What tier of GPU is necessary to power a 24" LCD, for modern games with high detail?

[xboxist]

I'd like to stick with a single-GPU setup if I can help it. Am I simply stuck needing a $400-$500 card? OR... is that not even enough and I have to go with dual cards to achieve this on a 24"?

It's been a few years since my last build, and I'm upgrading from 20", so this is new territory for me.

Thank you.

 

[EnzoLT]

24" im guessing the resolution would be 1920x1080 or 1920x1200.

the days of paying for $600 top-of-the-line cards are almost gone (nvidia). ati has the hd5870 for around $350-$400 (inflation) and the hd5850 for $250-$300 (inflation). these cards can power that monitor and then some. ofcourse these are ATi's top of the line at the moment until hd5970 releases but these cards will be plenty for your monitor.

 

[MStele]

Any Geforce 260+ should be able to do it no problem. I have a 260 216 and I pretty much max everything at 1920X1200. On occasion I might have to lower AA/AF to 4/8, but everything is fully playable..and thats with V-sync. IMO, I would go with a Geforce 285 GTX, which would cover your bases nicely. ATI makes some nice stuff to, but atm I feel Nvidia has the edge in drivers/power.

 

[Barfo]

Any Geforce 260+ should be able to do it no problem. I have a 260 216 and I pretty much max everything at 1920X1200. On occasion I might have to lower AA/AF to 4/8, but everything is fully playable..and thats with V-sync. IMO, I would go with a Geforce 285 GTX, which would cover your bases nicely. ATI makes some nice stuff to, but atm I feel Nvidia has the edge in drivers/power.

Wrong.

 

[xboxist]

Thank you much -- good info.

 

[Blazer7]

I would avoid the gtx285 if I were you. The 5850 is cheaper, faster, and supports DX11. Right now, ATi is the way to go.

 

[EnzoLT]

Thank you much -- good info.

no problem

 

[TheSlamma]

I would avoid the gtx285 if I were you. The 5850 is cheaper, faster, and supports DX11. Right now, ATi is the way to go.

agreed... once you can get a hold of one anyway

 

[nOOky]

agreed... once you can get a hold of one anyway

5850, 4890, or GTX 260 OC would be my order of choice. 4890 being the best value.

 

[MrK6]

5850, 4890, or GTX 260 OC would be my order of choice. 4890 being the best value.

My sentiments more or less, although I tend to favor overkill and would grab the 5850.

 

[lopri]

It really depends on how demanding you are. If you don't mind adjusting some details per games as necessary then a 8800 GT may suffice. On the other hand, if you are easily frustrated by occasional slowdowns (like me) then you'll want to have the best you can afford. You can never have enough GPU power.

 

[exar333]

5850, 4890, or GTX 260 OC would be my order of choice. 4890 being the best value.

+1 for this advice.

The 4890 or GTX 260 is probably the best deal right now for this resolution, and you can usually find one or the other with a good price and/or rebate. If you want more power, and DX11, the 5850 is good, but almost impossible to find.

If I was upgrading an old card (<8800GT) and not playing the newest games, I would probably spring for a 4850 ~$75-80 and wait a few months for the dust to settle. If you want to play the newest games, the 4890 or GTX 260 would be better choices.

 

[kmmatney]

My HD4890 seems to be a good match for my 24" display and I've been happy with the performance. So I would go with the HD4890, unless you are real budget restricted, in which case the HD4850 provides great bang for the buck. The GTX 260 is also good, but hard to justify over the HD4890 in that price range.

 

[cbn]

I'd like to stick with a single-GPU setup if I can help it. Am I simply stuck needing a $400-$500 card? OR... is that not even enough and I have to go with dual cards to achieve this on a 24"?

It's been a few years since my last build, and I'm upgrading from 20", so this is new territory for me.

Thank you.

I'm sure you would be more than happy with a HD5850 (if you could find one).

I have a HD4870 1GB and to me this card is already overkill for 1680x1050. (although I haven't tried the Crysis demo yet)

 

[v8envy]

I can state for a fact the 8800GT is *not* enough at 1920x1200 in a large and rapidly growing list of new titles if you so much as think about turning eye candy on. Even overclocked 20&#37;.

However, two of them may be. I'd be tempted to backpedal on my no multi-GPU stance if I could find another ECS 8800GT and flexible SLI bridge cheap and local. That'd keep me limping along until 5 series cards are plentiful (next year).

 

[bigriggg]

yes, stated above an 8800gt is not enough. i just upgraded from one. now i have a 5850 i just broke in, fresh today, as we speak, and let me tell you, its a champdizzle, forshizzzle....

