New video card?

[PRB]

Here's my current system:

MB: Asus P6T Deluxe (LGA1366)
Slots: 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (at x16/x16/x1 or x16/x8/x8 mode)1 x PCI Express x4 slot2 x PCI slots
CHIPSET: Intel® X58 / ICH10R
CPU: Core i7 920 2.66Ghz (LGA1366)
RAM: 8 GB DDR3/1333MHz Non-ECC Non-Registered Memory Module
VIDEO: NVIDIA 9800GTX+ 512MB (PCI-E)
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 (64-bit)
SOUND: ADI® AD2000B 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Looking to buy a better video card, with max ram on it. And fast. Any recommendations?

[txnetcop]

Paul give specifics on your power supply especially model and +12v...how many rails?

[PRB]

Power supply = 1x 850 Watt Chieftec Turbo-Series PSU. What do you mean by "rails"? I'm looking in the box now. The GPUs have a unique looking power connector, labeled PCI-E. There are two of them connected to my NVIDIA card, and two more idle.

[txnetcop]

look at the number of +12v Paul

For instance +12v 24A, +12v 24A would be two rail

[PRB]

Well, the way the PS is screwed into the case, there is no writing visible on it, so hard to say. I know I have enough power connectors to support at least 2 PCI-E video cards because that's how the caomputer was shipped. But one card has since died, and the drop in performance is noticable, so I think I will replace the remaining card with one big one.

EDIT to add: I guess I'm a dunderhead because I still don't know what you mean. Am I looking for specs listed on the power supply, or am I looking for physical wires coming out of the power supply? The wires coming out are not marked with volts or amps anyway. They are marked "PCI-E", however. The ones connected to the video care are, that is.

[txnetcop]

OK how about this...are the PCI-E connectors 6 pin or 8 pin or are they 6 pin with two connectors near attached?

[PRB]

There are four PCI-E connectors coming from the power supply. They each have six pins. Two of these cables appear to have another cable branching off from them, terminated by a 2-pin connector. The current NVIDA GPU is using two of these power connectors, one 6-pin, and one 6-pin with branchng 2-pin. However, the 2-pin connector is not connected to anything. So, I have a total of four PCI-E connectors, two of which are currently in use, and two available for a second video card.

[txnetcop]

OK that is what I needed. What is the budget and I can tell you what video cards have tested the best at TechCorp

[PRB]

Well, I want something with 1 GB of ram, minmum, and something that will be considerably better than what I'm currently running. I'm very fortunate in that I just got a cash bonus from my employer, which is unusual for them (), so, I'm thinking 400-500-ish as a not-to-exceed figure. Unless it's really awesome... Looking at TigerDirect, there is a big difference is prices, even between 1 GB cards...

Thanks, Ted!

[txnetcop]

I will be at TechCorp tomorrow and look through the last two weeks test logs. We have tested 40 Nvidia GTX cards and 22 ATI HD 5870 and above video cards. Here is the catagory I will give you:

Best overall performance: (this could mean not the fastest but a combination of fast, reliable with less noise)

Most reliablejust what it says- may not be the fastest but it stood up to real rugged testing speeds)

FastestThere are some cards that are just blazing fast with anything you throw at them, but may not be as tough to holding up to full tilt testing or use)

Ted

[PRB]

Many thanks, Ted!
:ernae:

[txnetcop]

Paul these are the results of a couple of weeks of testing:

FASTEST VIDEO CARD- ATI PowerColor AX5870 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface
EVGA 015-P3 1480 GeForce GTX 480 1536 MB 384 bit interface
EVGA 012-P3 1470-AR GeForceGTX 470 1280GB VRAM 320 bit interface


MOST RELIABLE VIDEO - ATI PowerColor AX5870 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface
NVidia MSI N460 GTX Cyclone 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface

Overall best performance ATI PowerColor AX5870 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface

