Upgrading my GCard and I need help!

[bkg1906]

So recently I bought the Acer 23.6 monitor in Hot Deals and couldn't be happier with my choice. While I will not be doing 3d anytime soon, nor do I think I will in general(at least for pc gaming), I have found my GPU to be lacking.

I plan on building a whole new PC all together in the next couple months(when the 1155 boards level out), but in the meantime would like to upgrade my old rig to make use of this monitor.

I currently run a 5750 inside, but it was only supposed to be a hold over card until BFG fixed my wonderful 8800GT OC. Sadly, BFG sent it back to me after my RMA request so now it just sits in a box in the corner with a sad face post it on it. It works, but the fan became really loud, it would overheat, and started to see bad artifacts after about 2 hours of game play.

Now as far as the 5750, it's a nice card, but I can't get max settings on most games with 1920x1080. I don't need to play everything at 60 fps+ max settings, but would like I expect wow to play max at least.

Any help would be great, I have an elastic budget, but prefer to get best bang for the buck without buying a Crysis card.

 

[ZipSpeed]

A GTX 460 are fairly reasonably priced for the performance you get.

 

[biostud]

6850 or GTX 460 1Gb, or if you're willing to spend more then 6950.

 

[nwo]

If you're willing to spend ~$200, a 5870 will give you the best bang for your buck and let you crank it up!

 

[Avalon]

Definitely recommend either a GTX 460 1GB (steer clear of the SE variants, they're crippled) or a Radeon 6850. Either one will handle 1920x1080 easily and won't be more than $150 with a good deal.

 

[3DVagabond]

So recently I bought the Acer 23.6 monitor in Hot Deals and couldn't be happier with my choice. While I will not be doing 3d anytime soon, nor do I think I will in general(at least for pc gaming), I have found my GPU to be lacking.

I plan on building a whole new PC all together in the next couple months(when the 1155 boards level out), but in the meantime would like to upgrade my old rig to make use of this monitor.

I currently run a 5750 inside, but it was only supposed to be a hold over card until BFG fixed my wonderful 8800GT OC. Sadly, BFG sent it back to me after my RMA request so now it just sits in a box in the corner with a sad face post it on it. It works, but the fan became really loud, it would overheat, and started to see bad artifacts after about 2 hours of game play.

Now as far as the 5750, it's a nice card, but I can't get max settings on most games with 1920x1080. I don't need to play everything at 60 fps+ max settings, but would like I expect wow to play max at least.

Any help would be great, I have an elastic budget, but prefer to get best bang for the buck without buying a Crysis card.

I didn't realize a 8800gt is faster than a 5750. Is there something I'm missing here?

 

[MentalIlness]

I didn't realize a 8800gt is faster than a 5750. Is there something I'm missing here?

Its not. As far as I know, a 5750 is roughly equal to a 9800GTX I believe.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/173?vs=178

 

[3DVagabond]

OP, Why are you basically saying that the 5750 was just a place holder for your 8800gt if it's faster? Seems like if you were going to be satisfied with your old card this one would be fine too.

 

[Arkaign]

OP, Why are you basically saying that the 5750 was just a place holder for your 8800gt if it's faster? Seems like if you were going to be satisfied with your old card this one would be fine too.

This. Also 5750's usually oc pretty well, at least to 5770 levels, and I run 1920x1200 with almost all games with great details with little lag. I came from a GTS250 to the 5770, and it's definitely an upgrade. Before the GTS250 I had a 9600GT, which was not too far off of the 8800GT.

 

[bkg1906]

I'm sure the 5750 is better than the 8800 GT, but I was pretty loyal to the card and it seemed to still be holding up well. I was going to sell the card on CL as I got it for one hell of a deal so making money on the card was my original idea.

I was content with my 8800, was not happy after time. I'm going to be watching the hot deals forum for the suggestions listed above. I can pump up to 250, but it starts to chop away at my 1k budget for a new rig.

