GPU advice, anybody?

Hey all! I was hoping to get some advice on a new GPU. I'm trying to max out my current rig so that it may last awhile longer. Currently I have:

My Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...129064&cm_re=antec_900-_-11-129-064-_-Product

My Harddrive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...284&cm_re=caviar_black-_-22-136-284-_-Product

My Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188056

My Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

My RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10440897&PID=3067296&SID=

And my current GPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130550

I'm looking to change just the GPU, and go as high/fast/powerful as all the other parts will allow. Buying a new power supply to accommodate can be done as well.



Anyone have any suggestions/options? (Note, I was very satisfied with the evga GeForce and my stronger preferences are to bump up in the same family. Let me know what you all think! Thanks!)

 

Sometimes its best to do some research on your own and decide what's best. Why? Most people are going to give you their opinion based on what's in their case. While good for them, it may not be so good for you. Specifically, if you are into gaming and there's a certain game you want to play seamlessly, look at the performance results of the gpu's being tested. I assume you don't want to bottleneck what appears to be a higher end system either.

Check out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU13/583

Let us know how you make out!

 

Greetings, Nebraindur.

Agreed with your "bump up in the same family" assessment - if it ain't broke, yada yada...

Don't know if you're familiar with the Crysis series of video games, but they've long been considered PC busters as far as hardware requirements. Along with Jizzlobber's reviews links, you might take a look at this Tom's Hardware article in which several different high-end cards are compared using a common 'real world' benchmark - it's a few months old but I think it's still timely.

 

Thanks for the replies! they've been encouraging, helpful, and informational!

I was wondering if I could get a little more guidance though. In learning how things attach and plug in, I'm wondering if this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130945) card will be a good fit for my current rig.

I was reading that the PCI Express 3.0 wasn't anything to worry about in the PCI express 2.0 MOBO, as we haven't really begun to saturate the market with it yet. So will this card physically plug in, and are there other bottleneck issues I should be aware of I'm not understanding so far?

Thanks in advance for any reads/replies!

 

Quick Update:

Considering this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921) one as well, for the price drop. All I can see is the 2gb (this card) vs 4gb difference, and I'm feeling like it won't make that much of a difference with the current rig.

 

Bit of an omission in your request for advice here - you didn't state your budget!

That said, with the GTX 470 originally listing for ~$350, you are going to have lay down some serious $$$ to "see" (except on paper and benchmark tests) any significant performance gains as that card was no slouch. I am not sure buying another card in that same price range is a wise use of your money.

Sure, you get more for you money these days, but I question if you currently are being bottlenecked by your card, or if upgrading to 16Gb of RAM and moving to a SSD wouldn't be better.

I know 8Gb is a lot already, but there is no doubts in my mind that i7 and Windows would take advantage of more RAM. I was [very pleasantly] surprised at the clearly noticeable over all performance gains on my i7 system when I doubled my RAM to 16Gb. Something to think about based on your comment that you said you want to "max out my current rig" (which would be 16Gb) and the fact that 470 is already a fine card.

 

I assume this is a gaming rig, what screen resolution do you use and how much multitasking do you do?

 

It is a gaming rig (sorry for not stating! >.<)
I generally like running games at 1080, and I don't do much multitasking at all. I'm either gaming or working in word/browsing the web (never both).

My budget is "as cheap as possible" right now. Over the holiday season and into tax return time I plan on buying key pieces and maybe a new case for more space. I was aiming on between $300-$400 at the moment, thinking I could get by with upgrading the GPU and power supply. Will the 470 really benefit that much from doubling my ram and installing a SSD?

 

It is not so much that the 470 will benefit, it is that everything else will. While you may not be multi-tasking, Windows does all the time. A quick look at all the tasks running in Task Manager will show that.

You say "as cheap as possible" - that to me is under $100. Not $300 - $400. There are whole computers that cost less than $350.

What PSU do you have now? If you need a new PSU and a card, I am not sure you can get both in that budget that represents a significant improvement over the decent card you already have.

Unfortunately, without having all these parts at hand to swap in and out, it is all pretty much a guess, but I know you get a boost with SSD over HD, and I know bumping up RAM offers a boost too - though admittedly, going from 8 - 16Gb is not as great as going from 4 - 8Gb.

NO DOUBT, the GTX 770 with 2Gb of RAM will perform better with some (or even most) graphics intensive games over the 470 with 1Gb. But it won't show any performance boost when working in Word or browsing the Internet. Moving from HD to SSD and bumping up your RAM, however, will most likely provide noticeable performance gains in all your computing tasks. At least that's my opinion.

 

As noted in the Newegg link for your current card, it requires a 550W minimum PSU with 38 amps on the +12V rail. I am going to assume your current supply meets that. The 770 wants 600 watt or greater power supply with a minimum of 42 amps on the +12 volt rail.

If you need a new PSU, it would be a mistake to get a cheap, off brand PSU. If you need a new PSU, you need to get a quality PSU from a reputable maker that is 80 PLUS certified and that will take a good chunk out of your budget. So if you need a new PSU too, that again (to me) makes your current 470 looking pretty good.