New Graphics card - any recommendations?

[bolivar]

I am in the market for a new graphics card after my NVidia GTX 8800 fried itself. ( I month after downloading new driver 197.13 ... hmm) I have also installed windows 7 64 bit OS. Any recommendations? ATI or NVidia. Safe drivers also (Used in game for months with no probs) Budgeting betwen $200 and $300 Australian. Using TRS 2010 and TRS 2006.Thanks.

 

[BNSF1995]

I too am looking for a new graphics card. But until my dad gets a job, we can't buy a new one. I really want one from the GeForce 400 Series, the latest.

 

[Technous285]

Bolivar - Have you tried checking ACO (Australia Computer Online) for their stock of video cards yet?
Here's their line of nVidia PCI-e cards: http://www.computeronline.com.au/products.php?C_ID=8&S_ID=125
And here's their line of ATi PCI-e cards: http://www.computeronline.com.au/products.php?C_ID=8&S_ID=126

If you're gonna stay with nVidia for $200-300 AUD (not including shipping), then I might suggest something like this: Galaxy GTX 260+ ($252 AUD + S&H), or you could go for the ASUS GTS 250 ($191 + S&H).

 

[bolivar]

Thanks Technous285. I think I will go for the GTS250 made by Gigabyte for $150 available from my local MSY store. Bit of a wait at the counter but the price is just a nose over wholesale. I will be reading up on the Nvidia forum re. drivers though. the latest ones can fry your cards if you don't watch out. Especially older cards like the GTX8800 that I had.

 

[Technous285]

Well, what ever floats your boat man, though if it's $150 in MSY for the Gigabyte GTS 250, that's about $30 cheaper than from ACO for the same maker and model, and about $40 cheaper than from ACO for the ASUS-made one.

Though you can get a GT 220 from ASUS through ACO for about $50 cheaper than the GTS 250 from MSY, before shipping, but it's your choice man, have fun!

 

[jeffmorris]

I bought MSI ATI R5830 card with two fans on it for about $270 from Newegg after defective NVIDIA ForceWare 196.75 driver murdered my GeForce 9800 GT card. Games usually have higher frame rates than before and I got two games that support DirectX 11.

 

[bolivar]

Hi there Jeffmorris. I suspect the latest driver I downloaded -version 197.13 might have fried my card though I can't prove it. Had it for a month before the card went down. looking at the Nvidia forum there are not too many happy chaps, esp the ones who downloaded driver version 196.75.

 

[ess1]

Cooer

I am taking delivery of new comp. with 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX285.
Anyone (!) with a safe driver?

 

[marlonza]

The GTS250 is in my opinion quite a step backward, for the budget he has, Id rather go with a 5770 or something from ATI (5xxx is the latest btw, not 4xxx). There are so many cards. and what do you mean by "Safe drivers"?

 

[MAGLEVSX]

I just ordered a computer with a NVEDIA gtx 480 the new series I was going to go with a 2 GB HD 5970 but apparently they burn out after a year and ATI stop support for there cards to early.

I think you could do what Technous285 said depending on which road you want to take.

Cheers.

 

[Bizzy029]

I am in the market for a new graphics card after my NVidia GTX 8800 fried itself. ( I month after downloading new driver 197.13 ... hmm) I have also installed windows 7 64 bit OS. Any recommendations? ATI or NVidia. Safe drivers also (Used in game for months with no probs) Budgeting betwen $200 and $300 Australian. Using TRS 2010 and TRS 2006.Thanks.

well looks like we are in the same boat.. my Nvidia 8800GTS died about 2 months ago and i also took that advantage to upgrade from XP to Windows 7 64 bit, and also upgraded to 8gb ram.

i bought and got Gigabyte Ati Radeon HD5850 installed and it cost me around $400 Australian to get that card. too me i havent had any problems with it and it is way better than the previous Nvidia i had.

but i cannot tell you wheather there are better value for money cards out there but this one does what i need of it. i mainly play trainz, Roller Coaster 3 & Sims 3 and none have crashed or lag at this stage.

PS: i reccomend shopping around as i went to about 6-7 different places and the prices were quite different. i got mine at Eternal Computers Blacktown NSW. great guys too.

Bizzy.

 

[bolivar]

Got myself an Nvidia GTX260 for $220 Australian. Superior to the old GTX8800. I am still to give it a good try out. Will report back. As for safe drivers, I used the driver that came with the card. Any troubles and there will be no repurcussions. Check out the forum at Nvidia for updates on this problem.

 

[ess1]

marlonza

Safe drivers: it appears from reading some of these threads that certain Nvidea drivers are "frying" their cards. I just wished to know of anyone runnning a GTX 285 with driver ??? without baing "fried".

