PC Graphic Card Upgrade

[Rednog]

Salutations. Lately I've been experiencing a little chugging with my gaming rig while playing new games, I've tried knocking down some settings in some games to medium, but in some games like Black Ops, the game will still chug, especially when a lot of things are happening on screen (ie Groundwar/domination). I was wondering if a graphics card update would be the easiest/cheapest way to go about getting a bit more life out of my rig and helping me keep up with the gaming curve.

My current set up:
Seagate ST3640323AS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
ZALMAN CNPS 9700 NT 110mm 2 Ball Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI FTW ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor
OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
EVGA 512-P3-N884-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ Superclocked Edition 512MB 256-bit GDDR3
Sceptre 32" 720p LCD HDTV X322BV-HD
Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64bit

I haven't overclocked my computer yet, but I am under the assumption/impression that you cannot further overclock a "superclocked" graphics card.

A friend of mine recommended I buy http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=u859551t2789517f9fp0c0s701&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&Item=N82E16814150476
I'm wondering if this will be a significant upgrade and about how long it should/would carry me.
If not this any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. My current budget is about $250-300. I was also tossing around the idea to maybe just live with what I have now and try to get as much life out of my current build (maybe an extra year-year and half) and then just start from the ground up again where I'll probably have a budget of $700-900 to make a new rig.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I'd go for a HD 6950 and firmware hack it into a 6970... probably either ASUS or MSI models unless you've had good luck with lower tier card manufacturers (eg, HIS GPUs love me but hate a lot of people).


Of course, the problem with that is the GPU would be FAR more capable than the rest of your system. Dropping in a flash new GPU and overclocking your CPU are about as good as you're gonna get without starting to outlay more scratch.

 

[MrTub]

What resolution are you using?

 

[Rednog]

What resolution are you using?

(Un)fortunately I'm using a 32'' TV screen for my PC's monitor and it caps out at 1366 x 768. Sad resolution, but I dropped $220 on it during Black Friday and didn't realize the resolution until I opened the box and hooked it up.

 

[MrTub]

What resolution are you using?

(Un)fortunately I'm using a 32'' TV screen for my PC's monitor and it caps out at 1366 x 768. Sad resolution, but I dropped $220 on it during Black Friday and didn't realize the resolution until I opened the box and hooked it up.

Hmm... With that resolution the cpu almost is more important then the graphic card so I would suggest OC your CPU and perhaps buy a 6950 which will be overkill, but then you can just move it to your new build later on an get a second card and run in CF.

 

[Rednog]

I'd go for a HD 6950 and firmware hack it into a 6970... probably either ASUS or MSI models unless you've had good luck with lower tier card manufacturers (eg, HIS GPUs love me but hate a lot of people).


Of course, the problem with that is the GPU would be FAR more capable than the rest of your system. Dropping in a flash new GPU and overclocking your CPU are about as good as you're gonna get without starting to outlay more scratch.

What resolution are you using?

(Un)fortunately I'm using a 32'' TV screen for my PC's monitor and it caps out at 1366 x 768. Sad resolution, but I dropped $220 on it during Black Friday and didn't realize the resolution until I opened the box and hooked it up.

Hmm... With that resolution the cpu almost is more important then the graphic card so I would suggest OC your CPU and perhaps buy a 6950 which will be overkill, but then you can just move it to your new build later on an get a second card and run in CF.

I was looking at cards on newegg, a HIS Radeon HD 6950 1 gig on newegg is $200 after rebates. From what I read and generally seem to understand their isn't a huge difference that would warrant me dropping an extra $50-60 for a 2gb card especially with my crappy resolution. Sounds like I should get this card, especially at this price? Also I probably could scrounge up another $100 somewhere (probably skip lunch for like a month), should I try to go with 2 (since it's a deal) or buy 1 now and hope that in a few months that the price will drop under $200 and pick up another one then? (Hoping that the card doesn't magically go out of existence; I wanted to SLI my 9800 a year after I got it and they stopped producing the damn thing).

