Could anyone reccomend a card for my rig?

[stephenmcalinden]

Hey all,
I'm going to try building a computer this christmas, my first attempt at it so i don't have experience in building or choosing parts. It would be used for online gaming, Lord of The Rings online & the upcoming Star Wars the Old Republic examples, in a nutshell i'd like to spend £500-750 on a system that will allow me the best possible gaming performance for my money.

I, with help have came up with a shortlist of parts that i plan on using, the only one at the moment i lack is the Graphics Card. As far as Crossfire and SLI go i'm not sure, as i say i have no experience with the tech so if its just a matter of plugging on two cards then i don't mind it, if its more technical then no thanks as i don't want to make a mess of my first rig Same goes for Overclocking, i probably wont attempt it either unless i find a good guide to it.

Okay so the parts list:

Case: Antec 300 Three Hundred Ultimate Gaming Case , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-101-AN
Hard Disk: Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA
Memory: Corsair XMS3 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Triple Channel , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-164-CS
MotherBoard: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-159-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1283
PSU: Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-008-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping (SLBEJ) 2.66Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) , http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-280-IN&tool=3
OS: Windows 7

As far as i know it is all compatible, could someone please suggest a Graphics Card for my needs? (feel free to give advice on other parts too), try not break the budget to much either

Screen Res atm is 1440x900

Cheers again
Stephen

 

[ridic23]

For the sweet config u cooked up.....A radeon 5770 would do i suppose since ur mostly into online gaming....its the best deal right now....if u feel its a bit high u can have nvidia 9800gtx or 260....u may want 2 up the screen res....that is wen u will utilize the card productively.....

 

[TheViper]

I'll recommend 2 cards. 1 based on your current monitor and a second based on just overall high end performance.

You're at £653 already leaving you with £100 to play with here.


Good for current resolution:
XFX HD 4850 512 MB - £75.99
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-125-XF&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Better card to fill that remaining £100 in case you get a better monitor:
Sapphire HD 5770 1 GB - £125.98
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-216-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1515

Ok, so that last one pushes your budget a bit but the end result is worth it for DX11, lower power requirements and a lot more power than the HD 4850.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
For 1440x900,as ridic said a 5770 would be a good option,it will be fine with games on that resolution

 

[stephenmcalinden]

Thanks for the reply's im going to have a look into the 5700 line of cards.

One more question if you will, For that setup im planning on using IF i was to buy along with it a monitor too, this one is pretty small to be fair . Which size would you recommend? would it just be a case of buying the biggest one and buying a top of the range card to support it or what? and how much is the monitor roughly that you suggest?

Thanks alot again guys,
really appreciate all this

 

[rescawen]

i wouldnt pair those cards with 920.

 

[TheViper]

Samsung P2250 22" 1980 x 1020 - £169.99 inc VAT
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/show [...] roupid=17&
catid=949&subcat=

If you are serious about getting a new monitor, get the HD 5770 first and save up for the monitor. No point in getting the HD 4850 unless you don't plan to get a new monitor within the year.

 

[crosko42]

Thanks for the reply's im going to have a look into the 5700 line of cards.

One more question if you will, For that setup im planning on using IF i was to buy along with it a monitor too, this one is pretty small to be fair . Which size would you recommend? would it just be a case of buying the biggest one and buying a top of the range card to support it or what? and how much is the monitor roughly that you suggest?

Thanks alot again guys,
really appreciate all this

You can get a 21.5 inch 1920x1080 monitor from newegg for ~$150, or a 24 inch 1920x1200 monitor for ~250-300. Its really a matter of preference and for me I went with the 1080 res because I use it as a TV as well, so it made sense to get one that could handle the 1080i/p at its native res. Some people might say go with a higher res (ie: 2560xXXXX, but at that point the monitor is 30 inches and at the minimum cost ~$1000, and the hardware needed to drive one is quite expensive.

A 5870/5850 could drive any 1920x1080/1200 res monitor fine, go with 2 of them for anything above that.

 

[Maziar]

Yes for 1920x1080/1200 gaming i would recommend 5850/5870 as well

 

[TheViper]

Crosko, he's in the UK so Newegg can't help him.

Maziar, those are well beyond his budget.

 

[Maziar]

Yes i forgot that thanks for mentioning well if the OP gets a 1920x1080 then playing at native resolution with high settings would be a little hard for HD 5770 in some games,
5770 can play games well at resolutions like 1600x1200 or lower with good settings and for higher resolutions,the settings have to be lowered a bit to retain good FPS

 

[TheViper]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446.html

That shows the HD 5770 running everything at 1980 x 1200 at 30+ FPS with most games well over 60. And the only ones dropping it below 30 were Stalker: Clear Sky with 4xAA and Crysis with 4xAA. Both were over 30 without the AA.

