I dont deserve to be on beta, but i am....

[lamp]

A couple of months ago i posted a thread hoping to seek advice on buying a new PC, instead i blew the majority of the money i had saved on a spur of the moment holiday, cant say i regret it though, we have had a shit summer in the UK and it was nice to get away.

Anyway, i come in from work saturday to see my brother designing a character for the FFXIV beta client, i was utterly shocked to tbh.

Im running a Q6600 @2.4Ghz, 2GB Ram, Nvidia 8500 256MB. The computer itself is 3 years old, im not sure on the specs of the MOBO, but having being able to play the beta atleast in some capacity has inspired me to upgrade, as my budget wont allow for a new rig atm, its the only option, especially with christmas around the corner.

First of all i am aware i need a new PSU, i can pick up a 500 watt fairly cheap, next thing i would like to push for is another 2GB of ram, i currently have 2x1GB DDR2, so am i right in thinking it would be best to add another 2x1GB sticks?

Finally, obviously the graphic card needs attention, im looking for something in the ATI 5770/NVIDIA GTX 260 range, just wondering how i can be 100% on the graphics card being compatiable with my MOBO?
Also why are there so many versions of the ATI 5770, and which am i best of getting?

Ideally i would just dump this pc for a new one, but money is tighter than i would like. Thx for any advice.

[sruon]

5770 or GTX460 are solid choices for the graphic card, quite honestly not sure on the difference between models except that some are factory overclocked, have better fans rest of the time you're just paying for the name. Any EVGA, Asus, you name it should do the trick.

Add 2 GB (2x1 or 1x2 isn't really going to matter) of RAM and you have yourself a somewhat decent build.

just wondering how i can be 100% on the graphics card being compatiable with my MOBO?

You have a Q6600, I don't think any P35+ board ever had an AGP slot so it's going to be 100% compatible, except maybe you'll run the card in PCI-E 1.0 instead of 2.0 or 2.1 which isn't very important in your situation.

As for PSU... 500W should do the trick. :<

[lamp]

Thanks thats a huge weight off my mind, thank you

[byte]

I had a very similar spec... Dual core AMD 2.4GHz, Geforce 8600 (256MB) and although I would recommend it, I couldn't afford to get a 460/480. After putting in a 9800, I saw some very substantial increases and because of the age, it was pretty cheap too. I can now run at 2048x1152 with AA x2 and High texture settings. With my old card, I couldn't even go above minimum resolution without suffering some serious lag. So yeah, if you really can't afford it, a high end 9 series should do the trick. But aim for a 460 or higher.

[lamp]

So i found these two around my budget, which would i be better off getting? Im just a tad curious, with the nvidia having only 786MB.

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...CI-E-Dual-Link

Vs

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...ail--DVI-GDDR5

[Cooleko]

you really shouldn't purchase products that are outdated. the 460s have been redone, they have smaller size, lower temps, more memory. get the 1Gb 460 and pay the difference.
A quick google search will show you palit is not a reliable company and you get what you pay for. quite frankly, on a 400 series gpu which runs hot i wouldn't trust the brand.
Get an EVGA or an ASUS (or any other reputable company with real warranties) and make sure it is the model with the lifetime warranty. You won't regret it.

[Elites]

Avoid the 460 and go for a HD5850 or HD5870 if you are strictly going for FFXIV. There is optimization issues I feel Nvidia nor SE is going to fix with the 400 series.

[lamp]

Ill just have to suck it up and got for the 1GB HD 5770, unfortunately anything else is out of my budget, thanks for the advice.