New GFX Card

[Severum]

I need a new gfx card. I currently have a Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX and clearly it is not cutting it anymore. I am shopping for a new and better card. I have a 550W power supply and what not. What would you guys recommend that would allow me to play this game closest to high graphics without breaking the bank. I am just looking atm and do not have a set amount I am willing to spend. Not to mention I am hoping to upgrade to FC2 in the near future.

[WarriorX]

What is your spending budget? What does your rig need to meet the recommended requirements of this Sim?

 

As an NVidia man myself, I would look at a tier 2 card but IMHO, your power supply may hold you back from a GTX 480, or GTX 460. Which draw quite a bit of power. Your power supply also all but removes the ability to run a SLI rig, even if your MB is SLI ready.

[TeeJay82]

guessing your pc is a bit old (8800gtx is 4-5yearish?)... so any high end GPU`s would cause a bottleneck elsewhere.

 

so out of what im guessing your cpu/ram would be in the 3-6ghz dualcore with mmmmmh, pc 5200-8500 ram

 

id guess a nvidia geforce GTX 460 or a ati 5950 would be more than enough for your current computer if my clairevoyant skills are up to date :P

 

in other words, go for a cheap newer series card, unless your planning to build a new gaming pc, wich i guess your not :P

 

 

from what ive heard you can use your 8800 card to offload physx from your main GPU. if you buy a nvidia card that is

Edited January 24, 2011 by TeeJay82

[Severum]

All of my specs meet the recommendations for this game. I know for a fact, I can not fit 2 cards on my MB.

 

At absolute most, $400 USD

[Severum]

RAM was upgraded to 5 gigs, the GFX was bought about 2 years ago or so.

[WarriorX]

Here ya go....http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

 

Only question is if your power supply can manage everything. Here is a quote from the Spec's tab on this card:

 

System Requirements: 550-watt power supply with a minimum of 38 amps on the +12 volt rail

 

Power Connector: 2 x 6 Pin

 

Oh and almost forgot to add here are the dimensions....make sure it will fit!

 

Card Dimensions: 10.5" x 4.38"

Edited January 24, 2011 by WarriorX

[Severum]

with a minimum of 38 amps on the +12 volt rail

 

Is the only part I do not understand.

[MTFDarkEagle]

A PSU (Power Supply Unit) provides power to various systems in the PC via "rails". These rails are running at different voltages, each obviously with different amperages. There are several rails, but the ones for the gfx card(s) are the +12v rails. If you have a good quality psu, it will have a few 12 volt rails, with a high amperage.

 

En resume: the total of amperage needs to be minimum of 38 amps on the +12v rails.

 

However, I recommend more, for stability reasons.

 

Hope this clears it up, if not, say so and I'll try to make it clear :)

[Severum]

Yeah that made it a bit clearer. When it says it needs a 550W Power supply, now that means for the whole computer right? Not just the card itself? like it doesnt need 550W just for itself, I mean thats prob a stupid question but I am just asking.

[Slammin]

You WANT a new PSU if you upgrade to the new GFX cards. I would not even attempt to install a 570 in a systems with a 550 PSU.

 

Best case, it just politely shuts down when you try to run a game. Worst case, the PSU dies a horrible death, taking out your mobo, vid card, and anything else it can whilst going through its death sequence.

 

That majic white smoke is not something you want to see.

[WarriorX]

I would not go lower than a 750 watt PSU. This gives you a comfortable buffer.

 

Here is a suggestion from Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

 

And another at 850 watts: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

Edited January 25, 2011 by WarriorX

[reschke]

I would just go ahead and bite the bullet and get a new power supply and a new graphics card. For the entire amount mentioned you can step into a GTX450-GTX470 and a decent 750W-850W power supply. I have a new GTX470 on the way from Newegg for $225 after all the rebates are back from them. Already got my tax refund from the government and all bills are paid...yeah baby!

[Severum]

I honestly, am not willing to dump $130 on a power supply, when I just got this one a year ago. The fact that they make these graphics cards more powerful while also making it so you need higher grade equipment to run them is what drives me insane. I sadly do not have the money to pay for both. I was hoping to just get a card and not have to worry about the power supply, I knew they went hand in hand but dang.

