Looking to get back into gaming

[mwbutler]

Hi All

 

I'm tempted to get back into gaming and to do so I'll need to update my graphics card. My current system specs are:

 

Intel i5 2500

16gb ram

Nvidia Gt430

SATA HDDs

 

I'm looking to play Arma 2, Dayz mod, DayZ standalone, GTA5 etc.

 

My question is what graphics card should I get (don't care which brand)? Is the ATI 7850 overkill? Is there something better / cheaper I should go for instead? My budget can stretch up to £100 but preferably under.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[tobiasclarity]

Hi All

 

I'm tempted to get back into gaming and to do so I'll need to update my graphics card. My current system specs are:

 

Intel i5 2500

16gb ram

Nvidia Gt430

SATA HDDs

 

I'm looking to play Arma 2, Dayz mod, DayZ standalone, GTA5 etc.

 

My question is what graphics card should I get (don't care which brand)? Is the ATI 7850 overkill? Is there something better / cheaper I should go for instead? My budget can stretch up to £100 but preferably under.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

 

to be totally honest to even start to think about playing GTA5 you will need to be looking at £300+ group for graphics cards, you maybe better off just waiting and saving some more. You pretty much have everything else there

[chazzy2501]

GTA5 havent published their specs but an Radeon HD6950 on ebay will set you back £120 a slightly better HD7850 for £130 or a Nvidia GTX660 for £150 should be fine. a GTX650 fit into your budget now but is HALF the power of a 660 so you don't want it.

 

This looks like a deal.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Generic-ATI-Radeon-HD-6950-Graphics-Card-1GB-GDDR5-DirectX-11-PCI-Express-/170905558085?pt=UK_Computing_Computer_Components_Graphics_Video_TV_Cards_TW&hash=item27cac3dc45] (not vouching for the seller)

 

it's an older card and sucks up power (200Watts) but you'll get a lot of bang for your money.

Edited October 22, 2012 by chazzy2501

[3s-gtech]

Most important question now is - what is the resolution of your screen?

 

£100 will not get you very far (in fact, it won't even begin) if you're planning on full HD res. If you can run up to the 7850 mentioned you'll do fine, especially with the new Catalyst 12.11. GTA IV for PC was so hopelessly optimised that you need a monster PC to run it properly now, so who know what V will bring.

[mwbutler]

Most important question now is - what is the resolution of your screen?

 

£100 will not get you very far (in fact, it won't even begin) if you're planning on full HD res. If you can run up to the 7850 mentioned you'll do fine, especially with the new Catalyst 12.11. GTA IV for PC was so hopelessly optimised that you need a monster PC to run it properly now, so who know what V will bring.

 

1024x768 most likely as my monitor (a TV) doesn't support higher, I'm not after full HD but something thats not laggy and looks ok. As you can probably tell I am not a "hardcore" gamer by any means!

[synaesthesia]

For GTA5 and anything else, you *need* widescreen. You're literally missing out half the picture on 4:3 these days. I hope that you mean the screen does 720p - if so use it at that resolution rather than 1024x768

[sonofsanta]

720p TVs tend to be 1280 x 768, which is kind of a funky resolution, but not too difficult to manage, certainly not with an i5. The 7850 should be fine, and if you've got the money then you may as well - once you get to the bottom end of the market, every £20 saved halves your performance, whereas at the top end every £100 spent gets you 20% more performance. The sweet spot is closer to £150, usually, which is where the 7850 seems to be - not sure where you've seen it for £100.

 

The 6850 is fairly capable as well at lower resolutions, on a friend's 1280 x 1024 monitor he could run Deus Ex: HR with all the eye candy on at an entirely fluid framerate, so that's a decent cheaper option.

[familiarrealms]

A decent graphics card is a must have. I have heard GTX650Ti's are great. Doubling them up is even better aparently. Looking forward to GTA5 but will have it on 360 rather than PC. Currently playing RE6, awsome game.

[3s-gtech]

^^650Ti is poop (for the money) and they fundamentally cannot be SLI'd (though they're lovely and small/efficient).

 

OT - if you're on fairly low resolutions like that, you have much more chance of getting something in budget. Even a 7750 should cope fine, but as stated above £150 is a real sweet spot currently. The 7850 is vastly superior to the 650Ti despite the tiny price difference. It's overkill at that resolution (it's happy at 1080P) but it gives you room to upgrade elsewhere, and should last a while.

