Help on New Graphics Card!!!

[iamkrishna]

Hi friends,...

i m new to this forum and i have been regularly going through here for weeks on my new Graphics card upgrade.....

Here are my specs (Bought in 2007, except ADATA ram which i bought recently)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
ASUS M3A78 EM
ADATA 2x2GB DDR2 800Mhz
Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
ZEBRONICS ZEB 600W PSU
COOLER MASTER CENTURION 534

My previous Graphics card was XFX GeForce 8800GT Aplha Dog Edition, it was a great one and i was able to enjoy all the recent games in high details until last month, it gave me a lot of nvlddmkm.sys whenever i play any games on it... the game runs smooth for about 10-15 secs and then the screen goes black and after that the game resumes.. this happens a few more times and i ll get the nvlddmkm.sys (i just hate to type it:-( ). i ve gone through a lot of forums and done a lot of fixes and no luck! when i updated my mobos Radeon HD 2000 Graphics, no problem! i can play games for a long time at very low specs...
i have decided to buy a new gpu for now as i am planning to upgrade my pc on the intel core i7 platform this fall after seeing it compared to amd bulldozers. i have came across several brands and i have came across these two brands ASUS ENGTX460 DC TOP/2DI/1GD5/V2 and ASUS EAH6850 DC/2DIS/1GD5/V2 and MSI N460GTX Hawk(810Mhz). please help me in choosing one of these... also i would like to know if these gpus would fit in my chassis and would i need to buy a new 700/750w psu?
Sorry for my very long words...
Please Help me!!! i really appreciate it...
Thanks>...

 

[Rizlla]

I am not familiar with the make of your PSU, but 600W is enough for either GPU. Both cards you mentioned perform the same. It depends on what card suits you best. 6850 is a newer card. Both cards will fit your case. It you want to make sure look up the specs of the cards and it will give the sizes and them measure the space in your case.

 

[iamkrishna]

I am not familiar with the make of your PSU, but 600W is enough for either GPU. Both cards you mentioned perform the same. It depends on what card suits you best. 6850 is a newer card. Both cards will fit your case. It you want to make sure look up the specs of the cards and it will give the sizes and them measure the space in your case.

Thanks Rizilla... i had a great experience with GeForce 8800gt, but i am in an extremely worried situation choosing between Radeon and GeForce Brands, but as you say both cards performs the same, the choice is completely brand preferrenced

 

[Rizlla]

Both brands are good. I had a Geforce 2 that served me well for years and it is still running in an old PC that I am using as a file server. The X1900 that I had worked just as well and it only broke because I borrowed it to a friend. He tried to swap out the cooler with an aftermarket one and burnt the chip .

You mentioned that you will maybe upgrade to an i7. Check what MB you will be using and if it has SLi or Crossfire for if you are planning on keeping the GPU for that rig. It could also make the decision easier.

 

[roan1234321]

Does your PSU have 2 6pin pcie connectors or atleast 1 6pin pcie?
Why not get GTX 560 Ti. For me GTX 560 ti works betten than HD 6850.
If and only if available in your place and it is around your budget.
I Have GTX 560 Ti and I really love it. I'm also using i7 2600k. and my PSU is only 580 watts. and still work perfectly. im running the witcher 2 at ultra setting w/ uber sampling diabled. getting 50-60 fps at 1440x900 res.
Or If u can wait till the end of this yr or early nxt yr. the Nvidia 600 series and ati(amd) hd 7000 series will be out by that time.

hope this helps you.

I've search your PSU, it has 1 pci express 6 pin so if you buy a GTX 560ti it has a 4pin adaptor to 6pin pcie.. just like mine so it would do just fine..

my bet is GTX 560 Ti.

 

[gunslinger36]

I have two MSI n460gtx hawk. The performance of one of them is similar to the ati 6850. Most of the games are optimized for nvidia cards, so I think is better to choose this one. Only nvidia cards support phyxs and tesselation works like a charm. In ATI cards the performance of tesselation is still poor compared to nvidia cards.

 

[iamkrishna]

Both brands are good. I had a Geforce 2 that served me well for years and it is still running in an old PC that I am using as a file server. The X1900 that I had worked just as well and it only broke because I borrowed it to a friend. He tried to swap out the cooler with an aftermarket one and burnt the chip .

You mentioned that you will maybe upgrade to an i7. Check what MB you will be using and if it has SLi or Crossfire for if you are planning on keeping the GPU for that rig. It could also make the decision easier.

