Video card for 2K on PC

[squeakybirnbaum]

How good of a video card do you need to play 2K on PC? I have 2K11 on 360 but I was thinking about buying it for PC when 2K12 comes out but not if I have to spend a couple hundred bucks on a video card. Are there any that aren't crazy expensive where I could play it smoothly?

[infam0us]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

You should post your specs, processor matters as well. I once did the mistake of just updating my video card when the rest of my PC sucked.

I paid 100 for my video card, a GTS 450. I can run 2k at max settings just fine with it.

[KyotoCarl]

Check the system requirements when they come out. I'm guessing you have to spend around $100-150 if you want a graphics card rha can handle 2K12.

It's not too expensive. I live in Sweden and I spent around $180 for a card that can run NBA 2K11 smoothly on everything maxed out. In Sweden that's not too expensive, don't know if that's alot in the US though.


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[bSmooth]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

Post your full PC specs and your budget, only then can proper suggestions be made. Make sure you include your PSU brand, wattage, and amperage on the +12v rail. This information is found on the sticker of the PSU.

[squeakybirnbaum]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

I have an Athlon II X4 630 and the power supply is a Corsair VX450 which I googled and I think it's 33 amps on the 12V rail. And 4GB of RAM. I've got 3 hard drives and 3 tuners installed so I'm guessing I might need a bigger psu.

As for budget, 2K12 will probably be about the only game I play so as cheap as possible while still playing smoothly.

[mikenoob]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

Depends what you mean by smoothly. Low? Mid? High? Maxed?

[bSmooth]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

I wouldn't go with anything less than the HD 6770. It's an excellent entry level gaming GPU, and is priced appropriately. The HD 6770 is simply a re-badge of the HD 5770, a great card for mid-range system. I actually have an HD 5770 in my secondary PC and it does very well on most modern games, including NBA2K11. It will play most other games, such as Crysis, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Assassin's Creed 1 & 2, Far Cry 2, Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, etc... etc... on medium to high settings as well at a resolution of either 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080.

I can play NBA 2K11 @ all High settings, except player detail on medium (due to cloth physics) with my secondary PC that has the HD 5770. This also includes a rather heavily modded game. FPS is in the low to mid 40's, which is very smooth for this game. The reason I cannot max out the Player Detail is due to a weaker processor that's not up to the task of handling the cloth physics. The CPU is a Athlon 64 x2 4200 @ 2.5 Ghz. A very dated CPU. However you have a stronger, 2nd generation, quad-core, processor and will likely be able to max the game out. I expect 2K12 to have very similar, if not exact, system requirements as 2K11, since it's apparently running on the exact same engine.

I will recommend that you get the XFX HD6770 from Newegg.com. XFX is a great company and have excellent double-lifetime warranties for many of their products if you simply register them online. I've owned a handful of XFX products over the years and never had issues. I currently have the previously mentioned XFX HD5770 in my secondary PC, and an XFX HD6970 in my main gaming rig. Both are excellent cards for their targeted audience.

Oh, almost forgot. Your Corsair 450w PSU is more than sufficient for the HD6770. You really only need a quality 400w, so you're good. Corsair is another great company and make top-notch PSUs. You were spot on with the amperage too; it's 33A on the +12, and 20A on the 3v and 5v rails, which is solid.

I Hope this helps and if you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask.

[caml17]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

Hey guys I just bought a new laptop and picked up 2k11 for PC, it will only run smoothly on the lowest settings. If I post my specs can someone please help me out with what kind of updating I would need to the computer for it to run well on higher settings!

ok I'll just post the laptop web page with specs noted, I haven't changed anything except installed Direct X when asked...

http://store.shopfujitsu.com/ca/EcomCA/buildseriesbean.do?series=TH700

thanks in advance!

edit: here are the "tech specs": http://store.shopfujitsu.com/ca/Ecom...s\fci\th700_ts

[squeakybirnbaum]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

I wouldn't go with anything less than the HD 6770. It's an excellent entry level gaming GPU, and is priced appropriately. The HD 6770 is simply a re-badge of the HD 5770, a great card for mid-range system. I actually have an HD 5770 in my secondary PC and it does very well on most modern games, including NBA2K11. It will play most other games, such as Crysis, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Assassin's Creed 1 & 2, Far Cry 2, Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, etc... etc... on medium to high settings as well at a resolution of either 1680 x 1050 or 1920 x 1080.

