47 replies to this topic

[Artur Valour]

OK Guys, I have a few extra bucks and am looking to replace my video card to optimize my MWO experience. Here is my current card:

Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by AMD

Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon HD 4850

Device ID 9442

Vendor 1002

Subsystem ID 2470

Subsystem Vendor ID 1682

Graphics Bus Capability PCI Express 2.0

Maximum Bus Setting PCI Express 2.0 x16

BIOS Version 011.016.000.028

BIOS Part Number 113-HD485XZDF12EP

BIOS Date 2009/05/25

Memory Size 1024 MB

Memory Type GDDR3

Core Clock in MHz 625 MHz

Memory Clock in MHz 993 MHz

Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s 63.6 GByte/s

And my System Specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601

System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard

System Model h8-1124

System Type x64-based PC

Processor Intel® Core™ i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date AMI 7.14, 8/11/2011

SMBIOS Version 2.6

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

I have a 600 watt power supply and around $250 to spend. I want an NVIDIA card and a friend recommended the GTX660 but I am not sure if my mother board supports PCI-3.



Anyone care to help me out with some recommendations?

[Goose]

Hold onto you cash for the time being: DX11 support just got here, and the matching tweaks are still in devlopment; Many report a loss of fps on "smaller" systems, or maybe less GPU but moar CPU loads on bigger rigs.

I've got buddies with that CPU, and they seem fine with cards as small as a GTX 560Ti, but seems is the opritive phrase, as not a lot of testing and posting is getting done.

By "testing," I mean "Install FRAPS, HWiNFOxx, make a log file of a game or three, then view said log with Generic Log Viewer."

For you: Look to see if you have a maxed out GPU, do some tweaking, and if it stays maxed, spring for a new card.

[Catamount]

No need to wait that long. Even in a CPU-heavy game like MWO, a 4850 is simply too old to approach the potential of an i7-2600. That CPU will have no trouble with MWO, whereas that GPU is possessed of somewhere in the ballpark of half what's needed to run the game well (higher settings, good fps). The minimum to do that is about a 5850.

OP, to answer your specific points, it's good that you're going with Nvidia. AMD cards are expensive because everyone wants them for litecoin mining. The GTX660 is a fine card, and all PCIE is forwards and backwards compatible, through all generations, so it will run on your board. With that said, you can get a 760 instead.

Edited by Catamount, 07 March 2014 - 08:21 PM.

[cSand]

If you're set on nVidia, 660 or 760 is a great choice.

Good deal on this one, slightly more (20$) than you wanted to spend but on special right now. Plus, that's CDN pricing and you're in the US it'll be slightly less for ya

http://products.ncix...-85587-1285.htm

Edited by cSand, 07 March 2014 - 08:32 PM.

[JimLahey]

If you're willing to kick in $40 more you can grab a 4GB GTX 760

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125494

[Artur Valour]

Thanks guys for the responses.. I appreciate it.I currently run at around 30fps on medium settings, and see significant decrease in performance when zoomed through smoke or haze... terrible in some cases. So, although I am not ready to replace the computer, I am hoping a video card upgrade will allow me to run at higher settings. I will do some research into the 660 and 760. Thanks again everyone!

[Werewolf486 ScorpS]

Sensible advice for you: Hold on to your money until the GTX800 series comes out. At that point all cards drop in price and you can pick up a good one for a little less. I feel your pain as I have a rig with dual HD4870's and an I7 4770k that doesn't support DX11, but DX11 isn't optimized for MWO yet and likely won't be until after the GTX800 comes out. GTX800 is slated for after or near the end of Q2.

[Summon3r]

660ti runs game on Max settings for me at 45-60 fps map depending

[Napoleon_Blownapart]

always compare newegg microcenter and tigerdirect and see what you can find.

[Artur Valour]

Summon3r, on 08 March 2014 - 10:30 AM, said:

660ti runs game on Max settings for me at 45-60 fps map depending

What's CPU are you running?

Edit: Ack, I see it in your signature now!

Edited by Artur Valour, 08 March 2014 - 11:40 AM.

[Artur Valour]

OK, after some poking around, I am zeroing in on this card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 760 ACX Cooled Graphics Card with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

Any thoughts on this card?

Edited by Artur Valour, 08 March 2014 - 11:45 AM.