Yeah, i am planning to buy an i7 2600k with Asus p8z68 deluxe(Love that mobo ) later this year and it supports both quad sli and crossfireX... i guess now the decision is entirely brand preferrenced... but it really hate th nvlddmkm.sys does that error only happens on nvidia gpus? thanks for helping me... really appreciate it

 

[Onus]

There was a really old list (some 5-6 years ago) that identified Zebronics as a very poor brand for PSUs. If the specific model you have does not have full range active PFC (i.e. it HAS a little voltage switch) and/or is NOT 80+ certified for efficiency, I would not trust it for any more than 400W-450W, and that not efficiently. It should be able to handle a HD6850, but possibly not a GTX460 unless it has a pair of PCIE power cables already; you can use adapters, but I would not recommend doing so.
If you have been entirely happy with your 8800GT, then you will get equivalent performance out of a HD6670, or get a HD6770 or GTX550Ti for a nice upgrade. Any of those should run on your Zebronics PSU.

 

[gunslinger36]

Your psu is fine. The 460 gtx needs al least 600 watts with 24 amperes in 12 v line, it´s exactly what your psu has. Your case is similar to my old one, I think you,re not going to have any problem to fit it in there.

 

[iamkrishna]

Does your PSU have 2 6pin pcie connectors or atleast 1 6pin pcie?
Why not get GTX 560 Ti. For me GTX 560 ti works betten than HD 6850.
If and only if available in your place and it is around your budget.
I Have GTX 560 Ti and I really love it. I'm also using i7 2600k. and my PSU is only 580 watts. and still work perfectly. im running the witcher 2 at ultra setting w/ uber sampling diabled. getting 50-60 fps at 1440x900 res.
Or If u can wait till the end of this yr or early nxt yr. the Nvidia 600 series and ati(amd) hd 7000 series will be out by that time.

hope this helps you.

I've search your PSU, it has 1 pci express 6 pin so if you buy a GTX 560ti it has a 4pin adaptor to 6pin pcie.. just like mine so it would do just fine..

my bet is GTX 560 Ti.

Thanks roan1234321
i loved geforce from the time i got my hands on my very first GeForce Fx 5200 and then GeForce 8600GT, then 8800GT... but i was really frustrated with the nvlddmkm.sys error of my 8800gt which prompted me to buy a new one... as i loved GeForce... i think in the end i will go with GeForce GTX 560 Ti... one question will Gtx 560Ti will bottleneck my Athlon 64 X2 6000+?

thanks

 

[gunslinger36]

Thanks roan1234321
i loved geforce from the time i got my hands on my very first GeForce Fx 5200 and then GeForce 8600GT, then 8800GT... but i was really frustrated with the nvlddmkm.sys error of my 8800gt which prompted me to buy a new one... as i loved GeForce... i think in the end i will go with GeForce GTX 560 Ti... one question will Gtx 560Ti will bottleneck my Athlon 64 X2 6000+?

thanks

Any of these cards will bottleneck your cpu. You have to change your vga first and then your cpu if you don´t have the money for everything now.

 

[iamkrishna]

Your psu is fine. The 460 gtx needs al least 600 watts with 24 amperes in 12 v line, it´s exactly what your psu has. Your case is similar to my old one, I think you,re not going to have any problem to fit it in there.

Thanks gunslinger36

I was planning to buy an MSI N460GTX Ti Hawk... as i am suspicioous that jtt283 pointed that the Zebronics psu is of poor quality, it might have downgraded after these years and after going through MSI web.. i guess i will go with the MSI N560GX Ti Hawk with a new psu.. what psu should i get? Corsair GS800 or Corsair TX750? these will be sufficient for the GPU right?
Thanks

 

[iamkrishna]

Any of these cards will bottleneck your cpu. You have to change your vga first and then your cpu if you don´t have the money for everything now.

i think i will go with a Phenom II X4 for now as it will support my mobo or i will have to do an entire system upgrade

thanks

 

[iamkrishna]

Thank You all for answering and helping me..............

 

[roan1234321]

Thank You all for answering and helping me..............

if your getting an 2600k at the end of the yr don't buy phenom II x4. you'll be just wasting money on it if you're gonna change it w/in a few months. just bare w/ the bottleneck for the mean time until you'll be able to buy the 2600k w/ your new mobo. Thats what I did w/ my 560 ti for two months until i was able to buy my 2600k. And when i got my 2600k and new mobo after two months of waiting my gaming world change alot. lolx

but, if you'll not be changing it w/ in a few months why don't you get Phenom IIX6 1090T(HDT90ZFBK6DGR),3.2GHz,125W,rev.E0,SocketAM3,6-Core your mobo supports this processor. insteed of phenom II x4

check here: http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM2Plus/M3A78EM/#CPUS for more cpu's that your mobo supports.

Phenom IIX6 1090T(HDT90ZFBK6DGR) is a black edition i think.

 

[roan1234321]

and also w/ the GTX 560 Ti and Phenom IIX6 1090T it would be around 200 USD more or less..

 

[Onus]

Corsair is a solid PSU brand; many of their units are built by Seasonic, which doesn't seem to know how to make a bad PSU (I've never seen a bad review of one, ever). A single GTX560ti will run just fin with a quality 500W-550W PSU.