[Kuky]

Well EVERYTHING in your PC runs off the PSU so you really should always be getting a good quality one and honestly for higher end PC componenets 550W is not really enough. nExt time you do get one do get more then what you think you need so it will not put you into same situation when you chose to upgrade next time

[Dudikoff]

I honestly, am not willing to dump $130 on a power supply, when I just got this one a year ago.

 

Which model do you have exactly? (I'm surprised no one has asked this yet) The Geforce 570 TDP is around 220W so you might get away with it. Which CPU you have and do you overclock it or not?

[Botch]

What's the rest of your spec? OC'ed CPU, other cards, how manys HD's and other devices etc? A top end cards may be bottlenecked anyway if you have an older CPU at stock speeds. The idea is to make a balanced system.

 

And what brand and model power supply do you have installed? Can you see what the ratings (Watts) for each of the voltages rails are. They are on the label on the side of the supply.

 

Going latest and greatest GPU and a 550W supply could easily be getting close to limits depending on PS quality and how it supplies the voltage rails. Instability if you are sorta unlucky - white smoke it not. IF you go that path, get a new power supply!

 

Anandtech has some interesting comsumption data for basic system (check "The Test" page to see their HW config) that show total load consumptions for the latest gen GPU's:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4061/amds-radeon-hd-6970-radeon-hd-6950/24

 

If you look at thier older 8800GTX test (different HW config though) you can get an idea of the extra power consumption.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2175/7

 

Take all of this with a grain of salt as reports are a few years apart so different setups and done on a bench setup etc. but the basic consumption figures would not be that far off. Some older cards were beasts for heat and power consumption.

 

I'm running my spec on a Corsair 550W and max power consumption is well under 300W (from my middle-age memory) measured at the socket with an energy meter. Thinking about efficiency factor of the PS etc, I have still a fair bit of headroom left. System is very stable (touch wood). Recon I could upgrade to HD6950.

 

Do you have to 100% get a new power supply? Er, depends. A new card down on the lower end of the scale should be ok. A GTX480....hmmmm.

 

Seeing you don't want to break the bank, I would put my engineering education to the test and "guesstimate" the consumption. If you do get a new card and experience an unstable system, power supply would be naturally one of the first things I would be pointing the finger at.

 

Botch....

[WarriorX]

I honestly, am not willing to dump $130 on a power supply, when I just got this one a year ago. The fact that they make these graphics cards more powerful while also making it so you need higher grade equipment to run them is what drives me insane.

 

Severum, welcome to the never ending goal in PC gaming hardware.

 

I know it's tough when money is tight, but you are getting great advise here from people that have been there, done that.

 

You would really kick yourself if you damaged your current PC all for the cost of a $120.00 power supply.

 

So you do have some options, you can sell your existing PSU on ebay, to try to recoup some of the cost. Or you can wait on getting the video card until you do have enough to get the PSU and video card.

[Severum]

@ Botch nothing is OC'd I have an ACER and the BIOS will not allow me to over clock -.- I have 1 card, 1 hard drive partitioned into 2 200G sections (C & D)

 

@ WarriorX I know as you go on you need to upgrade. It just sucks when your like me and don't have a million dollars to blow on computer parts, trust me, if I did I would beat all of your computers ;)

 

I know I am getting great advice and I appreciate it more than anything. I wanted to ask you guys before I did do something stupid and blow my computer to hell and back. With the way everyone is making it seem, I would be better off waiting until I have enough for both, Ill see if my dad can get me a higher watt PS. Hes into all that stuff. I rather pick my card though.

 

I really do appreciate the help guys. Thanks :D

[Slammin]

Severum, it sounds like your system is pretty vanilla and your PSU should be able to handle the additional load of a GTX480 but the big ? is going to be the quality of your existing PSU. Some cheaper units fudge the numbers quite a bit and don't put out what they claim. The GTX480 can draw 300 watts alone but if you had a quality 550w PSU, plus you are not overclocking and you don't sound like you have a loaded system (many drives, fans, lights, etc.) you would be just fine.

 

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places but everything I see says that the 8800GTX and GTX480 draw about the same amount of power under load. Someone please correct me here. If this is the case, I'd think you would be OK without a PSU upgrade.