GPU Upgrade Advice? Please!

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Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
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Hello!

My computer is currently running 2 GTX 260s in SLI. They've served me well, but it's time for me to upgrade. I've decided that SLI is NOT worth the trouble, so I would like to find a single card that will provide a noticeable performance increase for an affordable price.

I am not too picky on ADM/nVidia (I have always used nVidia and have more experience, but would not lose sleep over an AMD purchase)

I would like it to be 250 or less.

Thanks guys!

EDIT: System Specs

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU:

Intel Core i7 960 @ 3.20GHz
Bloomfield 45nm Technology

II. Current Graphics Card:

896MB GeForce GTX 260 (BFG Tech)
896MB GeForce GTX 260 (BFG Tech)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143197

III. Display Resolution:

1920x1080

IV. Power Supply Unit Specification (Brand, Wattage, Ampage, Age). If possible, please provide a link to a website containing the power supply specifications:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817176002

V. Case Specifications(N/A, Model, Length, Low Profile, Cooling, HTPC, Water, Silent):

Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133052

CPU is cooled using : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...E16835181015&gclid=CM-7iLvR-rUCFWGrPAod5TsAIQ



Purchase Details:

I. Budget? Please be sure to include currency (If not USD), retailer preferences & specify whether rebates are a viable option.

250 or less

II. Any particular preferences (Manufacturer[nV or AMD], Brand[XFX, Sapphire, EVGA, etc], Cooling Solutions)?

Have experience with nVidia and would prefer to stay with them, but would be open to AMD


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI?

No, getting rid of my SLI

IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs?


V. What are your needs for this GPU? Which games(If any)do you intend to play? If you have this information at hand, what are the desired detail levels?

I would like to be able to play new games at high settings. Maximum not necessarry, but is enjoyed. I am particularly interested in making sure it can handle FFXIV better than my SLI setup.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase?

Yes, using MSI Afterburner
 
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K

Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
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Definitely a good price but i'm wary of PNY, I've had some bad experiences with them in the past. Does anyone else have suggestions? <3
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
7,949
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www.techbuyersguru.com
Kleinersaphire said:
I just saw the sticky about including more system specs.. I'll be sure to add that when I get home! Sorry!
Click to expand...

260SLI is about equivalent to an HD7850. So figure you'll need to start at $180 or so to get equivalent, if more reliable, performance.

That being said, we really do need to know your specs before giving you advice. Assuming your CPU is of a similar vintage as your GPUs, you could very well be capped at this point in regard to performance.
 
S

ShreddedWheat

Senior member
Apr 3, 2006
386
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I would save up an extra $ 20 bucks and wait for the 7950 Sapphire to go back on sale not too mention get 2 great games. $ 20 bucks on $ 250 is nothing.

My 2 cents. :)
 
Termie

Termie

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
7,949
48
91
www.techbuyersguru.com
Kleinersaphire said:
Updated my original post with system specs!
Click to expand...

Great - you have the parts to warrant a GPU upgrade, and with a $250 budget, you can actually get a pretty decent upgrade. If you're interested in Crysis 3 and Bioshock Infinite, the Radeon HD7950 is a very good choice, if slightly above your budget. The games would make it worth spending a bit more to get it (current price = ~$280 minimum).

If you do not want those games or you simply do not want to spend over $250, then your best bet is the HD7870. This XFX model for $200 doesn't have a fancy fan but is the least expensive by far right now and will be more than adequate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150604

The 7870 comes with Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider - you might even prefer this package to the Bioshock/Crysis3 package included with the HD7950.
 
K

Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
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I'm much more interested in the Tomb Raider + Bioshock bundle than Crysis 3, and the price point is a little more attractive as well.

Just wondering, though. I was looking at Newegg/TigerDirect for 7870 and There's many with different prices, and I can't find any hardware differences. Is the price difference mainly due to manufacturer brand?
 
F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Termie said:
If you do not want those games or you simply do not want to spend over $250, then your best bet is the HD7870. This XFX model for $200 doesn't have a fancy fan but is the least expensive by far right now and will be more than adequate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150604

The 7870 comes with Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider - you might even prefer this package to the Bioshock/Crysis3 package included with the HD7950.
Click to expand...


