Impulse bought a bunch of stuff - Need advise for GPU

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90DegreeMan

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2011
15
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Bollocks...broke up with my gf. Frickin hell yes. Here I come Skyrim! I need some advise to see if it is worth upgrading to a better GPU than 8800GT. Also, for the HTPC, I am planning to run it off of SandyBridge onboard graphics...is that a good idea? I'll be playing full 1080p w/multichannel audio. If I upgrade to a newer GPU, I'll transfer my 8800GT to the HTPC.

I currently own:

Intel E8400 @ 3.4 Ghz
2GB Ram
8800GT 512 MB GPU
Intel 80GB SSD

I just bought:

Main PC (Upgrade):
Intel i7-2600K - $159.99
ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler - $56.24
ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner - $89.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $51.99
Corsair Obsidian Series 800D CC800DW Case - $279.99
ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68 - $139.99


HTPC (Build from scratch):
Intel i5-2500K - $109.99
Moneual LAB Black Aluminum MonCaso 312B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - $209.99
MB MSI|Z68MA-G45 (B3) Z68 LGA1155 R Micro ATX - 119.99
OCZ Agility 2 OCZSSD2-2AGTE60G 2.5" 60GB - $104.99
Antec EarthWatts Green EA-430D Green 430W - $54.99
ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA - $68.99
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 - $32.99
HITACHI Deskstar 0S03230 3TB 5400 - $259.98 ($129.99 x 2)

No woman, no cry. All this stuff arrives tmrw! Cannot wait! Thanks, lads...would appreciate your feedback.

Forgot to mention - I am a semi-serious gamer. I currently play TF2 & BF2. I am eagerly waiting for Diable III, BF3, Skyrim and Bioshock Infinity. No budget limits but I DO NOT want to throw my money away :). I currently have a 1920x1200 monitor but I've been thinking about buying the Dell 27" IPS 2560x1440 res.

Edit - Advice*
 
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B

Blurry

Senior member
Mar 19, 2002
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Judging by the fact that he used the words "bollocks" and "lads" I would think that he is based in the UK.

In any case sorry to hear about the gf (or in this case ex-gf).

But to answer your query - yes it would be worth the time (and coin) to upgrade the 8800gt - it might be able to run skyrim on Medium but an AMD 69xx or 67xx or NV 570/580/590 would be far better.

As for the HTPC - the onboard graphics should be sufficient provided you do not game on it.

Just my 0.2

Cheers
 
9

96Firebird

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
5,738
334
126
This is a tough decision you have to make...

Being so close to the release of 28nm GPUs in early 2012, I'd say wait. But I fear an 8800GT will not be able to hold its own in BF3. You can wait until the beta comes out to get an idea of how it will play, and ask yourself if you can suffer with the decreased settings/low FPS until the release of the new GPUs. Or you can get something powerful now and skip the whole 28nm step until later on.
 
9

90DegreeMan

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2011
15
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0
Thanks guys. What does the availability look like for the new 7K series cards this year? I havent been following much but I do know that they're on track to release them by the end of this year.
 
S

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
Rumor is they've been pushed back to 2012. Not confirmed though.
 
Madcatatlas

Madcatatlas

Golden Member
Feb 22, 2010
1,155
0
0
it looks like a NO for availability this year. But we are one confirmation short from AMD, in other words, they just may do it anyway, but now you get it as a nice surprice instead of it leaving a bad taste in your mouth...

Id opt for either a 68xx, 69xx or a 560/570/580
 
M

mosox

Senior member
Oct 22, 2010
434
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0
For the HTPC get an i-3 and a dedicated video card, AMD is the best for video quality (UVD 3.0), Intel IGP is the worst, can't do 23.976Hz and the video quality is bad too.
 
9

90DegreeMan

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2011
15
0
0
mosox said:
For the HTPC get an i-3 and a dedicated video card, AMD is the best for video quality (UVD 3.0), Intel IGP is the worst, can't do 23.976Hz and the video quality is bad too.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about using my current 8800GT. Would that work? Although its got a DVI-D out, I've got a DVI to HDMI cable to hook it up to my AVR.
 
SMOGZINN

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,337
4,610
136
I don't know if it will help, but I'm in pretty much the exact same boat as you. I also have a 8800GT, and just bought a new system that looks a lot like yours.
Right now I've decided to hold off on my video card until at least Black Friday.

My 8800GT works well enough for the games I'm playing, and Skyrim does not come out until mid November, so what is waiting 2 more weeks to see if the 7k's drop, or if we get word that they are being delayed.
Really I am expecting the 7k's to drop around then, but only the low end cards, with the high end coming mid to late Q1-2012. So I expect I'll buy a 69xx card on Black Friday.
 
T

tviceman

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2008
6,734
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If you don't have budget concerns, then get a gtx580. It is the fastest single GPU you can buy for the resolution your monitor is. If ~$425-450 is a little too much to spend, then look at either a gtx570 or an hd6970. Both of those cards are the next fastest GPU's, perform about the same vs. each other, and are ~$100-125 cheaper.
 
lehtv

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
My recommendations:

1) Integrated graphics for HTPC, you've got a z68 board so use it.
2) Sell your 8800GT and use that money to finance some of your new MSI 6950 2GB Twin Frozr III/Power Edition.
3) When the time comes that 6950 feels weak, sell it and grab a 28nm GPU. This may be whenever the 28nm cards are released, or it may be two years from now, up to you.