I can play NBA 2K11 @ all High settings, except player detail on medium (due to cloth physics) with my secondary PC that has the HD 5770. This also includes a rather heavily modded game. FPS is in the low to mid 40's, which is very smooth for this game. The reason I cannot max out the Player Detail is due to a weaker processor that's not up to the task of handling the cloth physics. The CPU is a Athlon 64 x2 4200 @ 2.5 Ghz. A very dated CPU. However you have a stronger, 2nd generation, quad-core, processor and will likely be able to max the game out. I expect 2K12 to have very similar, if not exact, system requirements as 2K11, since it's apparently running on the exact same engine.

I will recommend that you get the XFX HD6770 from Newegg.com. XFX is a great company and have excellent double-lifetime warranties for many of their products if you simply register them online. I've owned a handful of XFX products over the years and never had issues. I currently have the previously mentioned XFX HD5770 in my secondary PC, and an XFX HD6970 in my main gaming rig. Both are excellent cards for their targeted audience.

Oh, almost forgot. Your Corsair 450w PSU is more than sufficient for the HD6770. You really only need a quality 400w, so you're good. Corsair is another great company and make top-notch PSUs. You were spot on with the amperage too; it's 33A on the +12, and 20A on the 3v and 5v rails, which is solid.

I Hope this helps and if you have any other questions don't be afraid to ask.

Thanks for the detailed answer, I appreciate it. I'm good with computers but I've never gamed on one so I'm pretty clueless about video cards.

[godsgift2dagame]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

An 9800GT ($75?) should do more than enough to make the game playable at past 60fps on the highest resolutions.

When 2K11 first came out, I couldn't go higher than medium settings at 2048x1152 resolution (with no AA or other features) and by the time a graphic driver update came around a few months later, I was getting the absolute highest settings with 4AA.

I'll try to find the topic I made at overclock.net (computer site) about it.

[bSmooth]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

An 9800GT ($75?) should do more than enough to make the game playable at past 60fps on the highest resolutions.

[...]

Why buy a GPU that's 3 generations old? Yes, the 9800GT was a solid card for its' time and is still respectable in some modern games. However, you can get a current generation card, like the HD6770, with more features, on new and faster architecture, with better driver support, for only a bit more money. It's definitely worth the $25 or so dollars to get a current gen card instead of one that's two or three generations old.

@caml17: You're stuck with what you got. That's the thing about laptops, they're very limited for customization and updatability. Unlike desktops you simply cannot swap out parts like processors or video cards, you have to buy a whole new laptop.

Unfortunately the Intel Graphics family of chipsets, which you have, is of the weaker chips on the market and is not designed for modern 3D gaming at all. You'll be lucky to run any modern games at reasonable framerates.

[Dwadefan]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

ATI Radeon HD 4670 thats what I have works perfectly fine

[squeakybirnbaum]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

ATI Radeon HD 4670 thats what I have works perfectly fine

That one looks tempting, plus it costs about 1/2 of what the HD6770 does. It doesn't seem like the 2K games require a crazy powerful video card and that's about all i'll be playing. I don't do all the online war game stuff so I think the 4670 might be enough for me.

[caml17]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

so basically you can't change the video card in a laptop?

[P-Dub]

Re: Video card for 2K on PC

so basically you can't change the video card in a laptop?

No, you can't. At least not on most laptops, and I mean 99% of them. There are a few out there that allow you to upgrade or install one on top of the integrated onboard graphics chip, though.

I had an ATI HD Radeon 3850, it ran 2K9 and 2K10 with everything on high except the crowd. My 4850 ran it on high, and the 6870 I have now obviously runs it on maximum.