Help Find A Decent Video Card

[thomastaco]

Motherboard: MSI P6N SLI (http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=proddesc&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1141#)

Current video card: EVGA nVidia 8800 GT (http://www.gpureview.com/geforce-8800-gt-card-544.html)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo

Power supply: 500w

Windows 7
Ram: 4gb

I would like a new video card that I could play World of Warcraft and Call of Duty Black Ops at high quality with on my 24 inch 1080 monitor. My old video card gave out about a month after I got the new monitor. :(

Please suggest some video cards, a new hardrive as well, and anything else you think I should be upgrading. Preferably below $200 for just the video card if possible. Thanks.

[Stubby]

the GTX 460 is the best for under 200.
you can get a 5870 (which is 2 levels above the 460 (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850,2782-7.html)) for 255 at newegg right now ( I did ):D

32 bit or 64 bit windows?

just read an article about actually having more then 4Gb of ram in 32bit OS, cool stuff.

which core duo?
current HD?
make of PSU?

[thomastaco]

I was looking at the GTX 460 Superclocked version for $210. Is it worth the extra $40 from the non-superclocked version?

I like the 5870. Is it worth the money?

I have 64 bit Windows 7.

Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz

The HD is crap. Anything decent would be better. The Windows Experience Index gives it a 4.1. >.>

Antec Earthwatts 500w PSU

[ultima]

for black ops

a newer gpu will not help

it actually requires at least 3 cpu cores


i am part of an online gaming group and a bunch of us
with various GPU's and CPU's

we found that those with Dual cores, had lag/stutter problems

those with 3 or 4 cores had no issues, and they didn't necessarily have higher end video cards

i had also read an article that proved my thoughts correct.

other than the fact that 2 of the members switched to QUAD core
and instantly all the lag problems went away. without any other
changes to the system....

[thomastaco]

I have to get a new card. My other one died. :p So a new card will definitely help since I can't play any game right now. :p

[thomastaco]

If someone wouldn't mind finding me a good deal on newegg or something for a new processor/video card/power supply if needed package or whatever. That would be s'well.

[ultima]

ok.

the other option would be a 6850 or 6870
(since you mentioned the 5870)

the 6870 performs just slightly slower than a 5870. but has
newer features, runs cooler and less power usage
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600083901&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%206000%20series

the nvidia 400 GTX line up
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600007323&IsNodeId=1&name=GeForce%20GTX%20400%20series

heres a review that has basically all the cards that you are looking at
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/37286-amd-radeon-hd-6870-hd-6850-review-15.html

rough guide of performance and rough price below performance
5870>=6870> 470> 5850> 6850>=460
$300 . $250 . $250 .$220 .$200 .$150


now some games favor nvidia, or ati
so some of these results change
sometimes a 470 outperforms a 5870 and a 6870 can do better than the 5870... all depends on the game

as for hard-drive. just look for something in the 50 to 60 dollar range
it'll be better than what you have, 7200 RPM, 16 mb cache to 32 mb

i'll have to look up what cpu's your motherboard will take and i'll
get back to you on that

might not have to upgrade the power supply we'll see
:)

[Stubby]

http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=prodcpusupport&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1141#menu

lists compatible CPUs
Q6xxx series OK
Q9xxx NO
Q8xxx not mentioned

so it supports selected quad cores. silly advertising.

newegg is out since all their quads are 9xxx or 8xxx
lots of other places still have q6xxx but to me they seem awfully expensive.

reading around its seems that 45nm quads might work BUT no guarantees about stability and not supported by MSI

[thomastaco]

Would the following link solve all my problems: link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.561407)

[Stubby]

Would the following link solve all my problems: link (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.561407)
[Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor BX80605I7870


ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard newegg


SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video .]


pretty much
but you can get better deals if you need to change your mb etc.

eg.:
ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AM3 AMD 890GX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ955FBGMBOX
SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video

same video card but with AMD quad core with unlocked clock multiplier
$562 + free shipping

or go with an Athlon II X4
AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX645WFGMBOX
MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video

$463 + free shipping

in your example and either of mine you would also need some ram since all boards here are ddr3.

but 4gb of ram is fairly cheap

[thomastaco]

but 4gb of ram is fairly cheap

Is 4gb enough nowadays? Someone said most computer now are running 8. Seemed a little excessive to me, but maybe he was right.

[ultima]

ya 4gb is still good

i've only met a hand full of ppl that use more than that
and they are using high tech programs

[saintjimmy]

I have 8 GB, yet I don't usually go over 50% use (4 GB) unless I'm playing GTA 4 or sometimes Crysis when it uses 2+ GB for itself (the end of the original game uses about 3 GB). But Windows adjust how much memory it uses depending on how much memory is present. Example: My desktop idle uses 1.5 -2 GB, while parent's computer also with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit only uses about 1 -1.5 GB idle, and it has 4 GB total. A lot depends on what is running on the background. My grandmother's HP desktop has 32 bit Vista with 2 GB RAM, and it uses less than half a gig of RAM idle because it's pretty much a bare install.

[thomastaco]

or go with an Athlon II X4
AMD Athlon II X4 645 Propus 3.1GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor ADX645WFGMBOX
MSI 880GM-E41 AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
SAPPHIRE 100281-3SR Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video

$463 + free shipping

in your example and either of mine you would also need some ram since all boards here are ddr3.

but 4gb of ram is fairly cheap

Would I need a new power supply if I bought this gear?

