TR Forums

Hey guys. Been awhile since I've been here, so here's my current system specs *I built this PC here some time ago!*
Looking for a better video card upgrade ---- Suggestions?
Overall
General
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Central Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz
User Name AnotherCasualty

Graphics
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Video Memory 1.25 GB
Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080

Storage
Total Memory 15.97 GB
Free Memory 10.50 GB
Total Hard disk 1095.71 GB
Free Hard disk 606.24 GB

L3-Cache 8192 KB
Motherboard
Model P8Z68-V GEN3
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Serial Number
BIOS Name BIOS Date: 05/07/12 11:39:14 Ver: 34.02
BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
SMBIOS Version 3402
BIOS Date 5/7/2012

BIOS Features
PCI is supported Yes
BIOS is Upgradable (Flash) Yes
BIOS shadowing is allowed Yes
Boot from CD is supported Yes
Selectable Boot is supported Yes
BIOS ROM is socketed Yes
EDD (Enhanced Disk Drive) Specification is supported Yes
Int 13h - 5.25 /1.2MB Floppy Services are supported Yes
Int 13h - 3.5 / 720 KB Floppy Services are supported Yes
Int 13h - 3.5 / 2.88 MB Floppy Services are supported Yes
Int 5h, Print Screen Service is supported Yes
Int 9h, 8042 Keyboard services are supported Yes
Int 14h, Serial Services are supported Yes
Int 17h, printer services are supported Yes
ACPI supported Yes
USB Legacy is supported Yes


Power Supply - SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

I can give more information if it's required but I'm looking for a major upgrade *for my video card* I'm going to end up getting 2x 1 TB + HDD's in the future but with the memory upgrade and a few bits and bobs *accessories* I want to focus more on a way better video card than what I have. It's gotten me through a lot of games, without a hiccup but with upcoming games being a bit demanding in terms of video cards, I'm looking for a decent upgrade without breaking my wallet. I know you guys know exactly what you're talking about, so please, I need some suggestions. I'm ready to order ASAP

According to benchmarks I've read (which are the only things I tend to read) performance improvements over your setup happen after the GTX 650 Ti Boost/Radeon HD 7850 threshold.

If you want to go crazy and get an SLI config, you may want to use a PSU calculator:

http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/

AnotherCasualty wrote:

I'm looking for a major upgrade *for my video card*. I want to focus more on a way better video card than my GeForce GTX 560 Ti. With upcoming games being a bit demanding in terms of video cards, I'm looking for a decent upgrade without breaking my wallet. I need some suggestions. I'm ready to order ASAP.

You aren't going to like this:
I believe that you should wait until we see what AMD's new Hawaii GPUs look like next month (and what price cuts NVidia makes in response to their launch).

Otherwise, look for another deal like this one.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

AnotherCasualty wrote:

I'm looking for a major upgrade *for my video card*. I want to focus more on a way better video card than my GeForce GTX 560 Ti. With upcoming games being a bit demanding in terms of video cards, I'm looking for a decent upgrade without breaking my wallet. I need some suggestions. I'm ready to order ASAP.

You aren't going to like this:
I believe that you should wait until we see what AMD's new Hawaii GPUs look like next month (and what price cuts NVidia makes in response to their launch).

Otherwise, look for another deal like this one.

Exactly.

I have the mobile version of the GTX560 Ti- the GTX675M- and it's still more than functional at 1080p, and that's with an Ivy i7 that tops out at 3.0GHz. Not the fastest rig on the block, but it only weighs 12lbs .

I'm also running a pair of 2GB GTX670's on my desktop with a 30" 1600p monitor, and they're almost enough for current games. By next year I expect the 2GB of VRAM on my cards to be embarrassingly small, with detail sliders knocked back to medium or lower.

So here's two suggestions to go along with JAE's: One, wait. Yes, wait! It's not like the newer cards will be amazingly faster than the current ones- they're still using the same 28nm process at TSMC as the last 1.5 generations- but they will likely improve the clockspeeds, the power and per-clock efficiency, and may also add more resources (more shader processors or execution units). And the release of newer models usually coincides with price drops.

