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:confused:I'm using Vista Home Premium, Intel Core 2, 6400 @ 2.13 GHz, 2.0 RAM and a GeForce 7600 GS.
I see a number of nVidia 9600 GT cards on NewEgg around $100. What some of the better ones as I occassionally play games and my 7600 is good but getting outdated. I also watch some HD streaming videos.
Thanks for any input!
Mike
It's basically a coin toss. After a quick peek around, they range from $69.00 to $129.00 many of which have rebates. The specs on em also go up a bit with the price.
Tom's Hardware shows the following to be the leader of the pack for the 9600 models:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/g...ode-2,768.html
Asus GeForce 9600GT Video Card
PNY VCG98GTXPXPB GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Free Call of Duty – World at War w/ purchase, limited offer
$164.99 ($124.99 after $40.00 Mail-In Rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e%209800%20GTX
GIGABYTE GV-R485ZL-512H Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
Zalman Dual Heatpipe Cooling Fan
$134.99 ($114.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) w/Free Shipping*
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...204850%20512mb
Great info...thanks! The PNY with Call of Duty looks like a good deal and card.
Mike
You're welcome. :)
I’m running Vista Home Premium, SP2, Intel Core Duo 2,13GHz, 232 GB H/D capacity and 2 GB RAM. I also my cable band widths average 10,000 – 12,000 mbps during peak times and right now on DSL Reports shows 22224/02113 mbps at 1:00 AM. My video card is “still” the nVidia GeForce 7600 GS. My monitor is an HD ViewSonic 20” VX 2035WM. My sound card is a Creative SB Audigy that’s about 2 years old.
I just watched the U2 streaming video full screen and the video was very good but I’d like better HD effect for streaming videos. Also, I don’t game much but I was told the new Call of Duty game would really push my video card. I’m also thinking of increasing my RAM.
My last reply in May 2009 was the PNY VCG98GTXPXPB GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express for an upgrade which still shows on Newegg. Is that card still a good way to go or is there anything better now?
Also, would 4 GB RAM help the video…I know it would help running the new games. Any better audio card suggestions for my Boston Acoustics would be great.
Thanks,
Mike
Yes, there are better cards now but their more expensive than the $124.00 card that was mentioned above. The newer GT/GS models are much better in performance but also close to the price of the Geforce 9 cards were.
Here's two:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127426
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121337
If you're running a 32bit OS, adding enough ram to make 4gb, you'll only utilize 3~3.5 of that 4gb.
A better than onboard sound might be the Creative X-Fi Xtreme version:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16829102007
9800 GT - 116W
9800 GX2 - 182W
GTX 260 -136W
Those are the max power requirements.
I have tried a PNY 9800 GT card before and got rid of it right quick. Ran VERY, VERY hot. The cooling solution PNY used on that card left much to be desired.
I use two EVGA GTX 260's and also use the X-Fi Fatality pro sound card. Couldn't be happier with the performance of the cards. On photolady's second link: I find it odd that Asus didn't encase that card like everyone else has. Another note: if you go with a GTX 260, make real sure you have room in the case....they are quite long....and you will need at least two 6-pin graphics card connectors on your psu.
Thanks for the great tips. I'll check my case or ask my local and trusted PC shop if there would any problems getting the graphics card to fit.
On Windows 7, is the rule of thumb to wait a few months to see how it performs, stability, bugs with older software/hardware, etc? Vista has run well for me but some of the multimedia bells and whistles haven't done much for me.
Thanks,
Mike
If Vista runs well then Win 7 will run at least as well, and probably better. At their core they aren't very different
Here's yet another card that is not a whole lot more then the card you asked about (after rebate $127.99). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...L0D-_-14130469
Thanks Bugs...it looks like a much better card than my current nVidia GeForce 7300 GS. Will I notice a large improvement with streaming videos and games with my current system listed above? I'd like a faster processor and my main board is quad ready but I don't need that expensive if a processor. Also, thankfully I'm the only user on this PC.
