Upgrading from an 8800GTS 512

[Gleb2006]

Hello, I am planning on upgrading from my 8800GTS 512.

I currently run:

Windows XP SP2
2GB of DDR2 1066 (I am upgrading this to 4GB along with this graphics card upgrade)
A E8400 CPU run stock @ 3.00GHz
and a MSI NX8800GTS 512 OC edition

I do not have any problems with this setup, but as Final Fantasy XIV approaches, it is going to be a game that is heavy on the PC and I would like to be ready. I am looking not to spend more then $300 on the Graphics card by itself. Any advice would be great, and also if you believe I should upgrade something else along with it please go ahead and pitch that in also.

Thanks

 

[rolli59]

HD5850 would be a good upgrade!

 

[jerreece]

With a $300 budget, you're in a VERY good situation right now.

NewEgg.com has a Sale on the MSI GTX 470 for $299 + Free Shipping.

Or the ATI 5850 goes for about the same price these days. Both of them should play FFXIV @ 1920x1080

I was about to tell you to upgrade your RAM and then I noticed you are already planning to do so. Kudos! However, keep in mind that if you're using Windows XP 32bit (which is normal) you aren't going to get the use of all your RAM. Probably want to upgrade into Windows XP 64 bit (or just jump to Windows 7 64bit) to allow Windows to use all your RAM, plus the video card memory (which is about 1GB these days).

EDIT: What power supply do you have? Depending on what it is, the ATI 5850 is gentler on PSU's (plus runs cooler). Though the GTX 470 is faster.

 

[Gleb2006]

I have a OCZ 750W that has 72A on the +12V, also how much of my ram would 32 bit be using if I can not get ahold of 64 bit right now?

 

[rolli59]

PSU is plenty for either HD5850 or GTX470. 32bit recognizes ca 3.5 Gb ram.

 

[jerreece]

PSU is plenty for either HD5850 or GTX470. 32bit recognizes ca 3.5 Gb ram.

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I switched to 64bit back when Windows XP went "64bit"). But doesn't Win XP 32bit include your V-RAM in that total of 3.5GB?

In other words, if I am recalling correctly... 2GB of RAM + 1GB of Vid-RAM = 3GB. So if he had 4GB of RAM in his system, he'd only be using 2.5GB of his actual RAM.

 

[rolli59]

Please correct me if I'm wrong (I switched to 64bit back when Windows XP went "64bit"). But doesn't Win XP 32bit include your V-RAM in that total of 3.5GB?

In other words, if I am recalling correctly... 2GB of RAM + 1GB of Vid-RAM = 3GB. So if he had 4GB of RAM in his system, he'd only be using 2.5GB of his actual RAM.

I have a system with a 512Mb card it reports 3.25Gb in properties for my computer with 4Gb installed Prior to installing 2 extra Gb it reported 2GB and was definitely not counting the v-ram. In system information it shows 4096Mb.