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[Advice] Graphics Card(s) for 30"

smogsy

smogsy

smogsy

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As discussed here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18296797

I'm going to keep my 30" Screen but i do need to find a better solution for this resolution for the future.

The Screen Resolution is 2560x1600

Current Build is:
i7 940 2.93ghz
6GB DDR3 1333mhz
570GTX 1.2GB
Asus DX 7.1
1000w PSU

Main Games PC struggles on.
Starcraft 2 - on Ultra
GTA IV on - Max - bad port i know
BF3 - Most likely
Saints Row 3 - Maybe but doubt it
Mafia II - at some moments

Main Games i Want to Play in Future:
BF3
Saints Row 3
Batman AC

What Cards would you suggest?
There is not really a budget but would like it as low as i can to get the right experience at that resolution for future games.

Looking for card(s) that can last me a while.:D
 
I think dual 6970's (6950 rev 1 if you can get them) are in with a shout here.

Failing that get another 570 :D
 
sorry motherboard is ASUS OC Palm apparently supports both Crossfire or Nividia

do you not think i need a card with more VRAM?
 
At his native resolution of 2560x1600, sli 570's will be vram bottlenecked.

This where the current generation of Nvidia cards, are poor. How did Nvidia manage to overlook this?

They even had a chance to put 2Gb of vram on their cards with the launch of the 500 series, but managed to miss the boat.

Even the mighty 580 sli, is vram bottlenecked when compared to 6950 or 6970 xfire at 2560x1600.
 
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opethdisciple said:
At his native resolution of 2560x1600, sli 570's will be vram bottlenecked.

This where the current generation of Nvidia cards, are poor.

Even the mighty 580 sli, is vram bottlenecked when compared to 6950 or 6970 xfire at 2560x1600.
Click to expand...

Pretty irrelevant, as you'll need three GTX580s to run at the kind of settings required to eat up that much VRAM.

GTX570s are edging it, but should still be fine for 99% of games. Having said that, a single GTX570 is enough for 98% of games at 2560x1600, so perhaps extra VRAM would be worth it.

I'd go with 6950 2GB Crossfire (I just have!).
 
don't buy a new graphics card yet just overclock your cpu, with it at stock speeds you will be bottlenecking your Nvidia 570, holding it back loads.
 
Marvin said:
Pretty irrelevant, as you'll need three GTX580s to run at the kind of settings required to eat up that much VRAM.

GTX570s are edging it, but should still be fine for 99% of games. Having said that, a single GTX570 is enough for 98% of games at 2560x1600, so perhaps extra VRAM would be worth it.

I'd go with 6950 2GB Crossfire (I just have!).
Click to expand...

Not always. One example would be to start two instances of WOW concurrently. In such case, a GTX560 Ti 2GB serves very well.

Also, a pair of GTX580s have the GPU power to play Crysis Warhead, Napoleon Total War, Crysis 2 etc while eating more than 1.5GB vram easily.
 
you coud buy the fastest GPU on the planet and it wont make much differance because your CPU is already the bottleneck in your system.
 
Insufficent VRAM is an issue, but it isn't the main issue. The single GPU's insufficent grunt to push the 2560 res is most likly the main cause.

But like others have suggested...overclock that CPU first and see if it helps (since it doesn't cost anything), and then go from there.
 
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well overclocking the i7 940 shouldn't be problem depending on mobo you got. i would recommend overclocking it for sure but if you are using the stock cpu cooler that come with the cpu then i wouldn't recommend it as the stock cpu cooler intel pack with its cpu are not ideal for overclocking. i would first change that then overclock the cpu to 3.4 - 3.6ghz to start with.
 
i'm not going to oc my cpu, never done it, and dont really want to.

OCUK oced this PC & it failed after a while (think it was ram related) so disabled it. no point going for less stability
 
bru said:
you coud buy the fastest GPU on the planet and it wont make much differance because your CPU is already the bottleneck in your system.
Click to expand...

I disagree

X58 Chipset
i7 940
6GB RAM is overkill for most games

Used to have a 920 i ran at 4ghz 24/7.......now have a 990X at 5GHz still with a pair of GTX 480's.......pretty sure the Jump in CPU performance and cores is giving little benefit to games as most are barely optimized for quad core let alone 6 cores.

Best single card on the market at the moment (SINGLE GPU based - ie without going GTX590 or R6990) is this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-144-GW

My options would be:

1) If you can't wait and want cheap.....whack in another 570
2) If you can't wait and ££ is no issue.....flog your 570 and buy 2 of the 580's on the link above. they will BURY a 590 (cores are faster and you'll have DOUBLE the VRAM of a 590.
3) run at 1920 X 1200/ 1080 and wait for NVIDIAs 28nm chips (launch Q1 next year.

:)
 
AndyOcUK said:
I disagree

X58 Chipset
i7 940
6GB RAM is overkill for most games

Used to have a 920 i ran at 4ghz 24/7.......now have a 990X at 5GHz still with a pair of GTX 480's.......pretty sure the Jump in CPU performance and cores is giving little benefit to games as most are barely optimized for quad core let alone 6 cores.
Click to expand...
I can understand what you are saying, but I don't think your example of i7 920 at 4GHz vs i7 990X Hex core at 5.0GHz is a valid comparison to OP's i7 940 at stock speed 2.93GHz. This is because like you yourself said the extra two cores on the Hex core don't really help in games, and one thing you haven't factored in for your not much improvement going from 4.0GHz to 5.0GHz is because even at 4.0GHz your Quad-core is not really bottlenecking your GTX480s. OP's i7 940 which is only at 2.93GHz can be a bottleneck for a single GTX570 in games that don't use all four cores (i.e. Crysis 1, WOW)...but yes at 2560 (not 1920 res) it is more likly that the GTX570 frame rate itself drop to below than even what the stock i7 940 has to offer, and as I said previously OP's problem is most likely due to lack of grunt. But as I said since overclocking doesn't cost anything, it's no harm trying overclocking and see if it helps in anyway before opening up the wallet for new graphic card.

Out of your 3 suggestions for the OP, I would think option 3 would be the smartest thing for OP to do...if he can live with 1920 res for now until 28nm cards' arrival.
 
well its fine 99% of the time its only when it gets very stress like mass army ball

for example if i turn down 1 option in star craft 2 to high instead of ultra it plays much better,

i think its shaders or shadows

but im more worried about BF3 and future games tbh. i think i might keep my 570gtx for as long as possible then get a better card.
 
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smogsy said:
but im more worried about BF3 and future games tbh. i think i might keep my 570gtx for as long as possible then get a better card.
Click to expand...
Realistically the GTX570 is not keeping you afloat right now at 2560 res, let alone the future. I think it would be a good idea if you start saving now, and hopefully have around £400~£500 for graphic card upgrade when the 28nm cards launch (if their performance increase is as good as we all hope for that is).
 
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