gfx card

joxer

The Smoker
Original Sin Donor
Original Sin 2 Donor
Joined
April 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Seems that my good old 9600 GT is ready to be changed. Can't say anything against this card, I had no problems with it, it runs just about everything (but not on highest settings) and etc. But soon Risen 2 will be out and that's the game I don't want to play on low settings.

So I need some input. What card do you recommend?
Please, spare me the war ATI vs nVidia, just tell me which card you have or you plan to buy and why do you think it's a great for PC RPG player. Thanks. :)
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
If I were to get one today it would be a Geforce model, the top of the line one is the GTX 590, but there are less expensive ones too in that line. The main reason is drivers for their cards seem better and I have been happy with them in the past.
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
2,236
Location
Pacific NorthWest, USA!
I have three desktops (well one is my brothers), one uses a GTX 260, one uses a AMD 6950, and one uses a GTX 570. Obviously the 570 is better than the 260 (though the 260 has been a very good card that you can find for very cheap on EBay these days - I recently converted that PC into a SLI set-up for cheap). I also prefer the 570 to the 6950 as it seems I have had to lower setting more regularly with the 6950. Apparently many models of the 6950 can be unlocked to perform on par with a 6970, which would be a pretty good performance increase. You can probably go with something that is from the last generation of cards to save a lot of money and still get great performance on Risen 2, if money is a concern to you (especially since drivers are better for cards that have been around longer).
 
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
791
Depends a lot on the rest of your machine, especially the CPU and PSU.

Does that really matter? I don't think so.

CPU? Athlon II X4 (quad core) 3.0 Ghz with 2MB cache.

PSU, get serious, you're asking about power supply unit? Ok, opened my rig, checked it and it says under MAX: 500W.

Anything else? Motherboard? Ok here it is (already got it):
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A87TD_EVO/

4 Gigs of DDR 3 are already on it, but since RAM is now cheap I can add more if you think it's needed (and I believe it's not).

I think this machine can use any gfx card, so… Please… Which one.

Others… so nVidia's GTX 570 or 590, right? Hmmm, seems nice, definetly, if not maybe even too much… Not the price, but with the fact how many games do I need such power for? 1? 2? none? :)
And I don't plan to overclock anything so I'll probably skip 6950…
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
CPU, mainboard and RAM are fine. Today's stuff is faster, but most games don't even need 50% of what you already have.
The PSU is also good enough. Most gaming PCs don't need more than a good 380W PSU.

Regarding the graphics card I would wait until the last minute. These things get always better, faster, cheaper or more silent. Especially the last point is important for me, but YMMV.

Don't use SLI or the ATI equivalent. One card only means half the trouble.

It would be interesting to know how big your monitor is and at resolution you intend to play.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
Does that really matter? I don't think so.

CPU? Athlon II X4 (quad core) 3.0 Ghz with 2MB cache.

PSU, get serious, you're asking about power supply unit? Ok, opened my rig, checked it and it says under MAX: 500W.

Anything else? Motherboard? Ok here it is (already got it):
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4A87TD_EVO/

4 Gigs of DDR 3 are already on it, but since RAM is now cheap I can add more if you think it's needed (and I believe it's not).

I think this machine can use any gfx card, so… Please… Which one.

Others… so nVidia's GTX 570 or 590, right? Hmmm, seems nice, definetly. I don't plan to overclock anything so I'll probably skip 6950…

I assume you don't know much about upgrading computers since you question why people would ask about your other components.

Often times upgrading 1 component will require upgrading another for either slot or socket compatibility or simple to realize the potential of your new component.

For example a very powerful gpu with a weak cpu wont scale well and you won't see the best performance of the card.

As for power supply that's probably the most important factor in which card you want to get. As a gtx 570 requires a minimum of 550w and a 590 a whopping 700w and that all depends on your other components.

Also ridiculing someone that's trying to help you is probably not the best way to get help.

