Which graphics card to upgrade.

Skipai Otter

Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.

My system specs are:

AMD64x2 6000+
2gb DDR-II ram
X-Fi Platnium
2 optical drives
1 Sata drive
NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)

However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on the
12v rails

12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well according to
the manual anyways.

Total: 624watts

Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not sure
about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing though
as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power issues
and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?

--
Skipai

Augustus

"Skipai Otter" <skipaiotter@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:6b2b3bF39fi1vU1@mid.individual.net...
> Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
>
> My system specs are:
>
> AMD64x2 6000+
> 2gb DDR-II ram
> X-Fi Platnium
> 2 optical drives
> 1 Sata drive
> NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
>
> However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
> with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on the
> 12v rails
>
> 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well according
> to
> the manual anyways.
>
> Total: 624watts
>
> Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not sure
> about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing though
> as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
> really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power
> issues
> and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?

I recently did a new budget build for my son....Antec Truepower 650W, Asus
M2A-VM 690G mainboard, AM2 5000+ Black Edition (running at 3.2Ghz), 4Gig OCZ
PC6400 and two 500Gig SATA drives in RAID with a third 750Gig SATA for twice
weekly imaging of the system. Video duties are done by an Asus 9600GT 512Mb
unit which I got on sale for $148. It's clocked well above any of the
highest factory 9600GT OC units. It runs every game (Crysis included) at max
settings on his1440x900 LCD without a single issue or slowdown. An 8800GT is
faster , but they're still at least $30-40 more. Your system is nowhere near
the need for another power supply given what you have in your provided
specs. If you have a larger LCD than 1440x900 or 1280x1024 then I would
suggest spending the extra coin on an 8800GT or GTS. The 9600GT will show
it's shortcomings driving games at resolutions above this.
FWIW I run 4 SATA drives ( 2 of which are 74Gig Raptors in RAID0), 2
Optical drives, an 8800GT OC unit, 4 120MM fans, a Gigabyte DSR3 board with
an E8400 and two sound cards (X-Fi and Mobile Pre-USB) as well as 5 USB
powered devices all off an Antec TruePower II 480W unit I bought 30 months
back. Never a hiccup. Prior to the E8400 and Gigabyte upgrade it had a power
hungry Opteron 185 unit overvolted and o/c'd at 2.9Ghz and and A8N-E board.
The quality and specs of the of your p/s matter a great deal more than the
wattage rating as was pointed out in an earlier post (Paul, I think?)

..

Skipai Otter

"Augustus" <no_one@no_where.net> wrote in message
news:%tT2k.380$L03.360@edtnps92...
>
> "Skipai Otter" <skipaiotter@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:6b2b3bF39fi1vU1@mid.individual.net...
> > Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
> >
> > My system specs are:
> >
> > AMD64x2 6000+
> > 2gb DDR-II ram
> > X-Fi Platnium
> > 2 optical drives
> > 1 Sata drive
> > NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
> >
> > However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
> > with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on
the
> > 12v rails
> >
> > 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
> > 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
> > 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well
according
> > to
> > the manual anyways.
> >
> > Total: 624watts
> >
> > Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not
sure
> > about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing
though
> > as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
> > really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power
> > issues
> > and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?
>
> I recently did a new budget build for my son....Antec Truepower 650W, Asus
> M2A-VM 690G mainboard, AM2 5000+ Black Edition (running at 3.2Ghz), 4Gig
OCZ
> PC6400 and two 500Gig SATA drives in RAID with a third 750Gig SATA for
twice
> weekly imaging of the system. Video duties are done by an Asus 9600GT
512Mb
> unit which I got on sale for $148. It's clocked well above any of the
> highest factory 9600GT OC units. It runs every game (Crysis included) at
max
> settings on his1440x900 LCD without a single issue or slowdown. An 8800GT
is
> faster , but they're still at least $30-40 more. Your system is nowhere
near
> the need for another power supply given what you have in your provided
> specs. If you have a larger LCD than 1440x900 or 1280x1024 then I would
> suggest spending the extra coin on an 8800GT or GTS. The 9600GT will show
> it's shortcomings driving games at resolutions above this.
> FWIW I run 4 SATA drives ( 2 of which are 74Gig Raptors in RAID0), 2
> Optical drives, an 8800GT OC unit, 4 120MM fans, a Gigabyte DSR3 board
with
> an E8400 and two sound cards (X-Fi and Mobile Pre-USB) as well as 5 USB
> powered devices all off an Antec TruePower II 480W unit I bought 30 months
> back. Never a hiccup. Prior to the E8400 and Gigabyte upgrade it had a
power
> hungry Opteron 185 unit overvolted and o/c'd at 2.9Ghz and and A8N-E
board.
> The quality and specs of the of your p/s matter a great deal more than the
> wattage rating as was pointed out in an earlier post (Paul, I think?)
>
Yeah, I was looking at a 22 inch or 24 inch LCD monitor in the future. So
probably look into the 8800 then. I can play Crysis already but only on
medium settings, got XP so not sure if I can get to high settings anyways.

