Best graphics card for my new system

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by costac19, Jun 24, 2012.

  1. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Hi all at Major geeks I have just built myself a new system with a sileo 500 case (silent), OCZ 700w 80+ modular PSU, Gigabyte Z77-DS3H mother board, core i5 3570k Intel CPU, Samsung 128gb sata 3 SSD, 500gb western digital sata HDD, DVD/rw. I am looking for a PCIE 3 graphics card to add to the system and any suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated.
    Ps I would like the card to be as silent as possible. I heard the XFX 7850 is passivly cooled?
     
  2. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Remember Bing Google is your friend.
    Google clearly shows fans (active cooling) on those cards.

    Sadly, you failed to provide two pieces of critical information. (1) Your budget and (2) the intended purpose for this card. So what is your budget? What will you be using the card for? Serious 3D-animated gaming; CAD/CAE; or general purpose - Word, Excel, email, surfing the Internet, etc., or as a HTPC (the typical reason for "silent running")?

    And while your motherboard supports PCIe 3.0, understand PCIe 2.1 and before cards will work just fine on your board and it is not likely you will see any performance gains with 3.0 over 2.1 cards - which are more common. So while 3.0 will ensures "future proofing" longer, don't limit yourself to 3.0 boards.

    See Toms Hardware, Best Graphics Cards for the Money, May 2012.

    See Google search: best passively cooled video cards 2012.

    Finally, you did not list how much RAM you have. Depending on how much you are starting with, adding more RAM generally offers the most bang for the money.
     
  3. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Thank you Digerati I have a single 8gb g skill stick which I am hoping to add to later. My system will be used for home tasks, school work (kids) watching and listening to media (my self) and gaming. Games like crysis 2 etc. I was considering the hd 7850s because I heard they were quite in use and quite powerful for the money! £200.00 or so.
    So any help apprechiated.
     
  4. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Understand that is a "Dual Channel" memory architecture motherboard. Dual channel is a method to address RAM, basically coming and going for nearly twice the bandwidth. A very good thing.

    BUT, to enable dual channel, you MUST install RAM in pairs of matched sticks. In other words, 2 x 4Gb will offer nearly double the performance of 1 x 8Gb.

    As far as offering help, do you want passive (silent) cooling, or not?

    Since gaming is a priority, a good card is essential. Just don't bottleneck with poorly configured RAM.
     
  5. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Thank you again Digerati I am planning to buy another 8gb stick of ram before xmas. although not a budget build my funds are not unlimited either. my choice of graphics card will not solely depend on noise. I am looking for good frame rates across a range of games without the PC sounding like a rocket. After market coolers?
     
  6. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Okay. But I would not go more than 16Gb. In fact, 8Gb is typically plenty. But more sure does not hurt.

    Note your case has a big role in noise suppression too. I like Antec cases - as long as it has removable, washable air filters. Some cases come lined with sound-suppression liners. Or you can buy the liner and fit it in yourself.

    Not a fan - no pun intended. Both Intel and AMD make excellent coolers. They may not be the quietest but they are pretty quiet. I hear my front case fan over anything else. But I also hear the house AC fan running, and the dog drinking water in the kitchen.

    OEM coolers are warrantied for 3 years. Most aftermarket coolers for 1, or even 90days. Motherboard designers cluster heat generating and heat sensitive devices around the CPU socket to take advantage of the "expected" 360° down-firing air flow. Most aftermarket coolers fire in one direction only, or in the case of water cooling, void those devices of any flow from the CPU cooler. These deficiencies can be, must be compensated for with good case cooling, and "system" (chipset) temp monitoring.

    And finally, using an aftermarket cooler on an Intel or AMD CPU that is sold boxed with a cooler voids the 3-year warranty. This is often not a concern for enthusiasts, but it is something folks considering an aftermarket cooler need to know.

    Note that both AMD and Intel sell many of the CPUs in OEM packaging without a cooler so you can choose your own. But those CPUs are only warrantied for 1 year, not 3.

    Back to noise - many case fans are very noisy. And being attached right to the case, can reverberate and get real loud. You can buy rubber isolators but buying quality fans is best.
     