As far as what card. Hard to say. What type of games do you play? some games are optimized for ati and some for nvidia. Do you play games that use physiX? (batman aa and ac) as that is an nvidia feature. How much do you want to spend?
Are you willing to upgrade you power supply? What are the requirements of risen 2? If that's a game you are upgrading for?

Once you know the answers to those questions it's quite easy. Pick your brand higher numbers are better. (ex. 550, 506, 506ti, 570, 580 and 590 for nvidia) I personally went nvidia for the batman physiX but have been please with amd as well. My soon has a 6950 and hasn't run into a game he can't play at max settings at 1920x1080.

At the end of the day it's your choice. Go to anandtech, hardocp, tom's hardware or others for benchmark comparisons.
 
It would be interesting to know how big your monitor is and at resolution you intend to play.
Dunno… Didn't plan to buy a new monitor, current one where I play everything is 22˝, bought it ages ago:
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/monitors/lg/flatron_w2242t/221995
It's recommended resolution is 1680x1050. But I honestly don't care for ingame resolution as long as it doesn't look as it's 20 years old engine. ;)
Also I don't need the game to look like Avatar the movie. It's a game, not some life simulation. :)

And another input, got a recommendation on another site to get GTX 560 (if my plan is RPG only, and honestly it is), in fact to get this particular one if possible:
http://www.gainward.net/main/vgapro.php?id=674

Hmmm…


Thanks sakichop, so 570 is out since 500W is not enough for it. As for batman… That's not RPG. ;)
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Given the limitations of your CPU and your non-HD native resolution of 1680x1050 it would seem that the GTX 560 is a reasonable choice. It's almost a bit overpowered but it wouldn't really be recommendable to shoot lower than that either.

As for the choice of manufacturer, Gainward is IMHO an excellent choice. I have owned quite a number of Gainward cards in the past and they have never caused me any trouble.
If you can afford it, then I would recommend the Phantom model of the GTX 560 due to its superior cooling.
I personally own the GTX 570 Phantom and it's a high performing silent card thanks to the Phantom cooling solution, coupled with MSI Afterburner.

The great thing about the Phantom is that you can throttle/customize the card via MSI Afterburner to run at much lower fan speeds than at default.
No one needs a graphics card temperature of a "cool" 60°C under load while the fan is screaming at 50% fan speed. With Afterburner you can adjust it so that e.g. the fan always stays at the minimum 30% fan speed all the way until the card reaches a temperature of 80°C+. All this is very easily done in Afterburner and it only takes a couple of minutes to set up your custom profile.
The combo of a Phantom card plus Afterburner definitely allows you to set up a silent high performance machine (assuming your other system fans are on the silent side as well, of course ;) ).

If you don't care about noise or temperature then you might as well get any 560/560Ti. Doesn't really matter. They're all the same basically. You could look out for attractive bundles then and pick a card that comes with a nice game or any other nice-to-have bonus stuff.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,201
Way overkill for your rig. A HD6850 would be ample fast enough. I run one and it all games at max quality. A card like that is really only needed if you have a 27+ inch monitor.

edit: Actually I see you can get it for not much more than a 6850...probably worth it if you can get it for a good price. I take back my previous comment :)
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,075
Location
Sigil
The card finally came I was so thrilled that everything including Skyrim (which is by default on medium with my good old 9600 GT) will look great…

Plugged the card in, and then when I turn on the PC I get 1 long than 3 short beeps. It ain't working! When I return my 9600GT inside, it works.
Anyone knows what those one long three short beeps generated by motherboard mean? Fans on the new card turn on and work and as said before, PSU gives out 500W so it's not the power problem I guess. I've waited 7 days for the card and returning it to the store/manufacturer already feels like a pain… :(
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Stupid question, but did you remember to plug in all power cables in your graphics card?

Asus error code:
1 long, 3 short Memory test failure A fault has been detected in memory above 64KB

Try loading the default values in your bios setup and reinstall the new graphics card.

Also check that the pci-slot is cleaned for dust.