--
Skipai

Bob Knowlden

I'm not a fan of Best Buy, but at the moment they have a sale on an 8800GT,
for $150, with a full 512 MB of video RAM.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....3&type=product

(Available in their stores, and online.) It's a PNY branded card. That
company doesn't have the most favorable reputation for warranty service.
That probably won't matter. That's quite a good price for this class of
card.

It needs a single 6 pin PCI-E power connector, so I assume that you'll be
fine.

Return address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"Skipai Otter" <skipaiotter@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:6b2gptF3a3psrU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Augustus" <no_one@no_where.net> wrote in message
> news:%tT2k.380$L03.360@edtnps92...
>>
>> "Skipai Otter" <skipaiotter@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:6b2b3bF39fi1vU1@mid.individual.net...
>> > Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
>> >
>> > My system specs are:
>> >
>> > AMD64x2 6000+
>> > 2gb DDR-II ram
>> > X-Fi Platnium
>> > 2 optical drives
>> > 1 Sata drive
>> > NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
>> >
>> > However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having
>> > problems
>> > with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on
> the
>> > 12v rails
>> >
>> > 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
>> > 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
>> > 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well
> according
>> > to
>> > the manual anyways.
>> >
>> > Total: 624watts
>> >
>> > Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not
> sure
>> > about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing
> though
>> > as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
>> > really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power
>> > issues
>> > and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?
>>
>> I recently did a new budget build for my son....Antec Truepower 650W,
>> Asus
>> M2A-VM 690G mainboard, AM2 5000+ Black Edition (running at 3.2Ghz), 4Gig
> OCZ
>> PC6400 and two 500Gig SATA drives in RAID with a third 750Gig SATA for
> twice
>> weekly imaging of the system. Video duties are done by an Asus 9600GT
> 512Mb
>> unit which I got on sale for $148. It's clocked well above any of the
>> highest factory 9600GT OC units. It runs every game (Crysis included) at
> max
>> settings on his1440x900 LCD without a single issue or slowdown. An 8800GT
> is
>> faster , but they're still at least $30-40 more. Your system is nowhere
> near
>> the need for another power supply given what you have in your provided
>> specs. If you have a larger LCD than 1440x900 or 1280x1024 then I would
>> suggest spending the extra coin on an 8800GT or GTS. The 9600GT will show
>> it's shortcomings driving games at resolutions above this.
>> FWIW I run 4 SATA drives ( 2 of which are 74Gig Raptors in RAID0), 2
>> Optical drives, an 8800GT OC unit, 4 120MM fans, a Gigabyte DSR3 board
> with
>> an E8400 and two sound cards (X-Fi and Mobile Pre-USB) as well as 5 USB
>> powered devices all off an Antec TruePower II 480W unit I bought 30
>> months
>> back. Never a hiccup. Prior to the E8400 and Gigabyte upgrade it had a
> power
>> hungry Opteron 185 unit overvolted and o/c'd at 2.9Ghz and and A8N-E
> board.
>> The quality and specs of the of your p/s matter a great deal more than
>> the
>> wattage rating as was pointed out in an earlier post (Paul, I think?)
>>
> Yeah, I was looking at a 22 inch or 24 inch LCD monitor in the future. So
> probably look into the 8800 then. I can play Crysis already but only on
> medium settings, got XP so not sure if I can get to high settings anyways.
>
> --
> Skipai
>
>

