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Graphic Card Upgrade Suggestions Needed

Post Date: 2013-10-23
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Bishop View Drop Down
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Posts: 30 		  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: Graphic Card Upgrade Suggestions Needed
    Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 8:30am

Hello,

I need your suggestions on upgrading my graphics card for this PC I purchased a 4 years ago. I play a lot of flight sims, Skyrim, Civilization V, Shogun II, etc type of games. I think is it time for better graphic card with more memory to improve my frame rate at higher graphical setting. I am running my resolution at only 1600x1200 but might upgrade my monitor in the future.

Which Nvidia graphic card would best with this configuration with highest memory and performance? I don't want o spend more than $450. Less than $400 would be ideal.

I want something that will last me for another 4 years before I need to do a major rebuit.
 
Should I upgrade anything else? Besides the entire PC Big%20Smile
 

 System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932 - $141.00 - 7377
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 750W Corsair TX (Dual SLI Compatible)
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Video Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 896MB (Includes PhysX Technology)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-U12P High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i7 Processors)
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
CPU Boost: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Graphics Boost: Yes, Overclock the video card(s) as much as possible with complete stability
OS Boost: Yes, Disable and tweak all of the non-crucial services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (64-Bit Edition)

Thank you.
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fstcvc View Drop Down
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Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 8:45am
GTX 770 is the best option available right now. There are plenty of models to choose from that are $400 (NewEgg) - even OC'd ones. And with free shipping on many to boot!
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fstcvc View Drop Down
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Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 8:49am
Your build looks fine - the only thing I would consider upgrading/adding in the future is a SSD as the OS/Main Apps drive. Memory might also be something to look at but majority of games should be fine with the 6GB you currently have.
HailStorm II
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Asus Maximus VI Extreme
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
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Samsung 840Pro SSD 256GB+512GB
HydroLux+XSPC CPU/MoBo/GPU Liquid Cooling
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Bishop View Drop Down
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Posts: 30 		  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 1:09pm
Thank you for the suggestion.

Here are few questions.
Will the super clocked or FTW run much hotter versus the regular versions since I don't have liquid cooling?

I am assuming that I will not have any issues with the cards below and my motherboard given the PCI-E 2.0 versus 3.0? Am I correct?

Finally, any real performance difference between these three cards versus their price? I don't mind spending a few dollars more if I am getting something much better versus a few percentage points in performance improvement.

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual FTW w/ EVGA ACX Cooler - $480

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual SC w/ EVGA ACX Cooler - $450

EVGA GeForce GTX 760 Dual FTW 4GB w/ EVGA ACX Cooler - $320


Edited by Bishop - 23 Oct 2013 at 1:09pm
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 1:22pm
PCI 3.0 vs 2.0 will make no difference in performance. The 3.0 card is backward compatible.   It might make a difference with multiple highend cards.
The gtx 770 is about 20_25% better fps than 760. I personally would stay with reference card, meaning single fan and not overclock.   The 760/770 show little gain with overclock. Just more stress.   The Acx cards won't run hotter but they do dump a lot of the heat into the case instead of out the back of the case.

The reference 770 is a real nice card but the 760 if budget is tight will give you double what you have now.

Good luck.



Edited by bprat22 - 23 Oct 2013 at 1:31pm
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Bishop View Drop Down
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Posts: 30 		  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 1:40pm
ok. thanks. So, this reduces my options to these two card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 770 4GB Dual Classified   OR
EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB

I guess the question is will I really need 4GB over the next 4-5 years or will 2GB be enough?
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 1:50pm
That is really tough to say.   For your present monitor I would say 2 Gb vram is all you need but if you go to a higher resolution monitor then ....maybe.   Some games are using more than 2gb but not necessarily better performance just more caching but in a year or two it might help. Not sure it's worth another $80 now but tough to say.

Graphic cards are usually good for 2-3 years.   4-5 years might be a stretch .

If it was my money I'd get the reference 2 gb card and plan on a newer generation in 3 years but that's me.

Edited by bprat22 - 23 Oct 2013 at 1:58pm
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Bishop View Drop Down
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Posts: 30 		  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 1:55pm
Thank you again. The $80 difference might be cheaper now versus upgrading again in 2 years from now.
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bprat22 View Drop Down
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Posts: 20391 		  Quote bprat22 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 2:01pm
I edited while you posted.   You could be right. Ya never know what future games will need.
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Bishop View Drop Down
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Posts: 30 		  Quote Bishop Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 2:06pm
I think you might be right. In 3 years, I will probably need to do some major rebuilding. It is only money Smile
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fstcvc View Drop Down
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Posts: 2551 		  Quote fstcvc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 23 Oct 2013 at 3:01pm
I would say go with the 2GB now as you will probably be doing a major overhaul in the next 3-5 years anyway and that's probably when you'd see the need for the 4GB GPU.

This is the one I'd recommend: EVGA GTX 770 2GB SuperClocked with ACX Cooler for $399 (after $10 MIR). Your case should't cause any issues with keeping this GPU cool... Or you could spend $40 more the the 4GB version: EVGA GTX 770 4GB. If $40 doesn't break the bank, might be a good option to get a little more life out of your system!
HailStorm II
i7 4770K @ 4.5GHz
Asus Maximus VI Extreme
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum
3xSLI EVGA SuperClocked GTX TITAN
Samsung 840Pro SSD 256GB+512GB
HydroLux+XSPC CPU/MoBo/GPU Liquid Cooling
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Posts: 2961 		  Quote Onkel_Ken Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 24 Oct 2013 at 5:29pm
I love my new Titan!   
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