Video card advice

[GoStumpy]

Good point on the GTX570... I just picked the card that was half way between the low and the high end $$$ wise.

GTX570 would be a great card for 1080p gameplay.

 

[Termie]

He would know if I did that-I don't care if he needs to up date that after the fact.

It seems he put a good amount of money into that system. It has high-end parts. He probably has a decent power supply.

I'd still recommend the GTX570, as the performance is stellar and it's not a bad value right now. The GTX580 is almost 50% more for about 10-20% more performance. Up to you on whether you want to get him the "best of the best" as a gift, or if he'd be happy with just "really good." Either one would be a huge upgrade from what he has.

 

[Gamerwife]

I just looked at some prices would two GTX560 Ti 2GB SLI or GTX570 SLI be better than one?

 

[GoStumpy]

It seems he put a good amount of money into that system. It has high-end parts. He probably has a decent power supply.

I'd still recommend the GTX570, as the performance is stellar and it's not a bad value right now. The GTX580 is almost 50% more for about 10-20% more performance. Up to you on whether you want to get him the "best of the best" as a gift, or if he'd be happy with just "really good." Either one would be a huge upgrade from what he has.

I completely agree with you, GTX580 is not really 'worth it' over a GTX570. However, it is 30% more expensive Still too much, I agree.

Now that we know he has an SLI motherboard, perhaps the dual 560ti's would be best? About $550 for two GTX560ti 2GB cards

Dual GTX570's I think are out of the price range, coming in at around $650-$700...

 

[Termie]

I just looked at some prices would two GTX560 Ti 2GB SLI or GTX570 SLI be better than one?

They would be way better than one GTX580, yes. Of those two options, I'd choose the 570, as the 560Ti 2GB is priced oddly - it's way too close to the GTX570.

Keep in mind you're now talking about over $600 - probably more than he needs to start with given what he's coming from, but a heck of an upgrade.

 

[GoStumpy]

What would the best GTX570 be?

The Gigabyte with 3 fans is 11.1" long, whereas the EVGA with a single fan is 9" long.

 

[Gamerwife]

Silly question are certain brands better or are there standards of some sort? I'm thinking i'll buy him one GTX570, It will be a HUGE surprise since this will be the first computer "thing" (not counting the keyboard that lights up blue for night gaming). lol

 

[RussianSensation]

I just looked at some prices would two GTX560 Ti 2GB SLI or GTX570 SLI be better than one?

2 of those are better than a single 580. However, a single GTX560 Ti/ GTX 570 is already a massive upgrade in performance.

If you want the best performance under $600 CDN = 2x GTX560 Ti 2GB cards for about $280, each.

As future games become even more Video RAM intensive, going with a GTX570 SLI long-term might not be so great.

Your husband can always overclock the GTX560 Ti to match GTX570 in speed, but he won't be able to add more VRAM. If you are going with a single card only, then choose the 570 since he won't be able to increase graphical settings enough to actually use 2GB of vRAM.

 

[GoStumpy]

As future games become even more Video RAM intensive, going with a GTX570 SLI long-term might not be so great.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130687

Do you think this would be worth the extra $$$ for the extra Vram?

 

[RussianSensation]

What would the best GTX570 be?

The Gigabyte with 3 fans is 11.1" long, whereas the EVGA with a single fan is 9" long.

The Gigabyte WindForce or Asus Direct CU or MSI TwinFrozr have better coolers than the EVGA card. They are quieter and can cool better. However, if you go with EVGA, you get lifetime warranty on certain models.

You get Lifetime Warranty for all retail EVGA Graphics Cards ending in the part numbers AR, AX, BR, BX, DR, DX, FR, FX, SG, SL, or S2.

2 Year Warranty applies to TX, & TR, LX, and LR cards. 3 Year Warranty applies to KR cards.

The downside to the lifetime warranty for EVGA, is that the purchased card MUST BE registered within 30 days from ORIGINAL DATE OF PURCHASE to receive full lifetime warranty. So if you plan to gift your husband an EVGA card and receive lifetime warranty, make sure to buy it just 1-2 weeks before Xmas, not NOW, or you won't have this advantage.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130687

Do you think this would be worth the extra $$$ for the extra Vram?

No, not for a single GTX570 at 1080P TV resolution. If you are going with a single card only, at that resolution the 1280mb for a stock 570 is enough.

 

[sleep]

just get a hawk radian 5 7 7 0.

**** those geeks.
i'm running bf3, but i hate the huge stages.


Profanity is not acceptable in the technical forums.

Administrator Idontcare

 

[Gamerwife]

I just looked at the link above and it seems to have very good reviews.

 

[sleep]

ohhh ahhh

**** the reviews.

get a hawk 5770.


Profanity is not acceptable in the technical forums.

Administrator Idontcare

 

[GoStumpy]

ohhh ahhh

**** the reviews.

get a hawk 5770.

^ Dumb.

\/ gtfo.

 

[sleep]

do you know why they call it the hawk?

because it kills everything white thing it sees.

 

[Termie]

do you know why they call it the hawk?

because it kills everything white thing it sees.

