Upgrading from an Nvidia GTX-285

[Paul K]

Hello chaps,

I'm thinking about upgrading from my current GTX-285, and so I'm trawling the web for advice and recommendations. DX11, Blu Ray, HDMI are the basic requirements. I really don't need anything cutting edge; something that was top of the range this time last year would do. Low running temps would be nice and of course it has to fit, so something roughly the same dimensions-wise.

Just tell me the card, and I can check all the rest of the specs, dimensions etc.

As well as specific card recommendations, if you know of any good 'upgrade your video card' guides, I'd appreciate those too.

By the way, do video card external dimensions vary a lot between manufacturers ? For example, would there be much difference between the sizes of an Asus GTX-285 and a Zotac GTX-285 ?

Ta very much for all and any help

[Steve M]

Paul

I've just rebuilt and gone from an NVIDIA GTX 275 to an Asus 2gb NVIDIA GTX 660ti OC which cost me the same as the 275 did 3 or 4 years ago. Very pleased with the card for running FSX and it has HDMI output. Physically about the same size. Link below.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-giga ... -1344-2x-d

Steve M

[Dev One]

I've just gone from a Nvidia Geforce 8600GTS ('cos it died) to a Gigabyte Geforce GT630 which has a HDMI output (although I don't use it). Very pleased with it for running FSX as I can have most sliders full right & frame rates between 19fps to locked speed of 30fps. Temperatures also a lot, lot lower.
Needed latest driver update though to stop blackouts. I'm running W7 32bit.
HTH
Keith

[Paul K]

Steve, Keith, just the sort of info I was hoping for. Out of interest, did either of you upgrade your motherboards, or are they the same ones you had the older graphics cards plugged into ?

[Dev One]

No upgrade elsewhere, just a straight swap of the graphics card.
Keith

[Steve M]

Hi Paul

I rebuilt most of the system wirh a core i7 3770k overclocked to 3.4 ghz bundle, motherboard processor and memory. The last system running an AMD quad core was 4 years old so it was time to upgrade so as to cope with ORBX and more high end add-ons.

Regards, Steve

[Paul K]

Thanks chaps; I now have a starting point. Here are my current specs, by the way.

Win 7 64-bit Professional with SP1
Intel i7 960 3.2 GHz
Asus P6T Deluxe V2
Nvidia GTX-285
800W Quiet Quad Rail PSU

Can either of you see a problem with upgrading to the graphics cards you have mentioned ?

[Steve M]

Hi Paul

There sould be no problem at all there. I'm running an 800w PSU as well and have plenty in reserve. The system you have there seems ideally suited to the 660ti

Regards, Steve M

[Paul K]

Hi Paul

There sould be no problem at all there. I'm running an 800w PSU as well and have plenty in reserve. The system you have there seems ideally suited to the 660ti

Regards, Steve M

Great, I will focus on these two cards then, the 660ti and the 630, compare prices, specs, and so on.

Steve, Keith... thanks hugely for your advice. Much appreciated!!

[Paul K]

Gents, as my budget wouldn't stretch to a 660ti 2Gb ( particularly as I am also going to increase the system RAM shortly ) I settled for an EVGA Geforce GTX-650ti with just the 1 Gb of memory on it. I briefly ran P3D out of curiosity, and even though I yet to make any adjustments in Nvidia Inspector and p3d.cfg, the difference is startling.

Thanks again for your help.