Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: jollyFE on August 31, 2011, 09:44:41 AM
-
Folks, I need help quick. I had 2 9500GT cards sli'd together, one crapped out a while back so I was down to 1. Well that one is not playing nice any more and I need to replace it. Can anyone suggest a good one for under $300? I'd rather not sli, my son is always playing Starcraft and he sees more probs than me. The mbosrd is an xfx 750a. Momma is in a good mood so I want to take advantage of it and get a good card.
Any suggestions?
Tim
-
This is what I am putting in my new build as soon as I can get my car sold. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150548
-
grab one of these and use the extra money to upgrade some other component or put a smile on the wife's face...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150560 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150560)
-
The 6950 is good but perhaps a bit overpriced.
I think any single card you get will blow away 9500 SLI'd cards. The 9500 isn't all that powerful to begin with. Either a 6770 or the 6950 will out muscle the older pair.
It depends on if you want to get a stand-in card now for cheap that still games great, and then spend the money in 6 months when ATI puts out their better next-gen card, dropping all other prices, etc? Or if you just want to buy 1 card now and use it to death for a few years.
If you want a stand-in, go with the much cheaper 6770 (you can get away with a 6750 even, still good and saves lots of money). If you want one card for a long while, go for the 6950 if you can.
-
does it matter that the mboard is nvidia chipset?
-
A amd 6850 or nvidia 460 would both be middle of the road cards and both should be about 150.00 or so. A older AMD 5870 is still a good card.
The next step up are the 470 series and the 560 series for nvidia. The AMD 6900 series.
Make sure your Power supply will handle the card you buy.
Also I have read the AMD 6770 is very much the same as a 5770, they are very close. KInda like nvidia with the g92 8800 cards and then the 9800 g92 cards.
-
I thought they shifted the numbers, so 6770 was equivelant to 5750? They inflated the numbers to make them seem higher, or something?
Oh, where was that other post? Somebody explains it to me every time but I keep forgetting.... bah, google it if you must. End result is it's still a decent card. 6770 probably gives a 6850 a run for its money. Close enough to go either way.
-
From what I have read what I have heard the 5770 is a good card, though I have never had one. From a couple reviews I have read the 6770 is a replacement for the 5770, the 6770 should be a good card also. I doubt as good as the 6850.
Yes, nvidia and AMD and Intell change thier product numbers for marketing, which can make it confusing.
-
does it matter that the mboard is nvidia chipset?
it can depend on what chipset you're dealing with...if you're running ati's now, shouldn't be a problem with another ati. i'm running an amd 4870 on an nforce 680ilt mobo. i did update the bios before i slapped the ati card in it, after finding a couple of possible issues.
the price of that 6770 has me looking at it...might have to wait a month though.
-
For the price difference, I would personally go for a 6850 over a 6770. Just me though.
-
You said under $300 :D. I have this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127575) and it kicks--well you know. Has 2gb memory is overclockable with Afterburner and has an outstanding stock cooler. Lovin it so far.
-
PM me plz i have 2 470's I wil be selling soon I will give you a half way decent price on these items
-
With ATI, the second digit usually determines the horsepower of the board.
The 5770 and 6770 do perform nearly identical and an older 4890 will outperform both because of the meaning of the numbers.
Most of the cards that end with 90 are twin cards in one package (called X2) but the 4890 was able to be had in a single version.
Since AMD bought ATI, it might mean that intel will not play nice with those cards as has happened before....thought maybe not now.
-
That's not always the case, though, icepac.
With each successive generation (first digit) you get improvements in the architecture, improvements in the card layout and overall capabilities.
While the speeds and the clocks might not increase much, the 5000 are more capable than the 4000, and the 6000 more capable than the 5000....
So no, you can't just say as a rule that means the 4890 will out muscle the 6770.
The second digit does usually indicate whether it is the standard gaming card or the budget line. 6770 is the stripped down version of the 6970, for example. Often they save money by having slower RAM (128-bit instead of 256 or 512 bit or whatever). Sometimes the extra speed can overcome the slower RAM.
