What video card should I purchase? - Overclock.net

mike87 · 2 Weeks Ago

My PCI-E bus is version 1.1, x16. Assuming my budget is $200-$400 for a video card, and my E6400 is running at around 3.0 GHz, what video card should I purchase? Currently using an X1950 XTX 512 GDDR4.

Is my PCI-E version (1.1) that big of a hindrance? Should I just wait and upgrade my whole system?

I would like to pick up a GTX 295 down the line, or an ATI 5870 if possible... but I'm starting to think it won't be worth it.. considering I'd need a better PSU for the GTX, and I'd have to OC even more to not have a bottleneck.

Thanks in advance.

DOOOLY · 2 Weeks Ago

I think the Pci-e 2.0 cards are backwards compatible.

Anth0789 · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOOOLY

I think the Pci-e 2.0 cards are backwards compatible.

Yep it is!

I GPU upgrade would help but a GTX 295 or 5870 will bottleneck your CPU. Id just get a mid range GPU like a 4850 or GTS 250 they are almost equal. Hell even the 5770 is pretty decent.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_5770/30.html

corky dorkelson · 2 Weeks Ago

What resolution do you game on?

mike87 · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by DOOOLY

I think the Pci-e 2.0 cards are backwards compatible.

Ah yes, my mistake, I forgot to clarify that I wanted to know if my v1.1 would hinder the capabilities of my graphics cards by 50%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by corky dorkelson

What resolution do you game on?

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention I game at 1600x1200, planning on buying a 24" (or 25.5") ASUS LCD soon that will be around 1920x1200 IIRC.

kurosu · 2 Weeks Ago

I say you should buy a 5770 right now! It will be a great upgrade. Then after you upgraded your other parts, buy another 5770 for crossfire! Two 5770's in crossfire is super good.

Or you can just say screw it and buy a 5850 right now! Live with the bottleneck for now, and then when you upgrade your other components, the true potential of the 5850 would be realized!

My main suggestion is to just get a 5770 right now because it would be a great upgrade and very cost effective. Also it gives you a good upgrade path for crossfire!

mike87 · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anth0789

Yep it is!

I GPU upgrade would help but a GTX 295 or 5870 will bottleneck your CPU. Id just get a mid range GPU like a 4850 or GTS 250 they are almost equal. Hell even the 5770 is pretty decent.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/HIS/HD_5770/30.html

Would an OC 3.2 GHz E6400 be the bottleneck for a GTX 285 or a Radeon 5850? I'm still moreso worried about the PCI-E being v1.1. I wiki'ed some bandwidth numbers of the v1.1, and they're essentially half of what v2.0 is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

Capacity Per lane:

* v1.x: 250 MB/s
* v2.0: 500 MB/s
* v3.0: 1 GB/s

16 lane slot:

* v1.x: 4 GB/s
* v2.0: 8 GB/s
* v3.0: 16 GB/s

Anth0789 · 2 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike87

Would an OC 3.2 GHz E6400 be the bottleneck for a GTX 285 or a Radeon 5850? I'm still moreso worried about the PCI-E being v1.1. I wiki'ed some bandwidth numbers of the v1.1, and they're essentially half of what v2.0 is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express

Capacity Per lane:

* v1.x: 250 MB/s
* v2.0: 500 MB/s
* v3.0: 1 GB/s

16 lane slot:

* v1.x: 4 GB/s
* v2.0: 8 GB/s
* v3.0: 16 GB/s

Don't worry about the PCI-E 1.1 vs 2.0.

Theres not much of a difference when it comes to performance.

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What video card should I purchase?

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