Be careful - this kind of talk will get you banned around here.

GamerWife - sorry you had to see these nasty posts.

As for recommendations, RussianSensation has provided very good advice (Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and EVGA). That being said, I wouldn't necessarily pay $50 more for one brand over another, since they all perform about the same and are all reputable brands.

 

[RussianSensation]

I just looked at the link above and it seems to have very good reviews.

A single GTX570 2560mb card?

The problem is that card doesn't need more than 1GB of VRAM at 1080P, but at much higher graphical settings, the graphics processor inside of it becomes the limiting factor, not the VRAM. Also, you can get almost 2x GTX560 Tis for $420 or so. Imho, that makes a $400 GTX570 poor value.

The very large price difference in Canada between GTX560 ti and GTX570 makes the 570 more than $100 more expensive for a 15% performance gain. But a GTX560 Ti is going to be 2-3x faster than his current card. So you are going to see significant diminishing returns for your dollar spent above that level unless you get 2 cards.

You can always just get him a a GTX560 Ti for $250, and it has a 90-day step-up option. If your husband finds he needs more performance within 90 days, he can just step up to a GTX570. It's obviously your call, just giving you all your available options

 

[s44]

If you can wait until near Christmas, I'd stick to EVGA. Why? Because, for the first time in years, step-up is again in play.

 

[GoStumpy]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130684

EVGA 012-P3-1577-KR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) HD DoubleShot 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card



This has dual-fans, which I would think would be quieter than a single fan.

It has a 3-year warranty, not lifetime... If that makes any difference

 

[sleep]

Be careful - this kind of talk will get you banned around here.

i know senseless acts will get you banned.

i'm standing up and letting it all out.

 

[bryanW1995]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130684

EVGA 012-P3-1577-KR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) HD DoubleShot 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card



This has dual-fans, which I would think would be quieter than a single fan.

It has a 3-year warranty, not lifetime... If that makes any difference

I would get the cheapest EVGA gtx 570 that you can as long as it's within $20 or so of the others. It will be a TR or KR model, but when you register it with EVGA you can spend another $15-20 to upgrade it to the lifetime warranty.

Having said that, since you have until xmas I would keep your eye on Black Friday and Black Monday online deals. In our hot deals section they often offer ridiculous savings.

Don't bother with SLI, just get one card. That cpu, while still very nice, can be a pretty big bottleneck to 2 x gtx 570 cards. Also, if you take advantage of the BF deals, you'll save so much money that you can always get the hubby a 2nd card for his birthday or an anniversary present next year.

BTW, I need to introduce you to my wife.

Here are the cheapest non EVGA and EVGA models on newegg right now in case you don't want to wait:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125384 - gigabyte, very good brand, $310 AR with FS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621 - EVGA, $346 shipped.

For that big of a difference, if you're buying today I'd definitely get the gigabyte card.

 

[RussianSensation]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130684

EVGA 012-P3-1577-KR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) HD DoubleShot 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card



This has dual-fans, which I would think would be quieter than a single fan.

It has a 3-year warranty, not lifetime... If that makes any difference

That card doesn't have a 90-day step up or the lifetime warranty. So in this specific example, there is no particularly reason to choose EVGA.

I agree with s44. You should just wait as long as possible before Xmas buying the card.

1. Check the 90-day step-up page before your purchase to make sure the card is eligible.

2. Ideally, get an EVGA graphics card ending in the part numbers AR, AX, BR, BX, DR, DX, FR, FX, SG, SL, or S2 for the free lifetime warranty upgrade.

3. Nvidia is planning to introduce a 'cheaper GTX570' version that will be faster than the GTX560Ti but slightly slower than the GTX570.

4. If you are planning to buy just 1 card, there is a chance that AMD may launch HD7800 series around December 6th. I can't confirm this, but since you won't gift the card to your husband until Xmas, it might make sense to wait.

5. You might see a nice sale on a GTX570 from now until December 15th.

 

[Gamerwife]

step-up is again in play---translation?

 

[bryanW1995]

Step for EVGA is a program where you have the option to upgrade the card at nearly no charge within 90 days of purchase. As Russian mentioned, it's only on specific models, and it's only useful at certain times. Right now it is possibly going to be useful because a new generation of cards is on the radar, and might even be out with 90 days of when you buy the card (figure some time between now and xmas). The new generation is expected to be faster/cooler/moar better/etc etc, though accurated release date info is very difficult to come by at this point.

edit: the "step-up" charge is just the difference in EVGA's msrp between the old and new cards. So, as an example, say that you pay $350 for a gtx 570 right now, and 85 days later you see that the "gtx 670" is available for $425. Instead of going through the hassle of selling your old gtx 570 and buying the new card for $425, you just send the old card + $75 to EVGA and they send you the new one.

It's a very cool program when it works out for people, but in the past few years either Nvidia released their next gen before xmas or it was more than 90 days AFTER xmas so "step-up" wasn't in play so to speak.

 

[Gamerwife]

OK-lots of great advice. Thank you all so much. I'll start tracking some prices. I think I'll go with one nice card (and depending on price) a $100 gift card to Best Buy.