Going to upgrade my graphics card

[Hammeh]

Hey!!

Well I am planning my next PC upgrade. Current specs:
AMD Phenom X4 9600 @ 2.3Ghz
3GB DDR2 RAM
GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 Chipset
Asus M2N68-LA Mobo
Nvidia Geforce 8500GT with TurboCache
300W HP PSU

Planning to upgrade my graphics card to either the GTS 250 or 9800GTX+ as well as upgrading my PSU.

A few questions:
Which card will give me better performance, GTS 250 or 9800GTX+? I know that they are pretty much the same card as the GTS 250 is just a rebrand but I have heard it consumes less power which I am guessing lowers performance.
Will a Corsair VX550W PSU provide me with sufficent power for the card? It provides 41A on the +12V rail

Please do not suggest any ATI cards as I run a number of CUDA applications on my computer.

Thanks
Hammeh

 

[Euphoria_MK]

Go with the GTS250. Lower power does not mean lower performance.
Manufacturers can redesign their cards to work more efficiently. Better VRMs, transistors, caps, memory chips, can lower power usage of cards.
I would go with a newer model even if it's just a renamed GTX9800, unless you can find a gtx9800 for much lower price.

Cheers

 

[helliswell]

Hey!!

Well I am planning my next PC upgrade. Current specs:
AMD Phenom X4 9600 @ 2.3Ghz
3GB DDR2 RAM
GeForce 6150SE nForce 430 Chipset
Asus M2N68-LA Mobo
Nvidia Geforce 8500GT with TurboCache
300W HP PSU

Planning to upgrade my graphics card to either the GTS 250 or 9800GTX+ as well as upgrading my PSU.

A few questions:
Which card will give me better performance, GTS 250 or 9800GTX+? I know that they are pretty much the same card as the GTS 250 is just a rebrand but I have heard it consumes less power which I am guessing lowers performance.
Will a Corsair VX550W PSU provide me with sufficent power for the card? It provides 41A on the +12V rail

Please do not suggest any ATI cards as I run a number of CUDA applications on my computer.

Thanks
Hammeh

No, lower power consumption does not necesssarily mean lower performance. In this case, its the efficient design that brings down the power consumption but not the performance. So both cards are almost the same with GTS 250 beating the other sometimes and consuming less power at the same time. So GTS 250 FTW IMHO.

You will be fie with the PSU.

On another note, With that PSU, you might want to look at GTX 260. Far greater performance than GTS 250.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-260,2286.html

Make sure that the GTX 260 is 216 core and not 192 core. Should cost you around 155 after MIR on newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127430

 

[Hammeh]

I'm actually shopping from the UK so newegg is not very usefull for me!! I doubt I could afford a GTX 260 what is the lowest price I could get a good brand one in the UK?

The only reason I asked about the power/performance is because on the nvidia page here the GTS 250 has a slightly lower score than the 9800GTX+

 

[dragonfang18]

I too agree with the GTX 260, but looking at your problem, the 250 works just as good (they are just the same and with that score, its not really a big of a difference). I ordered a 250.