Need a Graphics card

H

Hi guys,
My computer configuration is as follows
Flatron w1941s Monitor resolution 1366 x 768 no plans to change this in the near future.
DG41ty motherboard
4 gb ddr2 ram
q8400 2.6 ghz processor
9400gt graphics card
Power supply Circle CPH 693 wattage is not written but i heard it wont be good enough not very keen on buying a new PSU please tell me whether this is good enough

I want to play games like starcraft 2, rome 2 total war and many more.(Actually never had the gpu to play awesome and latest games and i dont want that again so please take into consideration the latest FPS, RPG and other genre games)
Please suggest a graphics card which wont force me to lower the settings i dont want to compromise on graphics quality. I dont have any idea on what budget to have i want to play the current games of course but also want to have at least a bit of future proofing maybe upto 1 year.

Note - i have looked around in the forums and it looks like i wont need anything more than the HD 7770 specially considering the resolution of my screen.

~~even the 7770 will be overkill for you.~~ also, i'm in doubt with your PSU, so any GPU with extra Power will be risky.

7750 is a safe option.

H

anirbandd said:
even the 7770 will be overkill for you. also, i'm in doubt with your PSU, so any GPU with extra Power will be risky.

7750 is a safe option.

Thanks for the response....are you sure about that? coz this years titles are metro last light, grid 2 etc do you think 7770 is overkill even at 1366x768 i feel it wont be, could you explain why you think that?...plus the 7770 is rs 7770 and the 7750 is rs 6100 both gigabyte editions...wouldnt it be worth it to go for 7770?

Get 7770 but only if you are planning to upgrade the PSU too.

H

Cilus said:
Get 7770 but only if you are planning to upgrade the PSU too.

Is a PSU upgrade a must? can i bypass that by going for a 7750? if not which psu should i go for

anirbandd said:
even the 7770 will be overkill for you. also, i'm in doubt with your PSU, so any GPU with extra Power will be risky.
7750 is a safe option.

@anirbandd how do you came to the conclusion that 7770 is overkill for that resolution?

@op for current games with full settings at your resolution atleast a 650Ti boost is required. Anything below like 650 or 7790 you will have to settle for med - highest mix settings for next games in near future.
get atleast a good PSU like seasonic eco 500 ~ 3.5K

H

Guys the reason i was hesitant to go with a more expensive gpu is that i highly doubt my 4 gb of ram and the q8400 will bottleneck the GPU, do you think the cpu and ram that i have will support it then i will go with this, coz the future proofing that the 650 ti boost provides will only be valid if the ram and cpu support it.

But HD 7770 will work fine with your CPU. But a better PSU is must. Get HD 7770 + Antec VP450 (2.6K). 4GB Ram is okay.

H

Cilus said:
But HD 7770 will work fine with your CPU. But a better PSU is must. Get HD 7770 + Antec VP450 (2.6K). 4GB Ram is okay.

I have a 450 watt intex PSU 6 years old will that do? also does the d41 motherboard have right version of pci express for the hd 7770?

avinandan012 said:
@anirbandd how do you came to the conclusion that 7770 is overkill for that resolution?

@op for current games with full settings at your resolution atleast a 650Ti boost is required. Anything below like 650 or 7790 you will have to settle for med - highest mix settings for next games in near future.
get atleast a good PSU like seasonic eco 500 ~ 3.5K

i didnt read that OP wanted to play latest games at full settings

my bad. corrected.

but there is something which happens when a powerful GPU is used with low res. the GPU pumps out frames fast enough, but the CPU lags behind. [something akin to that, im not completly sure, so correct me if im wrong]. earlier i had 1024x768 + HD7770. when i installe dHitman Absolution, the game lagged like hell.

then after upgrading my monitor to 1600x900, it became all right, smooth. so take that into account too.

H

That is unfortunate, coz i have no plans on getting a new monitor. can anyone else comment on this?

R

Your cpu will not be a huge bottleneck for the hd 7770, just a bit.I suggest you go with a 7770 or a 7790 and a decent psu.

H

@cilus thanks will go with the hd 7770 and the antec psu you suggested do i need to check whether the motherboard is prepared to handle the card?, my board has two white slots(they are probably pci express) and one black slot(AGP i think) i am not sure which version of pcie it requires and which one my mobo has please help me out with this.
This is what intel's website says about the dg41ty
Expansion Options
PCI Support - 2
PCIe x1 Gen 2.x - 1
PCIe x4 Gen 2.x - 0
PCIe x8 Gen 2.x - 0
PCIe x16 Gen 2.x - 1

My guess is the one 16x slot should be enough for my card also what about the version of PCI express

Also which version of hd 7770 should i go for? are versions of this card performing the same?

hannibal2469 said:
I have a 450 watt intex PSU 6 years old will that do? also does the d41 motherboard have right version of pci express for the hd 7770?

Intex PSUs are plain right bad. They are good for 150W to 200Wish draw anything above that and you may see the holy smoke. They are advertised as 450W units but they can barely provide 200W continuous power.

if you are short on budget atleast get this. It's bare minimum.

Cilus said:
But HD 7770 will work fine with your CPU. But a better PSU is must. Get HD 7770 + Antec VP450 (2.6K). 4GB Ram is okay.

install the card at slot D(PCIex16 2.0)
*i.imgur.com/CetzjrZ.png

H

thanks...but does the version of PCI express supported by my mobo matter?? also which hd 7770 is the best asus, gigabyte sapphire?

prices of each?

H

prices, performance, reliability of the brand and experiences of users with each i am sure it is a popular card and many must have used it here at digit.

