Another "new graphics card for under £150" thread

[reeve1987]

hi guys.

sorry to post another one of these threads.

but im currently running a PNY G210 512mb GPU and thats powering 19" wide screen and a 15" 4:1 monitor and just received a beta for a new game (cant say which as its a closed beta, sorry guys) and the game lags like hell because of the GPU and well im looking to blow a rather tasty £150 (maximum, cant go over that) or less on the most powerful GPU i can get for that as a total max.

im running an i7 system with 3gb triple channel ddr3 ram, i have a pci-e second generation slot. i'd like to stick to nvidias chips because i can shove the 512mb down a lot to run the smaller monitor on its own and have the new gpu run my main monitor (and 3rd when i get that one)

so can anyone give me a nice little list of links to decent graphic cards to choose from?

i also have a 600w psu so thats another limitation as it doesnt have the GPU power connectors (but i DO have a couple of unused molex connectors)

thank you in advance, appreciate it.


edit: found these http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000101&pid=305

but they only have 128bit and was looking for something just as powerful in other areas but with a 256+ or would this card handle the likes of COD/WOW with video settings at say....70%/80% max?

 

[Miss Chief]

If £150 is your absolute top end maximum then you can't really go wrong with one of these and free delivery for AVforum members too!

 

[reeve1987]

thats a pretty sweet card. definatly seems it will be the best for the price range.

looks like in 8 weeks i will be placing an order (got stupid lounge carpet to pay for before the GPU, totally sucks)

thanks for that link!

 

[reeve1987]

okay so now i have an issue.

i run the msi X58 pro mobo, i will be using the GTX460 as my primary, how do you tell your bios/windows which GPU is the primary graphics card? (not monitor, i know that one, but the actual GPU) i need to set my 512mb card as secondary.

they wont be crossfired/sli'd. they'll be acting indivudually.

 

[Miss Chief]

That I'm not sure about. Perhaps in the Bios?

 

[harkinsteven]

Right click on the desktop and choose nvidia control panel. You can set your monitor options there.

 

[reeve1987]

cheers for that.

this GTX460 GPU share the system ram? or does it share system ram automatically? i know some cards take out memory from the system and dedicate that to graphics (usually onboard gpu's) but i dont want this card to take ANY system ram at all from other operations till i upgrade my ram again.

 

[harkinsteven]

No this card will not take up your system ram. Only onboard GPUs do that.

 

[EndlessWaves]

Only onboard GPUs do that.

It's not only onboard graphics, many low end cards use it. ATI Calls it Hypermemory and nVidia Turbocache

However, nothing even close to £150 will use it and the GTX 460 certainly won't.

 

[Ted]

Just a couple of points, the gpu in the uppermost slot will be the primary.

And as long as you are running a 64bit OS you won't have any memory issues, if you're running a 32bit OS then the OS will map the memory of all onboard devices, including gpu's, prior to mapping your system ram. Bearing in mind that a 32bit OS can only address up to 4Gb of memory, unless you utilise PAE but you won't want to go there. Basically, just make sure you're running a 64bit OS or you will limit the amount of system ram you can utilise to about 2.5Gb or so.