| Upgrading Graphics Card... Unsure of the best options? |
 jt! |
Hey All,
This is my first post! This looks like a fantastic community of very knowledgeable people.... I wish i had found it sooner! Anyway, I'm currently studying product design so use max a fair bit (my portfolio - http://www.coroflot.com/josh_mutlow
) My works typically pretty straightforward in terms of complexity (im hoping to improve my max skills before i leave uni).
Im just after some advice really, im wanting to update my graphics card! my current pc specs are as follows:
Dell Dimension E520
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz
Nvidia Geforce 7300 LE
4GB RAM (4x 1GB DDR PC2 5300)
The pc's three years old now but very stable. I updated the ram about 2 years ago from 2 - 4gb, other than that its standard.
In terms of graphics cards my budgets not huge, ~£40. So first up, am i wasting my time? and then are either of these going to be a good move?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-GW&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1009
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-243-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938
Im after a card that will:
Have both DVI and HDMI out
Passive Cooled
Low Profile (little space in the dell case)
Help improve max performance
I have an unfounded loyalty to Nvidia as they have never let me down, and probably because i know little about ATI cards.
Any advice would be much appreciated! thanks for taking the time to even read my post! Just finished an internship and planning to spend my holiday chucking out some renders. will post some soon.
jt.
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8/19/2010 12:11:10 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 12:11:10 PM)
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| DannyMax |
well one thing I can tell you is Im running the 9400 GT 512MB and it works very well, it seems to be able to handle my battersea power station model very well and its a very high ploy model, so my vote would be for the 9500 GT.
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8/19/2010 1:48:39 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 1:48:39 PM)
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| jt! |
cheers for the reply, yeah the nvidia card looks good! anyone able to recommend gainward as a card manufacturer? The ATI one is filthy cheap although i dont know how the ATI stands against the Nvid.
Just spent some time researching further, good old dell might have limited my options by giving me a 305W psu. and space is tight!
this chap was determined though
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1184061
Cheers again.... thats 1 - 0 to nvidia at the moment :)
EDIT: did not realise the size of the gainward!http://www.gainward.com/main/vgapro.php?id=126
the views show its two slots high, i dont have a slot above which sucks, i could try cut it off and it might fit...
or how about this
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/1GB-Gainward-G-210-800MHz-GDDR2-GPU-475MHz-Shader-1402MHz-16-Cores-DL-DVI-I-HDMI-D-Sub
is the 200 series any good?
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8/19/2010 2:43:04 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 3:44:33 PM)
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| jareu |
GTX480!!! no questions asked! I got one and its amazing. i will buy two more. I have owned 3 radeon cards and all have overheated and failed. My cousin said the same about the two that he bought and it seems to be a common problem with ATI cards overheating. Nonetheless, I would spend the extra couple hundred for the GTX480
edit: for £40, kill a man who has a GTX 480 and use his...
www.pixellurgymedia.com
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8/19/2010 5:35:48 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 5:37:22 PM)
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| Westcoast13 |
I would spend the extra couple hundred for the GTX480
On top of the £40 that he has to spend. lol.
I have a 9800GT and i think for the cash its a superb card. Handles some massive max files and i paid £120ish for it 18 months ago. I don't think it has all the stuff you want but for sheer performance for price its very good, you might be able to get a cheap s/h one maybe?
My Turbosquid Area
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8/19/2010 6:52:29 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 6:52:29 PM)
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| jareu |
Then its settled. You must kill a man
www.pixellurgymedia.com
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8/19/2010 8:04:55 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 8:04:55 PM)
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| Nik Clark |
Fuck Gainward.
Never again. I had two, they both died "golden samples" too. Gainward said they would replace them under warranty, but it could take up to four months.
Fuck Gainward.
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8/19/2010 8:08:53 PM (last edit: 8/19/2010 8:08:53 PM)
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| 9krausec |
I'll give you some sound advice... DO NOT go out and buy a crazy kick ass/expensive graphics card. Sure, it may be cool for now, but 4 months goes by and they will have something more powerful for half the price. Learned that the hard way with my 8800 GTX. Pissed away 600 dollars because it seemed like it was a good idea (I was young and naive at this time in my life... haha) and then about 4 months and they had a better one on the market for 250. Piss on my tits....
Check out some Fermi stuff. So far it looks kind of kick ass, but I guess there are some disputes about the quality consistency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkI-ThRTrPY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEddrY0fA4Q
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8/20/2010 3:15:06 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 3:15:06 AM)
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| gogodr |
right now I think the best price- performance out is the GTX460
you should save up just a little more
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8/20/2010 4:01:44 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 4:02:13 AM)
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| Westcoast13 |
They are roughly £200 though. Surely if his budget is as low and precise as £40, £200 is probably out of the question.
My Turbosquid Area
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8/20/2010 7:52:41 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 7:52:41 AM)
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| jt! |
Hey all, Thanks for the replies its much appreciated!
Jareu, thanks for the recommendation but unfortunately i would like to eat for the next couple of months :P The murder options too risky nowadays with advances in DNA forensics. shame though.
I'm definitely take similar opinions to 9krausec that buying the high end cards is not a good investment as the tech advances pretty quick and prices crash.
I think my biggest limitations in choice are space however. these pics show what I'm working with,
As you can see double height cards are looking like a no no, and the later 2 show what a fella did to cram in that card taking some chunks of plastic and metal out, not something i want to do. so short ans thin is what im after, dell do make life difficult.
seems like a new pc would be a better option! if only.
On another note, what defines which kind of ram i can use. Is it the mobo / cpu? the dell manual for my pc says DDR2, however people online are saying there running DDR3 graphics cards. Did a crucial scan, says i can run 8gb DDR2, again the dell manual says 4gb max, who to trust!?
Cheers again everyone, your opinions are very helpful!
EDIT: @ Westcoast13 just looked at your sig link, your based in witney oxon? i come from freeland like 5 mins away, at uni in nottingham these days, small world though!
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8/20/2010 11:20:16 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 11:28:08 AM)
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| Westcoast13 |
I'd trust a crucial scan. They've been OK for me. Remember that installing more ram is no help unless you have 64-bit windows.
My Turbosquid Area
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8/20/2010 11:27:10 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 11:27:10 AM)
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| jt! |
Yeah crucial say "guaranteed-compatible memory upgrades". been running 64bit win7 for a while now, sooo tempted to buy the ram.
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8/20/2010 11:32:13 AM (last edit: 8/20/2010 11:32:13 AM)
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| Westcoast13 |
Freeland, wow! That really is close!! :)
My Turbosquid Area
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8/20/2010 4:24:40 PM (last edit: 8/20/2010 4:24:40 PM)
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| 9krausec |
Duder, you should of got a larger case (unless this is a prebuilt system, then nvm). When I built my desktop I got the largest freakin box I could find just for upgrades n' stuff.
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8/20/2010 10:59:46 PM (last edit: 8/20/2010 10:59:46 PM)
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