[Seba641]

I have a SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 2900PRO 512MB 256-bit, I need a new video card that won't go over my $250 budget. I'm looking for a video card that will be good for WOW (well I want to have more than 10-20 FPS in raids) 40 FPS would be nice lol... Well any kinda improvement that would make me not lag during WOW encounters will make me happy.

Computer spec:

Processor: AMD Phenom 9500
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TA770 A2+ AM2+/AM2 AMD
HDD: 1 TB Western Digital
Video Card: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 2900PRO 512MB 256-bit (like I stated before XD)
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory (Im thinking about buying extra 4GB of the same RAM since they are only $40 now)
Sound Card: Creative Fata1ity Titanium (idk why I put it here but its a part of my comp)
Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V

Anyway I would appreciate any kind of a help from your guys.

Sorry for my bad english.

Edit: Sorry forgot to add what kinda cards I had in mind...

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102802 - SAPPHIRE 100258-1GL Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102810 - SAPPHIRE 100259L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127361 - MSI N260GTX-T2D896 OC GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121285 - ASUS ENGTX260 TOP/HTDI/896M GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3

I had those cards in mind... If anyone has an idea for a better card plz post here... Thank you

Edited by Seba641, 24 December 2008 - 10:29 PM.

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Based on the free shipping and great price of 200$, I'd take the MSI GTX260.
James

[james_8970]

Based on the free shipping and great price of 200$, I'd take the MSI GTX260.
James

[Seba641]

Thank you for your help... I was thinking about that card but I read some where that ATI Radeon 4870 512mb is better than nVidia GTX 260, but I just bought GTX 260 so thank you again for your help.

[james_8970]

Essentially speaking the ATI 4870 and GTX260 are about the same in terms of performance. One will beat the other in different games. Because rebates are not guaranteed money and shipping was free with the GTX260, the GTX260 was the better deal in my opinion. Both are great cards and I believe you'd be happy with either purchase. Enjoy the new purchase and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday.
James

[Seba641]

Essentially speaking the ATI 4870 and GTX260 are about the same in terms of performance. One will beat the other in different games. Because rebates are not guaranteed money and shipping was free with the GTX260, the GTX260 was the better deal in my opinion. Both are great cards and I believe you'd be happy with either purchase. Enjoy the new purchase and have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday.
James

Thank you James. I have one more question for you. I was looking for some MSI 260GTX OC reviews and when I found some with benchmarks they had something like 4xAA, 8xAF. Can you tell me what that actually means ?

[XcsaS]

I ran WoW just fine on raids with my old 8600GT 512mb and that was with a cheap Intel E4600 2.4GHz WoW doesn't really take much to play well I have friends still on AGP that run pretty nice.

[james_8970]

I ran WoW just fine on raids with my old 8600GT 512mb and that was with a cheap Intel E4600 2.4GHz WoW doesn't really take much to play well I have friends still on AGP that run pretty nice.

While WoW is by no means a demanding game, like all games, there are a variety of factors to take into consideration, such as the video settings played at and the resolution size. Additionally, some people demand higher FPS then others, I'm happy with 25+ minimum, others hate it when their minimums drop below 40FPS. The video card the OP currently has is better then your current setup. He didn't find it to be sufficient, which is why I suggested a new video card to fit his budget.

Thank you James. I have one more question for you. I was looking for some MSI 260GTX OC reviews and when I found some with benchmarks they had something like 4xAA, 8xAF. Can you tell me what that actually means ?

AF -> Anisotropic filtering
AA -> Anti Aliasing

Anti Aliasing requires a lot more processing power and removes the "jaggies" out of a game. You may have experience circles looking like a hexagon in game, this feature minimizes it. A more in depth explanation can be found here.
Anisotropic filtering is another video game feature that requires a lot more video processing power. It is designed to enhance the quality of textures in video games. A more in depth explanation can be found here.
James

Edited by james_8970, 26 December 2008 - 03:52 PM.

[Seba641]

I ran WoW just fine on raids with my old 8600GT 512mb and that was with a cheap Intel E4600 2.4GHz WoW doesn't really take much to play well I have friends still on AGP that run pretty nice.

