Getting a New Graphics Card...

C7R35

C7R35

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Jul 27, 2010
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Hey guys!

I'm looking at picking up a new card online and wanted some advice. I built my PC, so I already know what I'm looking for, but I would like some help to back me up!

My current specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo e6750 @2.66ghz
ATI Radeon HD 2900XT 512MB DDR3
6GB DDR2-PC6400 RAM (Kingston HyperX Blue)
Asus P5K-e Motherboard with 2 PCI-Express x16 slots (supports AMD Crossfire)
750 Watt Power Supply
2 320GB WD Hard Drives

Alright. Now that that's out of the way, I would like a GPU that could run Battlefield 3 (and 4) on High at 1920 x 1080. I have a monitor at 1280 x 1024 right now, but I will be picking up a new monitor in the future.

I'd like the BEST GPU for around $120 excluding shipping that won't bottleneck with my system specs. I prefer to shop with Newegg and Amazon.

Thank you guys! Hope I could join the Battlefield division here shortly c:
 
You're looking at getting the GTX 650 or Radeon 7750/7770 because of the price limit, but neither should bottleneck the CPU. I don't know 100% about running high on BF3/4 across the board, but it'll be a definite improvement, if only because the 650 uses GDDR5 compared the 2900XT's GDDR3 RAM. Simply put, you will see a significant improvement in either GPU compared to the 2900XT.

Just for fun, I found a list of GPU's that can do a quick job showing how different a 650, 7770, or 7750 is from the 2900XT.

http://www.surlix.com/us/pc/11-full-ranking-gpus.php

Ranking/Model
64 Radeon HD 7770
77 Geforce GTX 650
85 Radeon HD 7750


209 Radeon HD 2900 XT
 
flamelauncher11 said:
Intel Core 2 Duo e6750 @2.66ghz

Alright. Now that that's out of the way, I would like a GPU that could run Battlefield 3 (and 4) on High at 1920 x 1080.
Click to expand...

You aren't going to get there with a C2D. It's going to bottleneck in BF3 and BF4, albeit not most other games. Battlefield is very CPU heavy. Not as much as say an RTS or Flight Simulator, but more so than your generic FPS.

Is it going to be light years ahead of the 2900XT? Yes.
 
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Yeah you aren't gonna be playing at high, but it will run. I would upgrade your CPU and everything before your monitor because a new monitor will just make your frames worse.

+1 for the 7770
 
Yes I would have to agree that an upgrade in cpu & gpu are in order for you to play BF3 on decent settings. Of course with that price point, you wont get anywhere near high settings. I would suggest focusing on upgrading the cpu first before you look at upgrading the gpu. Thats exactly what I did when it came to installing some game way back (like 2-3 years ago). I bought a used c2q cpu off ebay & it just happened to work.

If youre really looking to save some $$, then go after the C2Q 6600 (exact same cpu as mine). From what ive learned, certain versions of this cpu has the ability to overclock really well (I believe that mine is a D step, however I never overclocked mine). Just something I would throw out there in case you were interested in doing that. After that, save some $$ towards getting some kinda Radeon 7 series card (or even possibly an 8 series card when they come out).
 
pillar said:
After that, save some $$ towards getting some kinda Radeon 7 series card (or even possibly an 8 series card when they come out).
Click to expand...

The next discrete cards that AMD is releasing is the 9 series. The 8 series is an OEM rebadging of the 7 series.
 
pillar said:
Yes I would have to agree that an upgrade in cpu & gpu are in order for you to play BF3 on decent settings. Of course with that price point, you wont get anywhere near high settings. I would suggest focusing on upgrading the cpu first before you look at upgrading the gpu. Thats exactly what I did when it came to installing some game way back (like 2-3 years ago). I bought a used c2q cpu off ebay & it just happened to work.

If youre really looking to save some $$, then go after the C2Q 6600 (exact same cpu as mine). From what ive learned, certain versions of this cpu has the ability to overclock really well (I believe that mine is a D step, however I never overclocked mine). Just something I would throw out there in case you were interested in doing that. After that, save some $$ towards getting some kinda Radeon 7 series card (or even possibly an 8 series card when they come out).
Click to expand...

Unless you can get it for less than like... maybe $20 don't waste money on old hardware like that.

The dual core should run the game fine on low.
 
TheYonderGod said:
Unless you can get it for less than like... maybe $20 don't waste money on old hardware like that.

The dual core should run the game fine on low.
Click to expand...

Which fails at what he wants to do; run it at High. So he does need a better CPU, and most likely, a brand new motherboard and RAM to go with it. A C2Q may be a decent patch he could use using his current parts.
 
Snipeye said:
Which fails at what he wants to do; run it at High. So he does need a better CPU, and most likely, a brand new motherboard and RAM to go with it. A C2Q may be a decent patch he could use using his current parts.
Click to expand...

His GPU isn't going to run on high either, so....
 
Well, I don't have the cash for a new processor. And I definitely don't want to install one myself again (broke one in the past. That sucked...) so it's either a new GPU or I'll just ditch BF4 when it comes out. Looks like I'll be ditching Battlefield.
 
I might try to get a Core 2 Quad already installed into a motherboard, used on eBay. I've seen a few for really cheap, but then I'd need more memory and a new power supply, on top of a new case, etc. So I'm kinda stuck.

I'll just upgrade the graphics card and wait and see how Watch Dogs performs on it. Already have that preordered.
 
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