 

[djt]

I just ordered a computer with a NVEDIA gtx 480 the new series I was going to go with a 2 GB HD 5970 but apparently they burn out after a year and ATI stop support for there cards to early.

Lol, I have no idea where you got that information from?

The new GTX 480 produces more heat and noise then anything ATI has or Nvidia has produced before. Every review out there has commented on that.

By the way the ATI 5970 hasn’t been out a year yet so how would anyone know if they “burn out after a year”?


Take a look at those temps -

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/geforce-gtx-480_13.html#sect0

 

[djt]

marlonza

Safe drivers: it appears from reading some of these threads that certain Nvidea drivers are "frying" their cards. I just wished to know of anyone runnning a GTX 285 with driver ??? without baing "fried".

I’ve used the 196.34, 196.75, 197.13, 197.25 and the latest 197.45’s with a GTX 285 and haven’t had any problems.

 

[Technous285]

You might be a lucky one, but various people apart from yourself have reported their cards such as the 8800GT getting fried (or burnt-out) by the current set of drivers.

oh, and Djt, a 8800GT is the lowest Recommended GeForce card STO will run on...

 

[djt]

You might be a lucky one, but various people apart from yourself have reported their cards such as the 8800GT getting fried (or burnt-out) by the current set of drivers.

Nothing “lucky” about it as long as you know what you're doing.


The only driver revision that had any issue was the 196.75, which had a fan control problem. The issue did not effect those who use a manual fan control utility like EVGA's “Precision” program. I used the 196.75's with my GTX 285 on Windows 7 64 and XP/SP2 64 without any problems.


There are no problems with the latest drivers (197.45's).

oh, and Djt, a 8800GT is the lowest Recommended GeForce card STO will run on...

What's “STO”?


Who said anything about a 8800GT?

 

[Technous285]

Keep up with the game acronyms, S.T.O. - Star Trek Online. Y'kno, one of those games that I can barely get to run with a 9400GT?

Oh, and as for who said anything about a 8800GT...

Bolivar:
I am in the market for a new graphics card after my NVidia GTX 8800 fried itself. (I month after downloading new driver 197.13 ... hmm) I have also installed windows 7 64 bit OS. Any recommendations? ATI or NVidia. Safe drivers also (Used in game for months with no probs) Budgeting betwen $200 and $300 Australian. Using TRS 2010 and TRS 2006.Thanks.

(bolding emphasis; mine)

 

[djt]

Keep up with the game acronyms, S.T.O. - Star Trek Online. Y'kno, one of those games that I can barely get to run with a 9400GT?

Oh, and as for who said anything about a 8800GT...


(bolding emphasis; mine)

Lol, sorry I'm really only into simulation, you know acronyms like GTR2,GTL, RW, FS9 and FSX.


The 9400GT is a weak video card so that doesn't surprise me.


There is a difference between a 8800 GTX or 8800 Ultra and a 8800GT.


So did your 8800 GTX fry itself or was it a victim of poor case ventilation or botched driver install?

 

[Technous285]

Heh, so you wouldn't go for a RTS like StarCraft2 when it comes out in the next year or so, then?

Remember what I said about 3 weeks ago djt - I have to weigh the COST of the item against its performance, as getting something like the GTX260 or a HD5750 will end up in over $200 AUD per card (including S&H) which is really damn painful on an extremely tight wallet and budget.

At the time I got it (6, maybe 7 months back), the 9400GT was a decent card (better than the 7600GS I was using before) and at a decent cost for what I could fit into my budget.

Also, looking at cost comparisons for things like the GA-MA785GT-UD3H ($112 AUD) Vs. something like the GA-890GPA-UD3H ($191 AUD) <both of which will run the 125W 'Deneb' Phenom II X4 965> I have to try my best to keep things within a budget I can afford without having to go play Lotto or something.

If I buy the AMD kit that has the GA-MA785GT-UD3H, 125W 'Deneb' Phenom II X4 965 & 4GB (2x2GB) Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, it comes out to $513 AUD, that's cheaper than paying:
$112 for the GA-MA785GT-UD3H + $225 for the 125W 'Deneb' Phenom II X4 965 + $201 for the 4GB (2x2GB) Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 RAM + $~14 S&H brings the total to $552 AUD.
Now, let's swap that GA-MA785GT-UD3H for the GA-890GPA-UD3H and we'll get this:
$191 for the GA-890GPA-UD3H + $225 for the 125W 'Deneb' Phenom II X4 965 + $201 for the 4GB (2x2GB) Kingston 1333MHz DDR3 RAM + $~14 S&H brings the total to $631 AUD.

See the kind of differences buying each part separate rather than getting a kit can cost?