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Spanky_McCoy
Dirty Deeds Done Cheap(ish)


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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:07 am    Post subject: Graphics cards Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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HotSWAT



Joined: 30 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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Spanky_McCoy
Dirty Deeds Done Cheap(ish)


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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spanky_McCoy wrote:
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?.


The 9500 will do all the physics, leaving the other card dedicated to graphics, also, when converting video, the 9500 will split the load with the cpu.
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Good Homer



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spanky_McCoy wrote:
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?.


If you thinking of buying the GTX260 ditch the 9500GT

As when you SLI two graphics cards the system evenly distributes the work load between the two cards,. Meaning that the system can only evenly distribute the work load to the full capacity of the lower card.

So you would not get the full benefit of your GTX260 it would be similar to running x2 9500GT (which would be a lot cheaper)
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HotSWAT



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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DanTheMan



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HotSWAT wrote:
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.


Correct, i have a 8800gt and a 8500gt, the 8800 show no physx usage in 3d mark tests as the 8500 is doing it, the 8500 and the cuda program (which is within the current drivers) is also accelerating my cpu in the test too.

Thing to do though is uninstall the drivers for the 9500, install the 260 drivers, the 9500 won`t need drivers anymore, (if you sli them).
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HotSWAT



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

drivers for both cards should be the same though
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DanTheMan



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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HotSWAT wrote:
drivers for both cards should be the same though


Was just a point Exclamation
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Good Homer



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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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)
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HotSWAT



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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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DanTheMan



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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good Homer wrote:
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)



Multicore cpu`s have nothing to do with physx, Physx is a program that will only run through drivers assigned to a GPU.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_physx.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_9.09.0408_whql.html

Cuda is a system that speeds up all processor`s by creating faster links to the cpu (be it single or multicore) and sharing the work load of the cpu, therefore, faster framerates or faster processing times for other applications.

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/cuda_what_is_uk.html

So not using it, for the minimal onboard power that it takes; 3.3v would be a bit of a waste, the extra fan thaat the card provides would actually increase airflow around the lower section of the case (an Eddy in the corners of the case is quite useful to redirect hot air) and the tightness of the gap with the 260 would case it to throw more air out of the back, therefore, cooler 260; less load for the cpu/260 also equates to it being a cooler case overall too. I have found with all my computer building that a tight case is better, due to an "air funnel" being created and hot air being sucked in the right direction. If a hot case is an issue, make sure the fans are in the correct positions in the correct sizes: A large slow fan at the front and a small fast fan at the back will cause "Negative pressure" which the best set up for a pc to get rid of the hot air too. all side fans should be slow, large fans also and sucking outwards, a fan at the top should be a small fast one.....

Any questions?
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Good Homer



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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
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mad
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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
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Spanky_McCoy
Dirty Deeds Done Cheap(ish)


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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mad, exactly how long a stick should I use?
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JawZ



Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Sat May 30, 2009 11:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you have a game of cricket, you might get scouted for the scottish cricket team O.o
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DanTheMan



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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JawZ wrote:
if you have a game of cricket, you might get scouted for the scottish cricket team O.o


Or for the friday night plastic police in glasgow Exclamation
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mark-s
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Joined: 25 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 7:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spanky_McCoy wrote:
Mad, exactly how long a stick should I use?



forget the stick get the missus to turn it on for you, whilst your getting a beer from the fridge, come back and sweep up the mess Laughing
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mad
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PostPosted: Sun May 31, 2009 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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