2560x1600 gaming resolution - need system upgrade

[Zorander]

Hi all,

I recently upgraded my screen to 30in (2560x1600 resolution) and I think my system does not play games too well at that resolution. So far DA2 (the only 'fast-paced' game I have had time to play since) is noticably laggy and I had to play at 1920x1200 resolution for the sake of smooth framerate. I plan to play HoMMVI, Skyrim, ME3 and AC:Revelations when they come out and they probably will play laggy too at the native 30in resolution.

Current config off the top of my head:
Intel Core i7-860
ASUS P7P55 D-E
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 5850
2x2GB 1600MHz DDR3 (X.M.P. profile)
Kingston SSDNow V+ 128GB
Corsair HX620 PSU
Misc peripherals (none of which should affect performance)

I think the best course of action is to upgrade the GPU (to what?) but feel free to convince me otherwise. A second HD5850 is not an option unfortunately as it would require removal of my E-MU soundcard and wi-fi card (both of which I intend to keep). A card with reasonably quiet stock cooler will be appreciated as the Sapphire card has been a quiet performer to me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bX510]

What monitor are you using?

 

[Zorander]

What monitor are you using?

Dell U3011

 

[ViRGE]

For 2560, the GTX 570 or Radeon HD 6950 are really the bare minimum if you don't want to have to make obvious quality sacrifices. And a dual-GPU card (GTX 590/6990) would not be a terrible idea if you have the money to throw down on it.

 

[Seggybop]

6950 (flashed 6970) crossfire has been working consistently well for me

A single card is adequate in some games, but you can't be sure until you try it.

Since you only have a single slot, something like a 6990 would be the obvious choice, but it's overpriced and underclocked compared to a pair of normal cards. You'd probably be best off getting a USB equivalent of either your wifi or audio card and going with another 5850 / selling the 5850 at current inflated price and buying some 6950s. External audio interfaces are somewhat advantageous anyway, so that might not be so bad.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

GPUs with 2Gb VRAM or > also

 

[mfenn]

For 2560, the GTX 570 or Radeon HD 6950 are really the bare minimum if you don't want to have to make obvious quality sacrifices. And a dual-GPU card (GTX 590/6990) would not be a terrible idea if you have the money to throw down on it.

GPUs with 2Gb VRAM or > also

:thumbsup::thumbsup: to both of these.

OP, something like this 6950 2GB is where I would start.

Depending on your preferences for ideal frame rates and details settings, you very likely would need to go dual-GPU. Those people rocking a 30" are one of the very specific groups that I recommend dual-GPU for.

 

[Zorander]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. A GPU upgrade is a universally preferred option apparently. I'm going to wait until I get one of the games I plan on and see how prices/options are looking like then (down and more hopefully). I'm happy to pay up to HD6970; the HD6990 is too expensive for my budget (esp. for a casual gamer).

Also, I have been reading about people flashing their 6950 to 6970. What is the typical success rate on this? It's a tempting possibility given the $100 difference between these two models.

Thanks.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. A GPU upgrade is a universally preferred option apparently. I'm going to wait until I get one of the games I plan on and see how prices/options are looking like then (down and more hopefully). I'm happy to pay up to HD6970; the HD6990 is too expensive for my budget (esp. for a casual gamer).

Also, I have been reading about people flashing their 6950 to 6970. What is the typical success rate on this? It's a tempting possibility given the $100 difference between these two models.

Thanks.

I'd probably stick with the 6950, but here are the charts to decide for yourself if it is is worth it.

Unlocking the 6950 2GB to 6970 has a pretty good success rate if you have the right kind of card. That is, the original reference design 6950 2GB's were literally the same think as a reference 6970 but with a different BIOS and sticker. If you know what to look for, you can tell the difference by sight.

This Diamond and this VisionTek are the only two reference cards that I see on Newegg right now. Since there aren't any good deals on non-reference 6950 2GB cards right now, I could see a case for the Diamond after rebate.

 

[n7]

More RAM + better video card.

CPU upgrade will not be noticeable or worth it.

 

[Zorander]

Hi,

I'm close to deciding between the MSI-branded HD6950 or HD6970 (difference of $100-150 for about 3-4fps difference, is that about right?). I'm concerned whether my PSU wlll be able to handle the latter though. It's a 620W with 2 6-pin PCI-e outlets.

Do you think the PSU will be able to handle the new power requirement within my system? This is what it will look like once I put my other upgrades into it:

Intel Core i7-860
ASUS P7P55 D-E
MSI Radeon R6970 Lightning OR MSI Radeon R6950 Twin Frozr II/O
Crucial M4 128GB
Corsair 2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3 (X.M.P. profile)
Corsair HX620 PSU
Misc peripherals (none of which should affect performance)

Thanks.

 

[Wuzup101]

If you are talking about a single card, the HX620 should have enough power for either a HD6950 or HD6970 regardless of how "overclocked" they get. I'm running a pair of 6950s (unlocked and overclocked) on a corsair 750 watt psu. You may run into problems with a dual card setup and that PSU (An assumption as I'm pulling 650-680 watts from the wall under max load with a 2500k overclocked).

Someone correct me if I'm wrong - but I believe the 6970s use a 6 pin + and 8 pin, in which case you would need an adapter (the card may come with one) to provide an 8 pin power source. Your PSU should still have plenty of power.

