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Graphics Help me decide :)

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by civicteer, 22 Dec 2012.

  1. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    Hello my current system is:

    CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955
    Motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO
    RAM: 4GB DDR3
    GPU: NVIDIA 8800GT
    PSU: Corsair 550w VX
    Crucial 256GB M4 SSD
    Windows 8

    I have had many years of use out of my current graphics card, it still does well in stuff like Skyrim, but its noisy and getting rather old now so I'm looking to upgrade.

    I set myself a budget of £150 as i don't really play PC games as much as I used too, i should get back into this though. :D

    In an effort not to irritate you expecting you to spoon feed by I have gone for these:

    Asus GeForce GTX 660 OC
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-Direct...KIRC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356197175&sr=8-1

    http://www.ebuyer.com/396967-gigabyte-gv-n660oc-2gd-660-gv-n660oc-2gd

    Or

    Sapphire HD7870 2GB
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11...JL2E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356197144&sr=8-1

    So clearly I've gone over my £150! So if you think I can get away with something a little cheaper then feel free to suggest, as that is quite a lot for how much use I get out of it, but if its future proof it makes it better for me.

    Of course I could wait until Feb and get one just before Sim City, are there better ones due out that would prompt a price drop?

    I play Skyrim and I'm looking forward to Sim City next year, Crysis 3, Dead Space 3 and so on.

    Will my PSU be okay? is it worth upping my ram to 2 x 4GB? Also its unlikely I'll be doing any overclocking.

    Any help is much appreciated :thumb:
     
    Last edited: 22 Dec 2012
  2. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

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    Psu's fine and so is 4gb of ram, although its so cheap now it might be a good time to upgrade. As for a £150 gpu, I recently bought a 7850 and it plays everything on max settings at 1080p. Also its really easy to overclock, and it immediately gets you around 5fps. It would also leave some money for a ram upgrade :thumb:
     
  3. chewbaccas_nan

    chewbaccas_nan Minimodder

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  4. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    thanks, I might consider that :D
     
  5. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    hmm seems good, will I get much of a boost over 7850?

    I was also looking at 7850
    http://www.ebuyer.com/390923-sapphi...-displayport-pci-e-graphics-card-11200-07-20g

    or

    http://www.ebuyer.com/390921-sapphi...-displayport-pci-e-graphics-card-11200-14-20g


    hmm but you have got me thinking about 7870's now!

    Is it just a matter of branding as this looks cheap
    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...gpu-1000mhz-1280-cores-dl-dvi-hdmi-mdp-plus-4

    over this?

    http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-...800mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-1100mhz-dl-dvi-hdmi-mdp

    :eyebrow:
     
    Last edited: 22 Dec 2012
  6. chewbaccas_nan

    chewbaccas_nan Minimodder

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    What case do you have? Apparently this card is fairly big so make sure it will fit before ordering!

    I'm also looking at upgrading my gpu with a similar budget to you, and for the money, I'd probably/ will be going for the 7870 just because its a bit more 'future proof' and a better performer.

    As for brand, not sure really, MSI are good, I'd imagine they're all the same to be honest.
     
  7. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    I've got an Antec 300 so I'm assuming it will be fine :D

    I just think the XFX one for £162 is a rather amazing price! I think the gigabyte one is overclocked though, whereas the XFX one isn't? Is the £22 worth the OC?
     
    Last edited: 22 Dec 2012
  8. Swanny

    Swanny What's a Dremel?

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  9. sniperdude

    sniperdude Minimodder

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    Would wait till after Xmas and get a MSI 7870 with twin cooler.


    nothing worse than buying something and wishing you had paid a little more for a better one.
     
  10. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    Yeah I think I am going to go for the 7870, I'm just not sure if the MSI twin fan one is worth the extra ££ over the XFX Core Edition? Saying that I won't be OC myself so maybe it will be better to get it pre OC? Ahh I can't make up my mind!

    Whats the chances of a sale in Jan too?
     
    Last edited: 23 Dec 2012
  11. sniperdude

    sniperdude Minimodder

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    personally I would never buy an XFX card

    They had an awesome rep for cards dieing a few years ago and a crap RMA service
    to go along with it (may have changed now but i doubt it)

    I like the MSI coolers because they are quiet and cool well

    2 best coolers are the MSI twin frozers and the Asus directCU but the Asus is HUGE and covers 3 slots
     
  12. civicteer

    civicteer What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks I'm going to go for the MSI one and upgrade the ram too.

    Much appreciated :D
     

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