I want to come back to SL....Please help

[JG Hotshot]

I am trying to resurrect my pc so that I can come back to SL.  My vid card died on me and I have spent the last few days in search of a new video card that will work with my desktop and will give me better performance than the last card, without getting something that is too much.

 

I'm still learning when it comes to pc hardware so if I sound like novice, it's because I am!! lol

 

Anyway, while I do love to play F.E.A.R. and the Sims, and would like to play F.E.A.R. 2......I am mainly concerned with getting a card that will allow SL to run smoother than it did with the previous card.  I'm aware that since my desktop is about 4 years old, it is out of date and I can't afford to upgrade the whole pc at this time, but it ran SL fairly decent before the card died so I'm hoping that a better version will be a little better at least.  This is where I need your help.

 

My pc has been down for over a year, so I don't have complete details for my rig but I will do my best to give you all that I know.  My desktop is a Phenom 9750 quad core, it has 8 gb memory and runs at 2.4 or 2.6 (can't remember, sorry), the fried video card is a hd 3650 and my psu is 500w.  I have narrowed down my choices to two video cards which are:

- hd 6770 with ddr5

- hd 6750 with ddr3

I like the 6750 because it doesn't use much more power than my older card, which means that my psu should be fine (I think), and according to a website that compares cards, this one will perform much much better than the last one.

I like the 6770 because from what I gather, it will run even better than the 6750.

 

As, I mentioned, I don't have money to upgrade the motherboard or cpu, I am simply trying to make due with what I have for the time being so if someone could advise me on which card would be best that would be grrreat :)  And if there is a better suggestion for the vid card, I would love to hear about that as well.....and why it's better because I'm learning lol.

Thanks in advance :)

[Jean Horten]

Get a nVidia GTX 550 TI/650 TI/660 , instead of a relabeled ancient AMD HD 5770.

AMD/ATI can handle window's proprietary graphics language directx quite well if the  current AMD driver  works ( which  happens with every 3rd or 4th edition of teh drivers) , but AND/ATI  is not the best choice for SL and  the graphics language it uses ( openGL). AMD Graphics: Save 10 US$ and  get a lot of driver problems for free.

J

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

A 550 Ti sounds like a good alternative. It's benchmarked slightly higher than the HD 6770, costs about the same and supports a PCIE 2 bus which is probably what's on the motherboard. The 6-series costs a lot more and if it runs on the slower bus, the performance difference might be marginal. The power consumption of the 550 is in the range of the Radeon 6770, with a 400W power supply as minimum.

[JG Hotshot]

WoW!!  Thanks so much to both of you!!  I thought I found the sweet spot (and maybe I did,sort of, for ati/amd), but I couldn't seem to find it for Nvidia.... Thank you guys so much, the GTX 550ti sounds purrrferct, and it will be wayyyyy better than what I had before.  I was wondering if maybe I should go with Nvidia, after reading quite a few posts where people using it had better results than ati/amd.

Just out of curiosity, what does the "ti" mean?

Anyway, I soooo can't wait to get back inworld and get back to building and costuming lol, and it was nice meeting you, thanks again

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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JG Hotshot wrote:

 

Just out of curiosity, what does the "ti" mean?

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From what I read it means Titanium, which is just a name. In reality it means it's an upgraded version with more shaders (chips) enabled.

And you're welcome!

[JG Hotshot]

Sounds good!!