Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Cheap Graphics Card
darkcircuit
Member Posts: 211
Hey all,
Time for an upgrade again but this time its for the gfs PC. Originally the PC came with nasty onboard graphics, which I promptly swopped for my old ATI 1950XTX 512mb (no longer supported by ATI), but since then it fairly reguarly BSoD referencing the ATI driver. I have exactly the same BSoD problem at work with a brand new laptop and with a totally different graphics card (which ATI dont seem to support on their website). I have tried tons of things including running temperature monitors to see if its overheating, but none of them have helps. Only option that seems available to me is to stick a new graphics card in it, but after my past problems with ATI drivers, I preferably want to avoid them like the plague.
Could someone recommend me a good, cheap Nvidia graphics card that will be an upgrade from the 1950XTX, which has good driver support? My price range is up to £100 and the graphics card has to be able to run Aion smoothly on high graphics (the rest of her components are capable of supporting high graphics).
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Comments
Thinking this one but not sure it would be able to run Aion on high graphics:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/170256/show_product_overview
If anyone can recommend a better card thats still within my budget please do
Well I'll preface by saying the driver situation 1950XTX and older was dodgy, but ATI does a much much better job since their 2000, 3000 and 4000 series as they changed their driver policy to monthly updates. But I understand your sentiment.
UK prices are a little harder to follow cuz of VAT and all but judging by the websites I checked you should be able to pick up a GTS 250 for right around £100 and is imo the best value of nVidia's selection. The GTS 250 is a rebranded 9800 GTX+ so if the 9800GTX+ is cheaper then pick that up.
Thanks for your reply
Based on your advice I found www.ebuyer.com/product/169214, would you recommend this card? Also in my PC I currently have a 8800GTX, is the card I just linked better than the 8800GTX? If so I might have to put that card in mine and give my GF my old one
8800GTX=8800GT=9800GT=GTS250. You will only see a few percent bettwer performance with a GTS250. If its around $100. The best options are AMD. The HD4770, HD4850, and HD4870 all outperform those cards by wider margins.
Well based on your advice Cleffy I've broken my promise to myself and had a look at ATI as well. I thought I would have a look at the top model range that you mentioned HD 4870 and found www.ebuyer.com/product/169208. Would you recommend the ATI over the NVidia I linked previously?
Hi there
Well first of all it would be nice to list your computer specs so we know what you have.
Sometimes a CPU upgrade or RAM may help you more than just a graphics card.
That being said I vote for the GTS 250 .. I owned a Radeon before but they run too hot for my taste and no PhysX support was a deal breaker for me since I play other games too (and don't tell me it's not worth it, check out Batman Arkham Asylum or Mirror's Edge PhysX comparisons for the extra eye candy).
Also if you want CPU upgrades go for Phenom II 955 BE !
Consider that an SLI setup of GTS 250 is equal to a GTX 285 (so your first GTS250 doesn't go to waste if you already got it)
Edit: Just noticed you already have a 8800GTX - Just woke up
- If you can SLI it get another 8800GTX - Or else go for HD4890 or GTX 275 - The price difference isn't big but performance is better 
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172361
Thanks for your reply zspawn
I am really just looking for a few changes to improve her current situation, not looking to upgrade the CPU as its an ok CPU for her and I'm really not looking to run SLIs or Crossfires. Just want a simple card thats going to improve on her existing one (or mine if the card is better than my 8800GTX). Only looking to spend around £100, but thanks again
In that case I'd advise you to stick with 8800GTX for now
Save up so when you can, you can make the leap to the new generation of ATI / nVidia along with new CPU / RAM etc.
BTW my laptop with 8600M GT plays Aion at 1680x1050 in full detail so I don't think you'll have problems :P
hey again zspawn, not had your coffee yet?
The 8800GTX is mine, I am replacing my gfs 1950XTX 512mb, which is sorely lacking. I only mentioned replacing my card if the new one would be better and then I could give her my 8800GTX. Hope that resolves the confusion, basically Im asking what would be the best upgrade for her 1950XTX 512
Hi Dark, link below is a benchmark test for the cards that have been mention by posters above.
www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-4770,2281-7.html
Looking at the benchmark base on Crysis, or other games if you choose to you can more clearly judge for yourself the price and performance whether which is worth it for you.
Hope this helps!
RIP Orc Choppa
Thanks for the article
I did notice however that the HD4870 isnt mentioned in the article and instead it is comparing the NVidia offering to the HD4770. Based on all the other reviews I have been reading I've decided to go with the HD4870 and give my gf my 8800GTX.
Thanks for all your help everyone who contributed
Haha yeah always make coffee first from now on
Good luck with your upgrades
It would be a good idea to check individual reviews of 4870's regarding their cooling/features/clocking etc.
Sometimes a cheaper one can be better than a more expensive one! You never know !
(for example my MSI Frozr 1GB is overclocked by MSI and has a much better cooler than my Gainward GTS 250 1GB and was actually like 15 euros cheaper or so lol)
If you have a WORKING 8800GTX and want to spend a maximum of a 100 pounds, then I would advise you to do nothing
Whichever card you buy for a 100 pounds, it won't be a lot faster then you have now
He isn't replacing an 8800GTX. He manages 2 computers. The graphics card on one of them is no longer supported with drivers. So he is going to replace that one. In his other computer that acts as his main he has an 8800GTX. If the card he gets is better then the 8800GTX, then he is going to swap the cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2404-7.html
That chart will help you pick apart Nvidia's indecipherable naming scheme. Anything released in the GT 200 line will be a considerable upgrade over a Radeon X1950 XTX, if only because Nvidia still hasn't released the low end cards in the line.
If you're considering buying an ATI and aren't in a big hurry to get one, you may wish to wait a bit for Juniper, which is rumored to come out in a couple of weeks. It should offer performance comparable to some of the better cards you're looking at, with far less power (especially at idle), and added DirectX 11 compatibility, among other goodies. If you're getting constant blue screens that make the computer unusable, then don't wait, I guess.
Have you tried uninstalling the video card drivers entirely and then installing the latest version? I once had a frequent blue screening problem caused by bad Nvidia drivers, and updating the drivers fixed it.
As for PhysX GPU acceleration, that currently basically means eye candy for two meaningful games (Mirror's Edge and Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Nvidia's favorite benchmark because it is artificially rigged to make ATI cards look bad. If you really want to play those two particular games and want the eye candy, then PhysX is important, but if not, then it is completely irrelevant to you now and probably always will be. ATI's new line of cards supports Havok, Bullet, and Pixelux video card physics, and unless Nvidia decides to stay with PhysX only, developers choosing between a physics API that works on both ATI and Nvidia cards or one that works on Nvidia cards only aren't going to choose the latter unless heavily bribed by Nvidia. See Batman: Arkham Asylum for an example of that: if the game detects an ATI card in the system, it turns off anti-aliasing, even though the ATI card can run it just fine. Indeed, ATI cards tend to handle anti-aliasing better than Nvidia cards, meaning, turning up anti-aliasing gives you a smaller hit to frame rates.