Why would you recommend this inferior 7870 when for $20 more the 7870 LE is a much better option? Plus this card is a great overclocker and has a great cooler vs. The XFX 7870. This card is within his budget and he states he would like to overclock.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...M?tag=at055-20

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/51...oost_overclocked_video_card_review/index.html
 
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Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Kleinersaphire said:
Face2Face,

Is this the same card? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131487

I ask, because the NEwegg one comes with Tomb Raider/Bioshock, while the Amazon one only offers a discount on a monitor.
Click to expand...

Wow! That's crazy. I kid you not when I last looked in that promo box it stated the card came with Tombraider and Bioshock... and now a monitor :(


EDIT:

The trick is you have to type into google "7870 XT" and then click on the Amazon link and you should get this.
Capture-2_zps119becac.jpg
 
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Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
0
0
Interesting that the same card would show a different offer on a different link! hahah

You guys have been great, by the way. Thanks for all y'alls help!
 
F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Kleinersaphire said:
Interesting that the same card would show a different offer on a different link! hahah

You guys have been great, by the way. Thanks for all y'alls help!
Click to expand...

No problem. BTW - The Power Color card you linked from Newegg is better than the XFX card if you had to buy from Newegg. I tend to shy away from single fan open air cards. They usually get noisy and they suck for overclocking.
 
BoFox

BoFox

Senior member
May 10, 2008
689
0
0
If you're willing to buy off Ebay, just get GTX 580 for $200-220 (the usual "low-tide" price).

Or get 2x 5870's and bit-coin mine right away for at least 2 months, as long as it doesn't get too warm after winter, and still make about $60-70 worth of coins per month with those 2 5870s mining most of the time during the day/night (profit, after factoring in the cost of electricity). Also, it's quite likely that the value of those coins will gradually increase over time, if you continue to hold onto them..

Then sell them and upgrade when 28nm cards become cheaper, perhaps during a good sale.
 
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K

Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
0
0
Hi guys! I think I've almost made my decision, but I have a few more final questions. Thanks again to everyone so far who has been so helpful!

So, I've rounded down to the AMD Radeon 7870, and i'm wondering out of the 3 i'm looking at, which is the best to purchase?

MSI: Comes with Tombraider/Bioshock + 3dMark and 15 dollar coupon
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127722

Sapphire: Comes with Tombraider/Bioshock
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202025

XFX: Comes with Tombraider/Briosock. 10 dollars more for some reason?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo

From the looks of things, I can't tell a difference between the three besides branding. XFX is 10 dollars more for some reason, and MSI includes 3DMark and an additional coupon. Which is the best of those 3?

Then, compared against the Radeon I've also looked into the 660TI. It is generally more expensive across the board, but I DO love nVidia and have heard horror stories about Radeon driver issues while researching these cards.. Before I made a decision though, here's the ones i'm looking at.

MSI: 150 dollar ingame purchase credits to games I don't give a shit about
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127696

Sparkle: Slightly cheaper, but never used this brand before.. thoughts?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814187198

ASUS: OPEN BOX. No Idea what Newegg's open box policies are. Is this safe?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814121653R

ASUS: OPEN BOX. 10 dollars more than previous, but has a fancier title. What's the difference?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814121656R




So! I know that was a lot of cards to look at, but i'm right on the verge of my final decision. Could you guys give me some advice?

Thanks!
 
F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Don't want to keep beating a dead horse here :D but the Sapphire card I listed above is better than any of the 7870's you listed. And they are about the same price.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...M?tag=at055-20

With the XT version you get The Tahiti Architecture and 1536 Stream Processors VS. The Pitcairn and 1280 Stream Processors. The Tahiti is used in the 7950 and 7970. It will overclock maybe a little better and be faster clock for clock than the Pitcairn.


The GTX 660 TI is hard to recommend over the 7870 XT because of the great AMD Game bundle. For a single card AMD drivers are completely fine and are being improved constantly. I have owned more Nvidia cards than AMD/ATI and have been content with both drivers overall.

If you really wanted an Nvidia card then look over at this retun policy and go for the either Asus 660 TI - They both have the same cooler, just different clock speeds.

http://www.newegg.com/HelpInfo/ReturnPolicy.aspx#29
 
D

dsmwookie

Junior Member
Oct 26, 2012
5
0
0
Ill give my humble opinion here.

The 7950 is a faster card and I would not base my GPU decision on the games that are included. You can auction off whatever games you don't want and look for someone in a similar situation selling Tomb Raider or trade for your copy of Crysis 3 (I m sure people will be willing to do this).

