Video card upgrade. Nvidia GTS 250-?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by matt167, Oct 29, 2013.

  1. matt167

    matt167 MDL Junior Member

    Oct 8, 2013
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    My main box has been running perfect for IDK 3-4 years now, something like that. It's a Biostar A770E3 mobo, 8gb of DDR 1600 Corsair Vengeance ram, Athlon II X3 445 Rana ( will not unlock but is OC'd to 3.3ghz ). Has an OEM FX-8120 cooler and temps max at about 45*C ( maxes at 39-40* default clock ).. Video card is a Palit Geforce GTS 250 green edition which I bought because it was quick enough to run GTA IV and was in my budget at the time..

    Originally I thought about a cheap memory upgrade.. Well now there is nothing cheap about it. The 8gb of Ram that I paid $37 for now goes for $76:eek: and I can get a brand new Dell OEM Geforce GTX 460 for $78/ shipped so now I'm thinking video card, as my brother would buy my GTS 250 as he wants a better card also and my GTS 250 is a major upgrade from what he has... Question is, are the Dell cards locked in any way? How much better is a GTX 470 over the 460? I can find used 470's in my price range, but the 460 brand new for $78 is very tempting. It's not flashy but I don't care about that.

    I checked on cheaper ram, but everything is within $10 of the Corsair Vengeance
     
  2. matt167

    matt167 MDL Junior Member

    Oct 8, 2013
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    I'm now thinking GTX 660 non TI. Found Newegg selling refurb EVGA's for $144 and I just might go for one
     
  3. bassfisher6522

    bassfisher6522 MDL Novice

    Oct 27, 2012
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    If you going with Nvidia, I would look at the 670. It's a bit pricey but well worth the investment. If you want bang for you buck, then go AMD with a 7950. The only problem with either suggestion is your PSU, does it meet the minimum requirements for both. A 550 watt PSU for AMD and 500 watt PSU for Nvidia are the minimum but I would go with a 750 watt PSU for any other future upgrades you might have....eg CPU.
     
  4. matt167

    matt167 MDL Junior Member

    Oct 8, 2013
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    Problem with either of those cards is that, I'd have to upgrade my entire machine just to make use of them worth it. My board only supports PCIE X16 2.0, and while I know that the 660 is 3.0, the card is $100 less than those other 2.. I have a 650 Watt Rosewill PSU that has IIRC 32A to the 12V rail
     
  5. matt167

    matt167 MDL Junior Member

    Oct 8, 2013
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    Well, I just either made the biggest mistake I will ever make, or the best decision and bought an AMD Radeon. I've only ever had Nvidia cards.. Newegg had/has MSI Radeon 7790's for $99 right now, with a free game offer and $20 rebate that brings the price to $79, so I bought one. I checked the benchmarks first against the GTX 660 and it ( HD 7790 ) is slower on many games, but not by much, and they are very close in power consumption.. Should do well for me and was much cheaper than the GTX 660 which was $144 refurb'd.
     
  6. matt167

    matt167 MDL Junior Member

    Oct 8, 2013
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    I think I did a pretty good buy on this.. Got Dirt 3 with the game offer ( $25 game on Steam ). Sent in the rebate once I knew it was running ok and I gained 10FPS on GTA IV over the GTS 250..

    With the $99 price tag, $20 rebate and $25 free game, the cards actual cost was $54 as I was going to buy Dirt 3 anyway.. Pretty good deal since most 7790's still retail at $150. The same MSI card I bought now costs $110+ ship and a $10 rebate, with the free game so good deal, but still not nearly as good as what I got