Which v.card for 2560x1600, with older games ?

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FragMagnet

[H]ard|Gawd
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Mar 11, 2000
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I've always been using upper end v.cards over the last 20 years, but I no longer find myself gaming anymore (getting old!). So when someone offered me a good price for my HD7970, I sold it, and through in an HD5450 I had laying around. I now have another use for that card, and since my mobo doesn't support that res. with the Intel chip on the i7, I will need another card. So what I'm looking for is something that can drive that res with older games, like the HL2 series, and the original F.E.A.R. I have these games sitting around still wrapped, and if I get back into it, these are the games that I will play. So I feel I need the power of the old Nvidia 7900GTX/SLI, or possibly the 8800GTX, but in todays architecture for heat/noise considerations. If I check the review sites, trying to find the older games tested at that res on modern HW is tough. So what should I be looking at ? 550TI ? HD7750?
 
Thanks for letting me know which range to look into, I can research what I need and find a sale from here, I just needed to know where to start
 
DooKey said:
Grab a 7770 and call it a day.
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Came across the 7770 in sig at a local B&M, $113 with taxes in and a $15 rebate card. With in game settings maxed @ 2560x1600 Lost Coast benchmark runs @ 190 fps, so I'll be fine if I do find the time to game again, thanks
 
7770 is a great card. TDP is only around 120 to 130W. If you step it up to a 7850, it undervolts very well with normal use and overclocks like a beast when you need it. Max power draw is somewhere around 250W though.
 
rastaban said:
7770 is a great card. TDP is only around 120 to 130W. If you step it up to a 7850, it undervolts very well with normal use and overclocks like a beast when you need it. Max power draw is somewhere around 250W though.
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I agree, once I knew what to look for I was comparing the 6850/6870's, and they were stronger cards, but I could only get used around here, and they wanted $140+ for them, and no warranty. If I do get into gaming again, then I have enough games to catch up on that this will hold me until the next gen of AMD/Nvidia. It's a big change for me as I've had top end cards since the Voodoo2 days, where I had the 12mb cards in SLI and trying to push 1280x1024 in the original Unreal :D But nowadays the "trickle down" effect is in place for comp hardware between my GF and her son !

Edit: this version has a near silent fan, runs below 65c, and have overclocked around 15% on the core, and 45% on the mem. I haven't tested this one yet though.

Edit2: Doh ! I thought you said 6850, yes the 7850 is killer but twice the $ as this card and the extra power isn't required
 
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You left out your budget, that is a critical factor in the decision. At the risk of starting a flame war, I have had worse experience on AMD cards for older games. OpenGL games like Doom 3, and Directx games like Sega Rally Revo, Red Faction Guerrilla and others were mostly unplayable on my 6870, but run fine on a laptop Nvidia 570m.

AMD cards seem to do fine on current games that are used by computer websites for benchmarking (Skyrim, Crysis 2, BF3, etc).

So you may wish to consider an Nvidia card.
 
For compatibility with OGL, I agree. The original Unreal is another game that is tough/unplayable on the ATI/AMD cards. I never mentioned the budget, as there wasn't one, if I had a use for 680's SLI, I'd have them. I did consider the 560's, but the ones available around here were about twice the $ as the AMD card, and Nvidia hasn't released anything new in this performance bracket. HD5450's are a pretty standard card when doing a non-gaming build, and seem to go for around $35-$50 depending on the market, adding gaming capability at 2560x1600 for an additional $50-$60 seems like good value, even if it never gets used.
 
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