What graphics card is best for £270? ($443)

[Roaring Panda]

I recently brought a GTX 280, which seems to be riddled with problems, so i have sent it back to the company i purchased it from, and now have £269 to spend on a new graphics card. What would be the best card i could get for this price? I'll post my specs for the rest of my PC here, if that helps:

Mobo: Asus P5QL
Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 280 1gb
Processor: Intel Q6700 Quad Core CPU
RAM: 4gb Corsair TWIN2X4096-8500C7 DDR2
PSU: 625W HIPER HPU-S625 PSU

 

[Mousemonkey]

You list a GTX280 but say you have sent it back, either way I would look to replacing that PSU first as it's mediocre at best.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=137

 

[uncfan_2563]

i'd say go for a GTX 285 and put the rest of the money in your pocket, unless you're going for a SLI/Crossfire setup.

 

[Roaring Panda]

You list a GTX280 but say you have sent it back, either way I would look to replacing that PSU first as it's mediocre at best.
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story4&reid=137

I'm looking into replacing that with a good corsair one, maybe the 750w one, though the review you showed me doesn't set it up in too bad a light, 8/10 aint bad. I live by mediocrity

How's the ATi 2GB XFX HD 4870 X2? Do you need a crossfire compatible motherboard to use it to it's full potential? I hear it has two processors in one, so would that mean i need crossfire?

 

[Mousemonkey]

Whilst that PSU is not 'bad' it was the 480w on the 12v that concerns, and a 4870 x2 can run on any mobo with a PCIe slot be it Xfire, Sli or single slot.

 

[Roaring Panda]

Ok, that's good then. So, what would any other suggestions be for a new graphics card? What would be the best bet here?

 

[uncfan_2563]

keep in mind tho, all the driver and compatibility advantages and disadvantages would also come with any dual-GPU card. You will still have to enable CrossFire in the game, so that could be bad if you're planning on playing older games.

 

[Roaring Panda]

Ok, so the 4870x2 is like a Crossfire setup except it doens't require a crossfire motherboard, though it needs you to tell every game you play that you're playing on Crossfire?

 

[uncfan_2563]

exactly. From what i know, it uses an internal crossfire connector. But honestly, now that i think about it, old games that don't support multi-gpu's won't even push a single 4870 so you should be good in that respect

 

[Roaring Panda]

Hrm, sounds pretty good to me from what i know, any last suggestions? Thinking of ordering very soon

 

[uncfan_2563]

well if you've decided on getting the 4870x2, you want to make sure you've got good airflow in your case. I've heard that the 4850/4870 produce a good amount of heat so two of them smushed together could be bad if you're case is hot to start with.

 

[photonboy]

Tomshardware is constantly putting out benchmarks for video cards.

Right on the main page they have an indepth review and rate the best cards for each price range.

Too easy?

 

[uncfan_2563]

Tomshardware is constantly putting out benchmarks for video cards.

Right on the main page they have an indepth review and rate the best cards for each price range.

Too easy?

comeon...give the guy a break. sometimes you just want people's opinions.