Need advice on new graphics card.

[DVD773]

Hi first off thank you for taking the time to read my post; you're pretty awesome.

So ive decided to replace my aging graphics card so that i can enjoy Skyrim in all its glory. However i want to get the most out of my money and i really don't know much about cards these days. I would love it if you could give me an idea of what cards would fit the power of the rest of my machine. Basicly i want as good as i can get before it bottle necks somewhere else. Ill put my specs below. While i appreciate anyone's input as this is quite an investment of money for me, please make it clear how you know about graphics cards and reasons for your suggestions.

Specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 (3.2GHz)
RAM: 4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 669MHz
MoBo: ASUSTeK Computer INC. M5A78L/USB3 (AM3R2)
GPU: 1024MB GeForce 8600 GT
OS: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

If you need more info please shout.

[ComradePenguin]

Few games push processors too hard these days and you've got a decent quad core there whilst 4 gig of RAM is plenty as well. As such it is budget that is probably going to dictate what is going to be best as neither will act as much of a bottle neck for most cards. Any idea on how much you want to spend and what resolution is your monitor?

[pakoito]

Nvidia GTX*60

Subsitute * for actual generation number, 4 or 5 or something.

[duff]

Not an expert but did alot of research for my own upgrade. A Nvidia 560ti, would give you the best performance to price ratio. You should also be able to run Skyrim on pretty much max at good frame rates, probably not a perfect 60, but then you would have to spend half as much again for a 570 which would be a bit overkill for Skyrim alone. Also, bear in mind that ATI and Nvidia are due to release their new cards in Q1 of next year, so you might be able to get something better for a similar price if you wait. Having said that your 8600GT is badly due for an upgrade and the 560ti is a very decent card for the money.

[CMaster]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...orce,3067.html

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/b...november-2011/

These two articles are updated regularly and should be everybody's first port of call when planning a graphics card purchase.

[Mohorovicic]

Any idea on how much you want to spend and what resolution is your monitor?

This, and what do you consider a comfortable framerate. Also shoe size.

[cosmicolor]

May I hijack this thread for a moment? I have the same question as the OP here, and a somewhat similar system:

Nvidia GT 430 1GB
AMD Athlon X2 Quad @ 3.0GHz
4GB DDR3 ram
Foxconn motherboard of which the specifics evade me
Also W7 HP

Playing The Witcher 2 and Sonic Generations has made me begin to hanker for a Christmas time upgrade. Budgetwise, preferably I would like to be within the £100 range, but if I'm a lucky boy I might be within the £150 range. Shopping around has highlighted two cards in particular: The Nvidia 550ti and the GTX 460. I gather that the GTX would be the bigger jump, but the price point of the Ti is extremely attractive. Would the Ti also be a decent jump? The handy hierarchy tells me that the cards are roughly equivalent, but I was wondering if anyone here could give me any more insight. I've considered going Radeon but I've heard one too many problem stories about those cards to not be a little wary. Although the Radeon 6770 does look quite attractive...

[Burnside]

If a data point helps, I have the HD6850 and everything is playable in 1080p - very happy with it. Most settings at max but antialiasing is pushing it most of the time, but that doesn't bother me as everything looks pretty good anyhow.

About red vs. green - I've had no issue with either, the card I had before this was a trojan of a 6600GT (switched because I got a solid discount on preordering the HD6850 just as it was due to come out).

Oh, and other stats - machine is an i5 760 oc'd out the yang to 4Ghz, 4GB ram, some Asus mobo.

[Lewie Procter]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...orce,3067.html

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/b...november-2011/

These two articles are updated regularly and should be everybody's first port of call when planning a graphics card purchase.

Whilst these are very useful articles, they obviously don't take into account local prices globally, or short-term promotions/reductions. They're great starting points, but I'd also say shop around, and see if there's any vendors offering a card you want with any free games you're after.

[Christian]

Not an expert but did alot of research for my own upgrade. A Nvidia 560ti, would give you the best performance to price ratio. [...] Having said that your 8600GT is badly due for an upgrade and the 560ti is a very decent card for the money.

Having recently upgraded my beloved 8800GTS 512 with a gtx 560 ti (with slight factory oc) after a lot of research (I tend to take quite some time deciding these things) I'd second that. Seems to be a new classic and so far no problems with any games..also, I think they come with a free Batman game..

Skyrim now runs just fine on my Phenom 9750 with 4 GB of RAM on High settings @1920x1200. Need to upgrade that CPU sometime soon I guess though..

[edit]
The only thing that might be worth watching out for is if your power-supply will go along with that. It's not a very hungry card in idle..but having a stable (quality) PSU with about 550W should be enough for your setup.

[Net_Bastard]

You may need to upgrade that RAM as well. 630MHz is extremely slow. The CPU is the exact same as mine (except mine's a BE), so I can't say much there besides that that's a very good budget CPU.

If you have money to spare, try a GTX 570. It's almost as good as a 580 and the 1.2GB version is about 100 bucks cheaper than the least expensive 580. If you don't have a lot of money, then a 560Ti is perfect. a single 560Ti can run Crysis 1 on Very High at 60FPS on 1280x1024 resolution.

But before any of that, you should see your PSU. If your card is old then there's a very good chance that your PSU is old as well, and it might not have sufficient wattage.

[ComradePenguin]

You may need to upgrade that RAM as well. 630MHz is extremely slow.

I'm assuming they're quoting the I/O bus speed (rather than the data rate which is normally what is stuck on the box) as I haven't seen any DDR3 below 800. Assuming that's the case then they have DDR-1333 which would be absolutely fine.

[bazookavortex]

You may need to upgrade that RAM as well. 630MHz is extremely slow. The CPU is the exact same as mine (except mine's a BE), so I can't say much there besides that that's a very good budget CPU

He said: 669mhz, which is about right for 1333mhz DDR3 ram. 669x2=1338mhz. DDR=double data rate. AND what would happen, if it were worked at just 669mhz? Well, frequency speed increase doesn't give any benefits in real life.
Just for lulz: http://i39.tinypic.com/2z4z5w2.jpg
btw. every AMD X4 955 is black edition