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Upgrading from Nvidia 9800 GT

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Darknecron

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2010
Location
Furfagia
I am surprised how well my OCed 9800 GT (700/1750/1000) has performed, even in the more recent games (ie: Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2), but it is starting to show its age. I am looking to buy a card able to run Bad Company 2 Maxed out (All high, 4xAA, 8xAF, HBAO on) in 1440x900 resolution while still maintaining 60+ frames. I have done my research and here is the question:

Should I go with a GTX 470, GTX 460 1gb, HD 6870, or HD 6850?

My specs are here:
Intel core 2 quad 2.83ghz ==> Here
4 gigs DDR2 RAM
580 watt PSU
500 gig hard drive
Generic 1440x900 monitor
1 side , 1 front , and 1 rear fan

I am currently leaning towards the GTX 470.

I do not think my quad core would cause any bottlenecking.
 
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I run it max settings at 1280x1024 at only around 40ish FPS with a OCed 4890. So, you'd need something over double as powerful, which is NOT a 460, and probably not a 6850.
 
I run it max settings at 1280x1024 at only around 40ish FPS with a OCed 4890. So, you'd need something over double as powerful, which is NOT a 460, and probably not a 6850.

Which is why im leaning for the GTX 470...it literally has 4 times the stream processors as my card.
 
Either the HD 6870 or GTX 470 will do. But you'll be bottlenecked by your CPU and I doubt you can get 60 fps with those settings. BFBC2's engine is very CPU-dependent and scales well with multiple cores... so if you OC to around 3.6 ghz or above, that will make a big difference.
 
GTX 470 without a doubt, but if your going to be Overclocking your CPU as don'tknow suggested you should. Might want to look over your PSU, possibly purchase a larger one if it is not of a quality brand :)
 
at that resolution, a 6850 or 460 should be fine
the 470gtx offers really good price/performance, but i doubt the 580w psu and that c2d might bottleneck it at those clocks
 
Either the HD 6870 or GTX 470 will do. But you'll be bottlenecked by your CPU and I doubt you can get 60 fps with those settings. BFBC2's engine is very CPU-dependent and scales well with multiple cores... so if you OC to around 3.6 ghz or above, that will make a big difference.

at that resolution, a 6850 or 460 should be fine
the 470gtx offers really good price/performance, but i doubt the 580w psu and that c2d might bottleneck it at those clocks


You think a quad core will bottleneck a GTX 470? I never would have guessed. o_O
 
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Its the speed and frequency of your CPU not how many cores you have that determines the bottle neck. At your current speed you would bottle neck most new midrage/high end Graphics cards right now.
 
Get the 470 imho, and then make that yorkfeild do what it was born to do.. 4ghz.. glancing at your specs i would agree with the PSU check with running that card and oc'n.. and ofcourse anything else.. but you'll breath a lot more of life into that thing even with a mild 3's OC

and :welcome: to the forums!
 
Its the speed and frequency of your CPU not how many cores you have that determines the bottle neck. At your current speed you would bottle neck most new midrage/high end Graphics cards right now.

I see...

Get the 470 imho, and then make that yorkfeild do what it was born to do.. 4ghz.. glancing at your specs i would agree with the PSU check with running that card and oc'n.. and ofcourse anything else.. but you'll breath a lot more of life into that thing even with a mild 3's OC

and :welcome: to the forums!

What kind of heating issues may I run in to with a core frequency of 3.6 ghz? I have a 80 mm front fan, one 120 mm side fan, and one 80 mm rear fan.
The rear and side fans are as big as they can get, but the front fan will soon be a 120 mm...

And thanks for the welcome. :)
 
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I see...



What kind of heating issues may I run in to with a core frequency of 3.6 ghz? I have a 80 mm front fan, one 120 mm side fan, and one 80 mm rear fan.
The rear and side fans are as big as they can get, but the front fan will soon be a 120 mm...

And thanks for the welcome. :)

C2Q at 3.6 may or may not warrant a new heat sink. Some of them run cooler than others. I remember there was one that ran really cool, but can't remember the model number for the life of me :/
 
Its the speed and frequency of your CPU not how many cores you have that determines the bottle neck. At your current speed you would bottle neck most new midrage/high end Graphics cards right now.

Careful with this one...you are right, but BFBC2 is extremely multi core friendly/hungry. It runs a million times better on a quad than a dual for me. More cores going faster is always a good idea, lol. :D
 
Careful with this one...you are right, but BFBC2 is extremely multi core friendly/hungry. It runs a million times better on a quad than a dual for me. More cores going faster is always a good idea, lol. :D

yeah yeah :) it is a varying issue as different games stress different parts e.g. RTS being more CPU intense :) but i was giving a general overview of what bottleneck between GPU and CPU :) But you have made a good point! Guess these days if you want a power GFX card, you need an equally powerful CPU to balance it out :santa:
 
C2Q at 3.6 may or may not warrant a new heat sink. Some of them run cooler than others. I remember there was one that ran really cool, but can't remember the model number for the life of me :/

So I should be good whith my crappy little fans and stock heatsink?
I was considering this heatsink as a replacement.
 
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Either this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

or Possibly at TRUE 120 would be much better for you if you want minimal temps :) however that all depends on how much you want to spend :)

That looks like a high quality cooler, but it's a bit out of my price range...and it's a bit to large for my case...I think. I just need a reasonably effective cooler that can keep a Q9550 @ 3.6ghz below 65C....

I'ma put a thread about this in the intell cpu cection.
 
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im not sure if you would need to oc that to 3.6, ive run bfbc2 on my Q6600 2.4 without seeing any slowdowns, although i haven't checked fps, i haven't felt slowdowns, but if a minimum 60+ fps is a must then you probably need to
 
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