MSI N460 GTX Hawk 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface- this card
was the best performer of all the cards when OC'd to 900mhz and still
ran reasonably cool
MSI N460 GTX Cyclone 1GB DDR5 VRAM 256 bit interface

ATI still doesn't look that great in FSX VCs
The EVGA GTX 480 FERMI may seem like overkill but it is a BEAST!
The Cyclone while fast at stock speeds took up too much room with that HUGE FAN
The problem with all the EVGA 470s was screen freeze-ups and black screen-it some tweaking to get them to perform properly
Very impressed with twin MSI N460s Hawks-even one OC'd to 900mhz was incredible
Ted

That is all we tested on to more motherboards...

[PRB]

Thanks a bunch Ted!

I'm leaning towards the GeForceGTX 470, except you said they have problems with black screen and freezing up? Really? All the reviews I've found say this is a great video card. No way I want anything associated with black screens and freezups. A bit more research to do. Maybe I'll go with the 480...

[txnetcop]

Paul I believe that Sergio and James who tested the GTX470s said that the freeze ups were due to overclocking the CPUs on the units they were testing. I did not hear what the fix was but I would imagine at stock speeds the 470s are fine. The GTX 480s Sergio and I tested and they were fast and rock solid but you see when we test we are not privy to cost, so it easy for us to make recommendations because it isn't coming out of our wallet. LOL The 470 and 480 basically share the same architecture.
Ted

[Meshman]

All the reviews I've found say this is a great video card.

Sometimes it's good to look past the reviews and hit the forums; http://www.evga.com/forums/default.aspx

There are some nuggets to be gleaned with regards to problems, crashes, compatibility problems, etc. Wish I had thought of that before I bought my mobo...

And I'm not trying to single out EVGA, as their support seems to be good. My mobo will be making a return, sooner or later. So whatever manufacturer you look at, see if they have a forum and spend some time checking it out.

Luckily for me, if I need to RMA my mobo I can drive it over to EVGA's facilities. Gas will be cheaper than UPS!

[PRB]

Rgr on overclocking. I had a hunch that may have been involved. I don't plan on going there... Here's some vital specs of the GTX 470, GTX 480, and the card I currently have, the MSI 9800GTX. What surprises me is that my current card seems to have a faster graphics clock and processor clock than the GTX 470, and the processor clock is even faster than the GTX 480! What gives? Also the texture fill rate, whatever that is, is faster than the 470, but not the 480.

I'm hoping that the key spec here is the memory bandwidth, which, probably a result of clock speed, memory speed, amount of memory, and interface width, gets bigger with each card. If so, then the GTX-470 would be twice as fast as the one I'm running now, and the 480 even speedier. Am I reading that right?

Also, note that the GTX 480 appears to have a different power interface, and that I may not be able to use that GPU? My current card and the GTX-470 both say 6-pin/2-pin.

[PRB]

Sometimes it's good to look past the reviews and hit the forums; http://www.evga.com/forums/default.aspx

There are some nuggets to be gleaned with regards to problems, crashes, compatibility problems, etc. Wish I had thought of that before I bought my mobo...

And I'm not trying to single out EVGA, as their support seems to be good. My mobo will be making a return, sooner or later. So whatever manufacturer you look at, see if they have a forum and spend some time checking it out.

Luckily for me, if I need to RMA my mobo I can drive it over to EVGA's facilities. Gas will be cheaper than UPS!

Thanks, Meshman. Some good info on those forums!

[txnetcop]

Paul bandwidth is everything when it comes to gaming, especially FSX!

[PRB]

Update: Went with the GTX 470. I just installed it today and I am very happy. It's a shorter card than the 9800 I removed, so it doesn't crowd the cables going to the HDs, which is a small bonus. Defeat stutters through the application of overwhelming power, that's what I say. Thanks for the tip, Ted!

[b52bob]

Just ordered the 460 cyclone card. Got lots of room in the case and awaiting to see how much better it performs than my present 512 mb 9800GT. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Bob