So between the 4 mentioned:
5870
6950
460 or 6850

with $250 being my absolute max, what should I be getting? I would prefer to spend 200ish, but if increasing the head room will be "that much better", then I'm willing to do it.

 

[3DVagabond]

Maybe on of these. YMMV.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...^14-127-555-TS

 

[Cerb]

Throwing in a few more:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121419
If you plan to OC, a very nice option, and doesn't hit your max budget. Not the cheapest for what it is, but a nice value, pre-OCed, and generally being a card friendly to further OCing.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150523
Not bad at all w/ MIR.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150530
This is equivalent to the MSI in 3DVagabind's link, but with a different cooler design. The nice thing about this and that MSI are the 2GB RAM, which could help extend the card's useful life, if you keep them until they just don't cut it, anymore.

Also, if the 6950 is reference (I don't know of any that aren't, but YMMV), there's an excellent chance that it will successfully flash to a 6970.

...ALL THAT BEING SAID, based on your OP, I would either stick to the 5750, or if WoW still loves nV cards, these days, pick up a GTS 450 or 460 1GB w/ nice MIR, and focus on upgrading your CPU, and possibly storage, instead of getting a really nice video card. I think if you put the difference towards an SSD, you'd likely be much more pleased with the resulting computer, FI.

 

[nwo]

So between the 4 mentioned:
5870
6950
460 or 6850

with $250 being my absolute max, what should I be getting? I would prefer to spend 200ish, but if increasing the head room will be "that much better", then I'm willing to do it.

Best bang for your buck is 5870, if you want to stay at $200. XFX is one of the best brands, because of their double lifetime warranty, the other brands can't compete with them at that price.

If you want even more performance, you should get a 6950 2GB version and flash it to a 6970. If you have no intentions of flashing or spending $245 for the cheapest MSI model (after MIR), then you should also consider the 1GB version, which is incredibly low priced nowadays. You can pick it up for only $215 after MIR + get a $10 promo gift card, which would make it only $205, so it would be a better price/performance deal over a 5870:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-523-_-Product

 

[santz]

GTX 460 or ATI 5870 or both the best bang for the buck cards at the moment, and on sale too,

 

[Arkadrel]

around 150$ mark:
460 1gb (~10$ cheaper) or 6850 1gb (~5% faster or so, uses less power (E Bills))

around 200$ mark:
5870 is a pretty good buy (~30% faster (depending on the game) than a 460 1gb)

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I think you should go ahead and buy a Nvidia card so you have the option of nvidia 3d in the future. You already have the 3d monitor.

$250 should get you a gtx 560 and maybe a gtx 570 for a little more.

 

[Arkadrel]

AMD cards can do 3D gameing and movies too Oilfieldtrash... So reguardless of which new card he gets he ll be able to do it.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

AMD cards can do 3D gameing and movies too Oilfieldtrash... So reguardless of which new card he gets he ll be able to do it.

No AMD's 3D is not supported on the current monitor he is using. I'm not sure why you are so convinced AMD's 3D solution works so well when no one is using it and the few people that chime in on the subject always say they are having issues with AMD's 3d? I recommend nvidia's 3d because I own it, I use it regularly, and it kicks ass. I'm not sure why you're so quick to recommend something you have no experience with?

 

[bryanW1995]

I'm sure the 5750 is better than the 8800 GT, but I was pretty loyal to the card and it seemed to still be holding up well. I was going to sell the card on CL as I got it for one hell of a deal so making money on the card was my original idea.

I was content with my 8800, was not happy after time. I'm going to be watching the hot deals forum for the suggestions listed above. I can pump up to 250, but it starts to chop away at my 1k budget for a new rig.

So between the 4 mentioned:
5870
6950
460 or 6850

with $250 being my absolute max, what should I be getting? I would prefer to spend 200ish, but if increasing the head room will be "that much better", then I'm willing to do it.

I like the $200 AR xfx 5870 that 3dvagabond linked. That's what I would get in your situation.