Graphics Card/Video Card

[Jaaa!&]

Any Suggestions on what i should by?

 

Any Suggestions on what i should by?

 

Sorry went to go to hardware

[SpiffyTexan]

Agreed... I'm stuck with a lappy with a crappy graphics card... and COD4. lolol....

Needless to say, I can't play it. Any suggestions, besides buying a new computer?

Idk for sure, but have been told you can't replace graphic cards on lappys.

[OnionKnight]

Agreed... I'm stuck with a lappy with a crappy graphics card... and COD4. lolol....

Needless to say, I can't play it. Any suggestions, besides buying a new computer?

Idk for sure, but have been told you can't replace graphic cards on lappys.

 

Same here. Crappy laptop D=

[vke]

uber laptop here

 

the graphics cards you can get really depend on you other pc parts, in a laptop your pretty limited. For a desktop I would look at the ATI 5850/70 and the GTX 295. both are top of the line. For budget look for a GTX 260/275 or go for a pairing of semi cheap cards.

[Bi0s]

hard to tell you not knowing spec of your motherboard realy

[PHANTASM]

uber laptop here

 

the graphics cards you can get really depend on you other pc parts, in a laptop your pretty limited. For a desktop I would look at the ATI 5850/70 and the GTX 295. both are top of the line. For budget look for a GTX 260/275 or go for a pairing of semi cheap cards.

 

lol the GTX 260 was the top of the line six months ago, now it's a budget-level graphics card.

[Bi0s]

XFX Radeon HD 5750 Video Card - 1GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, CrossFireX Ready, Dual DVI, Dipslay Port, HDMI $139 NOT A BAD CARD EITHER

[PriestlyNinja]

I use a 5850 in my desktop, and it runs beautifully. To help you out, though i need to know what your motherboards supports in terms of ports. ex. PCI-E, AGP, etc.

[AzuShika]

I'd go with the 58xx's if I were to upgrade, mainly because, if I remember correctly at the moment ATI has better bang for your buck than Nvidia.

In saying that though, I've got two XFX 8800GT's on SLI and am quite enjoying it.

 

And yeah, like everyone else said, if you're gonna ask us what to get, it's a good idea to tell us what you've already got..

 

Also, it'd be nice to know which way you swing, seeing as most people seem to have pretty strong opinions for or against the reds or the greens..

Edited February 28, 2010 by AzuShika

[OnionKnight]

Just got a new comp with HD 5770. Benchmarks the same as a HD 4870. Runs crysis at highest all settings and 4x AA at 1600something x1000 something no problem and is only hit 58 C after playing it over 2 hrs (at Idle it is 31 C !!!!). The settings i am using is 60% fan speed which is actually very quiet as I cannot hear it over my 92 mm exhaust fan. Also extremely energy efficient (not a power hog. Only requires 1 6 pin connection for wattage lol. ) . Comparing it to the 4870 that runs 60 C at idle on 60% fan speed and over eats 70-80 W more, i would say it is a good choice.

 

Only costed me $174.99 Canadian which is slightly cheaper than a 4870 (i am on a budget. If you got the mulaaa go get yourself a 5870)

 

But ya if you are a fan of Nvidia the GTX 260 isn't a bad choice either. Maybe wait a while because Nvidia will be releasing the next gen models of their video cards.

[AzuShika]

Just got a new comp with HD 5770. Benchmarks the same as a HD 4870. Runs crysis at highest all settings and 4x AA at 1600something x1000 something no problem and is only hit 58 C after playing it over 2 hrs (at Idle it is 31 C !!!!). The settings i am using is 60% fan speed which is actually very quiet as I cannot hear it over my 92 mm exhaust fan. Also extremely energy efficient (not a power hog. Only requires 1 6 pin connection for wattage lol. ) . Comparing it to the 4870 that runs 60 C at idle on 60% fan speed and over eats 70-80 W more, i would say it is a good choice.

 

Only costed me $174.99 Canadian which is slightly cheaper than a 4870 (i am on a budget. If you got the mulaaa go get yourself a 5870)

 

But ya if you are a fan of Nvidia the GTX 260 isn't a bad choice either. Maybe wait a while because Nvidia will be releasing the next gen models of their video cards.

You do mean a 5870, right?

[OnionKnight]

You do mean a 5870, right?

 

Nope. There are 3 HD 5000 series just like there are 3 HD 4000 series. 55XX, 57XX, 58XX. and recently the 5970. Here I made a little how to guide to help you decide and I included the benchmarks from 3dMark Vantage so you can see where they stand to one another =D.

 

 

Tips:

Before deciding on a video card, you should look on 4 things:

 

Whether or not if it will fit in your case. If you have a mATX case, you will not be able to fit a 5870 because it is way too long. REAL IMPORTANT: If you have an ATX case it really just depends on your motherboard layout. On some mobos the video card will cover all the SATA slots (like my friends mobo from gigabyte which has a really bad placement for the PCI-E slot for his 4870) but if you have side facing SATA it will be fine.

 

Whether your PSU is up to it. Depends on your brand of PSU. Most people already know what brands to trust like Antec Earthwatts, Corsair, OCZ ..etc. They don't give you bullshit wattage readings lol. 650W psu is probably the best to go for because most PSU's are not accurate in the wattage they state. (like a 500W psu that came with my case was actually only putting out 330W)

 

Temperature and Efficiency: Also decide on how much power you want a video card to draw and the heat it omits ex.) 48XX series eats more wattage and has higher temps than any cards on the market, 57XX and 58XX has lower temps and is actually 50W more efficient . Also if you are considering overclocking a video card, temperature will be very important.

 

Performance and Budget All these cards are capable of playing any game on highest settings, so in the end it just depends on the frame rate you want in 1600x1000 + resolution and the amount of AA it can handle in Crysis or Shattered Horizon LAWL. At the current moment, video games are not able to push the hardware anywhere close to what it is capable of (maybe until the next cryengine comes out). As for your budget, look in the difference in performance and the price. Sometimes for a small messily 300 vantage points (which is a small performance boost) higher for over $50 isn't worth it. I didn't have that much money since I was building a budget PC so I settled with the HD 5770.

 

EDIT: Prices are in Canadian. If you live in USA, just do a conversion. Every $1.00 CAN = $ 0.95 US