Videocard suggestions needed :)

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crazed

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#74986 11-Jan-2011 11:01

Hey guys,

Currently building a new system on a budget and have become alittle stuck on what Videocard to get.

Have previously had a Nvidia 250GTS and ATI 5770. Both purchased based on reviews etc.

The 250GTS was excellent and performed well on everything thrown at it, but the cooling hardware let me down was replaced twice under warranty. Was referred to the 5770 as a better performer than the 250GTS by many reviews but found the complete opposite. The 5770 struggled massively! on games above and including BC2.

So I'm building a new gaming system(Budget) and looking for a videocard for it, the system is AMD based more than likely using the AMD Phenom II X2 555 (3.2Ghz) and a Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H. Looking to play BC2 and above including the new CoD BO, not expecting to play it with everything maxed out. Don't want to spent more than $350 on the card.

Any ideas?

CraZeD,
Your friendly Southern Geeky Fellow :P

Lias

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#426077 11-Jan-2011 12:11

Very strange.. my 5750 (a model down from your 5770) can run BC2 at 1600x1050 with all settings on max with no problems.

I'd go with a nice factory OC'd Asus 6850.

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=14176

You can save like $20 if you want to drop down to a budget brand standard clocked 6850

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=13839

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crazed

484 posts

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#426100 11-Jan-2011 13:09

Lias: Very strange.. my 5750 (a model down from your 5770) can run BC2 at 1600x1050 with all settings on max with no problems.

I'd go with a nice factory OC'd Asus 6850.

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=14176

The 6850 is looking interesting.

CraZeD,
Your friendly Southern Geeky Fellow :P

powerforce

162 posts

Master Geek

#426219 11-Jan-2011 17:28

Lias:
I'd go with a nice factory OC'd Asus 6850.

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=14176

You can save like $20 if you want to drop down to a budget brand standard clocked 6850

http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/components/componentview.asp?partid=13839

+1.
I would go with the normal one, as I would be looking to crossfire two in the future when the priced dropped. Will crossfire be an option for you? Will you be looking at adding a second card in the future?

If so i think you will be better served getting the factory spec'd card. If you crossfire two differently clocked cards, the clocks will drop down to match that of the lowest.

You could of course always get a second factory OC'd card the same in the future, but then there is the possibility of not being able to find one exactly the same in a year or so's time.

Not a huge deal really but may make a diff to your decision and you could save a few $.

Ragnor

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#426353 12-Jan-2011 00:52

Yep either a AMD/ATI Radeon 6850 1GB or Nvidia GTX 460 1GB are the best bang for buck, should be able to get either for <$300 (check pricespy or gearbot.co.nz).

Disagree with the crossfire advice.

In my experience by the time you get around to going crossfire (lets say 1-2 years later) there will be newer better cheaper single card solutions.

Two cards = more power, more noise, potential micro stutter issues, waiting for crossfire profiles for games, games that don't use both cards.

Crossfire is more for enthusiasts and is great when you are crossfiring up front by buying two cheaper cards (at the same time) instead of 1 expensive card as it can be better bang for buck.. however the above two cards issues I mention are still issues.

aionwannabe

147 posts

Master Geek

#427414 15-Jan-2011 14:41

crazed: Hey guys,

Currently building a new system on a budget and have become alittle stuck on what Videocard to get.

Have previously had a Nvidia 250GTS and ATI 5770. Both purchased based on reviews etc.

The 250GTS was excellent and performed well on everything thrown at it, but the cooling hardware let me down was replaced twice under warranty. Was referred to the 5770 as a better performer than the 250GTS by many reviews but found the complete opposite. The 5770 struggled massively! on games above and including BC2.

So I'm building a new gaming system(Budget) and looking for a videocard for it, the system is AMD based more than likely using the AMD Phenom II X2 555 (3.2Ghz) and a Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H. Looking to play BC2 and above including the new CoD BO, not expecting to play it with everything maxed out. Don't want to spent more than $350 on the card.

Any ideas?

okay problem with your post is that BC2 is the biggest cpu overuser ive seen, ever. Summed up by this quote "BC2 is very cpu intensive. Dual core processors suffer in that game."

The 5770 isnt "BAD" its probably the cheapest performance for $ card with one Pci-e power cable. Ive got it running overclocked about %20 without touching volts because that scares me :S. Keeping in mind i do have the MSI hawk edition with a custom heat-sink form MSI which is very very good.

now even though its stated all over the place that not much uses more than 2 cores these days the two games you posted actually do considering BC2 uses cpu for anything that doesn't have a picture attached to it which is alot and CoD BO is practically a console port where the xbox has 3 cores and the ps3 has 4 I believe (also likly to have terrorable optimization for the many different cpus still viable for gaming these days).

Now building a new budget gaming whats your budget because honestly while the new 6000 series is great and i do not dispute that, I highly recommend a re think on the cpu, doesnt have to be the 1100T 6 core but dual cores not gonna cut it on your mentioned games

Ragnor

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#427713 16-Jan-2011 18:06

Yeah with Intel's sandy bridge out, core i5 2500k is awesome bang for buck... that's what I would be spec'ing if I was building a gaming rig right now.

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

aionwannabe

147 posts

Master Geek

#427800 16-Jan-2011 22:43

^ +1 but thats depending on your budget

Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek
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#427873 17-Jan-2011 09:45

crazed: Hey guys,

Currently building a new system on a budget and have become alittle stuck on what Videocard to get.

Have previously had a Nvidia 250GTS and ATI 5770. Both purchased based on reviews etc.

The 250GTS was excellent and performed well on everything thrown at it, but the cooling hardware let me down was replaced twice under warranty. Was referred to the 5770 as a better performer than the 250GTS by many reviews but found the complete opposite. The 5770 struggled massively! on games above and including BC2.

So I'm building a new gaming system(Budget) and looking for a videocard for it, the system is AMD based more than likely using the AMD Phenom II X2 555 (3.2Ghz) and a Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H. Looking to play BC2 and above including the new CoD BO, not expecting to play it with everything maxed out. Don't want to spent more than $350 on the card.

Any ideas?

as per an earlier poster, hd5770 should be enough - cpu may not.

I would suggest trying to unlock the x2 to an x4. There has been quite a bit of success in doing so.