I have a ThermalTake Swing case. I don't know if you can answer this, but space wise, will there be a problem fitting this card in my case without having to move my HD like threads mentioned above regarding various other cards?
Thanks again!
Mike
·Height: 4.376in - 111.15mm
·Length: 9.5 in - 241.3 mm
Per the Download spec sheet pdf here.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreInf...eries%20Family
Look through the image gallery to.
I'm looking at a photo of that case and I'm a little concerned about the hard drive rack in there. It appears to be positioned well forward of the front fan intake, taking up a bit of space in the motherboard area. A GTX 260 might be a tight fit. I would measure the space very carefully and compare with the size that Train gave. Unfortunately I could not find a shot that had a mobo installed...that would give a little clearer picture.
Thanks for the great info! I'll measure the case today.
Thanks again,
Mike
I've just built a rig with an Antec Twelve Hundred, which is a big case and a GTX 275, and there is only barely enough room to plug the drive cables in.
https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im...2009/10/11.jpg
This is a Thermaltake Swing Case that has a 128MB Gigabyte Radeon X600XT PCIe card installed. From the looks of things, your case should be able to handle most cards out there. It's really hard to tell by just looking, it would be much easier if I had a card and case to test it, but I don't. Here is the link with a photo fo the Swing case and the Radeon x600xt card:
http://www.bigbruin.com/reviews05/im...file=pic50.jpg
The EVGA card that I listed in my earlier post might fit better than some other cards out there (I'm not saying this card is better than some of the others). The power connection are on the side instead of on the end. If the power connections to the card are on the end it will add just that much more length to the card making it a tighter fit.
I measured my XFX nVidia GeForce 7800GT and my MSI nVidia GeForce 8600gts, both about 7 1/2". I then measured my XFX nVidia GeForce GTX285, it measured about 10 1/2". I measure the space from where the card mounts to the case in my Mid-Tower Case to the Hard Drive Racks, about 10 1/2". The XFX nVidia GeForce GTX285 might fit in my case, it would be tight! The power on my card is on the side (good), but the power on my Hard Drives face out towards the video card. If these power connections on the hard drives pointed out towards the outside cover it wouldn't be a problem getting the XFX nVidia GeForce GTX285 card intomy mid-tower.
I think I saw that on your Thermaltake Swing case the Hard Drive Power faced outward towards the case cover. This would be good for your upgrade!
SuperSparks,
Boy, you weren't kidding about your card being in there tight! My CoolerMaster Full-Tower I talked about in the post where you showed yours computer being put together has plenty of extra room where the Video Card goes .
mike2rc,
I never noticed that the EVGA nVidia GeForce gts250 is about 1 inch shorter than my XFX nVidia GeForce gtx285 (this card is in my full tower case). My gtx285 is 10 1/2" and that EVGA gts250 is 9 1/2" long.
Here is a photo of my Mid-tower case with a XFX nVidia GeForce 7800GT. If you will notice the hard drive power connection for my hard drive carrier face the video card. And the Video Card Power faces the Hard Drive Carrier. This gives me less room for one of these large video cards.
The hard drive carrier on your Thermaltake Swing case faces the window or side cover which should give you the room you need for a larger card. I think that I could squeeze the right Video card into my Mid-Tower Case. I have plenty of Room in the Full-Tower Case in my Sig. Here is my photo:
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/bugspop1/desk16.jpg
Thanks for the input! It's good to know an EVGA 01G-P3-1155-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 or 260 if they make one will fit into my ThermalTake Swing case.
Is easy to put in like other cards are...I've done it a number of times over the years.
Thanks,
Mike
Yep, as long as the card doesn't physically clash with anything then new ones are just as easy to fit as older ones.
