Help me choose which is better

[BURNINGchicken3]

I did find the ASUS card in another store. Do you think its worth the extra price? What about the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 2GB?

This is what my order looks like now (I almost forgot about your initial post lehtv, so I kinda updated the changes):

Palit GeForce GTX 670 2GB Jetstream

Intel Core i5 3550

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM

LG E2441V-BN 24inch LED Widescreen Monitor

ASRock H77M Motherboard (didnt get the Z68 because that needs a BIOS update and would just confuse me )

G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL (2x4GB) DDR3

Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001

Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVDRW Drive OEM

Antec High Current Gamer 520W Power Supply HCG-520

Antec Three Hundred Two Case

looks good i would try to get the HCG-520m if you could it modular so any cables you do not need you do not need to have in the case but will not change performance

 

[lehtv]

I did find the ASUS card in another store. Do you think its worth the extra price?

How much more expensive is it? The Asus card is worth a premium, it's probably the best GTX 670 in terms of temperatures and fan noise.

 

[mfenn]

I did find the ASUS card in another store. Do you think its worth the extra price? What about the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 2GB?

I would get the least expensive dual-fan card that I could. There are several good brands out there (ASUS, Gigabyte, XFX, Sapphire) and you would be happy with a card from any of them.

 

[Axiom23]

Ok so I bought the parts and got the Gigabyte 670 OC 2 GB card as my video card.

I installed it all today and since my power supply was modular (Antec 520W), it only had 1 x PCIE 6+2 pin cable. Well it is just one cable that plugs into the power supply but that divides into 2 x 8 pin cables (I assume thats if I am running 2 video cards?) The video card requires 2 x PCIE cables (1 x 8 pin and 1 x 6 pin). So I was wondering where to buy the additional cable from?

Also currently I have the hard disk and optical drive connected via SATA3 ports. There are only 2 SATA3 ports on my motherboard so what if I wanted to install an SSD or something that required a SATA3 cable in the future?

Thanks for all your help guys. Much appreciated.

 

[lehtv]

Well it is just one cable that plugs into the power supply but that divides into 2 x 8 pin cables (I assume thats if I am running 2 video cards?)

No, there's nothing that dictates the connectors can't be plugged into the same graphics card. They can provide the same amount of power either way. So just connect one 6-pin and one 6+2-pin header into the GTX 670 and the other end to the PSU.

 

[Axiom23]

Yeah that's what I thought, I did end up plugging the two ends into the video card and it did boot properly, but that required me to bend the second wire quite a bit and there was quite a bit of tension so I removed it because I didn't want to risk damage to the card.
Also the first 8 pin connector went in fine, but when I tried to insert the second one, since it is 6+2, the 2 extra pin connectors on the side were getting in the way (since they sat in the middle of those two connectors). So I had awkwardly move them out of the way. Something about it didn't feel right. Am I just being paranoid and should I continue with it?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Should be fine.

Axiom. Like the android custom ROM? (Just wondering)

 

[mfenn]

Also the first 8 pin connector went in fine, but when I tried to insert the second one, since it is 6+2, the 2 extra pin connectors on the side were getting in the way (since they sat in the middle of those two connectors). So I had awkwardly move them out of the way. Something about it didn't feel right. Am I just being paranoid and should I continue with it?

Usually the connectors will be 6+2 style, meaning that the +2 can be detached from the connector block and sit harmlessly to the side.

Also currently I have the hard disk and optical drive connected via SATA3 ports. There are only 2 SATA3 ports on my motherboard so what if I wanted to install an SSD or something that required a SATA3 cable in the future?

There's no reason to use the SATA 6Gb/s ports for an HDD, and certainly not for an optical drive. I would advise that you move both of those devices to SATA 3Gb/s ports.

 

[Axiom23]

There's not reason to use the SATA 6Gb/s ports for an HDD, and certainly not for an optical drive. I would advise that you move both of those devices to SATA 3Gb/s ports.

Do SATA3 and SATA2 use the same cable? In that case I can simply plug it into the SATA2 port on the motherboard? Sorry for all the noobie questions

 

[thelastjuju]

Yup, same exact SATA cable for either.

You just want to preserve the 6Gb/s port for devices that will actually take advantage of it, like an SSD.. is all.. HDDs don't and can't utilize that type of bandwidth, so its just kind of a waste.

 

[mfenn]

Yup, same exact SATA cable for either.

You just want to preserve the 6Gb/s port for devices that will actually take advantage of it, like an SSD.. is all.. HDDs don't and can't utilize that type of bandwidth, so its just kind of a waste.

:thumbsup: Agree.

 

[Axiom23]

Hey guys, thanks I managed to connect everything and the system is running fine. The only worry I have at the back of my mind is that the Gigabyte 670 OC card says the required power supply is 550W however I only have a 520W Antec modular PSU. Is this an issue? Could it cause damage to the card?

Just in case you guys have forgotten the following are my system specs:

Gigabyte GTX-670 OC

Intel Core i5 3550 (not overclocked)

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM

ASRock H77M Motherboard

G.Skill Ripjaws X F3-10666CL9D-8GBXL (2x4GB) DDR3

Seagate Barracuda 2TB ST2000DM001

Samsung SH-222BB SATA DVDRW Drive OEM

Antec High Current Gamer 520W Power Supply HCG-520

Antec Three Hundred Two Case

 

[krnmastersgt]

The recommended wattages are usually pretty far off if you have any decent quality PSU. With the set-up that you have, I wouldn't worry about it all that much. Also it wouldn't damage the system, it would simply just power down or crash due to not being able to draw enough energy.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Your PSU is fine.

 

[mfenn]

The recommended wattages are usually pretty far off if you have any decent quality PSU. With the set-up that you have, I wouldn't worry about it all that much. Also it wouldn't damage the system, it would simply just power down or crash due to not being able to draw enough energy.

Agree. The "requirement" of 550W is a CYA move on the part of Nvidia because most people have crap power supplies that can't output their rated wattage. A GTX 670 system only truly draws around 320W maxed out, so you've got plenty of headroom on the Antec 520W.