Desperate need of a new graphics card.

[iHunii]

Well, I've been playing Rift for over a year and countless mmo's and been able to play on high/max settings with good fps, literally no problems.
Until I realised what my graphics card actually was.. NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240. I don't even know what kind of crap Dell gave me as I spent £1,500 on the damn pc.
Checked what was happening on GPU-Z because my monitor kept going on sleepmode recently.. It was running 100°C and 100% on the fan.
So, some of my other friends (which are gamers) advised me to get the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti. As I'm a semi - hardcore raider (spending over 6 hours a day every other day) And need something that will last and keep cool.
If you need any other information regarding my PC, feel free to ask - thanks.

[iHunii]

Specs:
Processor: Intel Core i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz 2.93GHz
RAM: 8.00GB
System: 64-bit
Hard drive: 2TB

[Violacea]

Mmm, if the only problem is the really hot temp, honestly some cards actually run that hot. I had a Gf570 that I had to RMA ~1year of owning it (though this was before I figured out how to crank the fans, and it was running 86c+ at all times opposed to 68 - 74 now). But my old card (gf 8800gt) that has been reliably for years straight and still runs solid as rock as a backup card, constantly runs at 100% fan speed and 99 - 102c in a game like Rift and/or 3dmark benchmarks. It seems ridiculous but, apparently it has been running that from 2008 - 2012 when I build my new PC. But when I put it in during my 570 RMA it ran rock solid on my system, same 100% fan and 99c+ temps. Cards can go really hot from what I hear, but I still like to keep mine cool.

You will see a performance increase if you upgrade your card no doubt. But if it is working fine and you only want to upgrade because of the temps, either wait till it dies or just hold onto it until you just flat out prefer an upgrade.

You were suggested a good card if you upgrade. I love my 570 to death still, 560 is just a notch below. Nothing cutting edge but it sure gets a good job done.

[davoodoo]

I have the GTX 560 and it is a great card, you should see a nice bump in performance. A couple things before you buy it though, it does require two 6-pin PCI-Express power cables to be connected to it, also the minimum power supply needed is 500-550w. You might need to get a new power supply depending on what Dell gave you.

[Violacea]

^^^ excellent point. Lots of pre-built systems (especially Dells IME) are pretty ornery sometimes about taking to 'upgrades'. Def double check the needed system requirements Hope they didn't bottleneck you at all into no upgrades.

[Chris383]

How much money are you wanting or willing to spend on upgrading a video card?
Also if your happy with the performance what do you want a new card for. Just because your monitor is going to sleep does not necessarily mean its a faulty graphics card.
Maybe you should let us know what your power supply is rated at and we can give you some suggestions based on it.
If you need any more help just feel free to ask

Also a lot of budget video cards run @ 100% fan speed all the time, this is not uncommon or bad.

[Chris383]

You say you have been playing for over a year, you mean on this pc? how often do you clean the dust out of it? IF its been a year and not been cleaned then that is the first thing to do get a can of compressed air and take your pc out side open the case and blow out the heatsinks the best you can. Or have someone who works on pc's do it for you. best of luck chris

[iHunii]

You say you have been playing for over a year, you mean on this pc? how often do you clean the dust out of it? IF its been a year and not been cleaned then that is the first thing to do get a can of compressed air and take your pc out side open the case and blow out the heatsinks the best you can. Or have someone who works on pc's do it for you. best of luck chris

Well this morning, I turned on the pc and it had a funny, clanking noise. So I know somethings dodgy there, I'll ring dell and see what they say - But I will buy i can of that stuff and clean it out as when i bought it in 2010 i haven't cleaned it haha. Thanks!

[iHunii]

How much money are you wanting or willing to spend on upgrading a video card?
Also if your happy with the performance what do you want a new card for. Just because your monitor is going to sleep does not necessarily mean its a faulty graphics card.
Maybe you should let us know what your power supply is rated at and we can give you some suggestions based on it.
If you need any more help just feel free to ask

Also a lot of budget video cards run @ 100% fan speed all the time, this is not uncommon or bad.

Oh really? On the internet the feedback was down to the card getting over-heating and the monitor going on sleep mode. If you mean the rating on system properties its 5.9. I saw the card I wanted to get for £155 wouldn't want to spend more than £200.

