What Graphics Card should I buy?

Skeptical Greg said:
I have 2 monitors on a 4870 and no problems at all ..

I tried to Google problems with ATI and 4 monitors, and did not come up with any pattern of there being problems with such a set up ..
I would think if ATI had pervasive driver issues, the word would be out ...

Are you using the ATI Hydravision utility, or just the Windows display manager ?

Was this a clean install, or was there another video set up running before you installed the two ATI cards ?


How do you know quad monitors running on 2 x NVIDIA cards would not present similar problems for you ?
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It was a clean install on a bare drive using Win7 Enterprise. No video card other than the 4870 was ever installed. Using Hydravision and Catalyst control center for the rotate display option to get the 2 monitors set to portrait. And it's a single-card 4870 x2, not 2 separate 4870s. I haven't tried running quad monitors off of an Nvidia card, is there a 4xDVI version of an Nvidia?
 
Skeptical Greg said:
I have 2 monitors on a 4870 and no problems at all ..

I tried to Google problems with ATI and 4 monitors, and did not come up with any pattern of there being problems with such a set up ..
I would think if ATI had pervasive driver issues, the word would be out ...

Are you using the ATI Hydravision utility, or just the Windows display manager ?

Was this a clean install, or was there another video set up running before you installed the two ATI cards ?


How do you know quad monitors running on 2 x NVIDIA cards would not present similar problems for you ?
Click to expand...
Be wary of the overclocked 4870. They are known to have problems. A few months ago this card cost $125-175 depending on manufacturer.
 
Yalius said:
It was a clean install on a bare drive using Win7 Enterprise. No video card other than the 4870 was ever installed. Using Hydravision and Catalyst control center for the rotate display option to get the 2 monitors set to portrait. And it's a single-card 4870 x2, not 2 separate 4870s. I haven't tried running quad monitors off of an Nvidia card, is there a 4xDVI version of an Nvidia?
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Which model of 4870 is that ?

I'm curious which one has 4
x DVI ?

How much memory on the card ?

What is the resolution of the monitors ?

I still don't think this is a driver limitation, but one of hardware..

Why would you claim that your problem is an ATI driver issue, when you cannot show that NVIDIA does not offer a superior or even a working solution ?
 
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Skeptical Greg said:
Which model of 4870 is that ?

I'm curious which one has 4
x DVI ?

How much memory on the card ?

What is the resolution of the monitors ?

I still don't think this is a driver limitation, but one of hardware..

Why would you claim that your problem is an ATI driver issue, when you cannot show that NVIDIA does not offer a superior or even a working solution ?
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My apologies, it's a 4850 x2, not 4870 x2.

http://www1.sapphiretech.com/us/products/products_overview.php?gpid=265


Because when placed on the primary display, all the programs work correctly-- no missed mouse clicks.

When not set to portrait, screen displays update at a normal rate.

Resuming from the screensaver only happens at a reasonable speed when I'm running the screensaver on the primary display only.

None of those issues occur on the Nvidia system. Portrait displays have no perceptible lag. Programs work correctly on both primary and secondary displays. Screensavers work without unusual delays on both primary and secondary screens. Also, the Nvidia machine doesn't rearrange my displays to a different order when I log back on locally after a remote desktop login. I think ATI is paying too much attention to gamers and not enough to productivity uses of their cards.
 
Except for this last purchase, I've been jumping between ATI and nVidia for my graphics solution. A used GTX260 and a used 8800GT before that, both wonderful cards. ATI's current HD5000 series is wonderful for them, and is also a good suggestion.

If you want to save some money, and still see a nice boost, get a used GTX200 series. If you want something with more of an assurance, the suggestion for a new ATI HD5000 series would also give you a huge boost. A poor comparison on the kinds of gains you would see on the graphics side could be from my experience of seeing a 3x boost going from an nVidia 8500GT to an ATI HD3850 in synthetic benchmarking.
 