 

[Maziar]

In STALKER it gets 38 without AA and 18 with AA,in Crysis on high settings it gets 34 FPS(unfortunately they didn't test very high) which is good and as i said,in some games it will be a little hard like running Crysis at very high settings on 1920x1080,but yes in most games it will be fine on high settings with 0xAA

 

[stephenmcalinden]

Me again

Been scouting monitors last few hours after Viper suggested that Samsung one. I think with the rig in the OP i will also buy a new monitor to really feel the benefits of it . However, to fit my current desk space it would have to be 22" to 24". The space from Wall to Wall(where my computer slots in between them) is 29cm Inch, around 74cm. The one Viper posted looks very nice but i dont want to jump on the first one i see, however i did bookmark the page

Not quite sure what to base my decisions on though as all of the 22" ones are basically the same Resolution, Contrast, Brightness & Responce time wise.
I don't see the differance between two monitors other than an extra 50 quid for at first glance nothing, Anyone tell me what i should be looking for out of these monitors and/or suggest some suitable. Budget wise i will not pay over £200 for a monitor.

Thanks yet again guys
Stephen

 

[TheViper]

5 ms response time or greater.
20,000 or higher dynamic contrast.
300 cd/m2 or greater brightness.

Base the rest on special features, customer reviews, price, output ports, etc...


I also noticed by link no longer goes to that monitor. They must have moved the page.

 

[stephenmcalinden]

Chosing a monitor seems to be even more challenging than putting together that full build hehe.
There all the exact same it seems, well atleast the 22" on overclockers are:
- Resolution: 1920x1080
- Contrast Ratio: 50000:1 or 20000:1 ... which are both equivellant to 1000:1, wtf lol?
- Brightness: 300cd/m² or 250
- Response Time: 5ms
- Viewing Angles (H/V): 170°/160°
- Colours: 16.7 Million
- Inputs: 1x Analogue & 1x DVI-D

Can't find any variety then when i do, which initally appears worse: Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor
- Screen Size: 22" e-IPS Widescreen
- Resolution: 1680x1050 .. weird i thought
- Contrast Ratio: 3000:1 .. who are they kidding, theres ones at 50000:1 and they are doing 3000 haha
- Brightness: 300cd/m²
- Response Time: 6ms .. every other one is 5ms, or the ones u showed me 2ms
- Viewing Angles (H/V): 178°/178°
- Colours: 16.7 Million
- Inputs: 1x Analogue & 1x DVI-D
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-032-DE&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

At closer inspection every single one of the 30 odd reviews are 5stars and raving about how awesome it is.
Totally confused by the market atm lol

 

[Mousemonkey]

5 ms response time or greater.
20,000 or higher dynamic contrast.
300 cd/m2 or greater brightness.

Base the rest on special features, customer reviews, price, output ports, etc...


I also noticed by link no longer goes to that monitor. They must have moved the page.

It's still there, it's just your link that was broken. It's a nice little monitor by the way, I am using one myself.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-117-SA&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

 

[stephenmcalinden]

Seems the Dell's are getting the best reviews as far as 22" Monitors go.
I think i've got a shortlist of 3 Monitors now, all within my budget, all very good reviews for each.

Dell UltraSharp 2209WA 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor £200
found on http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-032-DE

Dell SP2309W 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor £190
found on http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-031-DE

Samsung P2250 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor £170
found on http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-117-SA&groupid=17&catid=949&subcat=

In a bid to find the best of the dells i checked their site, was very surprised to see the SP2309W 23" costing £175 ( http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=193757 ) from them and the UltraSharp 2209WA 22" coming in at £310 ( http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=198660 ), could anyone tell me why this is? mabye its just overclockers tempting me with a superb bargin?

also any monitors you feel are better than the 3 above please say

P.S i know this is on the wrong forum but i dont think one question requires a full new thread

 

[Mousemonkey]

P.S i know this is on the wrong forum but i dont think one question requires a full new thread

How so?, monitors count as displays in my book. Now if you were asking about gardening tips I would have to pull you up but as you're not I won't. :lol:

 

[stephenmcalinden]

How so?, monitors count as displays in my book. Now if you were asking about gardening tips I would have to pull you up but as you're not I won't. :lol:

by forums i didnt mean another website, i just meant well i dont know how to describe it i should of put it here, which i might cause i not got a responce in a while from the motherboard forums hehe

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/forum-29-10.html

 

[Mousemonkey]

Yeah it is a bit quiet in there, but over here is fine. And I would still recommend the Samsung P2250

over the others.