[ultima]

i doubt it

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/37286-amd-radeon-hd-6870-hd-6850-review-25.html

and its totaly system power used there

they were using an i7 920 running at 4.0 ghz...
so its using more power than your 645 will any day


so even if you were to say 300 watts..you have room

[thomastaco]

So I bought these parts and got some OCZ Reaper ram with them. Ever since I have had problems all over. I'll wake up in the morning, turn on my computer, and sometimes before it's done logging in it resets. Sometimes it waits a while after a few minutes into a game. It'll crash and give me a hypertransport sync error, pfn list error, memory management error, and a few others I can't remember. Also, like yesterday, Windows Explorer kept reset and it was fucking annoying as shit as I couldnt get into any settings to see if I could stop it. So usually I take the turn the computer off, take the ram out, and put it back in. It runs for the rest of the day like it is supposed to. Then the next morning, the exact same shit starts happening.

Tech guys are useless. And I'm not even sure who to contact as it SEEMS sometimes a memory error and sometimes not. I thought maybe it was the drivers, so I downloaded one of those driver update programs and it updated them. But then again, today, it did the same shit.

Sorry for posting this in here. Figured one of you might give me some advice on fixing it since you're probably more intelligent than the tech people.

[ultima]

guess its the only ram you have ?

how many sticks ?

if 2. just use 1 for now and see if the problem persists
if it does, switch it out with the other one.

if it doesn't...take the "good" one out and put the other chip in
see if still happens. if it does, then that memory chip is faulty

[Stubby]

guess its the only ram you have ?

how many sticks ?

if 2. just use 1 for now and see if the problem persists
if it does, switch it out with the other one.

if it doesn't...take the "good" one out and put the other chip in
see if still happens. if it does, then that memory chip is faulty

troubleshooting 101 right there !

which reaper RAM though?

[thomastaco]

This Reaper RAM. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227559)

[ultima]

yup

pull one out

see how it goes. still iffy
switch them around

then you should know if its the ram or not

if with either ram in, it still does this behaviour...

its really rare that both chips would be bad at the same time


the other thing that happens when your computer is "woken up"
is its spinning up hard-drives and using them, so could be a bad sector

or its windows being faulty :(

[thomastaco]

I haven't done the RAM test by taking one out etc. etc.

I reinstalled Windows on another hard drive that I had to see if I would still be getting the same errors or not because I think it's the hard drive. When the guy gave me the computer a few years ago, he had windows loaded up on the small hard drive he had put in it instead of the much larger one. I think he knew the hard drive was messed up.

[thomastaco]

I did the basic RAM test of taking one out and vice versa. They both worked fine separately. Then I put them both back in together, turned it on, started WoW and firefox: "pfn_list_corrupt" So frustrating. Any ideas? Just send them back?

[ultima]

did you put the memory in just the first slot ?

i'm wondering if the 2nd slot is causing this problem...or if theres some sort of dirt or something


http://www.memtest86.com/
you can go here, go to free download on the left
and download the bootable CD and burn the image

then boot off the cd and run some tests


some other fixes

updating the bios

making sure the ram sticks are clean, on the connectors that go into the motherboard, and blowing out the motherboard slots

[Stubby]

I would get one more stick of ram and try it with each of the other 2. then return the one that doesn't work. In the mean time use 1 stick.

If this doesn't work then it could be the motherboard.

Thought: which dimm slots are you using?

The consensus online is bad memory, with a smattering of bad drivers.

[thomastaco]

I haven't done memtest86.com yet, but I would have one RAM stick in the first slot, then the other in the second one. I decided maybe that was the problem so I switched it to the third slot with the same problems. They both run as expected when they are by themselves though. o.O

[ultima]

that is very weird :/


i'll go searching on that one

[thomastaco]

also, they ran all day, then (doing the same stuff as i had all day) I got the hypertransport sync flood error. Now when I try to start up WoW it doesnt read the patches right saying it needs to start downloading the patches, I hit play, computer crashes. Sometimes I still get the memory management error. I have WoW on the possibly broken harddrive. I thought it would just crash wow if that harddrive stopped working right. If you think I should send back the RAM or some other part, let me know. >.>

[thomastaco]

And yesterday the screen randomly went black and when it came back up it said the graphics device driver crashed but has recovered. Then today, it crashed bringing up firefox. I turned it back on and it said there wasnt a device driver installed. Rebooted again, it's working now. >.> I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.

[Imglidinhere]

If that 8800GT satisfied you until now, get the much cheaper 768MB GTX 460. It'll still run circles around your 8800GT with ease and then some. I have one overclocked to 875/1750/4000 and it matches a GTX 285 at those clocks. Not a bad deal if you ask me. :D You can easily grab one for $150 off Newegg.

It's your best bet. Hands down. I always stress to go for the cheapest solution and this would be it.


Also, the problems you're mentioning, thomastaco, are sounding more like Hard Drive, Mobo, and RAM problems. I recognize your Hypertransport sync error and I remember getting that problem when my RAM started screwing up. The patching issue was a corrupt OS deal with me when I played WoW a while back and the Driver crashing with 2d programs looks like your GPU is failing. It sounds like the worst case scenario but trust me, it can be worse. :D