Also, if you're buying something to replace something as fast as a GTX560 Ti, you'll probably want it to last a while. And in that case, don't settle for anything with less than 6GB of VRAM. That's my new 'minimum'; I'm personally shooting for 8GB+ per GPU, and I'll likely be running two, if not three, depending on the availability of decent, inexpensive 4k monitors.

I don't think you'll see much of an upgrade over what you've got so I would second waiting for new hotness.

Whoooo! Lordy. Seeing these new cards from AMD /R9 290/290x it's got my mouth watering just a little bit. I'm getting mixed reviews. Some reviews are showing the 290 being a better investment than the 290x. I'm still rocking my EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 core *fermi* graphics card. Looking at some, via Sapphire and such, I'm looking at needing to upgrade my PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095 and sadly I can't at the moment. Some makes of the 290 are calling for a minimum of 600 watt and others are calling for 750 watts +

With all this back and forth of whats good and what isn't, what are your takes on it? I have the money, I can buy a card but I'm not really sure which way to go at the moment.

Remember the PSU lie- those 'recommendations' are based on the benchmark set by the crappiest units sold. A Seasonic is good for ~30% over it's rating in GPU-vendor wattage.

As for the video card? Still wait. There's another Nvidia card coming, and custom-cooled AMD cards with them. Unless your card sets itself on fire or otherwise refuses to allow you to play games, another week or two will likely see you better off for your money .

Airmantharp wrote:

Remember the PSU lie- those 'recommendations' are based on the benchmark set by the crappiest units sold. A Seasonic is good for ~30% over it's rating in GPU-vendor wattage.

As for the video card? Still wait. There's another Nvidia card coming, and custom-cooled AMD cards with them. Unless your card sets itself on fire or otherwise refuses to allow you to play games, another week or two will likely see you better off for your money .

Lol, hey. I haven't heard about the PSU lie, but thanks for telling me. I'm waiting. My GPU is hanging in there some what. It has it's moments of clarity and then it wants to be randomly stubborn but it still works. It plays Skyrim and such on Ultra, beautiful game. BF4, it's on low to medium but I'm finding with all the craptastic issues BF4 is having at the moment it just ruins my gaming experience in general. I might be tempted to wait until after Christmas to see where all this goes and wait on income taxes before I dabble in the dark magics of comparing video cards and such. It's just so tempting though, but I want a decent investment so I'll not have to go through this again in the near future.

Well here is the graph you want to keep in mind.


Source

There is only one GPU product expected to launch in the near future and that is the GTX 780 Ti. When that launches the price of the GTX 780 will likely be reduced a little. Obviously AMD just launched their entire line-up so it's unlikely we'll see anything new from them for a good few months, the may have some 'non-X' versions of their lower end cards (R9 280, R9 270, etc.) in the works but we don't know that yet and they certainly won't launch this year.

I might have gotten the sweet end of a deal. Talked to a friend of mine earlier, he's got an extra GeForce GTX 760 2GB laying around, that he says he'll let me test it out and he'll let me have it for 50 bucks if I want it. I think I might test it out against what I have and see how it fairs.

Where do I get friends like that?

I just realized that the GTX 780 Ti is out today FYI. Should see reviews drop in a few hours.

I'll check on it. Just found EVGA 04G-P4-2768-KR GeForce GTX 760 4GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support SC 4GB w/ EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card on Newegg pretty cheap too. I should get to bed, too many options and so much time but I find myself being some what impatient at times.

R9-290!

Edit: Holy crap a GTX760 for $50? Deal of the decade right there! Take it, pocket the difference, spend when true next-gen (GCN 2.0 or Maxwell) comes out.

AnotherCasualty wrote:

I might have gotten the sweet end of a deal. Talked to a friend of mine earlier, he's got an extra GeForce GTX 760 2GB laying around, that he says he'll let me test it out and he'll let me have it for 50 bucks if I want it. I think I might test it out against what I have and see how it fairs.