The thing is I like to have a good graphic and at the same time I want to be able to play not look at the screen and pray that I can turn in time because my FPS went down to 10 and my whole screen is laggy.

I know I can lower my settings and have good FPS but I wanna buy part for my computer to not worry about something like that. That is why I want a new video card.

Edited by Seba641, 26 December 2008 - 03:19 PM.

[Seba641]

Well I got my new video card and rams, but there is a problem. I have installed them both and everything was looking fine. Windows was running so I started to installing my new video card drivers everything went fine, but right after restart my computer froze at "Verifying DMI Pool Data" and stays there doesn't go to windows loading screen. I tried to clear my CMOS, I have checked if I didnt leave CD in my drive, everything that I though about that might be wrong was fine. Clearing CMOS didn't work at all. Plz help me.

[jrm20]

Well I got my new video card and rams, but there is a problem. I have installed them both and everything was looking fine. Windows was running so I started to installing my new video card drivers everything went fine, but right after restart my computer froze at "Verifying DMI Pool Data" and stays there doesn't go to windows loading screen. I tried to clear my CMOS, I have checked if I didnt leave CD in my drive, everything that I though about that might be wrong was fine. Clearing CMOS didn't work at all. Plz help me.

Check the connections to the harddrive you might of bumped it with your hand and wiggled the wires lose. Check both power and the data cable to the HD.

It has to do with the hard drive I am worried you might have put to much pressure on the harddrive connectors trying to get that big video card installed.


While you are in the case it would not hurt to Check all cables and see if you have the power cables hooked up the the video card.

[Seba641]

I have tried everything that you said and it still doesnt work I dont know what to do... My video card was hooked up to 2xPCI-E before I even posted this massage. Right now Im tired, Im pissed and in couple min I will start kicking my computer >:]

[jrm20]

I have tried everything that you said and it still doesnt work I dont know what to do... My video card was hooked up to 2xPCI-E before I even posted this massage. Right now Im tired, Im pissed and in couple min I will start kicking my computer >:]

Try more things..

You should disconnect all of the drives inside of the pc not required to boot it up. If this fixes the problem just reconnect one at a time.

Next you can also disconnect all expansion boards not required to boot up pc.

Still no luck, put everything the way it was originally before you bought the new items and see if the pc boots up correctly and works fine.

[Seba641]

I have tried everything that you said and it still doesnt work I dont know what to do... My video card was hooked up to 2xPCI-E before I even posted this massage. Right now Im tired, Im pissed and in couple min I will start kicking my computer >:]

Try more things..

You should disconnect all of the drives inside of the pc not required to boot it up. If this fixes the problem just reconnect one at a time.

Next you can also disconnect all expansion boards not required to boot up pc.

Still no luck, put everything the way it was originally before you bought the new items and see if the pc boots up correctly and works fine.

Done all of it and still doesn't work

[jrm20]

I have tried everything that you said and it still doesnt work I dont know what to do... My video card was hooked up to 2xPCI-E before I even posted this massage. Right now Im tired, Im pissed and in couple min I will start kicking my computer >:]

Try more things..

You should disconnect all of the drives inside of the pc not required to boot it up. If this fixes the problem just reconnect one at a time.

Next you can also disconnect all expansion boards not required to boot up pc.

Still no luck, put everything the way it was originally before you bought the new items and see if the pc boots up correctly and works fine.

Done all of it and still doesn't work

It is your harddrive then. I did all of the troubleshooting possible and the harddrive is the last thing, I knew that is what it was to begin with but I wanted to be 100% positive and it doesn't hurt to try.

You have any extra hard drives laying around to test and install a fresh copy of windows onto it?

[Seba641]

[bleep] it, this sucks. I bought this HDD like 3-4 months ago and its 1 TB with a lot of important stuff that I had on it... Now I have to buy a new one and try to send this one back to WD. If I'm lucky enough they might replace it or w/e do with it that they do. This HDD was in partitions do you think that one of partitions are working fine ? I mean I would really want to get all of that stuff back or at least some.

I know its possible to install windows on another partition and have 2 or more on your computer but I never done it before. Any pointers ?

Edited by Seba641, 30 December 2008 - 10:37 PM.