[Goose]

I'm just beginning to see people talk about having more then 2GB on a "single" card, so this might be good future-proofing; I hadn't ever broken 1400MB 'till DX11, and now I'm pushing 1700MB, but I'm only at 1800x1440x70: I don't think you strictly need that much for us, but I'd do it if I was you. ;-)

[Artur Valour]

Goose, on 08 March 2014 - 12:45 PM, said:

I'm just beginning to see people talk about having more then 2GB on a "single" card, so this might be good future-proofing; I hadn't ever broken 1400MB 'till DX11, and now I'm pushing 1700MB, but I'm only at 1800x1440x70: I don't think you strictly need that much for us, but I'd do it if I was you. ;-)

Goose - I like the way you put that - "Future Proofing". I am a fan.

[Odins Fist]

Anything with 3gb or more Vram on a single GPU card seems really decent at running MWO.
Last year my friend ran his Evga GTX 680 Classified with 4gb of Vram.. And when some of us got the (4) frames per second bug, he was getting the (40) frames per second bug. He was called names.. LOL
Now he has a EVGA 780 Ti Classified with 3gb Vram, because he said he "had to get it"
http://www.newegg.co...0140308214341:s

I have a friend that just boought this card the GTX 770 4gb card, it's not a 780 by any means, but he loves it.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130925

A bit pricey though. $449.99

Edited by Odins Fist, 08 March 2014 - 01:40 PM.

[Barbaric Soul]

Read the OP's full post. If you had done that first, you would have seen the last line of his/her post states-

Quote

I have a 600 watt power supply and around $250 to spend. I want an NVIDIA card and a friend recommended the GTX660 but I am not sure if my mother board supports PCI-3.



Anyone care to help me out with some recommendations?

I really hate it when someone tries to give advice, but doesn't take the time to read everything posted by the person asking for advice.

[Barbaric Soul]

Nothing, personal, but everyone has "pet pevs". That is one of mine. If you are going to offer advice, do your best to make it good relevant advice.

[Summon3r]

Artur Valour, on 08 March 2014 - 11:43 AM, said:

OK, after some poking around, I am zeroing in on this card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 760 ACX Cooled Graphics Card with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

Any thoughts on this card?

double check the specs on that card i believe the 760 is the card that isnt fast enough to use its 4gb of memory, 196 bit? just take a peak and make sure your not paying for extra GB the card cant use.

[Armament]

Artur Valour, on 08 March 2014 - 11:43 AM, said:

OK, after some poking around, I am zeroing in on this card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 760 ACX Cooled Graphics Card with 4GB GDDR5 RAM

Any thoughts on this card?

Sorry if I mess something up, on phone. You can get the 2gb version since you will see no benefits buying the 4gb one. MWO only uses around 1.5gb at 1080p. It will help at higher resolutions sure..but then you'll suffer from low frames at the higher resolutions. If you're into games like Skyrim and want to download texture packs and whatnot then buy it. If you play games at 1080p with no texture addons then go for the 2gb. But yeah, the 760 is a fantastic video card. No use waiting for the 800 series to come out, the price drop is not worth waiting for if you are having a bad gaming experience. Look for the card on eBay. I can almost guarantee it costing less than $50 or a bit more off retail price.

Edited by Armament, 09 March 2014 - 10:37 AM.

[Odins Fist]

Do NOT buy the GTX 660 ti, you would actually be almost in the same boat if you bought the GTX 560 Ti, and i'm not joking.
The GTX 660 Ti is decent it has more shaders, and you will only be kicking yourself a few months down the line, and blaming whoever gave you the advice of considering a GTX 660 Ti over something better.

If you want to be happy with what you bought 6 months from now, do yourself a favor, save some more money, and buy nothing less then a GTX 770 4gb. No a 300 watt PSU won't run it, but ANYONE thinking they won't be on the bleeding edge of shutdown running an aftermarket GPU with a 300 watt PSU has manure for brains. J/K Your 600 watt PSU, should be able to run a GTX 770, that's the minimum reccomended.

EDIT: Intel systems are a little more forgiving when it comes to PSU requirements and GPUs, an Intel CPU usually uses less wattage then AMD CPUs, depending on what you have.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130945

Don't go cheapo, you will be angry, I've seen the bargain boys upset about wasting money, not waiting a month, and ending up smashing their keyboards over very poor frames per second with the highest settings.

Do yourself a favor, save a little bit more and get something good, instead of expecting great performance out of a mediocre video card. (it's not going to happen)

EDIT: I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, so i'm sorry if that's how it comes across.

http://www.tomshardw...33-tomshardware

...............................................................................................



The GTX 660 Ti isn't horrible...


This is someone running a GTX 770 at ultra setting 1080 P, 2gb Vram version

Edited by Odins Fist, 09 March 2014 - 12:00 PM.

[Sandpit]

I've been shopping for an entirely new pc over the past month and based on everything I've seen and read I would wait a few weeks. New models of just about everything are getting ready to drop which should result in a price reductions in older models