Augustus

"Bob Knowlden" <nkbob@comcast.net> wrote in message
news_-dnZthA5tqjNHVnZ2dnUVZ_siknZ2d@comcast.com...
> I'm not a fan of Best Buy, but at the moment they have a sale on an
> 8800GT, for $150, with a full 512 MB of video RAM.
>
> http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....3&type=product
>
> (Available in their stores, and online.) It's a PNY branded card. That
> company doesn't have the most favorable reputation for warranty service.
> That probably won't matter. That's quite a good price for this class of
> card.
>
> It needs a single 6 pin PCI-E power connector, so I assume that you'll be
> fine.

That's an amazing deal.........cannot beat that. I would snap it up.

Mr.E Solved!

Skipai Otter wrote:
> Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
>
> My system specs are:
>
> AMD64x2 6000+
> 2gb DDR-II ram
> X-Fi Platnium
> 2 optical drives
> 1 Sata drive
> NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
>
> However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
> with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on the
> 12v rails
>
> 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well according to
> the manual anyways.
>
> Total: 624watts
>
> Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not sure
> about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing though
> as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
> really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power issues
> and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?
>
> --
> Skipai
>
>

You make it easy to suggest the 512M 8800GTS (about $200 US).

Your PSU, RAM and CPU are fine even for SLI, but stick with a single
card solution. Stick with Windows XP as well.

If you wish a 9800GTX, expect to pay $70 more but receive precious
little in performance improvements at moderate to high resolutions
(1600x1200 and below) over the 8800GTS.

deimos

Skipai Otter wrote:
> Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
>
> My system specs are:
>
> AMD64x2 6000+
> 2gb DDR-II ram
> X-Fi Platnium
> 2 optical drives
> 1 Sata drive
> NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
>
> However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
> with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on the
> 12v rails
>
> 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
> 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well according to
> the manual anyways.
>
> Total: 624watts
>
> Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not sure
> about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing though
> as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
> really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power issues
> and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?
>
> --
> Skipai
>
>

Your amps are more than sufficient for ANY graphics card, even a
respectable SLI setup. The recommended ratings take into account system
overhead and usually the worst case scenario of a shitty PSU. You're fine.

Now buy what you like and what you can afford, anything in the range of
an 8800GTX or 9800 is just peachy. You really can't go wrong.

Skipai Otter

"deimos" <deimos@localhost> wrote in message
news:g2kdn902b6u@news5.newsguy.com...
> Skipai Otter wrote:
> > Currently got a 256mb 8600GT.
> >
> > My system specs are:
> >
> > AMD64x2 6000+
> > 2gb DDR-II ram
> > X-Fi Platnium
> > 2 optical drives
> > 1 Sata drive
> > NForce 570 Sli motherboard (Gigabyte 570sli-s4 I think)
> >
> > However, not sure what graphics card I can up to without having problems
> > with power etc. I have a Enermax 650w PSU with the following specs on
the
> > 12v rails
> >
> > 12v1 @ 28amps for graphics
> > 12v2 @ 28amps for graphics
> > 12v3 @ 30amps for CPU/hdds/internal cards/case fans/etc. (Well
according to
> > the manual anyways.
> >
> > Total: 624watts
> >
> > Was thinking eventually on either getting a 8800 or a 9600/9800. Not
sure
> > about the new cards coming out this year. Don't think I be Sli'ing
though
> > as the motherboard only supports PCI-Ex8 in that mode so one card setup
> > really. Anyone know what card would be the best without having power
issues
> > and also the cpu not being a bottleneck etc?
> >
> > --
> > Skipai
> >
> >
>
> Your amps are more than sufficient for ANY graphics card, even a
> respectable SLI setup. The recommended ratings take into account system
> overhead and usually the worst case scenario of a shitty PSU. You're
fine.
>
> Now buy what you like and what you can afford, anything in the range of
> an 8800GTX or 9800 is just peachy. You really can't go wrong.

Thanks, I was just checking. Glad to have open access on anything I want to
at the moment

--
Skipai