Decent Graphics Card for my Setup

[Dave4468]

I'm in the market for upgrading my graphics card. A few months ago I had a catastrophic failure of my old motherboard so took the opportunity to purchase a new setup. As it was a purchase of need rather than desire I didn't replace the graphics card, only the essentials.

The existing set up is an Intel i5-3570K @ 3.40GHz with 8GB RAM running W8 64bit. The graphics card however is a GeForce 9600GT 512MB, obviously that is now quite long in the tooth and is a bit of a performance bottleneck. What would be a decent graphics card (up to £200) that would be up to speed with the rest of the system?

[firetrap1]

I'm in the process of beginning to sell my last card now that I have just upgraded last week to a GTX770 OC edition.

My old card was a MSI 560 which ran RW and ts2012 and ts2013 ok at all the high settings. Bearing in mind that my new ASUS gtx770 still gets around the same performance in this game due to Ts2014's high deep dependance on you computers CPU, and not the graphics card.

My old gtx560 was seeing average frames of 30fps on most routes and it held its own in heavy built-up areas, excluding clapham junction, Glasgow Central and a that Munich ice3 route. Probably due to all the AI. It was solid for editing routes and ran TSX at 1900x1200 without issue.

Let me know if you want to find out more as it still has the box and all original cables and packaging.

Chris

[Dave4468]

I've now found the AMD Radeon HD7770. Benchmark sites seem to imply you get a super powered card for £60?

Seems way too good to be true

[ttjph]

I've now found the AMD Radeon HD7770. Benchmark sites seem to imply you get a super powered card for £60?

Seems way too good to be true

It looks decent, but I wouldn't say it's "super powered". Compared to my (now somewhat aging) GTX 260, the benchmark performance is better but the memory bandwidth is lower (72 GB/s versus 112) which will limit the maximum [fps × resolution × antialiasing] you can run AIUI.

Firetrap's GTX 560 (assuming it's exactly that) sounds pretty good with even higher Passmark score, and 128 GB/s (if it's not an SE).

Either will be better than your 9600 GT though, which for reference manages 58 GB/s.

For more futureproofness look at a GTX x70 or even x80, but I'm pretty happy with my 260 still so anything around there should be good.

[deltic009]

I don't know if TS2014 has changed anything, but the Radeon 7xxx series are noted for not gaming on DirectX 9 very well. TS2014 still runs DirectX 9 so I think best bang for your bucks would be from an nVidia card.

After having a tweak of settings I am running with every slider on Max, resolution of 2100x1312 which down samples to 1680x1050 and 4xMSAA enabled. Ran my decalled Just Trains Voyager Advanced out of Glasgow Central and was keeping at the frame rate lock of 30fps no problem with an nVidia GTX 650Ti (not the newer Ti Boost).

[mikesimpson]

I managed to get a Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 on special recently, it is expensive but the performance is great.

Mike

[firetrap1]

I would also try overclocking your CPU as the 'K' means the CPU is unlocked for overclocking. All you need really is a decent 3rd party CPU cooler and a good brand name PSU.

chris

[Dave4468]

I would also try overclocking your CPU as the 'K' means the CPU is unlocked for overclocking. All you need really is a decent 3rd party CPU cooler and a good brand name PSU.

chris

I'm a little too nervous to overclock. I'd be worried that I would end up cooking something expensive.

[Stanlow]

Plenty of cheap nVidia 6xx-series cars floating about now as retailers get rid of their stock to get in the new 7xx series. Took advantage of a good deal and got myself a GTX670 and couldn't be more chuffed.

Obviously 3 weeks later there were better GTX680 cards in deals cheaper than what i bought my 670, but never mind!

[jimmyshand]

I've got a similar system to you by the sounds of it, although my i5 processor is overclocked to a stupendous 4.4 Ghz!

I'm using the Geforce 760 2GB which you can pick up for around or just under £200. Cheaper than the 670 but with matched or arguably better performance. I find that it deals with TS2014 no problem and can run smoothly with absolutely everything at max (including DOF and bloom on). I ran a busy scenario last night on LtoB out of London as far as Croydon. In London and a busy Clapham junction I was well north of 30fps throughout with no slowdown or stuttering. Very pleasing at max settings and 1920x1080 res.

[ttjph]

I would also try overclocking your CPU as the 'K' means the CPU is unlocked for overclocking. All you need really is a decent 3rd party CPU cooler and a good brand name PSU.

chris

I'm a little too nervous to overclock. I'd be worried that I would end up cooking something expensive.

I wouldn't bother for now - the 3570k looks pretty quick as standard! Certainly no point until you fit a much faster graphics card.

[Dave4468]

I should probably admit I've gone and found a GTX 660 2GB in my price range (670s, even on offer were a little too much) and fitted that. Now with that fitted I've turned everything up to max in Railworks and the (seemingly) standard performance test, Glasgow Central, doesn't seem impacted in any way.

Now I can run Rome II!!

[deltic009]

I should probably admit I've gone and found a GTX 660 2GB in my price range (670s, even on offer were a little too much) and fitted that. Now with that fitted I've turned everything up to max in Railworks and the (seemingly) standard performance test, Glasgow Central, doesn't seem impacted in any way.

Now I can run Rome II!!

A solid choice! Enjoy the gaming! and post some shiny fancy screenshots now you have all this horsepower.

[kirkheath]

Can't go wrong with a GTX 680, one of the best cards there is and at some sites I have seen for around £260. I am not flaming here but I will say I have had two different AMD cards in hope of better TS performance (HD5830 & 7970). But I am not sure what it is, but AMD cards just can't handle the particles from the steam and frames plummet. Nvidia cards are fine, also noticed a lot of micro stutter with AMD.

[deltic009]

Can't go wrong with a GTX 680, one of the best cards there is and at some sites I have seen for around £260. I am not flaming here but I will say I have had two different AMD cards in hope of better TS performance (HD5830 & 7970). But I am not sure what it is, but AMD cards just can't handle the particles from the steam and frames plummet. Nvidia cards are fine, also noticed a lot of micro stutter with AMD.

The 5830 isn't that high spec a card and as I mentioned earlier DirectX 9 is an Achilles heel for the 7xxx series that is widely acknowledged in the PC community.