What is the best GPU I can get without the Q6600 bottlenecking?

Hey, so I have had q6600 stepping G0 with the 8 series graphics card and 8 gigs of DDR 2 800 RAM for more than 3 years. And I have been happy with considering I mostly gamed at 1280X1024 ish.

Now with the games that are released or being released this year, 2 of my favs being TW2 and BF3. I need a better graphics card. I am not just ready yet to assemble a completely new setup, not until next year. So I would like get more out of my system until then. Which is why I want to get a newer graphics card, the best I can get without my system bottlenecking.

I kept the Q6600 mostly at stock settings as P5NE-SLI mobo has not been great for overclocking.

So I would like the top 3 graphics card that will be suitable for my system at stock, and maybe a couple of graphics cards if I were to OC it to 3 Ghz.

Thanks :)

GTX 560 or 560ti 04dcarraher

[QUOTE="04dcarraher"]GTX 560 or 560ti dramaybaz

[QUOTE="dramaybaz"][QUOTE="04dcarraher"]GTX 560 or 560ti 04dcarraher

Best bang for bucks currently under 200$ is 6870 and over is the GTX 560 tiMonsieurX

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133377

The GTX 560 for example is around $180 and is about 300% faster the a 8800GT , GTX 560ti is about $220 and is about 320% faster then your 8800GT04dcarraher

6670 = 8800GT.

Difference is 132% far far away from what you are suggesting. Technology hasnt advanced as much as you'll like to think. ;)

id say that the 6950 is the best bang for buck over $200 and best under $200 is either the 6850/6870 or the 460 gtx

only 132% I doubt that... at higher resolutions , When you can get 3x the framerate on the same game as a 8800GT did I count that as 3x faster.04dcarraher

And which game exactly gave you 3x the FPS?

Perhaps you must have exhausted the 8800GT's 512MB VRAM, that is the only explanation for getting 3x more performance.

You cant always go by benchmarks to see the full picture , Shader processing power in a GTX 560ti is more then 3x of a 8800GT, has 2x the memory and over 2x the the memory bandwidth too. Unless your running Direct x 9 based games your not going to the major differences, Running Direct x 10 games like for example Shatter Horizon is hardly playable on high settings on a 8800GT. Or even Metro 2033 at 1680x1050 a single 8800GT running Direct x 10 you just make 20 fps average while a GTX 560ti would get nearly 60 fps at same settings.

Another game on top of my head is The Witcher 2 running the game on a mix of low medium (mostly on low) on 8800GT barley getting 30 fps vs high settings on a GTX 560ti and get nearly 60 fps shows the difference. Once you get into heavy shader demanding games you see the processing power of the newer cards to come through. Comparsion charts are not always showing the whole picture and can be incorrect

^ like he said, those charts are basically useless, gotta go by cold hard game performance, not just a bar chart of percentages.

You cant always go by benchmarks to see the full picture , Shader processing power in a GTX 560ti is more then 3x of a 8800GT, has 2x the memory and over 2x the the memory bandwidth too. Unless your running Direct x 9 based games your not going to the major differences, Running Direct x 10 games like for example Shatter Horizon is hardly playable on high settings on a 8800GT. Or even Metro 2033 at 1680x1050 a single 8800GT running Direct x 10 you just make 20 fps average while a GTX 560ti would get nearly 60 fps at same settings.

Another game on top of my head is The Witcher 2 running the game on a mix of low medium (mostly on low) on 8800GT barley getting 30 fps vs high settings on a GTX 560ti and get nearly 60 fps shows the difference. Once you get into heavy shader demanding games you see the processing power of the newer cards to come through. Comparsion charts are not always showing the whole picture and can be incorrect

04dcarraher

Just because a card runs a game at low and another runs at high is absolutely no evidence that there is a 300% difference, games are pretty poorly optimized these days and the performance difference between low and high is alot less.

