Which card for me, upgrade??X2 3800+

[germanjulian]

Hi guys,

currently have
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (will not OC!!! partitions are encrypted)
# Kingston HyperX 2GB Kit
# E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT

new 24"inch benq FP241W 1920 x 1200 monitor.

some games dont run so smooth at high high resolutions with all the effects on so I thought its time for an upgrade.

Seeming as I dont have a very fast CPU any more and dont see much point in getting some overpriced X2 on ebay (low supply high demand) and don’t want to buy a graphics card that will be overkill for my CPU (cpu limited) I am wondering what card to get?

Which nvidia card is a worthwhile upgrade for the next year. Also thinking of getting a Zalman reserator 2. Also only have a 400W Zalman power supply (1 hard drive, 2 optical).

Money is not really an objective. Has to be nvidia.

 

[UglyChild]

7950x2 is a good card. That would be a good step up. Or even a 8800GTS.

 

[germanjulian]

I was thinking a 7950GT acctually. Next xmas is upgrade time anyway.

will a 400w psu suffice?

 

[grayg]

Get an 8800GTS at 1920x1200 resolution you won't see much of a bottleneck the graphics card is going to be doing most of the work + with you running your X2 overclocked by 300mhz theres less chance it will hold it back.

Having said that I'm not sure if your PSU would be upto powering the 8800GTS, certainly wouldn't risk it with an 8800GTX anyway.

Look here: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-034-OK as you can see they are running all that with a 380watt Antec PSU, perhaps that gives you an idea of what you can get out of your 400watt zalman?

 

[ctrl_alt_del_]

I got a 7950 gt with a x2 3800 - works beautifully on my 2405 (similar display) - you might want to get another 7800gt in SLI if your mobo supports it...

 

[Drew@PSU]

Another 7800GT is a fine bet, IMO. If you are only running one monitor, it will easily push all the graphics your CPU can handle. My setup chokes with huge BF2 maps and 60+ people sometimes, so you should be quite fine with either the 7950 or another 7800gt, plus SLI rocks

 

[sephiroth_749]

i think 2 7800gt's would pwn and plus you can get a refurb for pretty cheap from the egg

 

[cr0ss]

just wait till nvidia comes out with the 8600s, for now get your self a crappy video card XD

 

[stereo555]

I think a 8800gts would do ya pretty good specialy with the resolution you'll be running . Remember the 8800xx series performs better and off loads less cpu usage and more to to the v/card (gpu) the harder you run them (higher resolutions/more eye-candy/AA-AF) .The 8800xx series starts to shine when you go 1680x1250 or higher .