[familiarrealms]

As i said, i only heard it was great. It is apparent that friend is deluded.

[3s-gtech]

Sorry if I sounded grumpy! It's certainly not a bad card, if Nvidia dropped the price it'd do well - maybe £110 or so.

[Arthur]

720p TVs tend to be 1280 x 768

Don't you mean 1366 x 768?

[synaesthesia]

Don't you mean 1366 x 768?

 

I liked the good old days. 640x480/800x600/1024x768 if you were lucky.

 

(waits for people who preferred 40 line text displays )

[mwbutler]

My TV supports 1080i and 720p but the picture looks cr@p so I've put it on 1360x768 (HDMI connection) for the time being, however I don't think that's neither 720p nor 1080i. Oh well. If need be I can always buy a proper monitor if this TV isn't up to it.

 

Thanks all! Any more advise is much appreciated

[mwbutler]

I think I'm going to order this graphics card then if need be order a monitor made in this decade lol. Anyone have any other suggestions before I buy it? Thanks in-advanced...I really need to get back on top of what the latest and greatest hardware is!

 

Edit - or is this one worth the extra £30? I assume it is considering it comes with 3 games!

Edited October 22, 2012 by mwbutler

[sonofsanta]

Don't you mean 1366 x 768?

 

I'm not sure if I do actually - it's an LG Plasma and it is weird. Lovely, but weird. Other tellies are more likely to be that though I suppose.

 

@mwbutler - what other one? Missed the link out... regarding cards, though, this scatter graph is a good starting point - the closer the top left the better. Looks like the 7850 is a solid choice, but the 660 is worth the bump up if you can stretch to it. That graph won't necessarily be accurate this side of the pond, mind.

Edited October 23, 2012 by sonofsanta

[mwbutler]

@mwbutler - what other one? Missed the link out... regarding cards, though, this scatter graph is a good starting point - the closer the top left the better. Looks like the 7850 is a solid choice, but the 660 is worth the bump up if you can stretch to it. That graph won't necessarily be accurate this side of the pond, mind.

 

Oh yes that was stupid of me. Here's the link. I see the price difference isn't that much so I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

[sonofsanta]

Oh yes that was stupid of me. Here's the link. I see the price difference isn't that much so I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

 

Important point: that Asus card is actually in stock, whereas the MSI one @ Scan is overdue and may not be available again.

 

The 660Ti is a better card than the 660 as well, FWIW - completely different class of product, but nVidia's naming scheme is idiotic - but the price difference is fairly significant, i.e. £170 vs. £235

[mwbutler]

Oh yes. At a quick glace I think Overclockers prices are better than Scans / Arias / Ebuyers for these graphics cards anyway so I think I'll get a card from there. Just need to decide on how much I want to spend now...I'll probably get the GTX 660 as the upgrade from the 7850 seems to be worth it for the extra £20-£30 or so. Thanks again.

[sonofsanta]

Oh yes. At a quick glace I think Overclockers prices are better than Scans / Arias / Ebuyers for these graphics cards anyway so I think I'll get a card from there. Just need to decide on how much I want to spend now...I'll probably get the GTX 660 as the upgrade from the 7850 seems to be worth it for the extra £20-£30 or so. Thanks again.

 

No worries, enjoy, and look out for the Steam Christmas sale in December so you too can end up with an enormous library of games that you will never have enough time to play

[mwbutler]

I did that during the summer sales. Bought loads of games and I haven't touched most of them

[sonofsanta]

I did that during the summer sales. Bought loads of games and I haven't touched most of them

 

I think my ratio is somewhere around 20:80 on the played:not even installed ratio

[DMcGuigan]

I think my ratio is somewhere around 20:80 on the played:not even installed ratio

 

Don't get me started there, got about 30/40 installed, leaving around 110 sitting there doing nothing. Don't ask how many still need to be completed

[tech_guy]

Is GTA5 going to be simultaneously released for all the gaming platforms?

[X-13]

I think my ratio is somewhere around 20:80 on the played:not even installed ratio

 

My ratio is 0:0

 

I don't use steam, I'm more of a console gamer.

 

 

But, I DO have a mass of games I haven't finished yet. For pretty much EVERY console.