As far as branding goes, I m a bit gun shy of XFX. They seem to have a lot of quality control issues and cooling issues with the 7950/7970 on their Double Density design cooler. I would personally stick with Sapphire, Gigabyte, and Asus; I personally went with a reference Diamond 7970 due to price, 5 year warranty, and the complaints did not seem to regular. Asus does fail in communication it seems, but I personally believe a lot of this is up to the consumers diligence on pressing the matters (not that they should have to) and protecting yourself by purchasing via credit card.

Performance wise you seem to stick with your hardware for a while and buying a nicer card now for a few bucks more could save you a lot later or grant you timing to wait out the upgrades later. Secondly the 7950 does come with an extra gig of VRAM and games seem to be reaching those limits faster tan in previous years. If you do decide to Xfire you will have that extra headroom since it does not scale with each card.

Noise...please bare in mind the different types of coolers and the level of noise they produce. This may not seem like an issue now, but selecting a reference style cooler and cranking up the fan can make quite a racket.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161420

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125414

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814202006

If you don't plan on watercooling their are slightly cheaper options than the last Sapphire I listed, but that one uses a reference PCB last I checked and has a great cooler. The Gigabyte is very quite and probably cools the best, but I believe it is voltage locked (not as much overclocking headroom).

Good luck in whatever you choose.
 
K

Kleinersaphire

Junior Member
Mar 13, 2013
13
0
0
After consideration, i've decided to up my budget to 300. We just bought my boyfriend a 350 dollar cell phone, and I feel like I deserve something shiny, too! I believe I will be buying the Sapphire or the Gigabyte or the MSI Radeon HD 7950.

Question, primarily to DSMWookie/Face2Face: I'm an OC noob. The most OCing i've done is use MSI
Afterburner to up the Core/Shaders on my 2 GTX 260s from 655/1404 to 750/1607. I believe that these are Voltage locked as well (I can't edit the voltage with MSI). I'm not looking to do crazy OCing, so would you suggest the Gigabyte, even though it's voltage locked, or should I spring for Sapphire/MSI?
 
F

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
Kleinersaphire said:
After consideration, i've decided to up my budget to 300. We just bought my boyfriend a 350 dollar cell phone, and I feel like I deserve something shiny, too! I believe I will be buying the Sapphire or the Gigabyte or the MSI Radeon HD 7950.

Question, primarily to DSMWookie/Face2Face: I'm an OC noob. The most OCing i've done is use MSI
Afterburner to up the Core/Shaders on my 2 GTX 260s from 655/1404 to 750/1607. I believe that these are Voltage locked as well (I can't edit the voltage with MSI). I'm not looking to do crazy OCing, so would you suggest the Gigabyte, even though it's voltage locked, or should I spring for Sapphire/MSI?
Click to expand...

I can try to help guide you based upon what I see with other 7950 within these forums.

The Gigabyte has the best cooler of the bunch and usually comes out of the box with clocks speeds of 1000/1250. It's a voltage locked card with a locked voltage of 1.25v. Most I have seen on these forums can get a 1100-1150 core out of them. 1100 on Avg.

The MSI TF3 comes in two flavors. The V1 and V2(7970 PCB). All of these cards are Voltage unlocked with clocks speeds of 960/1250. Both have proven to be great overclockers on average. When you buy one from newegg you could get either or, so there is no way of knowing. I would say the TF3 has the worst cooler (Loudest when O/C'd) compared to the Sapphire and the Gigabyte, but it's still much better than the reference though. Most owners on here are getting 1150+ core on these cards. It's not uncommon to see 1200+ core clock speeds with them either. Out of all of these 7950's this card is the best overclocker on avg.

The Sapphire card has a great cooler, while not as effective as the Gigabyte it still is a beast in it's own right. It thinks it's a boost edition so it will boost you to 925 core. 925/1250 would be it's clock speeds while gaming. It's has unlocked voltage as well and on average overclocks better than the Gigabyte but not as good as the MSI. Most people are seeing 1100-1150 on these cards. Some of the good ones are over 1200+.

Remember overclocking is not guaranteed and is very much the luck of the draw. Once you make your decision and receive your card head on over the 7950 thread a we can help you overclock from there. MSI AB utility is my favorite, but a lot of people like Trixx as well.

Hope this helps :D
 
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