Graphics card upgrade (advice please?)

U

UK_Widowmaker

Guest
Hi All

Have been using the Nvidia 8800GTS (which has been terrific) but I now have the opportunity to upgrade my Board / Chip and Graphics Card

The three new items I plan on getting are:-

Asus P5QL 775
Intel core 2 duo E8500
Nvidia 260GTX

Much as I would like to up these to the 280GTX and a faster i7 CPU..My budget wont allow.

So...question is:- does the E8500 warrant the upgrade from the E6600?
and is the 260GTX worth the upgrade from a 8800GTS?

thanks Gurus!
 
I can's tell you anything about the GTX260, as I use an 8800GTX, but I can vouch for the E8500. It is an awesome chip. With Phase 3 I'm getting 40-60 fps with sliders set at 5,4,4,5,1. Here's my toy.......

APEVIA X-CRUISER-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower-

ABIT IN9 32X-MAX - motherboard - ATX - nForce 680i SLI - LGA775 Socket-

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz 6MB L2 Cache-

OCZ Platinum Revision 2 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)-EVGANvidiaGeForce8800GTX768MbGDDR3-

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s-

SAMSUNG Black2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe-

LITE-ON Black 20X 2MB Cache E-IDE/ATAPI 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card

Antec EA650 650W ATX12VSLI CertifiedPower Supply


CJ
 
A Core i7 system in games is just 5% faster on the same frequency than a E8xxx or Q9xxx while being 500% more expensive (example E8500 vs. Core i7 965 XE both about 3.16 GHz). Thus right now I would go with the E8500. Plus you could go with a mainboard for DDR2 RAM as it should be cheaper but still as fast as a mainboard with DDR3. DDR3 currently does not show its right potential. For OFF and any current flight sim you only need one core, for RoF you would need 2 cores. A Quad Core CPU is only necessary if you do a lot of video editing and such.

If you plan a new graphics card you should look for 1 GByte of Video RAM. In certain games that are texture memory limited this would have better results than the faster card with less memory.

I am not sure about your mainboard if the P43 chipset allows overclocking or not but the P45 chipset series does. If you plan to overclock then you need to ask your dealer if it is possible with the mainboard of your choice. At least you need a fast CPU to feed a beast like the 260GTX.

I knew in my system the 9800GTX would not be the limiting factor, the CPU would. Therefore I chose a mainboard with overclocking abilities from the beginning. And overclocking the CPU and leaving the GPU on stock frequency got me substantially higher framerates.

To answer your questions:
E6600 has a stock frequency of 2,4 GHz, the E8500 of 3,16 GHz -> Prices for the E8500 are reasonable now. I would go for it and if you dare so overclock it to 4 GHz. You need a good PSU and a good cooler. Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro will do it and is comparatively cheap or if you have a cooler that can handle a Quad Core then keep it.
The 260GTX is worth an upgrade if the Video RAM is 1 GByte.

My proposal is to go for the board and processor and try to keep the card. See what your framerates look like and if you are not satisfied buy the 260GTX.
 
Go for the cheaper E8400 and OC that to 4ghz. Mine's been running perfectly at that since I bought it around a week ago. :)
 
UK,

There was a recent post that gave a lot of performance specs for the various video cards available
Here are the links http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/132
and www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-graphics-card,2064-7.html

The toms site groups comparable cards in families
They recommended not upgrading unless the new card is at least 3 families higher or you won't see much difference
As youi can see, the 260 GTX is only 1 generation above the 8800GTX
I'd put my cash into the cpu now and leave the Vcard till later

That's what I did when I bought my rig 2 years ago
I'm in the process of swapping my 7900GS to a 9800GTX+
That's an 8 generation improvement ...I can't wait!

HTH,
 
Thats why I ask the questions on here, you guys give great advice!
Having read this, I shall keep my 8800 for now..and concentrate my rescources on a decent overclock Mobo..and a fast CPU

Thanks for your help chaps
 
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