 

[mfenn]

That PSU would be fine with either card. It could even handle 6950 CFX with a few Molex to PCIe power adapters. I suggest getting the TF II 6950 2GB or the Sapphire 6950 2GB. Both have the possibility of unlocking to a 6970.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong - but I believe the 6970s use a 6 pin + and 8 pin, in which case you would need an adapter (the card may come with one) to provide an 8 pin power source. Your PSU should still have plenty of power.

The extra 2 pins in the 8-pin power connector are just an additional +12V and ground. You can actually just plug the 6-pin connector into one side of the 8-pin.

 

[Zorander]

I'm tempted to get the HD6950 TFII and try to unlock it (are the laser-cut ones mostly on the TFIII models?) but I'm also rather reluctant to risk things OTH. There is roughly $100 difference between the HD6950 TFII and HD6970 TFIII on the sources I have found (the ones that ship to Australia); do you reckon that is a fair price? The HD6970 TFIII, on GPU speed alone, is 940MHz over the HD6950 TFII's 810MHz.

Thanks.

 

[lehtv]

The main difference between stock 6950 and 6970 in terms of performance is the clock speed, 800mhz vs 880mhz. The difference in number of shaders is a seconary thing. I'm sure 6950 TWII will overclock to 880MHz, possibly to the 940MHz that 6970 TWIII runs at. So no, I don't think the 6970 TWIII is worth another $100.

Since not all TWII unlock, it's probably not a good idea to try it if you don't have a secondary GPU to use while flashing it back to the original bios...

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I have a quick question.

why is noone referring the 560 ti 2GB version? D:

 

[Zorander]

I should probably add that quiet operation is also a priority for me, hence my exclusion of anything with stock coolers. That said, will the 6950 TFII overclocked to the speed level of the 6970 TFIII (assuming it can actually achieve it) be noticably noisier?

I also just noticed that the 6970 variant is much longer at 310mm (vs the 6950's 275mm); I'm going to have to check how much space my P180 has. My current Sapphire HD5850 was quite a tight fit already and I'm sure the R6970 is longer.

Still sitting on the fence, for the time being.

 

[lehtv]

why is noone referring the 560 ti 2GB version?

It's more expensive and slower than 6950 2GB.

That said, will the 6950 TFII overclocked to the speed level of the 6970 TFIII (assuming it can actually achieve it) be noticably noisier?

I would not expect it to be any noisier than the 6970 TFIII, however. The same GPU at the same clock speed, and the TFII and TFIII coolers are quite similar in performance. Compared to running the 6950 at stock, it will probably be a bit noisier, but not loud by any means.

 

[Zorander]

I ended up ordering the R6970 Lightning. As much as I fancy the idea of unlocking a 6950 and overclocking it, my schedules won't allow me the time (nor mental energy) to deal with any troubleshooting typically associated with this kind of activity. At the moment, I just want to plug in the card and enjoy my games. I hope there still will not be an issue with my PSU and also with the length of the card (a whopping 31cm/12in) though.

I'll keep you posted on anything else. Thanks to everyone who has contributed, especially to mfenn and lehtv.

 

[mfenn]

Time is money, so I can certainly understand that point of view. Be sure to update this thread if you run into any problems during the build.

 

[Zorander]

Got the new upgrades installed (Crucial M4, Corsair 2x4GB C9 and MSI R6970 Lightning). BIOS flash was needed to allow the mobo to POST properly with the new RAM and I re-organized the insides to accommodate the long video card. Win7 installed without a problem. I am having stability issues past that point though.

I can't play Crysis2 DX11 long enough; the whole system crashes during the initial stage anywhere between opening the hatch and admiring Lady Liberty. It even froze on me when playing Hi10-encoded videos with the MPC-HC+LAV-filter+MadVR combination (which stresses the GPU considerably at 40-60% load). When it froze, CPU temp was in the high 60C and GPU 74C.

I'm suspecting either heat, PSU power or a combination of both. The RAM could be flaky too or just not happy at those temperature. To describe my current cooling arrangement, the CPU is passively cooled by a Prolimatech Megahalem cooler, with a nearby rear-facing 12cm Noctua fan blowing out. Directly above the CPU cooler, on the top of the P180 case, is an unoccupied fan bracket from which cool air from outside (should) flow down the CPU area by convection. Hot air from the video card flows up towards the CPU and is exhausted by that single Noctua fan. There is no other fan blowing in/out the case in the upper chamber. This worked perfectly fine with the previous components.

Assuming a heat issue, I'm guessing the culprit is either the CPU (from higher heat output of the video card below) or the GPU VRM chip (need more direct cooling). Maybe the RAM too as they are directly underneath the CPU heatsink and getting the heat from below too. I'm going to try to install a fan to directly blow at the video card, drawing air from the case front. I'm unsure if I should install a fan at the unoccupied fan bracket at the top too (noise is a major factor for me).
I haven’t thoroughly tested things (Memtest, Prime95 and whatever else) due to time constraint. But judging by these, what do you think could be the problem here?


Thanks!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i think you might want a better cooling system.
(back me up?)

 

[adairusmc]

6970 crossfire has been working wonderfully with my U3011 (and my samsung 305T I previously had).

 

[Zorander]

i think you might want a better cooling system.
(back me up?)

So what do you think of my idea of an additional intake fan on the case front (blowing directly at the video card)?

Otherwise, you will have to be more specific on "better cooling system".

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I would add more cases.
Front back
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==> | ==> ==> ...........|==>
,,,,,,| ........INSIDE ............|
,,,,,,| .........OF THE...........|
,,,,,,| .....CASE .................|
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MY DRAWING