[Hardware] Recommendable PNY GPU?

[Kantham]

I just looked around Newegg CA for GPU's, and I seen this GTS 250 for 160.

Currently, I own the XFX 8800 GTS 320 MB. When I bought that card the GT 8800 came out for even cheaper with a better performance 2-3 weeks later.. It's outdated. My only concern with the GTS 250 is that the power consumption might be higher, and the card longer to fit in my case. They do not give those kind of specification on the site, but they do however recommend a 450W PSU minimum for the GTS 250.

My card.
The card I'm interested in.

Thanks.

My PSU is a CoolerMaster 650W.
EDIT: Also, many reviewers suggested that the GPU is hot. What would you recommend for additional cooling? Mostly fans if possible. I always kept my computer case 24/7 just in case, anyway.

 

[NRG]

250GTS is simply a renamed 9800GTX+
9800GTX+ = 9800GT w/ higher clocks, changed PCB layout and power management.
9800GT = Revised 8800GT

Your 8800GTS is based on G80, which is more power-hungry than the 8800GT (G92) despite yours being slower. In other words, you'd be getting a mild performance boost for nearly identical power usage. If you really want one, I'd save some dough and get one of the models on newegg that are ~130. Some of them even come with aftermarket coolers. They're not much better than the reference cooler, which isn't terrible to begin with.

This is considered the best heatsink under air cooling by many. You can even get away being completely fanless if you got enough case airflow. The only downsides: it cools exclusively just the GPU core. RAM and MOSFET's must be cooled by heatspreaders which are included but might not cool as well as reference design for some people. Fan is sold separately, adding to the expense. They're also extremely space consuming. I own two, if you have any more questions.

This is my next favorite. Not as high-performance, but is obviously better than the reference design. Again, doesn't cool RAM/MOSFET's with anything more than just some air being moved by the fan.

 

[Kantham]

Nice. That Zalman cooler looks much more convenient. I'll remember it for when's the time to get one.
And on second thought, I can still sit it out a little while longer before buying a new GPU.

 

[tomcat ha]

Id suggest you to get a bigger case as gpu's will only get bigger especially nvidia gpu's

Your 8800gts320 should last for a while yet still, maybe not all maxed out but yeah.

If you really want a new gpu id go for one of the new dx11 ati cards that will come out at the end of the month, that coupled with a bigger case. Ofc this isnt the cheapest option but most likely the new ati's will have a price drop as soon as the new nvidia cards come out half a year from now.

Also there is no bad thing about ati these days. The drivers work fine, they support open source standard like opencl and it works fine on linux. It just doesnt have physx but physx is dead anyway.

 

[Kantham]

Mhhh. I never really got into ATi cards but if the timing is right might as well do. Especially if nVidia cards becomes larger.

Skakruk: Can you tell me more about 40nm ATi cards? The only thing I really know about ATi's are about as simple as Cat-Dog-Plane. I'm always looking for the best seller GPU.

 

[WaitForTheRain]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/geforce-gtx-275,review-31545-8.html

Here's some benchmarks of the NVidia and ATI cards that are similar to the ones you're looking at, however the lowest Nvidia card on there is the GTX 260 which is one above the GTS 250 as far as I know. There's links for benchmarks on other games on the site too.

 

[WaitForTheRain]

Kantham, if you're still looking at a GTS 250 I've been looking them up a bit (considering getting one myself) and they're actually just rebadged 9800GTX+'s that use slightly less power when idle. You could probably save a bit of money if you just bought a 9800GTX+.

 

[Kantham]

Skakruk, would this be the card?