Choosing the right graphics card

J

joex2k10xx

New Member
Hi folks

Im really stuck with this dont understand graphic cards and dont know how to choose the right one. Any tips ?

Thanks
Joe
 
hi Joe,

the choise of graphic card really depends on what u wanna do with it and what kind of motherboard, cpu and that kind of shit u already have. if u can give me that info there is a bigger chance that someone can help u.
 
Hi there,

My System is


Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L - motherboard - micro ATX - iG31
DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E6850, 3000 MHz (9 x 333)
4GB DDR2 RAM but it says its only using 2.99GB dont understand this
Onboard Graphics and sound at the moment

I want to play flight sim, watch blu rays, things like that. Rest is really business stuff on internet.

Could you explain how you made your choice of graphics card for me so i can better understand this.

Thanks guys
Joe
 
do you plan on gaming at all? if so, which ones and what settings?

what is your budget?

what power supply do you have?
 
Only game i use is Flight Simulater X, power supply is Q-tec PSU 650W Triple fan 24P, budget between £50 and £120. Anything else you need to know just ask :)
 
i'd say a good choice would be maybe an hd 5770. good performance for the price, should be plenty for your needs and good for gaming if you ever decide to do so, and should work fine with your current setup :) and well within budget ;)

joex2k10xx said:
4GB DDR2 RAM but it says its only using 2.99GB dont understand this
Click to expand...

this might be because of your operating system. do you know if you have 32 bit or 64 bit?
 
its a 32 bit install of windows 7 would i have to upgrade everything to 64 bit to get the full 4 GB. If so would that mean i would have to buy a new copy of windows 7.

Thanks Joe
 
Hi Joe just to summarise a few things:

1. What version of Windows 7 32bit do you have, as some versions will allow for both the 64bit and 32bit on the same key

2. Flight Sim is extremely CPU intensive although it uses a lot of GPU as well. What resolution do you plan on playing it at?

3. 64bit is required for full 4GB RAM useage, which i would recommend, even if you dual boot another installation along side the current one.

4. Also, that PSU (although it is 650W) only has 30A on the 12V rail (360W) which should be enough for most mid range cards, but don't get anything too power hungry (ie nVidia 460).

I would wait for now, get your 64bit OS (drivers available at gigabyte - i checked), and review the ATi 6 series cards due very soon. Or you could go for a HD5850 which will certainly do a good job now. Finally, if money isn't too much of an issue, i would definately upgrade your CPU. Reason? You will probably be putting a new OS install so its a good time to do it, plus a nice quad core CPU such as the Q8400 which your motherboard supports (i checked)will not only make FlightSim run extremely better, but also not bottleneck the new GPU and provide excellent HD decoding for blueray.

My suggestion:

Get 64bit Win 7
Get a new quad core http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115057
Wait until the HD 6 series arrives.

or just put a HD5850 in there.
 
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