Edit: Newegg link to card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161361&cm_re=Radeon_HD_6950-_-14-161-361-_-Product

Edit 2: Also I watched a video about the firmware hack, does it apply to any brand of this card, or matter if the card is 1gb or 2?

 

[MrTub]

I'd go for a HD 6950 and firmware hack it into a 6970... probably either ASUS or MSI models unless you've had good luck with lower tier card manufacturers (eg, HIS GPUs love me but hate a lot of people).


Of course, the problem with that is the GPU would be FAR more capable than the rest of your system. Dropping in a flash new GPU and overclocking your CPU are about as good as you're gonna get without starting to outlay more scratch.

What resolution are you using?

(Un)fortunately I'm using a 32'' TV screen for my PC's monitor and it caps out at 1366 x 768. Sad resolution, but I dropped $220 on it during Black Friday and didn't realize the resolution until I opened the box and hooked it up.

Hmm... With that resolution the cpu almost is more important then the graphic card so I would suggest OC your CPU and perhaps buy a 6950 which will be overkill, but then you can just move it to your new build later on an get a second card and run in CF.

I was looking at cards on newegg, a HIS Radeon HD 6950 1 gig on newegg is $200 after rebates. From what I read and generally seem to understand their isn't a huge difference that would warrant me dropping an extra $50-60 for a 2gb card especially with my crappy resolution. Sounds like I should get this card, especially at this price? Also I probably could scrounge up another $100 somewhere (probably skip lunch for like a month), should I try to go with 2 (since it's a deal) or buy 1 now and hope that in a few months that the price will drop under $200 and pick up another one then? (Hoping that the card doesn't magically go out of existence; I wanted to SLI my 9800 a year after I got it and they stopped producing the damn thing).

Edit: Newegg link to card.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161361&cm_re=Radeon_HD_6950-_-14-161-361-_-Product

Edit 2: Also I watched a video about the firmware hack, does it apply to any brand of this card, or matter if the card is 1gb or 2?

You need 2gb for do that. And you really do not need 2x 6950 with your cpu so I would suggest that you buy one now and another one when they drop in price



PS: I would recommend that you buy the 2gb version since if you later on buy a monitor that support 1920x1080 1gb can be a bit to low...

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Also I probably could scrounge up another $100 somewhere (probably skip lunch for like a month), should I try to go with 2

Your mobo doesn't support Crossfire (ATI/AMD multi-GPU) so you couldn't run both.

 

[Hashime]

At 720p you have no reason to use anything more than a 5770. If you plan on upgrading in the future get either a 6870 or a 560, a 460 if you can support SLI.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

If you can get a GTX480, go for it. they've dropped in price due to the 570 and are the same, (except 570 produces bit less heat, noise and requires bit less power)

If you can, go for a EVGA maker, probably the best in both quality and warrenty.

EDIT: Gah! so many ATi fans! *waves torch and pitchfork around*

 

[MrTub]

If you can get a GTX480, go for it. they've dropped in price due to the 570 and are the same, (except 570 produces bit less heat, noise and requires bit less power)

If you can, go for a EVGA maker, probably the best in both quality and warrenty.

EDIT: Gah! so many ATi fans! *waves torch and pitchfork around*

Ati doesnt exist anymore and AMD is generally better to use if your building on a budget or if you do not know how to clock

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

AMD is generally better to use if your building on a budget or if you do not know how to clock

Or if you find going beyond a certain performance level starts bringing you diminishing returns that you're not prepared to put up with.

 

[MrTub]

AMD is generally better to use if your building on a budget or if you do not know how to clock

Or if you find going beyond a certain performance level starts bringing you diminishing returns that you're not prepared to put up with.

