Best Graphics Card for Asus Striker Extreme

[rhs815]

Due to a lack of funds I can currently only afford to upgrade my graphics card but I can't work out which one will "future proof" me best until a complete rebuild. Currently running Asus Striker Extreme, Q6600 (Quad 2.4GHz), NVIDIA 8800GTS, 4Gb Kingston HyperX T1 @1066MHz and Win7 64bit. Seems like I have 2x PCIe x16 slots but I have no idea what would work given I won't be able to run anything too modern. Any ideas?

 

[GreenDutchAlien]

Gtx 460 maybe.

 

[purple stain]

What is your budget?

What is the make/model of your PSU?

In order to make it a worthwhile upgrade over the 8800GTS your going to need at least a 6850 or GTX460.But that's just the bare minimum.

If your really tight on a budget and plan to upgrade later you can always buy another 8800GTS for SLI which would be faster than both options listed above.Of course they will eat up a lot of power so you have to make sure you have an ample PSU.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=320-P2-N811-RX-CO-R&utm_source=GoogleProducts&utm_medium=ShoppingSites&utm_campaign=320-P2-N811-RX-CO-R

 

[rhs815]

I'll check my PSU shortly, but my main concern is that there will be a massive drop in performance if I'm running a PCIe 2.0 card through a 1.0 port! I know they are backwards compatible but I'd see it is a waste to upgrade to something I can't fully utilise. I would buy a second 8800gts but they seem to be pretty phased out.

 

[purple stain]

Just seems like a better deal to me if your intention is to fully upgrade everything when you have more money.A 8800GTS SLI is still very modest for today's standards.

The site I linked above is selling a 8800GTS for $40.

You still haven't told us your budget yet.

 

[rhs815]

Im in the UK, and my budget would be at most £60 ($100). SLI is probably the best idea, do you have to have two identical or is it just rough matching? I've got an xfx geforce 8800gts 320mb, do I need an exact match?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Im in the UK, and my budget would be at most £60 ($100). SLI is probably the best idea, do you have to have two identical or is it just rough matching? I've got an xfx geforce 8800gts 320mb, do I need an exact match?

No, just another 8800GTS 320MB but they're a bit thin on the ground these days.

 

[purple stain]

Most of the ones I saw online were for less than $100 but they are either used or refurbished.

You won't gain anything from getting a card with more VRAM but as long as it doesn't cost more than a 320mb model then it shouldn't matter.

What of your PSU?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BFG-GeForce-320MBPCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B000N4PBBG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319757864&sr=8-1

 

[rhs815]

This wont be my main PC for long but it will be handed down and expected to run the latest games. I'm a big fan of FEAR and just purchased No3, it requires a 512Mb 8800GT as a minimum. How long before two of my 8800GTS in SLI become lower than the average minimum spec?

 

[purple stain]

For minimum specs? I'd say about 2 years maybe more.Only on the most demanding games will the 8800GTS SLI be limited.But it will be the processor that cause's a bottleneck long before the 8800GTS in SLI.

 

[rhs815]

My PSU is an 485W Enermax (EG495AX-VE) so I'll probably need to replace that too. You reckon I'd have any trouble putting an HD 6850 in there?

 

[purple stain]

No I think the 6850 will work fine.But you should replace your PSU whenever possible.