Upgrading my video card for Far Cry 3 (help)

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JAMullins

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#1 JAMullins
Member since 2003 • 582 Posts

I am looking for a ~$200 video card upgrade for Far Cry 3. I have a few questions and concerns before upgrading. I currently only have a PCI-E 1.0 slot and I want to purchase a Radeon 7850 or a 7870. I have read multiple threads on performance issues and compatibility with PCI-E 3.0 cards in 1.0 slots but the answers vary.

There should be no compatibility issues. There may be some issues with cards that have the older 1.0a specification but 1.1 should be fine. As for performance, it would not be noticeable...
you will see a performance drop of less than 1%.
You should be able to put a PCIe 3.0 card in a PCIe 1.0 (they are supposed to be backward compatible) slot but your performance (okay, the graphics card's performance) will not be great... actually, it may not even be good. But, when you do your upgrade, (provided your new CPU and mobo support PCIe3.0), you'll be sitting pretty
It will work. PCI-E is backwards compatible. No idea about how worse the performance will be compared to a 3.0 slot but I doubt it will be by much.

I have an older 2008 self built pc. I have read that your cpu has to be compatible with video card which doesn't make sense to me. I don't want to purchase a card that won't give me much of a performance increase. I also am not willing to buy a whole new rig when I am mainly a console gamer and with so many rumors of next gen only a year away. Could someone suggest a video card for around $200 and let me know if a 3.0 card will work with my current setup?

My Rig (yes I know its dated)

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.5GHz

Memory: G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800

Video Card: EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB

Motherboard: EVGA 680i SLI

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MonsieurX

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#2 MonsieurX
Member since 2008 • 39858 Posts
7870 for 220$,if you don't mind MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131466
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Amster_G

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#3 Amster_G
Member since 2009 • 4329 Posts

Or how about $219.99 without MIR (limited time -$50 from $269.99), and $199.99 with!

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=69557&vpn=AX7870%202GBD5-2DH&manufacture=PowerColor

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JAMullins

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#4 JAMullins
Member since 2003 • 582 Posts

Do you think it will work with my setup? 3.0 card is a 1.0 slot?
Good deal on the card btw.

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MonsieurX

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#5 MonsieurX
Member since 2008 • 39858 Posts

Do you think it will work with my setup? 3.0 card is a 1.0 slot?
Good deal on the card btw.

JAMullins
Shouldn't be a problem
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adamosmaki

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#6 adamosmaki
Member since 2007 • 10718 Posts
7850/7870 and overclock that core2quad at 3,0ghz ( still decent cpu but the rather low cpu speed will bottleneck a 7870 at cpu demanding games but if overclocked to 3-3,2ghz you should be fine )
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Masenkoe

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#7 Masenkoe
Member since 2007 • 4897 Posts

7870 for 220$,if you don't mind MIR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131466MonsieurX

Hell! It even comes with Far Cry 3

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hartsickdiscipl

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#8 hartsickdiscipl
Member since 2003 • 14787 Posts

7850/7870 and overclock that core2quad at 3,0ghz ( still decent cpu but the rather low cpu speed will bottleneck a 7870 at cpu demanding games but if overclocked to 3-3,2ghz you should be fine ) adamosmaki

This