A bit more "super generic blanket statement" guidelines are: there is the standard card, where the third digit is "7" (i.e. the "70" cards) and there's the slightly-more-budget usually of lower clock speeds or some other features, where the third digit is "5" (the "50"s) and then there's the high end overclocked or super beefed up variants that have "9" ("90"s)
So a 4890 was the highest top-end of the HD 4000 series, generally speaking. The 6770 is the standard of the stripped down budget-gaming cards (but still gaming, not for desktop publishing or corporate life!).
Even so, because of 2 generations of GPU development between these 2 cards, the 6770 is half the price and just about as fast as the 4890.
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=608&card2=658
Check it out! Interesting, no? 4890 definitely has more memory bandwidth, but all the clocks, the performance specs for any criteria, they are even or on the side of the 6770. That newer architecture does have its benefits. Compare same-classes (4890 to 6870) and the new ones blow the old ones away.
I know this doesn't help narrow down the issue at all. Hopefully it adds a little flavor to the topic. :D
For the sake of narrowing down the issue: The 6770 is a fine card with very nice performance. It will out perform what you are replacing. It's half your budget, as well. Or talk to ebfd11 and see what he has in mind for his 2 cards.
I don't think you can go wrong with those 2 options.
-
http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/xfx-nforce-750a-sli/1707-3049_7-33238238.html (http://reviews.cnet.com/motherboards/xfx-nforce-750a-sli/1707-3049_7-33238238.html)
this is my current motherboard.............not sure if it could run an ati card. I have only run nvidia cards on (they worked fine).
anyone know if the ati cards will run on this thing or is just going to be a boat anchor shortly?
-
I cant help with your mobo, but if it can run them, i would choose an ati card.
I wouldnt choose the 5k series now. Even tho the 5870 is still a buttkicker card, the 6870 can do 85-90% of its performance, eats less energy, plus cheaper than the old monster.
The 6950 is also a good choice, i heard with its duel bios, it can be turned into a 6970. Pretty much better cards than the geforce 570 series, not to talk about they are cheaper.
-
first off, I own both a 6870 1 gig XFX card and a XFX 6950 2 Gig VC......... their is only 2 or 3 of the 6950 models that can be boosted up to 6970 specs, and few more that are able to be overclocked
as for your XFX nforce 750a MB, I just searched for the following
XFX nforce 750a sli MB and ATI 5870 video card
and it is about a 70 % yes ATI will work , verse about a 30 % no it won't...... main thing people posted was the MB bottle necking the VC at the 5870 series.... so anything higher/newer might be even bottled necked more so
also, XFX says you must flash the BIOS on your MB before using the latest Cat 11.8 drivers for this model...... so with XFX posting that on their support site, I would assume ATI cards will work
hope this helps
TC
-
ill have to look at that then
-
first off, I own both a 6870 1 gig XFX card and a XFX 6950 2 Gig VC......... their is only 2 or 3 of the 6950 models that can be boosted up to 6970 specs, and few more that are able to be overclocked
TC
\
do you know which models by any chance? I am looking to order the xfx 6950 2gig 830mhz version you have
-
Don't bank on "unlocking" *any* modern card. That's something that a few rare cards could do way back, but nowadays they don't do it. There's more difference now between the full and budget cards than there was back then.
Don't bet on it, don't bank on it. Don't spend less hoping to get more power. Just pick the best card for your budget, and then accept that this is your card. Overclock if that's your thing, but really, don't void the warranty and potentially fry the card for something the manufacturers are fully aware of and do their best to prevent.
For every 1 story of "I unlocked this!" you have millions more stories never told where it didn't work, or where it harmed the card.
-
My entire point in mentioning the the 4890 outperforming the later 57xx and 67xx series card was to illustrate the importance of the second digit in ATI/AMD cards.
