Current chart for my team

[elsaq]

Hello friends! My name is Alex, I'm new here and I start with some doubts:

I detail my equipment:

• CPU: Intel Dual Core 2 E6600 2.4 ghz @ 3.06 ghz
• Motherboard: Asus P5B
• Graphics: Sapphire Radeon X1950XT - 256 mb GDDR3 / 256 bit
• RAM: 6 gb (2 x 1 gb / 2 x 2 gb) identical and in dual-channel, PC2-5300 / 667 (5-5-5-15)
• PSU: Seasonic 550wt

A week ago I went from 2 gb of RAM to 6 gb of RAM, so the next component I plan to change for this month is the graphics card which, as you can see, is already outdated.

First of all, I want to mention that I have updated the RAM (for 45€) and I am going to update the graphics card (+-100€) so that I can continue playing on the PC until more or less next summer, so the graphics card I buy now has to work with this equipment, it's not with a view to the future (in the summer I will completely renew the equipment), so the expense should be "small".

I have been reading that current Nvidia graphics cards are very dependent on the CPU, and that in a 2-core E6600 they would, in theory, generate more bottlenecks and limitations than an Ati.

To sum up, I have in mind the Ati HD 6850 1 gb GDDR5 256-bit for 125€-140€ at home, the problem is that I have also seen the HD 6870 for 155€ at home and the difference is not much.

What worries me about the HD 6850/6870 is that it's too much graphics card for my equipment and it will generate a lot of bottlenecks and limitations, apart from the fact that my card is PCIe 1.1 and the graphics card is PCIe 2.0 (I don't know if this is really important or not)

Tell me what you recommend, and what models you would put for that price for this equipment.

Thanks! Regards!

[CNCBCN]

well I see it as a bit complicated if you only want it for 365 days and it's PCI 1 it will be a mess that won't be worth it (for current games) if you buy something decent PCI2 you will have a bottleneck.
between the two options I would choose option B if a PCI2 works on your motherboard and when you build your new PC you set up SLI

[incrediboy]

with those graphics you're going to have a bottleneck for sure, so get a cheap one that's new and has DirectX 11

[Jesus_Panella]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

This CPU will be very tight for you. Even if you have it overclocked to 3 GHz, that E6600 will just be enough for a 6850 and even less for the 6870, so I would advise you to go for the 6850.

Moreover, I have a Core 2 Duo E8200 and a GTX550, and that CPU is already starting to create a bottleneck for the GTX550, which is inferior to the 6850 (although it is much superior to your current x1950xt). Even so, if you can get it, the HD6850 could work well for you.

The fact that it is PCIExpress 1.1 is not a problem, in fact, I have that same ASUS P5B board with the P965 chipset and there is no incompatibility problem with PCIExpress 2.0 graphics cards.

I wouldn't put anything more powerful than the HD6850 on that system, or the GTX460 with 1 GB which has identical performance to the HD6850.

[Sylver]

@CNCBCN:

well, I think it's a bit complicated if you only want it for 365 days and it's PCI 1, it will be a mess that won't be worth it (for current games) if you buy something decent PCI2 you'll have a bottleneck.
between the two options, if a PCI2 works on your motherboard, I would choose option B and when you build your new PC, you can set up SLI

That's a good option.

Or, if you're going to invest again later, you can get the HD 5850 which is a decent card, not very CPU-dependent and cheap. (although it's refurbished, I don't know how many are left at pccomponentes, but try, there are more stores although I think in this case this one is the cheapest)

(PD: Refurbished = Repaired / Revised, with 1 year warranty)

In my opinion, if you're going to change later, it's not worth investing much more, because it's a pretty cheap card that will give you good performance and is pretty current.

Regards

[CoUgSt]

Well, I would put the HD6870 in it. It's a graphics card that will last longer and for the price difference, it performs much better. Besides, you're so obsessed with the bottleneck, you want the 6870 to perform better than the 6850, especially with any current monitor that uses large resolutions and doesn't depend as much on the CPU. ? This summer I took the 6870 to my second PC, with the E6420 set to 3Ghz and I played everything at full blast with a 32" full HD, the CPU is relatively important for gaming.

[CNCBCN]

we're 3 to 2 for a decent graphics card, another thing is what do you think you'll build for graphics from now until a year from now? (it's a loooong time to decide something now), but… if you're thinking of building something like mid-range you might be building something now that's moderately decent when you upgrade the equipment with a sli you'll have enough or maybe not
P.D it's an option, but from now until a year from now they'll go for the PCI3 :nono:

[Sylver]

The key question is: Are you going to change the entire computer in exactly one year, yes or no?
Because if you stretch it a little more and use it beyond a year, then it would be good if you invested in something more powerful, but if you really are going to completely change the computer in exactly one year and then you will have between 200 and 300 euros ONLY for the graphics card, then you won't get a good return on buying a 6870 or an equivalent or superior nVidia by stretching the 100€, since when you upgrade you will buy something twice as powerful or more having more budget and a much better computer to install it in, therefore you will only be able to do SLI / Crossfire by buying a graphics card equivalent to what you buy now, which by then will be worse than what you can buy yourself.
That's why my opinion is that you should buy yourself a decent current graphics card with a good quality/price ratio that will give you to play almost all current games and thus you save some money for when you upgrade, but if you don't mind spending 100€ that 150€, then go for the 6870 and that's it, it will perform better, it will need a little more CPU but surely when you upgrade the whole computer you will buy something much more powerful in every way and you won't be able to use the 6870 for a crossfire.
Regards

[elsaq]

Many thanks to everyone for the responses!

