Computer Upgrade Question (Thinking Video Card)

[Jalient]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here are my specs:

OS - Win 7 Home Prem (64-bit)
Processor - AMD Athlon II X4 630 (2.8GHZ)
Video Card - ATI Radeon HD 5670 1GB (GDDR5)
Memory - 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz - 4 dimms
HD1 - 128 GB SSD (Kingston) running at Sata II to Motherboard (Win 7 on this drive)
HD2 - 500 GB 7200 RPM (WoW is installed on this HD)
Powersupply - 460W (stock Delta that came with the XPS 7100)

I'd like to stick as close to $150 as possible for the upgrade. I'd like a card that will work not only for now, but also into the future (for a little at least).

In essence I've looked at various video cards and just keep hitting an "ah-ha" moment and then being confused again.

Specifically, I've looked at the GeForce GTX 650 TI 1gb (128-bit), the ATI Radeon HD 7850 1gb or 2gb (256-bit), which all fall around that $150 number. The issues I'm running into are whether I should go with the 128-bit card or the 256, and then the 1gb or 2 gb

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Humbly,

Jal

[n0cturnal]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=680

7850 is a bit stronger.

[Jalient]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=680

7850 is a bit stronger.

Good point. Thanks for the new site to look at as well. The site references the 2gb version. Would you recommend that for sure, or would the 1gb be sufficient?

[chazus]

1gb ought to be fine, unless you're doing gaming across multiple monitors, or running multiple game clients.

[Killora]

1gb ought to be fine, unless you're doing gaming across multiple monitors, or running multiple game clients.

Depends on the games he plays.

BF3/far cry 3 tends to get a little close for comfort.

[Jalient]

Depends on the games he plays.

BF3/far cry 3 tends to get a little close for comfort.

Ty all for the comments. I forgot to mention the game I play...really just WoW at the moment, so I think the 1gb should do! As for the future, not sure.

Again, thanks!

[Jalient]

Just a quick update. I went with the Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 from Newegg, the 1gb version. I can indeed confirm that it works with a 460w power supply, even though it recommends a 500w. Also, with my set-up the card works great. I put everything on ultra and it works fine, not super smooth, so I'll probably adjust down to high just for gameplay.

[Killora]

Just a quick update. I went with the Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 from Newegg, the 1gb version. I can indeed confirm that it works with a 460w power supply, even though it recommends a 500w. Also, with my set-up the card works great. I put everything on ultra and it works fine, not super smooth, so I'll probably adjust down to high just for gameplay.

the recommended PSU requirements are usually higher than necessary.