 

[roan1234321]

so did you bought a GTX 560 ti?

 

[iamkrishna]

so did you bought a GTX 560 ti?

No i am planning for an entire system upgrade at this moment on i7 platform, i'l buy it this month end... i was waiting for AMD Bulldozer & Intel Sandy Bridge E, but cant wait that long btw here are my proposed specs, please suggest a good PSU for this rig as i cant make a choice without having all your valuable suggestions...

INTEL Core i7 2600k

ASUS P8Z68 Deluxe (Motherboard)

CORSAIR CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8 2x4GB DDR3 1600Mhz (RAM)

MSI N560GTX-Ti HAWK (GRAPHICS CARD)

WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR GREEN (WD20EARX) 2TB SATA 6Gb/s (HDD)
or
SEAGATE BARRACUDA GREEN 2TB (ST2000DL003) HDD

CORSAIR CMPSU-GUK GS800W 800W (PSU)
or
CORSAIR CMPSU-TX750W 750W (PSU)
or
CORSAIR CMPSU-GUK GS700W 700W (PSU)

COOLER MASTER HAF 922 (CHASSIS)
or
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 Advanced (CHASSIS)

Please suggest a good PSU for this RIG and a CHASSIS from these two,... i m not interested in overclocking it...
thanks and bye

 

[Onus]

For a single GPU, a Seasonic X-560 would do nicely. If it is only a few dollars more, OR if you might want to add a second GTX560ti later, get the X-650 instead.

 

[roan1234321]

Hmm.. I would suggest geting the 750 or 800 watts.. maybe ther will be a time that you would want to buy another 560 ti to sli them up... so 750 or 800 watts..

 

[Onus]

Making reasonable guesses about the number of fans, hard drives, etc. the PSU calculator at http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine indicates that a system built with an i7-2600K and a pair of GTX560ti GPUs in SLI would run on a 525W PSU. I suggest the X-650 primarily because you typically don't find four PCIE power cables on lower wattage units. It is possible to use adapters, but for various reasons I don't think they're a great idea.

 

[iamkrishna]

Making reasonable guesses about the number of fans, hard drives, etc. the PSU calculator at http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine indicates that a system built with an i7-2600K and a pair of GTX560ti GPUs in SLI would run on a 525W PSU. I suggest the X-650 primarily because you typically don't find four PCIE power cables on lower wattage units. It is possible to use adapters, but for various reasons I don't think they're a great idea.

hi jtt283, i am not planning to sli the gpu, i'l stick with only one,... btw i am a lot confused abt these two models, i was initially eyed towards MSI N560GTX Ti HAWK but i want to go for a little higher one as i want the rig to be a better one.. MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC or ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5. i called the local MSI dealer and he says there s only a small marginable price difference between the MSI N560GTX and MSI N570GTX, so i thought on going with GTX570 and after a lot of going through our forums and searches these two models came out... i want to build the rig this month end. Sorry for changing my mind again and again
Please help me choose between these two GPUs......

 

[roan1234321]

hi jtt283, i am not planning to sli the gpu, i'l stick with only one,... btw i am a lot confused abt these two models, i was initially eyed towards MSI N560GTX Ti HAWK but i want to go for a little higher one as i want the rig to be a better one.. MSI N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition/OC or ASUS ENGTX570 DCII/2DIS/1280MD5. i called the local MSI dealer and he says there s only a small marginable price difference between the MSI N560GTX and MSI N570GTX, so i thought on going with GTX570 and after a lot of going through our forums and searches these two models came out... i want to build the rig this month end. Sorry for changing my mind again and again
Please help me choose between these two GPUs......

go for the gtx 570 we may not know maybe the 600 series would be overpriced then you would have another option to 3-way sli your gtx 570. cause if you go to gtx 560 ti, you can only go for 2-way sli.. but if your not planning to sli maybe get GTX 590 or gtx 580 for better performance, or if your short of money get gtx 570, but if you are planning to get the comming 600 series when they come out this year end or early nxt yr maybe get gtx 570 or gtx 560ti, i would suggest getting 560 ti where you can OC it at a better performance than a stock gtx 560 ti. but as they said you could also get gtx 570 to OC. But I strongly suggest get gtx 560 ti..,

if your going to gtx 570.. i would suggest asus.., from personal experience i love asus.. and there is 20- 40USD difference from msi twin frozer II gtx 560 ti and gtx 570 twin frozer 3.. you can save 20 - 40 usd if u get the 560 ti.., and save them for a new gpu if you would like to upgrade..

 

[Onus]

Any performance difference between the same card (e.g. GTX570) from two different manufacturers will be attributable to the factory clocks, which you can set yourself anyway.
Funny, I would never choose a MSI mobo over Asus, but for graphics cards, I'm the opposite, as I've had to RMA a couple of Asus GPUs but no MSI.