P3te Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 So a while back I built a new PC, but it was mainly to be used for light audio/video editing, heavy music production, moderate graphic design and a little bit of web development. I went a bit OTT with the system in terms of RAM etc, figuring that it was as well to buy now than have to upgrade a couple of years down the line. However, now I've decided that I'd like to use it as a gaming rig too. Specs are: Intel Core i5-2500 (I know I could've done a bit better on that front, but given that it's the most likely thing I'll be upgrading regardless, along with a newer mobo maybe in 2 years, I cheaped out a little waiting for octo-core chips to become more affordable) 32GB RAM 8TB Hard Drive 240GB SSD as system drive Right now, I've got a creaking old NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT graphics card in there, which obviously doesn't really cut it for modern games on the highest settings, so I've decided that at some point this summer I'll upgrade for something a lot better. I'm hoping for something I'll get 2 years at top settings out of, and another 3 at moderate settings, before I do a full upgrade again. However, I don't want to spend a fortune (always the caveat I'm sure), so ridiculously expensive cards are off the table - although if there was something top, top end out now that looked like being superceded by new tech in 6 months, I'd gladly hold back and pick it up for a bit cheaper around the Christmas. Realistically I'd not want to spend too much more than $300 (I live in Canada, but pricing doesn't seem to be a HUGE way off $=£ for this stuff, so £250 as a ballpark figure) I know little about graphics cards, and it's been a long while since I was knowledgeable about the tech that underpins them, so if anyone can recommend something, a few qualifiers as to why it's so great would be really, really recommended! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted May 25, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted May 25, 2013 I always look at Tom's Hardware first off. This is in USD: Best Graphics Cards For The Money: May 2013 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P3te Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Lovely! Well that's that sorted out nice and quickly Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 (edited) I'd hold off for a couple of weeks. The Nvidia 700 series is very much on the way. It's not an overhaul of the cards, it's pretty much just an optimisation and rebadge, but you'll either be able to get something a bit better for the same cash, or whatever you decide to get now but cheaper. Obviously there's always updates coming, and you'd end up never buying anything if you kept waiting for the newest thing, but as they're coming in just a few weeks, and a card for the money you're spending will get you through the next few years, I'd probably wait. Edited May 25, 2013 by Davkaus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juju Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I have to say, I bought an overclocked i5 system this time last year, including a GTX 670 card. And a year on, its still practicably a top end system with no issues running the games I play at pretty much max settings. I don't regret having found the extra couple of hundred then, as I think it has probably added to the usable life of the system. I've been through the frankenstein process before upgrading an old pc with ram, graphics cards, hard drives, and you still get to a point in about 6 years where you cannot play games due to the processor, rather than the other bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomaspg Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 personally i think its worth adding on the extra money to get either a firepro or quadro card, but really depends on how much video editing and design you do. i got the firepro v7900 card, worth every penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Sorry to hijack this topic guys but I brought a lenovo ideacentre which I'm more than happy with apart from the graphics card - a nvidia geforce 615 which just seems a little poor. The rest of the pc is great:icore5 6gb ram 2tb hdd. Want to upgrade but dont need anything absolute top end just something that doesn't tell me I cant run simcity on anything but min settings. Any suggestions within £150 price range? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted August 6, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted August 6, 2013 You'll be able to find something well within your budget Dubbs I reckon half that,tops. Have a look at the link I posted above. The may well be an August version on the site now too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Problem is I don't know that much about cards so I don't know what im looking at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 People might be able to make a recommendation if you provide the full model number of your machine. On of the main problems with graphics card upgrades in an off-the-shelf PC is that the PSUs that they put in them are usually trash, it's often the case that if you want to upgrade you need to fit a PSU in to your budget as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Its a 540-41 lenovo ideacentre if that helps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Google turns up an all-in-one touchscreen PC, is that the one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Thats the one yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 (edited) Honestly it's going to be a **** nightmare to upgrade an all in one PC. The manual specs show it will be at best at 250 watt PSU, which isn't going to cope with most graphics card. If there's room, you could go for a graphics card that is powered entirely by the PCI-E port such as the AMD 7750, which random guys on gaming forums say can run Sim City at a good frame rate, but I've no idea if you could actually get it in there. With a standard desktop I could make better recommendations, and I'd definitely go for upgrading both the PSU and graphics card which is more than do-able on your budget, but an all in one is a special case, you have to take in to account air-flow and space a lot more than in a normal case, I couldn't make any recommendations without cracking it open and seeing what space you have to work with, I really wouldn't recommend it. Edited August 6, 2013 by Davkaus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubbs Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Damn it. Was hoping it wouldn't be a major issue although it'll still do the job and I'll have a ps4 for gaming later in the year I guess. Pity cuz its been years since I had a decent pc and thought this would be a good all rounder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packoman Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Is this a good card for the price? Or any other suggestions around that price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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