It's a no brainer that newer generations will be more advanced because they are.......newer.
-
Don't bank on "unlocking" *any* modern card.
Actually there are a couple cards that come from the factory with optional 6950/6970 flash files already in the package.
-
\
do you know which models by any chance? I am looking to order the xfx 6950 2gig 830mhz version you have
I don't remember which exact brands offer the switch & optional bios flash files, like MrRipley mentions..... I do know their are some though..... for the majority of the 6950 cards though, they are locked in at whatever the factory settings come with..... now I have the extreme 6950 which XFX factory overclocked, but it will not upgrade to a 6970
Drano went with the MSI version and it was also factory overclocked and had room for more, also my XFX version has room for a lil more OC...... and I can gain even more by using Saphires OC utility or even MSI's OC utility...... the Overdrive thru the ATI CCC does not offer much at all in this department......
edit: but seriously, noone should have to even think of OC'ing one of these 6950's 2 Gig models beyond factory settings......... they are already overkill for just about all games out there in my opinion ( as long as you got the other PC components to push it ) ( heck, my XFX factory OC'ed 6870 1 Gig plays just fine and just as good as the more expensive 6950 2 Gig card I got..... I can not see any difference at all in Aces High )
hope this helps
TC
-
Before anyone thinks of getting the ATI 6xxx series, you need to be aware of the issues that card has with the ATI drivers. The official drivers have a very difficult time in recognizing the 6xxx series which is why after each new driver revision ATI is forced to release a hot fix for the 6xxx series. If you're going to go ATI, the 5xxx series (the upper series from 57xx to 59xx) would probably be the better choice as there is really nothing on the horizon from ATI in regards to fixing the problem with the drivers and the 6xxx series. This was the major reason for me for not getting a new ATI card and went with Nvidia this time on my new system, ATI seems to be sliding backwards and falling into their old habits in regards to their drivers.
ack-ack
-
Ack-Ack, I have a new (ish) HD 6970.
I have not had a single issue recognizing the card. The issues I have had regarding fledgling driver support include little graphics artifacts. These were present in the first few months of drivers but have been all but eliminated now. In a number of games old and new I have no problems with the ATI drivers.
It's not a problem, in short.
-
This is what you want right here. And IT'S A STEAL AT $150! (click on the pic)
(http://zone1.codemicroinc.netdna-cdn.com/productimages/large_159865.jpeg) (http://www.codemicro.com/store/product/Ibm-11n9539-Refurbished.php)
-
Tigger, did you mean to put that here:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,319480.0.html
instead?
-
that's strange, out of 4 different 6xxx series ATI cards I have yet to experience any problems ...... this is the first I have heard anything like that about continous hot fixes being needed
only (2) driver version releases that did not seem to have imrpoved on the previous version they were replacing.......
TC
-
TC try the AMD catalyst drivers instead of those you might find on the XFX site. They get updated about once a month. They be here:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/pages/radeon_win7-64.aspx
These be for Windows 7 64-bit
-
FWIW I'm having no problems with this 6950 currently running the 11.7 Catalyst drivers. No CCC, using ati tray tools instead.
As to the flashing the bios to 6970, apparently my card (MSI R6950 Twin Frozr III PE/OC Edition), "may" be capable of this. It has a dual bios switch on it which is really a choice between two almost identical bios's difference being one having a more aggressive fan speed curve/profile than the other. The switch would allow you to flash the card in one position with another bios and many have done this to make their 6950 cards into a 6970 card (it adds more shaders and I think higher clock speeds) as they both share the same PCB, GPU and memory. However, some newer versions of my card are incapable of being flashed. Something to do with being "lazer etched"? I dunno. Because of this I'm not even gonna try as I'm not able to swallow a bricked $300 video card like some guys are. I doubt I'll ever be part of that tribe.
-
Hey Tigger, I have an old Velocity 4400 here somewhere. I remember that one being top of the mountain back in the day. What'd it have 128 mb ram? or was it only 64?