Upgraded PC need Video Card Advice.

[AnalogX64]

Hi Everyone,

New to pcper not new to pc's. I've been building my own PC's since the 90's, but lately I find the choices are overwhelming and since I dont upgrade as frequently as I used to, I'm not sure what I should get.

Quick Background:
I've been using a Compaq Persario SR1838NX - Single Core PC. I bumped the video card, ram and processor to extended its life. I put in a NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO and been primarily been playing "Guild Wars" with moderate settings. With my current setup.. I have 3 Monitors
2 x via DVI
1 x VGA

Most of the time I'm only using 2 monitors with the 3rd VGA running from the built in card on the PC Motherboard.

Guild Wars 2 is coming out soon and I also want to enjoy some other type of games with high end graphics.

So I picked up a $450 (Canadian) System from a local computer shop which is run by PC Enthusiast's like me.

CPU: AMD A8-3870 Quad Core 3.0Ghz Unlocked APU
6GB of ddr3 1333mhz ram
case + 450 watt power supply
OCZ PTL1-25SAT3-64GB SSD Drive

My price range is anywhere between $100-$250, $250 being the absolute maximum.

I been looking at this card:
$119.99
Asus HD7750-1GD5 AMD 7750 Chipset (1820Mhz) 1GB (4600MHz) GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/Display Port PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=047851

or this one
$249.99 ($214.99) on Sale.
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB 1024MB GDDR5 (01G-P3-1561-KR) nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Chipset 1GB DDR5 Dual Display DVI-I/Mini-HDMI PCI Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...item_id=043690

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

[JoshMST]

How much does a HD 7850 go for up there?

[AnalogX64]

How much does a HD 7850 go for up there?

The local store has 4 models listed at $249.99, $259.99, $269.99 and $279.99, not sure what the difference is.

The other thing I noticed is the 7850 is listed as being a PCI Express 3.0

The the motherboard that I have is a PCI Express 2.0 board.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=3998#sp

Thats probably going to be a bottle neck aint it?

[JoshMST]

Nope, not at all. PCI-E 2.0 will saturate a single GPU without a problem. Right now the $150 to $250 range is in flux due to the releases by AMD, and that NVIDIA has yet to update those products. The HD 7770 is not a great card for the price, but the HD 7850 is a very good card for the price. Quite a jump from one to the other, but the units in that pricerange from the previous generation are not as interesting as they used to be. I guess if it were me, I would attempt to splurge and get the 7850 and hold onto it for the next few years. It will be more than powerful enough to handle most anything coming down the pipe, and will not be the bottleneck for SupCom or any other game you play currently.

I can see one pretty big problem though... those SATA ports will be blocked by a larger, double slot card. You could very well be boned there. It could cause issues with single slot cards as well. You might want to cut the losses and find a single slot HD 7750 and go with that.

[AnalogX64]

I can see one pretty big problem though... those SATA ports will be blocked by a larger, double slot card. You could very well be boned there. It could cause issues with single slot cards as well. You might want to cut the losses and find a single slot HD 7750 and go with that.

Thanks for the info Josh it is very much appreciated and a good eye on the SATA ports, I would have missed that one. I'll see if I can work around that, maybe 45 degree Sata connectors. I'll work with that.

Now I'll have to justify the extra $$$ to the boss (wife)

So they have the 7850 at my local shop with the following options.

Differences seem to be in the speed of the Chipset in the range of 860mhz-920mhz and RAM speed of 4800-5000mhz.

MSI R7850 Twin Frozr 2GD5/OC AMD Radeon HD 7850 Chipset (900Mhz) 2048MB GDDR5 (4800Mhz) DVI/HDMI/Dual Mini Display Port PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: R7850 TWIN FROZR 2GD5/OC $279.99


PowerColor (AX7850 2GBD5-2DH) HD7850 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7850 Chipset (860Mhz) 2GB (4800Mhz) GDDR5 Dual-Link DVI/HDMI/Dual Mini-DisplayPort PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: AX7850 2GBD5-2DH $249.99

Asus HD7850-DC2-2GD5 AMD 7850 Chipset (870Mhz) 2GB (4840MHz) GDDR5 Dual DVI/Dual Mini DisplayPort/HDMI PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: HD7850-DC2-2GD5 $279.99

Sapphire (11200-01-20G) AMD Radeon HD 7850 Over Clock Edition (920Mhz) 2GB GDDR5 (5000Mhz) Memory Dual-Link DVI/HDMI/Dual Mini Display Port PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: 11200-01-20G $269.99

Sapphire (11200-00-20G) AMD Radeon HD 7850 (860Mhz) 2GB GDDR5 (4800Mhz) Memory Dual-Link DVI/HDMI/Dual Mini Display Port PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: 11200-00-20G $259.99

Gigabyte (GV-R785OC-2GD) AMD Radeon HD 7850 Chipset (975Mhz) 2GB GDDR5 (4800Mhz) Memory Dual-Link DVI /HDMI/Dual Mini Display Port PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card
Part no: GV-R785OC-2GD $279.99

Questions:
- Power Supply: Stock is 450w what should I replace it with... 750w? 1100w?