As I'll most probably upgrade to stronger gaming pc when I have more money lol - would love an alienware.

[Rounded]

Oh really? On the internet the feedback was down to the card getting over-heating and the monitor going on sleep mode. If you mean the rating on system properties its 5.9. I saw the card I wanted to get for £155 wouldn't want to spend more than £200.

As I'll most probably upgrade to stronger gaming pc when I have more money lol - would love an alienware.

Alienware has 30-50% air in their prices, stay away from them. Ask your local dealer to give an estimate for a set equal to an alienware set and you will be surprised on the price difference.

[iHunii]

Alienware has 30-50% air in their prices, stay away from them. Ask your local dealer to give an estimate for a set equal to an alienware set and you will be surprised on the price difference.

I thought they used a liquid cooling system?

[Sariina]

I thought they used a liquid cooling system?

Some of their machine might, which looks kind of cool, but is generally more hassle than it's worth unless you are doing really hefty overclocking. What he is actually saying is that if you just spec an Alienware machine at another store the Alienware will be 30-50% more expensive because it has an Alienware sticker on it.

[AtlasPhoenix]

The great thing about vid cards is that they're quite mobile, they pop in and out quite easily - like RAM sticks. So don't worry about buying one now, and one later when you upgrade your rig - just buy a good one now and take it with you.

It's unfortunate that you bought a Dell (or any brand name prebuilt for that matter) but what's done is done. The concern is that they mass produce towers with "shiny stats" from the most low quality and barely adequate parts. As someone pointed out: you power supply will likely be inadequate for the next vid card you purchase, as some of them can consume upwards of 200w. I think a 560 ti is one of them.

£200 is just over $300 on this side of the pond, so that will net you a very good quality card that will last for years. Luckily the new "batch" of next gen cards was just released, and while they are out of your price range they serve to push down prices on last year's gen stock. Right now Nvidia cards are making all the top benchmarks, but their price reflects that. It's not a HUGE difference, but you do get what you pay for in the computer parts world. £200 SHOULD net you a 570 which is a very very good card, failing that look for a 560 TI 448(core) which could be slightly cheaper and perform nearly as well. A 448 is different that a 'regular' 560 TI.

If you want to look into Radeon cards then I'd recommend either their 7870 or 7950. A 7850 will be on par with a 'regular' 560 TI and should run around £140.

Vid cards DO run hot and likely part of the issue you're having with your Dell is insufficient cooling throughout the case. You probably won't be able to do anything with the case that they supplied you, but when you do buy your next computer look to online stores that will let you select your parts and can assemble them for you, places like NCIX, Newegg, Tigerdirect - sorry I'm not sure what you have over in the UK. You can customize your rig to fit your budget and save a TON of cash.

Good luck and cheers!

[AtlasPhoenix]

Also, I should have mentioned brands.

Gigabyte, EVGA, and XFX are the top 3 that I would recommend - you won't be disappointed with any of them. These all overclock very well and have top notch cooling solutions.

ASUS, MSI, HIS, Zotac, PNY, Galaxy, Sapphire are decent brands and would serve you well. There's nothing wrong with them, just not as good as the first 3. MSI makes very cool running cards, they're just nothing special to look at in a windowed case lol.

Avoid anything with a name that sounds goofy - like Powercolor...lol. There's a lot of random crap out there trying to scam your money. Diablotek, visiontek...SPARKLE, omg lol. Sparkle?!?! If they can't spell "tech" properly you know you're going to get what you pay for there.

As you shop around you might explore the 550 TIs and their lower price point, and while they will definitely run Rift on ultra today, you won't get as much longevity from them with other games as years march on. There's a good number of cards that can play in the sandbox TODAY but what you're really paying for in a card is longevity. =) Hope that helps.

[Shinkirou]

Since you have a Dell, you're going to have a LOT of trouble getting a video card...

Most cards won't physically fit on your motherboard with the way it's set up. Personally I was using a carcass of a dell I got for free a few years back, the best video card that would FIT in the computer was a GT 430.

Recently spending about $150, I now have a computer that can even run conquest smooth enough for my liking (With all the settings I want maxed). I really hated the dell giving me .01 fps in conquest.

Anyway, Dell uses all it's own architecture, specifically so if you want a part, you usually have to pay them for it. You could always call support and ask about upgrades.