Still no signs of the sort of difference you are talking unless a GTX 560 happens to be 250% faster than 6790 hmm....

^ like he said, those charts are basically useless, gotta go by cold hard game performance, not just a bar chart of percentages.

wis3boi

I think the ti560 is a nice compliment until you overhaul and by that time you can sli that thing for cheap.

Just dont overspend at this point, I have a similar/same cpu and I think Im pretty much done with upgrading this system until I haul for a new system down the road thats if Im still interested in performance gaming.

[QUOTE="04dcarraher"]

You cant always go by benchmarks to see the full picture , Shader processing power in a GTX 560ti is more then 3x of a 8800GT, has 2x the memory and over 2x the the memory bandwidth too. Unless your running Direct x 9 based games your not going to the major differences, Running Direct x 10 games like for example Shatter Horizon is hardly playable on high settings on a 8800GT. Or even Metro 2033 at 1680x1050 a single 8800GT running Direct x 10 you just make 20 fps average while a GTX 560ti would get nearly 60 fps at same settings.

Another game on top of my head is The Witcher 2 running the game on a mix of low medium (mostly on low) on 8800GT barley getting 30 fps vs high settings on a GTX 560ti and get nearly 60 fps shows the difference. Once you get into heavy shader demanding games you see the processing power of the newer cards to come through. Comparsion charts are not always showing the whole picture and can be incorrect

Gambler_3

Just because a card runs at game at low and another runs at high is absolutely no evidence that there is a 300% difference.

Still no signs of the sort of difference you are talking unless a GTX 560 happens to be 250% faster than 6790 hmm....

When you set the detail level to high on a 8800 gt and the detail level to high on a gtx560ti, the difference in graphical quality can be different, so comparing the fps is not always right because sometimes the newer card has more features and so can produce a better quality. That quality isn't measured in benchmarks. It isn't with all cards like that though, i don't even know if that's the case with an 8800 gt and a gtx560ti (apart from dx11, but crysis doesn't have dx11).

In some cards in can be pixel shader version or stuff like that. I know for one thing though that the gtx 560ti isn't four times the speed of a 8800 gt (because thats what you're saying if it's a 300 procent difference). I would say it's about three times as fast/good as a 8800 gt.

Charts are mostly very precise, but i do want to remark something here.

When you set the detail level to high on a 8800 gt and the detail level to high on a gtx560ti, the difference in graphical quality can be different, so comparing the fps is not always right because sometimes the newer card has more features and so can produce a better quality. That quality isn't measured in benchmarks. It isn't with all cards like that though, i don't even know if that's the case with an 8800 gt and a gtx560ti (apart from dx11, but crysis doesn't have dx11).

In some cards in can be pixel shader version or stuff like that. I know for one thing though that the gtx 560ti isn't four times the speed of a 8800 gt (because thats what you're saying if it's a 300 procent difference). I would say it's about three times as fast/good as a 8800 gt.

evildead6789

I have an AMD 6950 with mine.

I don't think it bottlenecks it.

Hmm so it is between gtx 560, 6870, 6850, 5870. Which to choose or any similar bearing in mind the cost? Would also like to remind that my mobo is an Asus P5NE-SLI with nForce 650i chipset.dramaybaz

[QUOTE="dramaybaz"]Hmm so it is between gtx 560, 6870, 6850, 5870. Which to choose or any similar bearing in mind the cost? Would also like to remind that my mobo is an Asus P5NE-SLI with nForce 650i chipset.04dcarraher

If you want multiple cards as an option then you should pick up either a GTX 560 or GTX 560ti.

Hmm no plans to go SLI, will be assembling a new PC next year. Correct me if I am wrong, but the only limitation I will have using an AMD card is that I can't have SLI? I mean does my nforce chipset give me any benefits for using an nVidia card other than for SLI?

I mean does my nforce chipset give me any benefits for using an nVidia card other than for SLI?

dramaybaz