  7. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Thanks Digerati, my case is the Cooler Master sileo 500 with a 700w psu. The Sileo is sound proofed and is indeed very quiet in use! Also the 700 w psu is a lot more than I really need so hopefully will not get stressed and thus loud. My PC is in the living room and so needs to be unobtrusive sound wise. I have ordered the club 3D hd 7850 which in the reviews I have read is not unduly loud ( As are most HD 7850S apparantly) and will play most games at decent resolutions. Thanks for all your help. All the people at Major Geeks are so knowledgable and helpful.
    My system spec is now (Or will be in couple of days time. Will post results of benchmarks)

    Cooler Master sileo 500 case
    OCZ ModXtreme-pro 700W
    Gighabyte Z77 DS3H
    1x 8gb Gskill C L 9 9 9 24 ripjaw (will add another for total of 16GB)
    128GB Samsung SSD sata3 6GB
    500GB western Digital HDD
    Club 3D Radeon HD 7850 PCIe 3
    Prolite 1080P Screen
     
  8. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    If the PSU has a variable speed fan, controlled by temperatures, then it should toggle down in speed, and thus noise.

    Sounds like a plan.
     
  9. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    I will only post results if allowed and if people are intrested of course.
    thanks again
     
  10. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I don't know why it would not be allowed. And we are always interested making sure the OP (you, in this case) has resolved their problem to a satisfactory ending.
     
  11. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    And just because we don't post doesn't mean we're not interested, we all want to find out how it goes :major

    The more feedback there is from a successfully concluded topic, the easier it makes it to help others out in the future.
     
  12. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    And for them to help themselves too.
     
  13. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Just an update on how the build is currently going! Have taken your excellent advice and have added another stick of ram to make a total of 16gb dual channel. The machine is now more responsive! Thanks again!
    My graphics card is still not here! so will update you when it finally arrives.
    Expected 7/9/2012
     
  14. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    So we are in "Hurry up and wait" status. I am very highly trained and qualified for that! ;)
     
  15. Goldenskull

    Goldenskull I can't follow the rules

    I do not understand way you need 16gigs unless your making video games i only use 8 in mine but i can max mine out to 16 if needed but the thing is i do not see the point in maxing out the full ram.Unless your using it to cure diseases or making video games lol:-D.

    I barely hit 4 gigs of memory usage as is even though i have 8.
    RAM
    8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 666MHz (9-9-9-24)
    I have the same kinda Rip jaw memory as you do.

    You trying to be a Overclocker.
     
  16. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Generally, having 16Gb is really more for bragging rights than performance. But still, it does not hurt.

    However, in this specific situation, costac19 started out with a single 8Gb stick. Even though 8Gb is plenty, when the motherboard sees a single stick, it will operate in single-channel mode - totally wasting a valuable, performance boosting feature - dual-channel memory architecture.

    So, to take advantage of dual channel, buying another 8Gb stick was his only option - other than tossing his existing 8Gb and opting for 2 x 4Gb. But that would not make sense.

    So in THIS case, he does not need 16Gb, he needs a matching stick to what's already there to take advantage of the dual channel. It just happens to add up to 16.
     
  17. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    You trying to be a Overclocker? No:):-D
    It is really as Digerati suggested, I made a mistake when I only ordered one stick of 8gb Ram and so had to order another to enjoy dual channel.:wave:cool
     
  18. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    So in THIS case, he does not need 16Gb:-D
    Thank you Digerati for your excellent help:cool
    I thought I needed to buy another stick of ram quickly as you were correct when you said that I was crippling the performance of my system by not using dual channel. "Since gaming is a priority, a good card is essential. Just don't bottleneck with poorly configured RAM. "
    16gb of ram is to much, I should have bought two 4gb sticks to begin with:-o! I ordered the parts for the build on line and hadn't considered dual channel until you pointed out my mistake:-o. So thank you again:cool! The build is going better than I could have hoped and my new card should be here tomorow. 7/9/12:-D
     
  19. Goldenskull

    Goldenskull I can't follow the rules

  20. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    My Ram Ripjaws 2x 8gb CL 9 9 9 24 total cost £ 80.00
    Now that my PC is running in dual channel mode it is much more responsive.:cool:wave
     
  21. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Yeah, I imagine it would be noticable. Dual-channel almost doubles the bandwidth capabilities of data transfer between the RAM to the CPU.
     