- These cards only have one DVI + Display port. Will I run into any performance issues using dual monitors with DVI + Display port being used? For gaming I usually use a single screen (DVI)

Thanks for all your help, it is appreciated.

[Activate: AMD]

Power Supply: Stock is 450w what should I replace it with... 750w? 1100w?

- These cards only have one DVI + Display port. Will I run into any performance issues using dual monitors with DVI + Display port being used? For gaming I usually use a single screen (DVI)

A good quality 650W or above power supply would be sufficient, just make sure its a good power supply (antec, corsair, seasonic etc)

There shouldn't be any performance issues with dual monitors using DVI and displayport. The only hiccup there is that you might need an adapter to go from displayport to DVI if your second monitor doesn't have displayport.

[JoshMST]

The Powercolor card comes with a mini-DP to Full DP and a HDMI to DVI adapter. That is a nice couple of additions! I would just go cheapest in this case and not worry about overclocking. If it strikes your fancy, then go for it eventually, but I don't think it is necessarily justified.

Dual DVI will not slow anything down.

Your 450 watt PS should be up to the challenge of the card. The CPU and motherboard should pull around 120 watts at max, and if you are running a separate GPU... then that number should be less. The card, at absolute max, will run 125 to 150 watts, if even that. So when looking at a 450 watt PSU, you have usually around 350 watts on the 12v rail. In this case, your 450 will be able to power your setup. So don't worry about getting a new PSU... unless of course it is of marginal quality and your setup starts to become unstable. Start simple, then move up when you are ready. That way the sticker shock is less of an issue for the wife!

[xiz0r]

I'd go with a 560 ti 448
Asus 560 ti 448 for 254.99$
or if you dont mind postal rebate a EVGA 560 ti 448 for 239.99 after 30$ MiR
NCIX is a great Canadien e-tailer, I buy most of my stuff from them.

or maybe a 7850 for 232$ with free shipping

Shopbot.ca is great

edit: humm those sata port are not in a great spot like JoshMST said ...
edit2: if the case is big enough maybe a PCI-E Express 16 x Riser Flexible Cable would solve that problem by allowing you to relocate the card to another slot.

[AnalogX64]

So right now I'm waiting to get money from my Tax Return to buy the 7850.

Was looking over the features of my Mother board and noticed this bit.
AMD Dual Graphics: Unrivalled Upgradability
The AMD A75/A55 series platform showcases AMD Dual Graphics technology, allowing users to further boost 3D graphics performance by adding an additional discrete AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 series graphics card* to the system. This unique Dual Graphics technology means users can enjoy higher frame rates on the latest gaming titles, utilizing the processing power of both discrete and integrated graphics processors.
* Please use AMD Dual Graphics certified DX11 VGA card (i.e., Radeon HD 6670/6570/6450 etc.), detail information please refer to AMD official website:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/pro...px?pid=3998#ov

I'm still better off buying the 7850 vs buying a 6850 to take advantage of this Dual Graphics feature?

[JoshMST]

The dual graphics capability is only with the lower end 6000 and 7000 series card. I think the 6670 is the highest card you can run in dual graphics mode with the Llano based A8 processor. So yes, stick with the 7850.

[AnalogX64]

Alright guys its been a while since I posted. I finally got the card and as noted by others in this thread the location of SATA Ports was an issue, so I did what I always do. I void warranty's on something brand new out of the box.

So I dissassembled the casing for the card, marked where the sata ports were located on the MOBO and cut out a notch and fed the SATA Cables through the casing and out to the right as you can see in the photo.

I made sure the sata cables did not touch the heatsink inside and didnt interfere with air flow.

All is well

I will post another thread about the computer case itself. Need advice about FAN Location and airflow.

[3dfxrain]

Somewhat relevant. Mostly concerned about dust filters coz they get clogged up with dust bunnies, constant cleaning of filters, air intake ones.