We're talking budget cards here =) Radeon releases great high end cards and if I had to buy new cards I would buy either 6950(and unlock them) or 6970 in CF, same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

Twin loop system so you have one loop for the CPU and one for the GPU? Wouldn't like to try and cool an OC'ed CPU and a Fermi based GPU off the same loop. Or you could just be strange and keep your CPU on air and your GPU on water.

 

[MrTub]

same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

Twin loop system so you have one loop for the CPU and one for the GPU? Wouldn't like to try and cool an OC'ed CPU and a Fermi based GPU off the same loop. Or you could just be strange and keep your CPU on air and your GPU on water.

well the SB is very overclock friendly on air, my i7 2600k is OCed to 4,5Ghz with H50 and I never go over 65c and is idling at 26-30c but my cards......... jesus christ those are monsters
I have a fan profile that makes them never go over 90c and sometimes it peaks at 75-80% fan speed and considering those cards have up to 3600-4000rpm

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

Twin loop system so you have one loop for the CPU and one for the GPU? Wouldn't like to try and cool an OC'ed CPU and a Fermi based GPU off the same loop. Or you could just be strange and keep your CPU on air and your GPU on water.

well the SB is very overclock friendly on air, my i7 2600k is OCed to 4,5Ghz with H50 and I never go over 65c and is idling at 26-30c but my cards......... jesus christ those are monsters
I have a fan profile that makes them never go over 90c and sometimes it peaks at 75-80% fan speed and considering those cards have up to 3600-4000rpm

Fucking hell, Monsters indeed. Pity Corsair don't make Hydro series coolers for GPUs.

 

[MrTub]

same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

Twin loop system so you have one loop for the CPU and one for the GPU? Wouldn't like to try and cool an OC'ed CPU and a Fermi based GPU off the same loop. Or you could just be strange and keep your CPU on air and your GPU on water.

well the SB is very overclock friendly on air, my i7 2600k is OCed to 4,5Ghz with H50 and I never go over 65c and is idling at 26-30c but my cards......... jesus christ those are monsters
I have a fan profile that makes them never go over 90c and sometimes it peaks at 75-80% fan speed and considering those cards have up to 3600-4000rpm

Fucking hell, Monsters indeed. Pity Corsair don't make Hydro series coolers for GPUs.

Yeah would be pretty nice actually but unless they have 240/360 rads they will still sound a lot. The sound are a bit annoying but if I use my headphones I pretty much never notices them, doesnt help that my chassi has a lot of holes and perforated top& font so Im thinking about either buying a Fractal define XL or a Corsair obsidian 800D but I also want to buy 2-3 ssds.. arghh.

 

[MrTub]

same with Nvidia but I will probably never buy a fermi card again unless I actually buy watercooling which I have been thinking about for quite some time.

Twin loop system so you have one loop for the CPU and one for the GPU? Wouldn't like to try and cool an OC'ed CPU and a Fermi based GPU off the same loop. Or you could just be strange and keep your CPU on air and your GPU on water.

well the SB is very overclock friendly on air, my i7 2600k is OCed to 4,5Ghz with H50 and I never go over 65c and is idling at 26-30c but my cards......... jesus christ those are monsters
I have a fan profile that makes them never go over 90c and sometimes it peaks at 75-80% fan speed and considering those cards have up to 3600-4000rpm

Fucking hell, Monsters indeed. Pity Corsair don't make Hydro series coolers for GPUs.

Hahah I was actually a bit wrong.. they run up to 4770/4950

 

[Rednog]

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Really appreciate the help, I ended up pulling the trigger on a Radeon HD 6950, hopefully it will help immensely with the chugging I'm getting and I can be a happy gamer again.
Once again, thanks.

 

[MrTub]

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Really appreciate the help, I ended up pulling the trigger on a Radeon HD 6950, hopefully it will help immensely with the chugging I'm getting and I can be a happy gamer again.
Once again, thanks.

np =) Should be able to play any games on high settings for a very long time with your resolution