Graphics cards

Spanky_McCoy · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:07 am Post subject: Graphics cards

I'm running an Nvidia 9500gt 512mb at the moment but I'm wanting to give it a boost. Should I ditch the 9500gt for a new card or run it in tandem with another card?. Budget is about £150 for another card so any suggestions would be great thanks.
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Good Homer · Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 55 Location: North West Lancs

Dependent on weather your PSU is good enough to run x2 graphics cards,.. and I’m assuming your motherboard does support SLI.

Your best option would be to run x2 cards is this will double you’re graphics power and will not dent your budget as a 9500gt 512mb cost around £50 Idea

Do you know the wattage of your PSU + what CPU, Ram and how many cd/dvd drives are in your PC

HotSWAT · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:27 am Post subject:

on that budget, best bang for your buck is a 9800gt

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/512MB-Palit-9800-GT-PCI-E-20-(x16)-1800MHz-GDDR3-GPU-600MHz-112-Cores-2xDL-DVI-I-HDTV

but if you want that bit more power, then I'd recommend a GTX 260
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/896MB-XFX-GTX-260-Black-PCI-E-20-2300GHz-GDDR3-GPU-666MHz-216-Cores-2xDL-DVI-I-HDTV-plus-FarCry2

the 9800gt can run most games on high graphics, but it's not as futureproof as the GTX 260 i think.
if you ever want to upgrade later on, you can always add on an extra card. But bear in mind, two 9800gt's are just a small bit over the performance of one of these GTX 260.
add another GTX260 to an existing one, you'll have a monster of a gaming PC

*edit* links are retarded o_o

Spanky_McCoy · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:35 pm Post subject:

I quite like the look of the GTX260 Swat found, is it worth running it in tandem with the 9500GT though or just ditch it?.
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DanTheMan · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1668

Good Homer · Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 55 Location: North West Lancs

HotSWAT · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:41 pm Post subject:

ah, but as dan said, instead of SLI'ing them, you can turn the other card into a PhysX card, that takes the load off the main card when doing physics in some games. As he also said, it can still be used to accelerate some programs with nvidia's "CUDA"

in laymans terms, just keep it in for a laugh.

DanTheMan · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1668

HotSWAT · Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:05 pm Post subject:

drivers for both cards should be the same though

DanTheMan · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1668

Good Homer · Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 55 Location: North West Lancs

Personally I think it's not worth using the 9500GT as a PhysX card - there are very little games that support PhysX

And even for the games that are available physx will only give you approx 10% increase in physics processing power whilst on the other hand it’s just using more power, increasing system temp and reducing the case air flow.

It’s not like the GTX 260 is too weak to do PhysX on its own, now is it?

P/S are you using a multicore cpu? (If so no need for PhysX card)

HotSWAT · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:46 am Post subject:

well the way I see it, you might as well keep it in. It won't use any power untill there's any need for it to be used, and when it is used, the application using it (PhysX or CUDA based) will show a performance increase. way i see it, it's a win-win situation. If you don't want to do this, I suggest trying to sell the 9500gt on eBay or something. You probably won't get too much for it..but it's your choice.

DanTheMan · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1668

Good Homer · Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 55 Location: North West Lancs

I worded it badly saying you would not need a PhysX card with a multicore cpu,.. I meant he would not need to run a second graphics card (9500GT) as physx card to take the load of the cpu as multicore cpu would easily be able to run his nvidia 260 as a physx and a game card without being overloaded.

Runnig a second card when not really nessasary would use more power, increase system temp and reduce the air flow in the case.

But hay the decision is yours I’ve given you my opinion.

mad · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:

I think you should install linux and overclock the system fan. You should then flick the voltage setting on the power supply to 110, stand back and turn it on with a stick. That way you can forget the computer and go play something useful and beneficial like squash or football. maybe even have a game of cricket.

I think this successfully summarises the crap postings above and that you find the information contained useful Smile

Spanky_McCoy · Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:48 pm Post subject:

Mad, exactly how long a stick should I use?
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JawZ · Joined: 29 Oct 2007 Posts: 1991 Location: Bedfordshire

if you have a game of cricket, you might get scouted for the scottish cricket team O.o
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DanTheMan · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 1668

mark-s · PRO Admin Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 527 Location: nice

mad · Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 1:57 pm Post subject:

lol the length of the stick should be proportional to your love for live and all things living.