videocard advice

[HammerJoe]

I need an opinion from the experts:

I have a rig with an Intel Q660 at 2.4ghz (I know its old) with 8gigs Ram and a Geforce 8800gt and would like to upgrade the videocard.

Would this card be overkill?
http://www.vuugo.com/en/Nvidia/Sparkle-GeForce-GTX560-1024MB-GDDR5-wNative-MiniHDMI-Port-PCI-E-20-16x-Video-Card-15-Instant-Rebate-Reg-Price-17949-/SXX5601024D5MH.aspx

I would like to purchase something below $150.00 as I dont plan on updgrading this rig anymore and dont want to spend alot of money on the card and when time comes will get a new rig with newer stuff.

So what should I do?
Thanks

[insync44]

The Q6600 is still OK for gaming. the GTX 560 would not be a bottleneck and would be a pleasant improvement over the 8800GT.:|

[HammerJoe]

Thanks for the reply.
I know that the Gtx 560 would not be the bottleneck.
The CPU is. :)

Because of the CPU being the limit factor is there a cheaper option to the GTX 560 that would give me the same experience because I know that the Q6600 is not going to maximize the performance of the GTX 560 so perhaps I dont need to spend $200.00 to get that card?

The world of videocards is a very confusing world to me. :cry:

[insync44]

Sorry, I meant the CPU would not be a bottleneck to the Video Card.

Apologise for the misunderstanding. You would also a see an improvement in your FPS.

[DavidY]

IMO, graphic card selection depends on your monitor's rez. For example, at 1920x1080, HD 6870 or GTX 560 provide great performance for most games.

I would use the following links as guidelines:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-4.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-3.html

Here are cheaper options:

GTX 560: $150 http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/pny-video-card-vcggtx560xpb

HD 6870: $155 after MIR (was as low as $140 recently) http://pcpartpicker.com/ca/part/xfx-video-card-hd687azhfc

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/best-video-card-around-100-a-1192337/#post14918887

Personally, I would use the preferred fps at a specific rez (see other post for BF3) as a guide for choosing which graphics card....assuming power supply is not an issue. If your PS is only 300 watts, then you are severely limited to a lower graphics card like the GT 440 DDR5 or HD 6670 DDR3. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-2.html

Dave

[HammerJoe]

Thanks for the advice. I will look into it.

You are right I forgot to include the resolution.
My monitor can only do 1600X1024 (or something like that).
No 1900X resolution for me. :)

[thinfilms]

I noticed you said your running at 2.4 GHz. You can easily overclock it to ~3.2 GHz on stock cooling for an additional boost. :)

[Amourek]

I noticed you said your running at 2.4 GHz. You can easily overclock it to ~3.2 GHz on stock cooling for an additional boost. :)

This. 3.0ghz at least should be no problem.

[HammerJoe]

Actually I can't get it over 2.8 on stock cooling. I'm not too concerned about cpu speed but rather the eye candy that the 8800 can't provide.

[xXxTehxXx]

Managed to push 3.8 on water but the temps were hot as hell, 3.5 is steady for me. I picked up a 550ti for $80 and saw a huge performance increase. Runs Skyrim on ultra no problem

[DavidY]

Thanks for the advice. I will look into it.

You are right I forgot to include the resolution.
My monitor can only do 1600X1024 (or something like that).
No 1900X resolution for me. :)

What is your PS? If you have no plans to upgrade to a higher rez monitor, you probably could save $$$ by going with a lesser graphics card...$100-$120? How long do you plan to keep this current rig?

Dave

[HammerJoe]

The PS is 750w. No plans to upgrade the monitor with this rig.
As for how long I don't know. So far its working good for me.
I would like to get a card under $150 .

[DKcounty007]

Are there any prefernces in the games you play? Any special features like PhysX or SLI?

If your budget is under $150, you should get Gigabyte Radeon HD6850 which comes w/ Manufacturer OC
http://www.vuugo.com/en/ATI/Gigabyte-Radeon-HD6850-OC-Edition-1GB-256bit-GDDR5-PCI-E-Video-Card-10-Mail-In-Rebate-Ends-June-30th/GV-R685OC-1GD.aspx

I heard the Radeon HD7770 is a pretty good budget card too
http://www.vuugo.com/en/PCI-Express-30/Sapphire-Radeon-HD7770-Overclocked-Edition-1GB-128bit-GDDR5-PCI-E-Video-Card/11201-02-20G.aspx

[HammerJoe]

I end up getting a Gigabyte HD 6850 from Amazon.ca for $137.00 with free shipping and $15.00 MIR.

I think its a good deal. what do you think?

[divx]

I end up getting a Gigabyte HD 6850 from Amazon.ca for $137.00 with free shipping and $15.00 MIR.

I think its a good deal. what do you think?

wasn't the 6850 for $99 weeks ago?

[DavidY]

wasn't the 6850 for $99 weeks ago?

MSI. There was plenty of discussion about it....good and bad.

Dave

[HammerJoe]

Yeah well I was late getting into that one... $137 with free shipping plus the MIR was the best I could get now...

Was going to get a 550 Ti but after much reading I thought it was not worht the $20.00 or so difference. :)