Another error message explaination:
1 Long, then 3 Short Beeps: Video error

Explanation: The BIOS is unable to access the video system in order to write any error messages to the screen.

Diagnosis: This is usually caused by a problem with the video card, or the memory on the video card. It can also be a motherboard issue.
 
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
1,163
Location
Scandinavia
With the card came one 6 pin power connector and yes I've plugged it in of course. This is the one:
4pinto6pin.jpg


As for BIOS I didn't touch it at all since I've installed the mainboard, so it's already working on default. By reinstalling the card… How can I reinstall it if it ain't working at all? See, if GTX560 is inside, PC does nothing except I hear beeps from the motherboard, 1 long then 3 short ones. Windows start booting only if I plug inside the 9600GT card.

No dust in PCI slot, the mainboard is not old and besides in that slot is now 9600GT card that works perfectly.

But your last sentence that says "This is usually caused by a problem with the video card, or the memory on the video card." is something I'm afraid of, seriously, and since I've bought the card in online shop, things (returning/changing the card) are now looking very complicated. :(

In any case I'll give the card to a friend of mine to try if it's working in his rig (his PSU can run it, called him to check a few mins ago) just to make sure.
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
With the card came one 6 pin power connector and yes I've plugged it in of course.
For the double 4-pins also. My card for instance has 2x 6-pins required but on the gfxcard instead of an extension cable. Your card (GTX 560?) also has that from the images I see. From the spec is seems it required 2x 6-pins connectors (Power Connector : 6-pin *2).
Geforce-GTX560-power.jpg
 
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
1,163
Location
Scandinavia
The card finally came I was so thrilled that everything including Skyrim (which is by default on medium with my good old 9600 GT) will look great…

Plugged the card in, and then when I turn on the PC I get 1 long than 3 short beeps. It ain't working! When I return my 9600GT inside, it works.
Anyone knows what those one long three short beeps generated by motherboard mean? Fans on the new card turn on and work and as said before, PSU gives out 500W so it's not the power problem I guess. I've waited 7 days for the card and returning it to the store/manufacturer already feels like a pain… :(

Every gtx 560 i've seen requires 2 -6 pin power connectors but I guess I haven't seen them all. Also a gtx 560 requires min of 30a on the 12v rail. Just because you have a 500w power supply doesn't mean it can do 30a on the 12v rail. 12v rail amps should be list on your psu and are more important than total wattage for video cards. Ideally more wattage should equal more 12v rail amps but that's not always true as component quality is a big factor. ie. a cheap 1000w psu may have less 12v amp than a high quality 500w psu.

So I would check amps on 12v rail of your psu and whether or not you have 2 6 pin power on your card. (if you do they both must be plugged in) If both are fine then I would take the card out and put it back in just to make sure it's seated properly. Your already having a freind put it in his computer which is a good idea but make sure he meets min. requirements or it won't help.

After that i'd rma it. I'm ruling out any other component problem since it works fine with your old video card buts that's not a 100%.
 
I need to plug both of them? But… With the card came only one (supplementary cable I've shown in the pic above)?!
In the end it seems that I'll need to buy another PSU that has one 6pin already on it (as mine doesn't have it) so I can plug two of those in the card.
Thanks guys you're great. Since it's weekend I can't grab another from a shop till monday. And I'll make sure to post about it.

EDIT:
My friend just called me. He has another 6pin connector attached to his PSU. He plugged that one and the supplement cable in the card, both of them - and the card works! In my machine I could plug only one as there is no second one attached to the PSU, obviously that wasn't enough and caused inability to start the PC normally.
OMG I feel so ashamed now.
Seriously, thanks all of you. If nothing now I've learned what long and three short beeps mean. Can't wait monday to buy a new PSU.
And additional thing to confirm - the card not only that works great but by words from my friend is so silent that it's unbelievable.

Thanks again all, you've saved my day! This is definetly the best site on the net.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Back
Top Bottom