Gaming Graphics card with good win7 Experience

[cobleman]

I have just upgraded my PC my new specs are
Chip:- QuadCore Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, 2400 MHz (9 x 267)
Motherboard:- Gigabyte GA-EP31-DS3L v1
Ram:- G Skill F2-6400CL6-2GBMQ (2 x 2gb ram)
Graphics:- GeForce 8500 GT

Windows Experience ratings

Processor: Calculations per second 7.1
Memory(ram): Memory operations per second 7.1
Graphics: Aero 4.6
Gaming graphics: 3D 5.5
Primary hard disk: Disk data transfer 5.2 (ide hence 5.2 going to upgrade too sata 5.9)

I want to upgrade the Graphics card so i can get upto 60fps in games.
But i dont want to spend more than $200 any help much appreciated
Ps can you give me the ratings for win7 experience for each card thanks

 

[FAST6191]

Step 1- ignore the windows experience rating. Such ratings are usually not worth the time taken to produce them.

Second the 8500GT was lowest of the low end with regards to the 8 series (older cards quite happily outperform it although that is equally a feature of the DX10 leap)

First find out what your motherboard and PSU can handle- # 1 x PCI Express x16 according to a quick search. This leaves your PSU- most companies will have a suggested minimum and as long as you are not doing anything odd like 5 DVD drives and 5 hard drives, extra encoder cards and the like they are good enough.

My suggestion- make a list of $200 AUD graphics cards (not sure when the next generation is coming out so you could even go second hand if you wanted) and compare them against one of the many charts available:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/graphics-cards,1.html

Just about anything will beat that card and at the price you are playing there are not outright leaders (although it has been a few months since I checked).
New though looking around a few Australian retailers you can score a GTS250 or 260 if you want NVIDIA or for ATI you can get a Radeon HD5750

60FPS (not that I ever really got the need to go that high) is more a function of resolution and fancy options but for that money on the newest of the new you will be hard pushed to do it without a bit of fiddling/dropping some settings for some games but more than a few will quite happily hit that and beyond.

 

[Cermage]

at 200 fork out a bit more and get a gtx460, they can be had as cheap as $230.

you should be able to get a gtx260 192sp for cheap, they're going off ebay for around 100-120.

I feel flipping tables and throwing some chairs after i missed out on a gtx260 216sp 2gb model (dell/alienware's own revision?) that went for $100.

otherwise if you want new, GTS250's can be had for around 120-150. staticice.com.au is a decent site to look for the cheapest prices in australia.

 

[deka01]

as i have no idea where in aus you live I'm just gona point you to like the 2 best sites i know of http://msy.com.au/ http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/default.php

 

[Berthenk]

at 200 fork out a bit more and get a gtx460, they can be had as cheap as $230.

you should be able to get a gtx260 192sp for cheap, they're going off ebay for around 100-120.

I feel flipping tables and throwing some chairs after i missed out on a gtx260 216sp 2gb model (dell/alienware's own revision?) that went for $100.

otherwise if you want new, GTS250's can be had for around 120-150. staticice.com.au is a decent site to look for the cheapest prices in australia.

Go for ATI and have a smaller electricity bill and a lower noise level.\
Oh, but if you do go for it, prepare for extreme heat, even in cold parts of your country!

 

[Deleted User]

ATI +1. Now they are doing the stick and run core thing - "Let's stick 2 in the card, and it will run 2 times faster

Hurr Durr."

Nonetheless, the cards run pretty fast, and ATI is getting a lead over the nVidia Cards now. I've had a terrible experience with nVidia cards, so profanity is fine in this case - fuck them, and get an ATI card or two.

 

[cobleman]

Thanks for the replies everyone

 

[Cermage]

Go for ATI and have a smaller electricity bill and a lower noise level.\
Oh, but if you do go for it, prepare for extreme heat, even in cold parts of your country!
QUOTE(JetKun @ Aug 13 2010, 12:14 AM) Nonetheless, the cards run pretty fast, and ATI is getting a lead over the nVidia Cards now. I've had a terrible experience with nVidia cards, so profanity is fine in this case - fuck them, and get an ATI card or two.

hurr durr i read what others spout out.

460 uses less power and pushes out less heat than any of the somewhat decent gaming cards that ati have putout this generation. the 2xx series generally ran cooler (with exception of dual gpu cards) and used less power than their ati 4 series counter parts, the only problem with them was their price. but now for around $200 you can get a 460.

 

[Joe88]

the 460 sits between the 5830 and 5850 as far as performance

the temps are average compared to cards in the same range

power consumption is 100w higher though then a 5850 which takes about 200w on load where as the 460 goes up to 300w

 

[cobleman]

Well i found a card in the high end list and in my price range Gigabyte ATI R577UD-1GD RADEON HD5770, 850Mhz, 1GB, GDDR5, PCIE2.0, DVI, HDCP, HDMI, DX11
it was on the centrecom site and they are only 5 minutes down the road

 

[Cermage]

the 460 sits between the 5830 and 5850 as far as performance

the temps are average compared to cards in the same range

power consumption is 100w higher though then a 5850 which takes about 200w on load where as the 460 goes up to 300w

some temps and power consumption
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3809/nvidias...the-200-king/17
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-460-review/13
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/...-card-review/11

460 also sits about the same as the 5850 in perf, one card loses out in one game, while it'll beat it in others.

back on topic, the 5770 is a good choice. but from centrecom is a bit pricey for what it is, you can get them for around 150

http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi...05770&pos=5

 

[cooldudechand]

Cobleman what is your PSU Spec.

 

[dysan]

for cheap but still awesome performance on games I recommend radeon 4850...costs about 100$ nowadays

for in your budget and better than 4850 I recommend radeon 5770...about 170$

if you wanna go over your budget a bit I recommend radeon 5850...it will play ANYTHING you throw at it on highest, depending on your resolution

 

[Velveteer]

Cobleman what is your PSU Spec.

This is pretty important. If you're running a generic, then you're pretty much limited to the 5770.

 

[cobleman]

I have a Superflower 500watt .

 

[Velveteer]

I have a Superflower 500watt .

You'll be okay with a 5770, but I wouldn't get anything hungrier.

 

[silverbullet1080]

Yeah, the 5770 is your best bet I think. I managed to get mine for $150CAD, look around online and you should be able to find one at that price too.