  22. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Thanks Again Digerati:) "Dual Channel almost doubles the bandwidth capabilities of data transfer between the RAM to the CPU".

    When I ran Sandra 2012 before it revealed I was only getting about 8gb bandwidth, now it is almost 22gb bandwidth! Yes, I have doubled the amount of Ram but I am getting well above the expected bandwidth! Dual channel is getting me about another 6 gb bandwidth.:-D:-D
    Wow Thanks:cool
     
  23. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Well, benchmarks are cool, but they don't always translate to real-world. In fact, they rarely do. But if they do, the Placebo effect is often a major factor too - IF the comparing is not done "blind". Doubling the bandwidth does not mean double the performance. In fact, there are many benchmarks that focus on this one game or that one task that only show a 5 or 10% performance difference between single and dual channel memory setups. And in real-world observation, no gains were perceived by users.

    What is apparent - at least up the "Sweetspot" - is that the amount of RAM is more important than the speed of the RAM or it's bandwidth. So if the choice is fast 4Gb (2 x 2Gb) in dual channel, or entry level 8Gb (1 x 8Gb) in single channel - don't hesitate! Get the 8! Windows (and your hard drive) will reward you for it.

    By sweetspot, I mean (generally, "for the money") where less RAM results in a performance hit, but more RAM does not provide any significant gain. For dual channel motherboards and the vast majority of users, that is 8Gb. For triple-channel, 6Gb. Of course, both require 64-bit Windows 7 - a superior OS anyway.
     
  24. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Latest on my Build!
    My new graphics card has finally arrived!:-D
    I had a lot of problems getting the card I originally ordered, Radeon Club 3D HD7850. It was constantly out of stock! So have now bought the Sapphire HD 7870 OC edition!:-D

    Installed it a couple of hours a go, and it is magnificent! It is quiet and powerful.:cool

    So to the specifications:-D

    Coolermaster Sileo 500 case
    700W OCZ ModXtreme Pro PSU
    Gigabyte Z77 DS3H Motherboard
    Intel Ivy Bridge I5 3570k CPU
    16GB of Ripjaws DDR3 Ram
    128Gb Samsung Sata 3 SSD (used for boot drive winows 7 64 bit and currently played game) Crysis 1
    500GB Western digital Hdd Sata 2 (from older machine) Used as data drive
    DVD/RW
    Sapphire HD7870 OC edition PCI 3 Graphics card

    Some early test results:cool
    There are two test results (1) with the on board Intel 4000 graphics (2) With the Sapphire HD7870

    Sandra overall system rating (1)= rank 80.34% (2)= rank 95.02%
    Heaven DX11 (1)= avg FPS 37.8 Score 952 (2)= avg FPS 109.2 score 2752
    3D mark 11 (1)= 743 3d Marks (2)= 6621 3D Marks
    Crysis (1)= FPS 27 (2)= FPS 69 (using Fraps)
    Windows Experience Index 7.6 overall
    CPU 7.6
    mem 7.7
    Graphics games 7.9
    Graphics business 7.9
    Hdd 7.7

    To be honest I do not understand most of these figures:confused But I do know that the system is very fast and very quiet!:-D
    A success!
    Thanks to all of you at Major Geeks for your helpful and knowledgeable advice:)
    Costac19:cool
     
  25. Goldenskull

    Goldenskull I can't follow the rules

    Good Build hope you bought Extra warranty on all of your parts i normally buy max warranty on my Video Cards and MOB.
     
  26. costac19

    costac19 Private E-2

    Special thanks go to Digerati for telling me about my mistake when I only ordered 1 stick of 8Gb Ram and was missing out on dual channel support.:) Also for golden skull and satrow for there help.:)
     
  27. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    You are welcome and thank for the followup.
     

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