GPU recommendation

Haych · Post by **Haych** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:24 am

I recently purchased a new monitor. I'm now looking at things in 1920 x 1080, and the experience is wonderful... except in one regard. At the moment I'm using onboard Ati 3200 graphics, which seem to be more than adequate for general use, but aren't allowing me to do any gaming at max resolution. I don't play anything too demanding at the moment, just Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. If possible I'd like to max the graphics out, but it's not as essential as being able to play at max resolution. I'm thinking that maybe a 4670 with 1GB of memory would be fine, but that may be overkill, so I'm open to suggestions on other cards and the amount of memory needed.

Oh. And out of curiosity I'd like to ask if I need to use HDMI to watch things in 1080p, or would a DVI connection suffice? As far as I can ascertain the only difference between the two is that HDMI carries audio on the same cable, but maybe I've missed a memo or two

b_rubenstein · Post by **b_rubenstein** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:37 am

A 4670 is not overkill. My son plays with a 4670 on a 1600x1050 monitor and can't max out all the settings. He doesn't play the latest games either. I would actually suggest a 5750 or 5770 card.

HDMI is only needed if you also want to carry audio on the same cable, otherwise, DVI is all you need.

sNNooPY · Post by **sNNooPY** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:13 am

b_rubenstein wrote:A 4670 is not overkill. My son plays with a 4670 on a 1600x1050 monitor and can't max out all the settings. He doesn't play the latest games either. I would actually suggest a 5750 or 5770 card.

HDMI is only needed if you also want to carry audio on the same cable, otherwise, DVI is all you need.

Agreed. Go with latest Radeon 5000 series (like 58xx or 57xx). 1920x1080 is quite a large resolution and it needs a good GPU.

vincentfox · Post by **vincentfox** » Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:52 am

Sapphire 5750 Vapor-X I am very pleased with it.

Although after seeing Avatar I am looking forward to real 3D someday.....

Haych · Post by **Haych** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:15 am

Thanks for the replies

Unfortunately, what's available in the 5000 series so far is a little outside of my budget. I am planning on getting a 5850 at some point in the near future, but it and the 5870 are pretty hard to find over here at the moment as they go fast as soon as they become available. Which means the price probably isn't going to drop until availability becomes less of an issue. 5750's are retailing at around Â£100 and 5770's are more around the Â£120 mark.

How about a 4770? I read at least one review on Newegg where somebody stated that they could max out L4D2 at 1920x1080 with their dual core setup. Really all I'm looking at doing is extending the usefulness of my present setup for about another five or six months. Then I might be giving my present rig to my brother or sister-in-law.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 8:30 am

Couldn't find much on Left 4 Dead 2, but here's some comparisons for Left 4 Dead:

Anandbench @ 1680 x 1050, 0 AA, 0 AF - CPU based framerate with a big GPU. Looks like the game isn't very CPU dependant.

Ok, looking at GPU's with a big CPU:
Tom's Hardware charts, 1920x1200, 4AA, 8AF, Very High Quality. 4770 = 52fps.

Same test with AA and AF at 0: 4770 = 75fps.

You can peruse the charts and pick your performance. I don't know if/how much more horsepower L4D2 requires for the same fps.

Finally, here's PC Games Hardware's benchmarks.

Haych · Post by **Haych** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 1:41 pm

@ CA Steve

Huge thanks for the links, especially the one from Tom's. If the results on that particular graph are anything to go off, I really shouldn't do too bad with a 4670 with 1GB of memory. So I had a quick look around online and purchased this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814125277

I've bought it from Amazon over here in the UK for Â£54 with free shipping, which seemed a good deal. The downside is I could have to wait a while for it to be despatched, but another site I buy from may have it back in stock by then, and it will only cost me a little more for P+P, so I'll most likely cancel the order from Amazon and get it from there insead. Regardless of where I get it from, I'll post an update when I have the card. Thanks again

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 5:34 pm

It should be okay, especially with the CPU you have anyways. I use mine with a 5050e (2.6 GHz) and it's pretty evenly matched. We'll see how good it is in a few days when I combine my new 21.5" 1920x1080 monitor with my current 1280x1024.

Haych · Post by **Haych** » Fri Jan 01, 2010 6:41 pm

psiu wrote:We'll see how good it is in a few days when I combine my new 21.5" 1920x1080 monitor with my current 1280x1024

If you could post the results for me that would be really helpful. I have a 19" monitor at 1280x1024 that's recently been made redundant and I'd love to have a dual monitor setup if possible. Thanks.