AnotherCasualty wrote:

Just found EVGA 04G-P4-2768-KR GeForce GTX 760 4GB on Newegg pretty cheap too.

Are you kidding me right now? $50 for a GTX 760 2GB....or $310 for a GTX 760 4GB. There's NO chance that the performance differences between the two warrants spending an extra $250. TR tested the 2GB variant at 1440p settings. (Summary here) Sure, at 1440p, >2GB is a good idea, but even the 2GB version will crush your 560 Ti. For reference, your 560 Ti is roughly equivalent the 5870 on puppetworx's graph above.

Advice #1) If you REALLY don't want the GTX 760 2GB, buy it from your friend anyway and I'll give you $60 + shipping for it. $10 profit!!!
Advice #2) Still try out your friend's 760, if you don't like it, wait till Black Friday / Christmas sales and buy a new GPU then. My offer above still stands at that time.

I agree with DPete27 on this. You will see no performance difference between a 760 processor with 4GB and one with 2GB. If you're gaming at 4K you may see some difference, depending on the game, but 4K gaming on a 760 isn't really feasible at decent FPS so it's entirely moot. 2GB is more than adequate for the next couple of years, at which point you'll be able to spend the $260 you saved on a newer, faster card.

puppetworx wrote:

I agree with DPete27 on this. You will see no performance difference between a 760 processor with 4GB and one with 2GB. If you're gaming at 4K you may see some difference, depending on the game, but 4K gaming on a 760 isn't really feasible at decent FPS so it's entirely moot. 2GB is more than adequate for the next couple of years, at which point you'll be able to spend the $260 you saved on a newer, faster card.

I could definitely use a 4GB upgrade at 1600p, but that's twice the resolution of 1080p . 2GB ain't cutting it here...

AnotherCasualty wrote:

I might have gotten the sweet end of a deal. Talked to a friend of mine earlier, he's got an extra GeForce GTX 760 2GB laying around, that he says he'll let me test it out and he'll let me have it for 50 bucks if I want it. I think I might test it out against what I have and see how it fairs.

Sorry for the delayed response. I'm on a crappy PC atm because my current system *the gtx 560 ti has hit the crapper* also, the GTX 760 my friend was going to sell me, it wasn't working so that, unfortunately is a double whammy. I'm looking to get my system back up running and my current price tag is about $240.00 dollars for a graphics card.

Currently looking @
Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 11217-01-20G 2GB GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), Overclocked - $199.97 via Tiger Direct
XFX FX-787A-CNFC Radeon HD 7870 Core Edition Video Card - 2048MB, GDDR5, PCI-Express 3.0 (x16), 2x DVI, 2x Mini DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, DirectX 11, Dual-Slot, CrossFireX, Eyefinity - > $219.99

I've been looking at more but the power requirements kinda have me at an iffy stand point. *Current PSU > SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply*

Thinking about possibly going to H&R block tomorrow morning to see if I can get a current loan *via estimated tax return* and maybe I'll throw in a little more, but I'm to the point now I want something stable, something a bit better than what I had and something that would put BF4 @ decent FPS/Quality seeing as I'm used to gaming @ 1080p. I look forward to hearing from you all <3. Thanks again for all the input.

Your power supply is fine for any single GPU.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Your power supply is fine for any single GPU.

Buy this Shell Shocker deal:
$170 -30MIR XFX FX-787A-CNFC Radeon HD7870 2GB

Hey Just. Where have you been all my life?

Wait, try this deal:
http://slickdeals.net/f/6523934-powerco ... ner-newegg

JustAnEngineer wrote:

Wait, try this deal:
http://slickdeals.net/f/6523934-powerco ... ner-newegg

Lol. Sold out.

Edit: Found one > GIGABYTE GV-R787OC-2GD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

So now I have a replacement incoming! Scored and got next day shipping! haha! So Friday? it should be here!