R

Go with sapphire or msi 7770.Don't get a reference blower type card, they get hot and loud when you overclock.Get the non reference version of this card.

@OP: check out my 7770 hyperlink in my siggy . its an MSI.

and dont hope to get much out of overclocking. 7770's dont OC much. and they are voltage locked.

PS: get the PSU first.

And regarding OP's query about PCI-E Versions, all the PCI-E versions are backward compatible with the older version. So the PCI-E 3.0 based HD 7770 will work fine with your Motherboard's PCI-E 2.0 slot. But for avoiding compatibility issues, update the Motherboard BIOS to its latest version.

If you're ok with used cards, there are much better deals out there which are faster but a bit power hungry. Like GTX 560 Ti at 8.2K and Corsair CX 500 V2 at 2.5K. Since you want to be future proof, GTX 560 Ti seems a viable option than HD 7770. As everyone wants a VFM card and at 8.2K, its the best imo.

Check it out yourself. AnandTech | Bench - GPU12

H

ashis_lakra said:
If you're ok with used cards, there are much better deals out there which are faster but a bit power hungry. Like GTX 560 Ti at 8.2K and Corsair CX 500 V2 at 2.5K. Since you want to be future proof, GTX 560 Ti seems a viable option than HD 7770. As everyone wants a VFM card and at 8.2K, its the best imo.

Check it out yourself. AnandTech | Bench - GPU12

Thanks but from the posts above i feel hd 7770 is the fastest card my q8400 will not bottleneck...so cant go for the gtx 560 ti...btw where can i find used cards? i saw one gtx 570 used how will that go with the q8400?

Also i just found out that my 9400 gt has 50 watt tdp and the hd 7770 has 80 watt tdp...do i really need to get a new PSU for 30 watts? i know i have asked about the psu multiple times but i am not sure if you guys took the above information into consideration

You can check this for used cards : Classifieds For Sale

GTX 570 will go just fine with Q8400... it won't bottleneck your GPU severely.

HD 7770 requires 1 6pin connector and it can easily draw upto 90W from PSU. If you're skeptical for new psu and wish to take risk, get the card and run it for some time.

hannibal2469 said:
Also i just found out that my 9400 gt has 50 watt tdp and the hd 7770 has 80 watt tdp...do i really need to get a new PSU for 30 watts? i know i have asked about the psu multiple times but i am not sure if you guys took the above information into consideration

I learned it the hard way after damaging 2 gpu and replaced my local psu at least 3 times. A desi-psu can't deliver even 30W extra watt continuous with clean power for which you've to read the following post. *www.thinkdigit.com/forum/power-supply-cabinets-mods/104472-basic-guide-right-power-supply.html

According to "Tomshardware"

The power supply is not only one of the most important parts in a PC, it is unfortunately one of the most overlooked. Although most enthusiasts who build their own systems understand its importance, the mainstream PC buyer generally does not. Some that do pay any mind seem concerned only with how many watts of power it is rated to put out (even though no practical way exists to verify those ratings), without regard to whether the power being produced is clean and stable or whether it is full of noise, spikes, and surges.
I have always placed great emphasis on selecting a power supply for my systems. I consider the power supply the foundation of the system and am willing to spend a little extra to get a more robust and reliable unit. The power supply is critical because it supplies electrical power to every other component in the system. In my experience, the power supply is also one of the most failure-prone components in any computer system. Over the years I have replaced more power supplies in PCs than any other part. A malfunctioning power supply not only can cause other components in the system to malfunction, but it also can damage the other components in your computer by delivering improper or erratic voltages. Because of its importance to proper and reliable system operation, you should understand both the function and limitations of a power supply, as well as its potential problems and their solutions.

H

@ashis i am getting very confused here some people say that it will be bottlenecked and other's say it wont ....even on other forums that is the case i dnt know what to do

i couldnt find the vp450 online instead i found the vs450 from corsair 2.4k.... i hope it is as good i will check in local stores for the card and the psu, but online 8.2k is the lowest i could find for the card

Listen buddy, GTX 560 Ti can't be handled by your Core2Duo. I don't know about others but I do have hands on experience with a E8400+560 Ti combination. The user was so frustrated with low performance due to CPU bottleneck that he bought a i7 2600K within a month. In fact anything over HD 7770 will be bottlenecked by the CPU unless you overclock it bit. Maximum you can try for GTX 650 Ti, no point of getting anything over it unless you have a plan to upgrade CPU sooner.

H

my q8400 is a core 2 quad

Cilus said:
Listen buddy, GTX 560 Ti can't be handled by your Core2Duo. I don't know about others but I do have hands on experience with a E8400+560 Ti combination. The user was so frustrated with low performance due to CPU bottleneck that he bought a i7 2600K within a month. In fact anything over HD 7770 will be bottlenecked by the CPU unless you overclock it bit. Maximum you can try for GTX 650 Ti, no point of getting anything over it unless you have a plan to upgrade CPU sooner.

That's me but not E8400 but Core 2 Duo E7300

Overclock your proccy a bit to pair with GTX 560 Ti else get a HD 7770 which should be enough.

IMO your processor doesn't lag behind much and is atmost 10-15% slower than Core i3 2100 ( 2nd gen ).

Check the benches : AnandTech | Bench - CPU

and above all get a healthy psu which shouldn't be neglected.

H

Thanks everyone...i cant overclock my proc so i will go with the 7770 and whatever branded 450 watt psu i can find

H

guys are all psu brands like antec,corsair and cooler master the same quality coz i found some 450 watt psu's which were cheaper than the vp450 like the corsair vs450

simply No - they are made by different OEMs.