Replacement card; identical or upgrade?

[aloser]

Search being borked is NOT helping any. I just about had my mind made up, but now I'm not certain since I can't find my reference threads :/

Anyway, I currently have a MSI P43NeoF mobo, Q6600@stock speed (overclocking didn't work, but I'm willing to give it another shot, particularly since I have it watercooled and that was part of my intention) w/ 4 gigs of RAM, 600W OCZ PSU and a 9800GT video card. Well, ok, I *had* a 9800GT - along with countless others, I'm pretty sure my card got borked by nVidia's drivers. Anyway, that's what brings me here - I'm looking at replacement cards, and can't seem to decide on a solid answer. Most of what I do is FSX and only 1280*1024, so I concede really don't need much - and what I see in a lot of benchmarks is that the newer cards are essentially downgrades as far as performance besides. So, my question is whether I should get another 9800GT, go with a GTS450/GTX550 ($20 price difference between the two) or try something from ATI? I looked through my boxes and realized every card I've ever gotten has been from EVGA, but that's merely a coincidence, not intentional.

Thanks!

 

[Barfo]

A 580 GTX will last you a long time at that res.

 

[Majcric]

What kind of money are you looking to spend on a new GPU?

 

[LtGoonRush]

I'd look into a Radeon HD 6850 1GB, here's one for $139.99-$15 MIR=$124.99. It's about a third faster than the GTX 550Ti, but has a good bit lower power usage, and thus temperatures and noise levels. If you don't want to spend that much, here's a Radeon HD 6770 1GB for $106.99-$15 MIR=$91.99, which is about as fast or slightly faster than the GTX 550Ti, which means it compares very well to the GTS 450 in terms of price and performance. The 6850 will hold up better with future games than any of the other cards. The 6770 has even lower power usage.

You might also want to look into the upcoming Radeon HD 7700-series, which is expected to launch around February or so, perhaps a bit after that. Since your current card is dead I could definitely understand why you wouldn't want to wait to upgrade though, and those cards may be somewhat more expensive.

 

[aloser]

Thanks again!

If need be I can wait until February, counting the 7700s are released on time and reasonably priced, but don't want to go much beyond that. Pricewise, I'm hoping to stay under $150 at the absolute most.

 

[toyota]

A 580 GTX will last you a long time at that res.

would you please stop making ridiculous recommendations for the gtx580?

 

[Barfo]

would you please stop making ridiculous recommendations for the gtx580?

You're jelly because you only have a 570.

 

[toyota]

You're jelly because you only have a 570.

yeah that must be it.

you keep making that idiotic $500 card recommendation for people with low resolutions and even for a person with a Pentium D.

 

[superjim]

I'd look into a Radeon HD 6850 1GB, here's one for $139.99-$15 MIR=$124.99. It's about a third faster than the GTX 550Ti, but has a good bit lower power usage, and thus temperatures and noise levels. If you don't want to spend that much, here's a Radeon HD 6770 1GB for $106.99-$15 MIR=$91.99, which is about as fast or slightly faster than the GTX 550Ti, which means it compares very well to the GTS 450 in terms of price and performance. The 6850 will hold up better with future games than any of the other cards. The 6770 has even lower power usage.

You might also want to look into the upcoming Radeon HD 7700-series, which is expected to launch around February or so, perhaps a bit after that. Since your current card is dead I could definitely understand why you wouldn't want to wait to upgrade though, and those cards may be somewhat more expensive.

^I'll second this. At your resolution a 6850 will last a good while.

 

[Barfo]

yeah that must be it.

you keep making that idiotic $500 card recommendation for people with low resolutions and even for a person with a Pentium D.

That never happened, I've only suggested the card to people with Core 2s or newer.

 

[toyota]

That never happened, I've only suggested the card to people with Core 2s or newer.

my bad as it was somebody joking that you would probably suggest it with a Pentium D. it was an old 2.33 Core 2 duo though which is still just as stupid for that level of card. on top of that you have suggested it for people with a res of just 1280x1024 or 1440x900. so again please stop suggesting a $500 video card for people where it makes no sense at all.

 

[skipsneeky2]

my bad as it was somebody joking that you would probably suggest it with a Pentium D. it was an old 2.33 Core 2 duo though which is still just as stupid for that level of card. on top of that you have suggested it for people with a res of just 1280x1024 or 1440x900. so again please stop suggesting a $500 video card for people where it makes no sense at all.

Next he will recommend a radeon 7970

 

[VirtualLarry]

Next he will recommend a radeon 7970

For someone with an overclocked Q9300?

 

[Barfo]

my bad as it was somebody joking that you would probably suggest it with a Pentium D. it was an old 2.33 Core 2 duo though which is still just as stupid for that level of card. on top of that you have suggested it for people with a res of just 1280x1024 or 1440x900. so again please stop suggesting a $500 video card for people where it makes no sense at all.

It might not make sense to you, but if someone likes to play all their games with 24x SSAA then it's a good card for that.

 

[toyota]

It might not make sense to you, but if someone likes to play all their games with 24x SSAA then it's a good card for that.

only an ignorant fool would buy or suggest buying a $500 video card to pair up with a cpu that does not even meet minimum requirements for many newer games.

 

[aloser]

HD 6770 it is; thanks again!

 

[VirtualLarry]

only an ignorant fool would buy or suggest buying a $500 video card to pair up with a cpu that does not even meet minimum requirements for many newer games.

As inflammatory as that sounds, I agree. I thought he was joking at first, quite frankly.

 

[Leyawiin]

I'm pretty sure my card got borked by nVidia's drivers

How?

 

[nitromullet]

every card I've ever gotten has been from EVGA

If you registered your 9800GT you probably have a lifetime warranty on it.

http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

 

[aloser]

How?

I had installed the 196-series (I think it was) drivers only to have my card suddenly (coincidentally?) start artifacting. Maybe it was purely coincidental though, hence the "pretty sure" in my post instead of blaming them outright.

If you registered your 9800GT you probably have a lifetime warranty on it.

http://www.evga.com/support/warranty/

Had I registered it, I'm sure you'd be right - but I didn't. :'( (Actually, the box says only 2 years, but it already expired either way)