Or you can not save on money and get a 5870 and have the card last you for 5 years.

Though that is my personal route. I try not to 'upgrade' my current computer and I will just buy powerful systems every 4-5 years or so. That usually ends up giving me the most bang for the buck.

Right now you can get a bomb system for only $1000 (if you build it yourself) and it will last you for ages until direct x12. (when ever that comes out)

But yeah, if you want to stick to that $200 budget, everything suggest above is the way to go. ATI all the way if you want your dollar performance.
 
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I have a 4850, and apart from one odd bug which made the mouse pointer flicker in Steam (now fixed), it's worked fast and flawlessly.

So either a cheap 4850 or a 5770 should make a great card for those games. About to start on Dragon Age myself, so if I disappear from the forum for a month, don't worry too much. ;)
 
This whole discussion is kinda pointless, though, for various reasons.

We don't know what resolution you want to game at.

We don't know what kind of eye-candy you want (or if it's important).

We don't know your PSU (though we can at least guess the wattage), or how many amps you've got on the 12v rail.

Once we knew that, we could probably give you a better idea, if you haven't already bought a card.
 
That's a very good point about the power supply ..

From what I can Google, the 8400 series was relatively low on power consumption, less than 30w.

Most of the cards mentioned so far are probably going to require over 100w ..
 
According to specs I found on the internet, it looks like you've got a very "small" PSU, probably 300w.

If you can, crack open your computer and tell us what's listed as the amps on the +12v rail.

That is a very important number.
 
The GeForce 8600 GTS is the best video card I can think of that will reliably work with a 300 watt power supply though you might be able to do better than that if the power supply is high quality.
 
Phoenix said:
The GeForce 8600 GTS is the best video card I can think of that will reliably work with a 300 watt power supply though you might be able to do better than that if the power supply is high quality.
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I actually plugged some data in to a PSU calculator based on specs I've seen for that computer.

If the PSU is a solid 300w, depending on the +12v rail, he'd have to be very careful about his card selection.

A 9800GTX+, or a GTX 260 Core 216 may work, but an 8800 GTX would not (as it draws more power).

A 4850 might also work, but a 4870 is way out of the picture.

Honestly, if the PSU is as low power as it seems, he may be better off with a mid-range nVidia, than an ATI. I'd take a 9800GTX+ over a 3850/3870.
 
Thanks again all. Now that Christmas is over I can actually budget some money for this project, assuming my vehicle holds out.

At any rate, I'm considering getting an entire new case with power supply. If I can't swing that, I'll go with a mid-range card.

Yes, it's a 300w supply.
 
tyr_13 said:
Thanks again all. Now that Christmas is over I can actually budget some money for this project, assuming my vehicle holds out.

At any rate, I'm considering getting an entire new case with power supply. If I can't swing that, I'll go with a mid-range card.

Yes, it's a 300w supply.
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It's a bit weak, to be honest.

And I'm not familiar with what's in your rig.

Odds are it won't be a problem with a new case, but I don't know if HP uses their own motherboards, in which case you'd have a problem lining up the screws in a new case.

Assuming they don't (or they at least use standard spacings for their screws), you should be ok.

But then you're going to be spending a lot to not do much, to be honest. A new case, PSU, and card is not going to be inexpensive. That could easily run you $300+ dollars, assuming you're going for mid-range quality for all three.
 
tyr_13 said:
Thanks again all. Now that Christmas is over I can actually budget some money for this project, assuming my vehicle holds out.

At any rate, I'm considering getting an entire new case with power supply. If I can't swing that, I'll go with a mid-range card.

Yes, it's a 300w supply.
Click to expand...

I tried running a few power supplies that just made the power specs for my video card a few years ago. They both failed. You have to overspec it, and get a brand name, not just a generic one. Cheaper in the long run. The one I bought that cost more, but really did the job, three years ago, is still going fine.
 
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