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tomracing

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Mar 1, 2012
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i have a 9950 amd phenom x4 64 processor 600 watt ps ,,4g ram
 
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tomracing

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Mar 1, 2012
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i have a amd 9950 phenom x4 64 processor with 4 g of ram , 600 w ps
 
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Devoteicon

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Feb 20, 2012
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In all honesty that CPU is pretty outdated and would bottleneck any current GPU. My opinion would be to use that money and upgrade your CPU, motherboard and ram. Then use the leftover to buy a discrete GPU.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995 $124.99
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138283 $57.99
Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231310 $21.99
GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660 $189.99

Total: $395


 
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Isaiah4110

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Jan 12, 2012
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Ok, I'm assuming the following two things: first that you have had this build for a couple/few years and are simply looking to get improved gaming performance by adding/upgrading your graphics card, and second that this link is your exact motherboard Are both these assumptions correct?

If that is the case then my best recommendation is the following:

Check out the Tom's Hardware "Best Graphics Cards For The Money: February 2012" Article (link here). You'll see the top ranked cards from $300-400 on page 5.

Your motherboard supports Crossfire, not SLI, so the $300 recommendation of running dual Radeon HD 6850 graphics cards in crossfire should be compatible with your current system. There are two potential problems you may encounter with this option. First, you might run into a power requirement snag depending on the age of your 600W power supply and its available connections. According to this power supply calculator, you need a minimum 750W power supply to run those cards in your system. Second, if you do any high-end gaming that pushes those cards to the limits of their capabilities then you will likely encounter some micro-stuttering. Tom's Hardware wrote a great article on that topic linked here.

As a secondary option, you could opt to grab a single Radeon HD 6970. Newegg.com has models from a couple manufacturers starting at $350. They are out of stock on the XFX model XFX HD-697A-CNFC unfortunately. Amazon carries that same card for a similar price. I like XFX video cards because they upgrade you to a lifetime warranty for free if you register your card through their website. Sticking with the Radeon line of cards will allow you to drop in a second, identical model card at a later date and utilize your motherboard's crossfire option then. With this option, however, the power supply calculator still says you would need a minimum 650W power supply. You could always take a half a step down to a single Radeon HD 6950 (XFX model XFX HD-695X-CNFC also out of stock on Newegg. It looks like Newegg sells the card for $270, while Amazon has it for $300. Waiting for Newegg to get that card back in stock would allow you to have a little money left over to buy a new power supply.

If you are set on upgrading your graphics card then I personally would probably go for the second option. You are going to need a new power supply with either one and that option will allow you some money to get one as well as giving you the possibility of future upgrades.






That said, I have to question the wisdom behind sinking so much money into a graphics card upgrade when it looks like the rest of your system is a bit older. Your AMD Phenom x4 9950 (is it Black Edition?) still falls in the middle of the road on the latest Tom's Hardware Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart, but it is an older Socket AM2+. Your motherboard is also locked into the older DDR2 standard RAM, and that will affect your performance and upgrade-ability down the line as well. If money comes easy for you then this won't really matter, but if you are looking for something to get you through the next 5 years then you might be better suited waiting a few months while you save up a bit so you can drop $800-1000 into a whole new rig. On the other hand, if your existing graphics card just died then you kind of have to go for the video card right now I guess. You can always grab one of the single cards and re-use them when it comes time for a full rig upgrade in a few years if that's the case.

Anyway, that's my two-cents, and that's the best advice I can give without knowing your exact situation. I hope it helps.
 
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Isaiah4110

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Yeah, actually that does come across a bit rude. The best technical advice is only rendered by taking the advice seeker's situation, needs, and desires into account. My post could very possibly help the original poster make his decision much more than the other posts simply stating "your CPU will bottleneck any card over $150."

Anyway, I meant to mention the CPU bottleneck as a problem as well. I mean, the dual core Pentium G860 sells for only $100 on Newegg and falls one tier higher on the hierarchy chart, and practically outperformed AMD's sub-$200 CPUs in the recent benchmark tests. Like I said in my earlier post, The 4 GB of DDR2 RAM won't exactly help either.

In any case, the goal of my first post was to provide information help the original poster make a well informed decision. If he wants to be sure that he gets the best possible performance out of his system for a year or two and be able to transfer his new card to a new machine at that time then I stand by my recommendation of a Radeon HD 6950 or 6970.
 
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geekapproved

geekapproved

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Dec 10, 2010
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I disagree with the others, they are recommending you sink more money into yet another obsolete platform, bad choice.

If your going to get a new mobo and cpu:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115077

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

Even if you overclocked the 960T to 3.6ghz, that i3 will put it to shame in 90% of games.

Since you said your not looking to upgrade cpu/mobo, then like I said, a $150 or less card like the HD6850 would be the max you could go with.
 
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tomracing

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Mar 1, 2012
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Ok i'll go that way thanks
 
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