Advice On A New Graphics Card

olic

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Aug 12, 2009
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Hello All,

I am currently looking to upgrade my 7950GT graphics card to a new one on a budget of around £100-130 give or take.

I have a Core2duo processor and 4gb ram and mainly use my computer for my coursework which entails AutoCAD, 3ds Max, Photoshop and the odd game or two now and again!!

Just looking for some sound advice aswell as options on what card i can get that will give me the best bang for my buck as it were for what i use my computer for.

I have had a look about and the 4770 and GTX 250/260 look like a pretty good bet, but as i said, im looking for a bit of advice/options.

Many Thanks In Advance

Olic
 

darkvine

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Jun 18, 2009
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well any of the three you said are amazing cards. I would say the 4770 over then GTX 250 but if you can get a 260 that is another story.

There is 2 versions of the 260 though. There is old one that first came out then there is the remake which has a different name depending on which company your getting it from. The EVGA one is called the GTX 260 Core 216 which is more powerful by a fair bit as it has a nice jump instream processors and texture units.
 

olic

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I quite fancy the 260, i have found 2 reasonably priced 216sp on a 55nm chip, will this card give me a decent performance/will they hardware accelerate Autocad, 3dsmax and photoshop?

Also with dx11 on the horizon with windows 7 in OCT is it worth me waiting for this to release before i take the plunge and upgrade do you think?
 

darkvine

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I am not to familiar with Autocad but with 3dsmax you would see the most improvement with rendering and you will see good photoshop results as well.

As for dx11 and Windows 7. If you are okay with your current step up for another 2-3 months I would say hold off but if you need something soon I would just say go for the 260 with 216sp and you won't be let down. If you think you will really want dx11 but still need something now then get the cheapest card now (likely the 4770 depending on where you live but the 250 is about the same as well) and then that will last you until the price drops on the new dx11 cards about 4 months after there release.
 

olic

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will the dirextx 11 cards initally be that much better than the current dx10 cards? i may borrow a card off of work/a friend if i can till w7 comes to fruitation, will nvidia and ati release cards in the run up to it?

Has anyone gotten a breath of the possible specs of the dx11 cards?
 

darkvine

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I don't think they will be that much better right off the back however their release will drive down the price of the current cards. There is no release date on them (as that would affect the sells of current cards) but that should be out in the next 3-4 months tops. Some hint that AIT will have theirs out by the end of next month but it's all just here say.

There are to many rumors about specs but they are allover the place are barely match from one list to the next from what I have seen.

They will be 40nm so they should have some good clock speeds and overclock very well.
 

olic

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yeah i saw that gutted, they still got the 4870 on offer!!!

They got a GTX260on offer but i think its based off of the old chipset as it has 192sp instead of 216sp so i guess it wont be based off of a 55nm chip either :(
 

Pailin

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In your position, just try and hold out for a sweet deal like that maybe to build a "little" more future proofing...

won't be so long till other similar classed cards come to that kinda price I feel

Next Gen is due out Sept or up to Oct 22 according to rumors, not long to wait now maybe, then the older cards prices will crash I think.
 

Jaysin

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The 4870 deal wouldn't be a bad idea. You can always "wait" or you could just buy it and sell the 4870 when you are ready for another upgrade.