuffel said:
How many Watts yours PSU has? If you take 4890 or 5870 you need least 550-650W PSU. If you have less, then take 5770
Click to expand...

Ok, I am not sure about this information. At the moment I use a nifty program called Everest which tells me pretty much everything technical about my computer.

Would a way to check be unplug my computer and pull out the part where my power cord goes into the computer and then check the label on that?
 
Upgrade the Graphics, your CUP should do the job...

Don't go from 8600 to 9600 if you stay within the same 100s numbers, that means the performance is more or less the same, it's just another generation of CPU chip i.e. the 8xxx and 9xxx GPUs. So that upgrade makes no sense whatsoever in terms of performance.

I would also recommend going for ATI, you get more performance for your bucks... the 4 or 5 series are good value for money. Again here the first number indicates the generation of the card, the other numbers the performance so a 4890 beats a 5770 in performance... when it comes to real game play. Don't take benchmarks as reference... real gaming is different.

As to the PSU, also don't believe everything that the industry is trying to tell you. You only need to make sure that if you get high end cards, that you got ennough power cables (6 pin standard for Graphixs, some high end cards need 8 pin connectors). A normal PSU that delivers 400 - 450 W should do the job by large... Just use your existing PSU, if your PC crashes, then you know that you don't have ennough power, then upgrade to a decent 450 - 550 W Unit... but I doubt you will need that with your configuration unless you are running 5 HDs, several plug in cards and tons of USB connections...

Good luck ... ;)
 
Thank you AJack. You've managed to roll up everything I need to know in 1 informative post that leaves no question for me to answer. :)
 
you want to buy a 2nd hand 8800gtx as the gtx is the top end of the 8 series cards, and will beat many mid range new cards, vut you will need an a decent pwer supply though to run higher end cards, most top end ones need a 6pin power supply direct to the cARD.

heres a 2nd had 8800gtx
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XFX-Nvidia-GeForce-8800-GTX-768-MB-Video-Card-8800GTX_W0QQitemZ260522065138QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW?hash=item3ca8533cf2

or maybe if you want one with the latest features then you can head for A GTX260

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INNO3D-GeForce-GTX260-FreezerX2-GTX-260-GRAPHICS-CARD_W0QQitemZ160337976824QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Co mputing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Card s_TW?hash=item2554e35df8

I have just upgraded to a hd5850 1gb card still testing the card, had slight issues with EU textures though :(
mind you dirt2 Looks amazing on the card with DX11 graphics.

might try doing a full down load and install though.
 
ALEXANDER said:
don't go for 9xxx series ... buy the cheap 5870 from ATI... MUCH better ! I assure you
Click to expand...

yeah, great advice. dont go for a $100 card, get a $300 card that probably mean a bigger case and certainly a new PSU. :rolleyes:

look at what the OP has, its a couple of year old PC. to add to Ajacks point, the problem with alot of slightly older/generic PCs is that while the PSU might be powerfull enough on spec but doesnt have any PCIe 6/8 pin connectors for a new uber card. you can run a molex to pcie convertor for one, but usually their isnt a second output feed for two.

so if you go for a nice new 4870, 260GTX, 57xx or whatever, check you've got the power and connectors to make it work first. Oh, and that it will fit in your case.
 
aridash said:
yeah, great advice. dont go for a $100 card, get a $300 card that probably mean a bigger case and certainly a new PSU. :rolleyes:

look at what the OP has, its a couple of year old PC. to add to Ajacks point, the problem with alot of slightly older/generic PCs is that while the PSU might be powerfull enough on spec but doesnt have any PCIe 6/8 pin connectors for a new uber card. you can run a molex to pcie convertor for one, but usually their isnt a second output feed for two.

so if you go for a nice new 4870, 260GTX, 57xx or whatever, check you've got the power and connectors to make it work first. Oh, and that it will fit in your case.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the extra information. I guess I'll have to check for a 6pin. :silly2:

As for fitting iny my computer case... I got a lot of wasted space. :)
 
Bought a Radeon 4870 512meg card for £90 a few months ago and can play Entropia everything on High at 1680 x 1050 resolution windowed.

I can highly recommend this card for bang per buck. Just make sure you have a PSU to go with it when you upgrade, I use a Corsair 650W which was around £80.

You can pay more than this for a graphic card but ..... why would you want to? ;)
 
Thanks Mega. :D

Do you think it'd run high graphics well with 1768x992 windowed? Or you think a 4890 would be a better choice for that? :)

Again, thank you everyone for your input. :)
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
Thanks Mega. :D

Do you think it'd run high graphics well with 1768x992 windowed? Or you think a 4890 would be a better choice for that? :)

Again, thank you everyone for your input. :)
Click to expand...

I've only ever played it at 1680 resolution, before the 4870, I was using the Radeon 3850 which whilst good until VU10 came, I had to play on medium on VU 10.0.

This is my current card:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/155498

and this is the 4890:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/179869

so if your budget allows for it (after buying a quality PSU) then yeah go for the 4890. :)
 
Thanks for the links. I think the 4870 will be my choice. Cheap and good performance.

Good Luck in Entropia All! :thumbup:
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
As for fitting iny my computer case... I got a lot of wasted space. :)
Click to expand...

for you own sake measure it (find the dimensions on the card website if not were being sold). my case "looked" big enough but when i did measure it was way too small. new cards are very large.
 
aridash said:
for you own sake measure it (find the dimensions on the card website if not were being sold). my case "looked" big enough but when i did measure it was way too small. new cards are very large.
Click to expand...