Comparing my photo and BP's, my card overhangs my full-size ATX mobo by about an inch, whereas his is a good inch short of the edge. I reckon my GTX 275 in his case would be as tight as it is in mine, so it's something that definitely needs watching with the GTX 250/260/275/285 series cards.
I'm sure that most of the newer cards would have problems fitting into my Mid-Tower case I posted the picture of before. I was trying to point out which way the power connections face. The card in the photo is a 7800GT. The 7800GT was a big card for it's day but the newer 200 series cards are huge compared to the 7800GT.
I'm posting a photo of my XFX nVidia GeForce GTX285 inside of my CoolerMaster Cosmos Full-Tower case. In this case with that huge card I still have about 5"-6" of space. The Green card below the Black XFX Video Card is a Full Size Hauppauge HVR-1600 TV Tuner Card. The TV Tuner Card isn't small by any means (most likely about the size of my 7800 series Video Card). Here is the photo:
https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im.../2009/10/2.jpg
This picture shows a better angle, showing how much room I have in this CoolerMaster Case. So far I haven't been cramped for space in this case. I've had other Full-Towers before (still have one other full-tower) but they've never had this much space. I think it has something to do with the way CoolerMaster has organized everything. Here is the second photo:
https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im.../2009/10/3.jpg
I'll guess the best thing to do is measure my Swing case before I buy...it sounds close with the 250 and case.
Mike
I think you'll make it from the looks of the photos but a measurement is always the best way to be sure! I think I coud fit one in my Mid-Tower too, but it would be a really tight fit! I could get extra room if I re-routed the power connections for the hard drives to the other side of the hard drive carriage. It would be a total PITA but I could do it if I really wanted to upgrade the video card in that machine. Measure twice buy once! Take your time with the measurements, and try to think of anything that could possibly go wrong with the install (always look ahead).
That is an impressive case BP :)
Thanks, think it's the best case I've ever had. Plenty of room to move around in there. In the first photo you can see the 6 Pull Out Hard Drie Trays. Each of the trays has rubber shock absorbers to deaden any sounds & vibration that the hard drives may generate. On the 5 .25" drive bays you just push the round light blue buttons to take the devices in and out.
It is more difficult if you need to adapt the bay to accommodate a 3.5" device.
I added an Internal Card Reader for my camera's SDHC card and also a couple of Mini and Micro SDHC cards that I have as well. This is a 3.5" device and it took quite a while to put in the first time. Had to RMA the 1st and 2nd card reader so I've had lots of practice putting them in being on the 3rd. The first one was a Sabrent and the last two were Rosewill. Newegg told me to contact the company to RMA and when I did Sabrent wouldn't return my e-mails so Newegg took card of the RMA and swapped it out for the Rosewill. Rosewill then took care of their bad drive.
CoolerMaster has also added a piece of plastic that covers the Video Card and is supposed to guide the airflow. I took this plastice cover off to take the pictures so you could see the card. With the cover on you wouldn't be able to see two of these GTX285 cards in SLI or a Crossfire setup if you went that way. It also hides any wires that you might not be able to hide otherwise.
Now I'm wanting to add one or more of those Pull Out Hard Drive Racks that you have. I'll keep the 2 xTB drives I have in the case already and just add a couple more hard drives. Can never have too much hard drive space.
You're not wrong there. On very build I've done over the last 10 years, I've installed what I thought was more disk space than I could possibly use, and on every one I've ended up scratching about for room before moving on to the next build. At least with the caddies it's easy to add more :)Quote:
Originally Posted by bugspop1
You sure aren't kidding. Two builds ago I put in 2 x 120gb drives and ended up adding another 80gb drive, all filled. I built my next before I completely filled the 80gb drive. On the next build it was 2 x 500gb. Both are very close to being filled but I built the next before I really needed the space. My current is 2 x 1tb. I think I'll have this computer for some time to come so I think I'll just add the hard drive space to it before it becomes an issue! I'm tinking at least another 2 x 1tb or maybe 2 x 2tb.