Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice

bobbyd3 · 11-20-2008, 08:32 AM

So I just ordered this pc from newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883109018

I have been planning on building my own dream pc for a while now, but this was $300 and I figured I was looking at $1200 if I went all out. Figure this will have to do for a while.

So I upgraded the ram to the max 4gb, and am going to order a new power supply and vid card. But I cant decide on what video card to get.

This pc has pci-e x16 slot, but I read that pci-e 2.0 cards can be used as well. I was thinking of going with a geforce 8800, or 9800 maybe one ofe these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143119
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150316

not sure what best way is, any suggestions?

**emosun** · 11-20-2008, 09:19 AM

A 9800 with a decent dual slot cooler would be good. Remember both the 8800 and 9800 will need a quality 650w or higher powersupply with 26amps on the 12v rail.

**Mcninjaguy** · 11-20-2008, 09:41 AM

this 9800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127379

and this PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023

after rebates should be less than $165 with tax

**emosun** · 11-20-2008, 09:48 AM

That would be a good setup.

bobbyd3 · 11-20-2008, 02:19 PM

You guys think a 528mb card is sufficient?
I noticed a 1gb vid card thats not to expensive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130391

seems to have similar clock speeds as others I am looking at but with double the memory for either the same or slightly more money.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

**emosun** · 11-20-2008, 04:28 PM

512mb is plenty. The reason why is because the cards have the same gpu and clock speeds. So a 1gb card running at very high resolutions will be more stressed then a 512 running at normal resolutions (because it would be the same gpu powering it). With todays games 512 is more then enough for anything.

The cards that take a real advantage of 1 or 2 gb of video ram are the gtx's (9800 gtx or gtx 280's and so on). They have the gpu power to back up the large ammount of ram.

**Mcninjaguy** · 11-20-2008, 05:56 PM

the only cards that take advantage of more than 512 mb of GPU ram are the ATI 4000 series and the GTX 200 series

bobbyd3 · 11-20-2008, 06:34 PM

I think I may go with the the geforce 9800 512

Now I just have to decide on which one/brand to get.
I was looking at the one a previous post had a link to or maybe this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150316

the XFX card seems to have more reviews, and free shipping so basically same price and comes with Call of duty 4 so maybe I can sell that off for a few bucks on ebay

**Mcninjaguy** · 11-20-2008, 10:58 PM

the only problem I got with the card is it won't run as cool as with a graphics card that can push air out of the back of the case.

Otherwise that card looks like a good deal

bobbyd3 · 11-20-2008, 11:13 PM

Ahhhhh decisions decisions

So I was looking at the XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+
Its basically same card but with 2200mhz memory clock vs 1800 and 738mhz core clock vs 600mhz of cheaper gt.

Its about a $70-$80 price difference, all reviews say the gtx+ is a very good card. Not sure if that increase in speed will make a difference with the processor in the pc.

I am fairly sold on the gtx+, tigerdirect has it including far cry 2 which sweetens the deal over new egg but they show a 7-21 day ship time, longer than I want to wait.

**Mcninjaguy** · 11-20-2008, 11:38 PM

I've been playing far cry 2 pretty sweet game!

**emosun** · 11-21-2008, 01:13 AM

Whichever you get make sure you have the dual slot cooler. That oem compaq case isn't going to have very good stock cooling so you will need the card that moves the air out of that case.

bobbyd3 · 11-21-2008, 01:31 AM

Well I ordered the xfx geforce 9800 gtx+ ended up finding it at mwave.com with far cry 2, never heard of them but they had good reviews so I am chancing it.

I think I am going to get a new case, as all reviews of the video card say its large and as always the new power supply I am now looking for is going to have 8,000 extra wires to try and cram somewhere.

**emosun** · 11-21-2008, 03:02 AM

Move your cd drive to the second slot down from the top and put your extra wire in the empty top slot. Works great for me , all you can see in my case is the motherboard plugs.

bobbyd3 · 11-21-2008, 03:12 AM

From looking at cases on newegg, reviews make it sound like I need a full tower to fit this vid card, but now im spending more than I wanted to so I found a mid-size case with good cooling, space, etc.. that the card will fit.

Now just pick a PSU and im done

**emosun** · 11-21-2008, 11:21 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171024

11-20-2008, 08:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice So I just ordered this pc from newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883109018 I have been planning on building my own dream pc for a while now, but this was $300 and I figured I was looking at $1200 if I went all out. Figure this will have to do for a while. So I upgraded the ram to the max 4gb, and am going to order a new power supply and vid card. But I cant decide on what video card to get. This pc has pci-e x16 slot, but I read that pci-e 2.0 cards can be used as well. I was thinking of going with a geforce 8800, or 9800 maybe one ofe these. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143119 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150316 not sure what best way is, any suggestions?