 

[zoic]

I can state for a fact the 8800GT is *not* enough at 1920x1200 in a large and rapidly growing list of new titles if you so much as think about turning eye candy on. Even overclocked 20%.

However, two of them may be. I'd be tempted to backpedal on my no multi-GPU stance if I could find another ECS 8800GT and flexible SLI bridge cheap and local. That'd keep me limping along until 5 series cards are plentiful (next year).

I am doing exactly what you are planning to do. Have been "limping" around with a 8800GT SLI since the summer. The cards are factory OC units OC'd a little more :twisted: to 700/950. Both have Accelero S1 and run basicly passive, with a 120mm blowing at them from the front.

They are plenty fast for a a little older games at 1920x1200, but for example Shattered Horizon I have to turn everything at the "speed" level to get 60fps.

One thing keeping me from buying a 5870 is the fact that nobody has them in store, prices went up, and theres no custom cooler versions of them yet. With my current GFX setup very VERY quiet, I'm not too keen on putting a leafblower in there :hmm:

 

[Acanthus]

I run max everything in the games i play on my 24.3" 1920x1080.

GTA4
Supreme Commander
Neverwinter Nights 2
Eve Online
GR:AW
Orange Box
ET:QW

on my 4890 1GB (its in the rig in sig, i need to update that)

 

[terentenet]

If you want futureproof, go with the ATI 5850/5870. It's the best you can buy right now, if you can find them available for sale. These are DX11 cards that will get you through some future DX11 games as well.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend anything Nvidia right now, I wish I could (I'm biased towards Nvidia). They don't have any DX11 cards yet and it will be a few months until we see them.

 

[xboxist]

After reading over your posts and doing some more research, at this point I'm 95% likely to just go with a 5870 and call it done. My two previous cards were the 9700pro and the one I currently have, the x1900xt. I've had zero issues with the cards, so I'm more than willing to stick with ATI on my next card.

DX11 capability will hopefully make the card useful for many years to come. And it's fine that the 5870 is virtually non-existent right now, because I won't be building this machine for 2-3 months anyway.

Thanks for your input!

 

[MStele]

Wrong.

Lol its an opinion, how can it be wrong? It's a relative statement, as in "from the viewpoint of". In any case, for the money ATI is generally the better bargain but pound for pound Nvidia cards are generally faster in regards to single gpu sets. Nvidia tends to charge a premium for that performance though so if money is the biggest concern then ATI it is. Crossfire/Sli are a bit harder to compare because some games prefer multi-gpu and some don't. However, this post is about performance and not about cost.

In my "opinion", ATI hasn't made a superior card since the 9800 Pro. There have been comparable cards, but nothing to brag about.

 

[yh125d]

4870 1gb/GTX260 and up Is plenty to play at 1920x1200 with decently high settings. You won't be getting 40fps in crysis, or using 8xAA in FC2, but those are plenty to happily play most games

 

[T2k]

If you want DX11 and have more money and can wait, get 5850 X2 2GB.

Otherwise buy a 4850 X2 2GB like mine for cheap now and play everything @1920x1200 maxed out.

 

[theAnimal]

Lol its an opinion, how can it be wrong?

If it can easily be refuted with benchmarks, that's how.

 

[MStele]

If it can easily be refuted with benchmarks, that's how.

"but atm I feel Nvidia has the edge in drivers/power."

That is the statement that was originally questioned, and it is a statement that cannot be refuted because as worded its based completely on opinion which was derived from experience. I've owned many Nvidia and ATI cards and have seen how the trends go. Obviously, if you want to prove a point one way or the other, its very easy to pick out a particular card or driver set, point at it, and say how awesome or horrible it is. Both Nvidia and ATI have had dogs in the race. However, in the single gpu world, where most of us reside, ATI hasn't been able to compete with the 200 GTX series in power, the same way AMD hasn't been able to beat Intel's i7 line. Does it mean ATI sucks? Absolutely not. They make great gear, and very recently has come out with some killer cards. In general, ATI cards are a much better value for the money.

I'm judging their performance over the past 24 months, and "in my opinion", Nvidia has maintained a stronger product line, especially since they integrated the physics driver. Benchmarks can support that. ATI has nothing to compete with that at the moment, and until they do ATI users are going to get shafted in games like Batman AA. I hope that changes soon. It's time ATI took its turn at the top of the hill.

I know they have a new line coming out that is supposed to be amazing, so we'll see how that goes. I guess we have both ATI and Nvidia fanboys out there so no matter what I type some people will disagree, and thats fine. Just remember, those are just opinions to.