Ok on the measurements side of this, my computer is 43cm (16.9in) x 43.5cm (17.1in). My current card is taking up about 17cm (6.7in) x 12cm (4.7in) of space with 14.5cm (5.7in) x 12cm (4.7in) of space to spare aprox.

I couldn't find the actual size of the 4870 so is anyone here able to tell me how big it is so I know if I need to do something? Thanks. :)



2 pics, zoomed in on (what I think lol) my current Card & whole computer.
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
Thanks Mega. :D

Do you think it'd run high graphics well with 1768x992 windowed? Or you think a 4890 would be a better choice for that? :)

Again, thank you everyone for your input. :)
Click to expand...


1768x992 is actually slightly smaller a pixel count than 1680x1050 (1.754 million compared to 1.764 million).
 
Egg90 said:
1768x992 is actually slightly smaller a pixel count than 1680x1050 (1.754 million compared to 1.764 million).
Click to expand...

hehe :laugh:

Thanks for that, didn't take the time to work out the actual count. :ahh:
 
Ze-Tomb Raider said:
Ok on the measurements side of this, my computer is 43cm (16.9in) x 43.5cm (17.1in). My current card is taking up about 17cm (6.7in) x 12cm (4.7in) of space with 14.5cm (5.7in) x 12cm (4.7in) of space to spare aprox.

I couldn't find the actual size of the 4870 so is anyone here able to tell me how big it is so I know if I need to do something? Thanks. :)



2 pics, zoomed in on (what I think lol) my current Card & whole computer.
Click to expand...

Its always the issue these cards are big and the power suppllies need to be upgraded particulary with Australian temperatures that they both are not under too much temp load.
Hence I recomended a new case and I reckon power supply should be what's available in Australia.
I like Zalman power supplies and you'll need the 750 watt one with heat pipe cooling for Northern Queensland with temperatures contained for longevity and eficiency:D
 
xaph said:
Its always the issue these cards are big and the power suppllies need to be upgraded particulary with Australian temperatures that they both are not under too much temp load.
Hence I recomended a new case and I reckon power supply should be what's available in Australia.
I like Zalman power supplies and you'll need the 750 watt one with heat pipe cooling for Northern Queensland with temperatures contained for longevity and eficiency:D
Click to expand...

Thank you for that information and input. I do use my computer for long periods at a time and it can get quite hot yeah. :D
I'll see what i can find in this city. Then I'll got to Bunnings because some parts of my computer are actualyl quite filthy. I cleaned it out before I took the pictures and it sounds better because I cleaned 2 fans. :D

fuffel said:
As I see, you have 450W PSU. I'm afraid that is not enough for HD4870.
Look that http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4870,1964-15.html page and you see, that card consumes 283 Watts in full load.

(HD 4870 board measures 242mm)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the warning there. I'll probably go with what Xaph is recommending. :)

Edit: This thread is going for longer and is being seens than I anticipated. :laugh:
 
If I were u :D I would change the case too. I would also change Mother board :D . Ur mother board is micro atx in an atx case ... I dont want to know why :D But I will plug at least 2 x 2 GO memory on this.

If u have the bucks >> go ati 5xxx series. Simply beacause they are very low power sucker compared to the 4xxx series. Also, change ur PSU. Go for a 550 W or 600 W in a good factory (corsair, enermax, antec).

EDIT: If u take a 5xxx ati card u will need to change case ofc.
 
Hulyss said:
If I were u :D I would change the case too. I would also change Mother board :D . Ur mother board is micro atx in an atx case ... I dont want to know why :D But I will plug at least 2 x 2 GO memory on this.

If u have the bucks >> go ati 5xxx series. Simply beacause they are very low power sucker compared to the 4xxx series. Also, change ur PSU. Go for a 550 W or 600 W in a good factory (corsair, enermax, antec).

EDIT: If u take a 5xxx ati card u will need to change case ofc.
Click to expand...

I might need to take out everything but my DVD/CD-Drive & Hard Drive it seems. :laugh:
 
Hulyss said:
Seriousely ?

Yes.
Click to expand...

Holy crap. :eek: :eyecrazy:

Well it sounds like I will have a great time on EU after this though. :D

Btw, if I did upgrade motherboard, what would you recommend. hehe

I'm giving rep out like crazy for info & input hehe
 
Cheap and good quality here is a correct motherboard. Asus P5QPL-VM EPU
Cheap and good quality here is a correct case. Zalman GS1000
Cheap and good quality here is a correct PSU. COOLERMASTER Real Power Pro 620 Watts

With that u are ready for some times. U dont need to change ur processor, just find some DDR II moduls like around 4 Go, Try to buy a 5xxxx graphic card and u ready for some times, mabe 2 years at least.

In the futur u will keep the PSU, the case and the graphic card.
 
Last edited:
Get 4770 f you want a good card for decent price. This uses new tech of the newer gen 5xxx(ddr5, low voltage) and you don`t need expensive power supply for it. Has same performance as 4850 card, cheaper and it`s at least 2x better than the 9600gt you`re considering. This card is more than enough to run entropia on max settings.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=14137368
 
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