Can't really see any other way. The 8800GT is a waste on the HTPC, and it's no good for new games at 1920x1200. You could postpone getting the 6950 2GB until BF3 is released if you're not playing anything right now, i.e. look out for deals on it. Anything more expensive than a 6950 2GB is bad value for money in my book. The performance increases aren't worth the extra price.
 
9

90DegreeMan

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2011
15
0
0
tviceman said:
If you don't have budget concerns, then get a gtx580. It is the fastest single GPU you can buy for the resolution your monitor is. If ~$425-450 is a little too much to spend, then look at either a gtx570 or an hd6970. Both of those cards are the next fastest GPU's, perform about the same vs. each other, and are ~$100-125 cheaper.
Click to expand...

I guess that is a good option at this point. I do want to play Skyrim as soon as it comes out, but if I'd have to wait for 2-3 weeks - I can probably hold off for 7k series GPUs. The question I imposed earlier was that of the availability.

lehtv said:
My recommendations:

1) Integrated graphics for HTPC, you've got a z68 board so use it.
2) Sell your 8800GT and use that money to finance some of your new MSI 6950 2GB Twin Frozr III/Power Edition.
3) When the time comes that 6950 feels weak, sell it and grab a 28nm GPU. This may be whenever the 28nm cards are released, or it may be two years from now, up to you.

Can't really see any other way. The 8800GT is a waste on the HTPC, and it's no good for new games at 1920x1200. You could postpone getting the 6950 2GB until BF3 is released if you're not playing anything right now, i.e. look out for deals on it. Anything more expensive than a 6950 2GB is bad value for money in my book. The performance increases aren't worth the extra price.
Click to expand...

1) Yes, that was the plan but someone pointed out that the Intel IGP sucks for video quality. Honestly, I am not TOO anal about the quality but if it is noticeable, I can get a low profile GPU as mosox pointed out in the reply below.
2) & 3) Good idea. Thanks.

mosox said:
The 8800GT won't fit in that case, use the Intel IGP and if not happy get a HD 6450 or 6570 low profile.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102934
Click to expand...

This could be a possibility. For now - I am going to run the Sandybridge IGP on 2500k and see how it does. From what I know, there shouldn't be a problem. That's one of the main reasons I picked out a Z68 boards ... I can OC & use IGP.

Haha...I am way too excited about this evening. I can hardly wait to leave work and head back home to open boxes. I might post some pictures, not that people would care but I can do some show-off ;)
 
9

90DegreeMan

Junior Member
Sep 14, 2011
15
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0
96Firebird said:
Are you going to run sound separate?
Click to expand...

Yes, thats a good point. I'd like to route everything through HDMI. Is that even possible even if I get a graphics card with a built in HDMI out? How does the on board sound chip on the mobo know to send sound through the PCIx16 slot? :$
 
T

tviceman

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2008
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90DegreeMan said:
I guess that is a good option at this point. I do want to play Skyrim as soon as it comes out, but if I'd have to wait for 2-3 weeks - I can probably hold off for 7k series GPUs. The question I imposed earlier was that of the availability.
Click to expand...

Nobody knows when the 7000 series GPU's are coming. They certainly are not going to be here in 2-3 weeks, and the latest rumors suggest those gpu's won't be out until 2011.
 
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9

96Firebird

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 2010
5,738
334
126
90DegreeMan said:
Yes, thats a good point. I'd like to route everything through HDMI. Is that even possible even if I get a graphics card with a built in HDMI out? How does the on board sound chip on the mobo know to send sound through the PCIx16 slot? :$
Click to expand...

Any modern video card can run audio through the HDMI output. The reason I asked is because with the 8800GT, the audio would not go through the DVI-D output. Probably best just to retire the 8800GT, but keep it around as a backup in case you need to RMA one of your new cards.
 
SMOGZINN

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,337
4,610
136
90DegreeMan said:
This could be a possibility. For now - I am going to run the Sandybridge IGP on 2500k and see how it does. From what I know, there shouldn't be a problem. That's one of the main reasons I picked out a Z68 boards ... I can OC & use IGP.
Click to expand...

I'm currently running my 55" panny plasma TV from my 2500k IGP and I can tell no difference between it and the 8800GT that I was using just a few weeks ago, even when watching 1080p BR movies. But so far I have not been able to get sound to work though the HDMI, my new Win7 install does not even give me the option, so until I figure that out (or get a new video card) I'm running sound separately (could this be because I still have the 8800GT in the system, with a monitor hooked up to it?)


Haha...I am way too excited about this evening. I can hardly wait to leave work and head back home to open boxes. I might post some pictures, not that people would care but I can do some show-off ;)
Click to expand...

I know the feeling! Happy Building!
 
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