11-20-2008, 09:19 AM	#2 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice A 9800 with a decent dual slot cooler would be good. Remember both the 8800 and 9800 will need a quality 650w or higher powersupply with 26amps on the 12v rail. __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card

11-20-2008, 09:41 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8,085 OS: Windows 7 64bit, Ubuntu 8.10 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice this 9800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127379 and this PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023 after rebates should be less than $165 with tax __________________ If you have problem PM me and I'll respond in the thread you made power-supply-information-selection Microsoft MVP Neal K Last edited by Mcninjaguy; 11-20-2008 at 09:44 AM.

11-20-2008, 09:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice That would be a good setup. __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card

11-20-2008, 02:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice You guys think a 528mb card is sufficient? I noticed a 1gb vid card thats not to expensive. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130391 seems to have similar clock speeds as others I am looking at but with double the memory for either the same or slightly more money. Any opinions would be appreciated.

11-20-2008, 04:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice 512mb is plenty. The reason why is because the cards have the same gpu and clock speeds. So a 1gb card running at very high resolutions will be more stressed then a 512 running at normal resolutions (because it would be the same gpu powering it). With todays games 512 is more then enough for anything. The cards that take a real advantage of 1 or 2 gb of video ram are the gtx's (9800 gtx or gtx 280's and so on). They have the gpu power to back up the large ammount of ram. __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card

11-20-2008, 05:56 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8,085 OS: Windows 7 64bit, Ubuntu 8.10 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice the only cards that take advantage of more than 512 mb of GPU ram are the ATI 4000 series and the GTX 200 series __________________ If you have problem PM me and I'll respond in the thread you made power-supply-information-selection Microsoft MVP Neal K

11-20-2008, 06:34 PM	#8 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice I think I may go with the the geforce 9800 512 Now I just have to decide on which one/brand to get. I was looking at the one a previous post had a link to or maybe this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150316 the XFX card seems to have more reviews, and free shipping so basically same price and comes with Call of duty 4 so maybe I can sell that off for a few bucks on ebay Last edited by bobbyd3; 11-20-2008 at 06:42 PM.

11-20-2008, 10:58 PM	#9 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8,085 OS: Windows 7 64bit, Ubuntu 8.10 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice the only problem I got with the card is it won't run as cool as with a graphics card that can push air out of the back of the case. Otherwise that card looks like a good deal __________________ If you have problem PM me and I'll respond in the thread you made power-supply-information-selection Microsoft MVP Neal K

11-20-2008, 11:13 PM	#10 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice Ahhhhh decisions decisions So I was looking at the XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ Its basically same card but with 2200mhz memory clock vs 1800 and 738mhz core clock vs 600mhz of cheaper gt. Its about a $70-$80 price difference, all reviews say the gtx+ is a very good card. Not sure if that increase in speed will make a difference with the processor in the pc. I am fairly sold on the gtx+, tigerdirect has it including far cry 2 which sweetens the deal over new egg but they show a 7-21 day ship time, longer than I want to wait.

11-20-2008, 11:38 PM	#11 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 8,085 OS: Windows 7 64bit, Ubuntu 8.10 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice I've been playing far cry 2 pretty sweet game! __________________ If you have problem PM me and I'll respond in the thread you made power-supply-information-selection Microsoft MVP Neal K

11-21-2008, 01:13 AM	#12 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice Whichever you get make sure you have the dual slot cooler. That oem compaq case isn't going to have very good stock cooling so you will need the card that moves the air out of that case. __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card

11-21-2008, 01:31 AM	#13 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice Well I ordered the xfx geforce 9800 gtx+ ended up finding it at mwave.com with far cry 2, never heard of them but they had good reviews so I am chancing it. I think I am going to get a new case, as all reviews of the video card say its large and as always the new power supply I am now looking for is going to have 8,000 extra wires to try and cram somewhere.

11-21-2008, 03:02 AM	#14 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice Move your cd drive to the second slot down from the top and put your extra wire in the empty top slot. Works great for me , all you can see in my case is the motherboard plugs. __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card

11-21-2008, 03:12 AM	#15 (permalink)
bobbyd3 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 25 OS: XP	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice From looking at cases on newegg, reviews make it sound like I need a full tower to fit this vid card, but now im spending more than I wanted to so I found a mid-size case with good cooling, space, etc.. that the card will fit. Now just pick a PSU and im done Last edited by bobbyd3; 11-21-2008 at 03:29 AM.

11-21-2008, 11:21 AM	#16 (permalink)
emosun Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: usa Posts: 5,541 OS: xp pro sp2 My System	Re: Bought a pc, looking for vid card upgrade advice http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171024 __________________ Speedfan Everest Gpu Benchmarks How to install a power supply How to install a video card