[bootneck02]

I am looking to upgrade my vga card I have been looking on the web but have got my self befuddled with all the techi information. I use my PC to play my music collection 67gigs , photo's, download home videos and burn them onto DVD, play DVD's, limited games at the moment (Microsoft FlightX, Blazing Angels etc). I have a NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT/GTO and was looking to upgrade to the the NVIDIA 8600 or 8800 series and willing to pay £100 to £150 ish, oh I nearly forgot, intend to up grade my screen from a 19'' to wide screen 24'' in the near future so it will have to cope with a larger screen Any ideas please.

[jephree]

You can get most 8800 models on your budget although I am not too familiar with pounds or UK suppliers.

In the US 8800GT or 8800GTS are @ $250 US. The GTX is still up @ $400 US.

The main thing to consider here is your PSU,. You'd want at least 600Watts with a dedicated PCI_E power line. They will give you a molex splitter but then you might as well stick with an 8600 model.

[bootneck02]

Hi jephree, I have a 600W PSU would you think I would need to beef that up as well say to a 700W, I am sure my present PSU has a direct power cable to the existing VGA card

[jephree]

If you stay below a GTX I think 600 Watts should be fine.

These cards have 6 pin dedicated ports for power. The GTX requires 2 lines.

Although they supply molex 4 pin adapters/splitters you are compromising the power source without a 6 pin feed from the PSU.

Also these 8800's are PCI_E 2.0 which will run on a PCI_E (1.0) motherboard but again not at their full potential. This is similar to USB 2.0 running as USB 1.0 etc.

[bootneck02]

Thanks for the help jephree, The wifes car has broken down head gasket so may have to spend spare cash on that and have to wait a little longer for things for the PC. (bugger ). But thanks for the advice.

[bootneck02]

Well I have had a bit of a bonus in my pay check this month and have settled on one or other of the following Video cards (1) Gainward GeForce Bliss 8800GT 512MB (2) ZOTAC 8800GT AMP! Edition 512MB GDDR3, I not technically adept enough to see through the advertising blurb and would appreciate for someone to explain in simple terms the difference between them and will the CPU and mother board cope with them. It looks that I can afford both repairing the car the wife broke and the video card

[jephree]

On the surface they appear to be nearly identical.

For more technical reviews browse the Googles:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...+8800GT+512MB+

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...on+512MB+GDDR3

[bootneck02]

Well I have taken the plunge and ordered ZOTAC 8800GT AMP! Edition 512MB GDDR3 £149.99 from Play.com it was the best price I could find for it. The main thing that swung it to the ZOTAC was the better for cooling than Gainwood. The professional reviewers considered to be not very effective in the Gainwood and in tests temperatures got high under continuous playing, so there it is I have made a decision and expect it to arrive in the next couple of days. Once again for the help people

[bootneck02]

It has arrived whoopeea job for Saturdayand I ordered it only on Sunday evening

[jephree]

Cool! Let us know how it goes.