What I really need now is a graphics card to play until June or so next year, since, as you rightly say, when I put the computer together next summer, I will buy the best graphics card I can for around 200-300€ (this is what I did back in the day with the X1950XT which is now 6 years old, that's why it has been performing well until today).

So we rule out the HD 6850/6870, if you had this equipment, which specific model would you put in?

Thanks! Best regards!

[ferelxyx]

put this graphic Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5 - 95 euros and also give you DIRT 3 for free. greetings

[Sylver]

@ferelxyx:

put this graphic Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5 - 95 euros and also give you DIRT 3

regards

For example.

+1

Regards

[Bm4n]

The 6770 is not a bad choice or a 6850, whether you spend more or less is up to you if you plan to use it for an upcoming computer or not.

[elsaq]

That HD 6770 looks really good, to be honest, with 128-bit at 4.8 ghz of memory it will give me a bandwidth of about 76.8 Gb/s compared to the current 57.6 Gb/s of my X1950XT, adding to that the 4.8 ghz of GDDR5 memory compared to the 1.8 Ghz of GDDR3 memory of my graphics card.

In theory, by figures, there should be a big difference between both cards, right?

To all this, the resolution at which I play is 1680x1050 currently, although after the graphics upgrade, an IPS monitor of 1920x1080 is coming, so I imagine that with that 6770 there will be no problem, right?

Thanks! Regards!

[Sylver]

@elsaq:

That HD 6770 looks really good, to be honest, with 128-bit at 4.8 ghz of memory it will give me a bandwidth of about 76.8 Gb/s compared to the current 57.6 Gb/s of my X1950XT, adding to that the 4.8 ghz of GDDR5 memory compared to the 1.8 Ghz of GDDR3 memory of my graphics card.

In theory, by numbers, there should be a big difference between both cards, right?

To all this, the resolution at which I play is 1680x1050 currently, although after the graphics upgrade, an IPS monitor of 1920x1080 is coming, so I imagine that with that 6770 there will be no problem, right?

Thanks! Regards!

Of course there is a big difference.

And you will have no problem playing at that resolution and higher ones.

Regards

[Obione]

I would get the refurbished 5850.

[CoUgSt]

@Obione:

I would get the 5850 refurbished.

If you change the graphics within less than a year I also vote for the 5850 refurbished

[Sylver]

@CoUgSt:

If you change your graphics within less than a year, I also vote for the 5850 refurbished

:sisi::sisi::sisi:

+1

Saludos

[elsaq]

Well, it's the HD 5850 for €112 with shipping included, I don't think I can find anything better for that price, and well, the "Refurbished" ones would be something like second-hand, right? they have a 1-year warranty, how does PC Componentes do for these things? Or will I have to talk directly with the manufacturer in case I use the warranty? I don't mind if I have to talk directly with the factory to process the warranty, most of the time it's faster that way, you skip the middleman. Well, for the €140 difference with its new version, I don't think I have anything else to think about hehe. I hope to have the money this week and buy it. Thank you very much for your help! I'm glad I found this forum, it's clear that you know what you're talking about and your kindness is appreciated, I'll be around here for a long time ?

[CoUgSt]

@elsaq:

Pues que sea la HD 5850 por 112€ con envío incluido, no creo que pille nada mejor por ese precio, y bueno las "Refurbished" serian algo así como de segunda mano, no? tienen 1 año de garantía, que tal va PC Componentes para estas cosas? O tendré que hablar directamente con el fabricante en caso de usar la garantía?

Tampoco me importa si tengo que hablar directamente con fábrica para tramitar garantía, la mayoría de las veces es mas rápido asi, te saltas el intermediario.

PCComponentes es una de las mejores tiendas, sino la mejor, almenos para mi. No has de preocuparte para nada de eso. Por ponerte un ejemplo mi mayor "problema" con ellos ha sido con el último pedido, que desde que lo pedí hasta que me llegó a casa tardó 1 semana :risitas:

@elsaq:

Bueno por los 140€ que hay de diferencia con su versión nueva, no creo que tenga nada que pensar mas jeje.

LOL, hace no mucho estaba nueva por 125€ en la misma PCComponentes

@elsaq:

Espero esta semana tener el dinero y comprarla.

Muchas gracias por vuestra ayuda! Me alegro de a ver encontrado este foro, se nota que sabéis de lo que habláis y se agradece vuestra amabilidad, me quedaré mucho tiempo por aquí

Un saludo!

De nada hombre! Para eso estamos, para ayudar
Mucha suerte con ese pepinillo ;D

Salu2