* Looking for new Graphics Card for my ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE 3800+ motherboard *

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Newbie05

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Ok so I'm looking to upgrade my old graphics card on my PC to play a few games.
I'm not much of a tech head so I looked around the net and forums and got some second hand info. Still dont know what to do though.

My system was pretty decent when I got it but now its a bit aged. I wanna breathe a little life into the old girl in the graphics area
before it becomes ancient. The existing Leadtek graphics card was great at the time but now I want to see if I can get more elsewhere.

The graphics are choppy and they stutter if I tweak the default settings slightly when playing NFS Undercover or Fifa 09 .

I'm looking to get one good graphics card as I have no intention of running 2 on SLI. So what can you guys suggest?

I'm looking at GIGABYTE cards (affordable for me)

(And dont bother telling me to scrap it and get a new system coz I wanna try work with what I got and get the best out of it)


My PC:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+
2.01 GHz
2GB Kingston DDR400 RAM (new)
Leadtek Nvidia GeFORCE 6800 (Winfast PX6800 TDH) 256MB (DDR)
Windows XP SP3
350W Power Supply


The Motherboard Specs:

ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE 3800+
AMD Socket 939 CPU
Supports DDR 400/333/266
Dual PCI-E x 16 Graphics
System Bus 2000/1600 MT/s


I was about to buy a Nvidia GeFORCE 9600GT 512MB card, 500W power supply and 2GB DDR400 RAM but the dweeb at the counter said this card
wont be compatible with my motherboard. He said it wont fit the PCI slot.
I Felt like a douch and just took the RAM.

Also I was wondering if my motherboard says it supports DDR 400 RAM, does that mean I have to get a graphics card that has DDR 400 RAM
or can I get a new card that has DDR2 or DDR3 RAM? Does that matter?

Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. I know there are heaps of techie boys & girls who know their stuff so please help me!
 
Well the guy was correct in stating that the card would not fit in a pci slot.

It uses a pci-e slot of which you have 2 that will accept the card just fine :facepalm:(for the guy in the shop)

What is your budget for gpu and psu?
Perhaps we can find you a better deal on a better card.
 
The dude at the counter must have thought he only had pci slots for some reason.

The 9600 GT ain't even that good anymore. I'd say the weakest cards worth buying anymore are the GTS 250 and HD 4850 unless you are someone who only plays wow. Then cards like the 9800 GT, 4670 and 4830 can sometimes be recommended.

Here is a Gigabyte 4850 1GB: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R485MC-1GI Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

The reviews say that that card has nice cooling, but it doesn't have a fan, so idk. If you want one with a fan: Newegg.com - HIS Hightech H485FN1GP Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

I looked for some GTS 250's, but they aren't as affordable. You'd pay that same price for a 512 MB version. If you want a 512 MB HD 4850 here is one with a decent OC priced the same after the MIR as other cards without the OC: Newegg.com - ASUS EAH4850 TOP/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
 
The dude at the counter must have thought he only had pci slots for some reason.

No doubt that is what he thought.
To loose a sale because you do not spend the 1 minute to check deserves another :facepalm:

But, for the OP it is a blessing in disguise because they will end up with a better card for less money.
 
Wow thanks guys. Dont want to change processor but will change PSU (Antec or cheaper Coolermaster)

Had a look at Druid's recommendations... Yeah Im not sure about the Gigabyte one without a fan as well. But the HDMI connection will be handy.

HIS and ASUS look good though.

Any other recommendations will be good. I originally went into the store looking to get a Gigabyte GTS250 1GB but it wasn't in stock.

Oh yeah and I was wondering whether a 512MB or 1GB would be more beneficial to my setup?
I heard that if I get a better card, it might not use the full potential because it will get 'bottle necked' by my old processor anyway... Any thoughts?

Also is newegg.com just US, Canada, China or can ship International?... because Im in Melbourne, Australia. Might buy online if Im getting a great deal.

Much appreciated guys.
 
1gb will not make a huge difference unless you game at very high resolutions (1920 x 1200 or higher) which I am guessing you are not.

You cpu will bottleneck some of the newer cards but not too much with the gts250. Plus it will give you a great reason for a new mb, cpu and ram later. ;)
 
I'm looking for a GTS 250 now...
Might as well. It will give me incentive to upgrade my PC properly in the future.
I'm finding that the GTS 250 is out of stock in a lot of local places. So I might have to be patient.

My next preferences if Im unlucky are 9800GT or 9600GT. I want the 1GB cards too. I seem to be hooked on the Gigabyte cards... maybe because their cooling systems look so impressive... They just look like they are put together well.

Let me know if there are any great PC shops online that deliver to Australia ;)

Thanks a lot guys. You all have been a great help!! More help than I anticipated.

Cheers

I've just realised what has happened... Hefemeister.... yoooooou should be a salesman lol
Anyway thanks again guys.
 
I'm looking for a GTS 250 now...
Might as well. It will give me incentive to upgrade my PC properly in the future.
I'm finding that the GTS 250 is out of stock in a lot of local places. So I might have to be patient.

My next preferences if Im unlucky are 9800GT or 9600GT. I want the 1GB cards too. I seem to be hooked on the Gigabyte cards... maybe because their cooling systems look so impressive... They just look like they are put together well.

Let me know if there are any great PC shops online that deliver to Australia ;)

Thanks a lot guys. You all have been a great help!! More help than I anticipated.

Cheers

I've just realised what has happened... Hefemeister.... yoooooou should be a salesman lol
Anyway thanks again guys.

I don't recommend those cards nor do I recommend getting the 1GB versions of the card.

Here's why: usually those cards are found in price brackets that AMD seems to be winning in (like the HD 4830 and HD 4770), and you don't want 1GB on those cards because you'll get LOWER performance (because the cards can't utilize that much RAM, and even at extremely high resolutions, you'd want a better card)
 
Can you recommend a card then for my system?

Because that's my aim out of all of this... to get a value for $ - mid range card that can be still used in the future.

I was thinking about settling for a 512mb before but started to look at 1GB's when I thought of future upgrades (Maybe new processor etc can utilize that extra memory or something with better support hardware - that's what I was thinking. As I said before, I dont know much about the tech side)

I have looked up a few reviews but it hasn't done that well (GTS 250). Fairly moderate. It only does well in the cooling department.

Someone else telling me about 9800GTX+
I cant find that locally anywhere... Is it rare?

So gimme a recommendation with Nvidia chipset
 
A ati 4830 or 4770 or 4850 would be a good choice. But if you want Nvidia then a gts250 is the best in that price area. The gts250 is basically a 9800gtx+ which is why you don't see the 9800gtx+ around much.
 
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