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270X - Quiet / 2GB vs 4GB?

eddiew

eddiew

eddiew

Soldato
Joined
26 Jan 2007
Posts
2,541
Location
Leeds
Hey guys, quick question:

In the absence of "proper" Maxwell showing up this year, I'm falling back on my February plan for a 270X for Wildstar Online. I'm a fan of quiet computing (a slow fan - baddumtish!), but I've also noticed there's a couple of 4GB models floating around. Only they don't seem to come with the manufacturer's best cooling or overclock :confused:

Questions!
1) Other factors aside, what's the quietest 270X (not passively cooled)? I'm eyeing up a Sapphire Vapor-X, but sadly OCUK don't stock it.

2) Is the jump from 2GB to 4GB worth it on this GPU for 1920x1200? I will be using 3 monitors total, but only 1 will be used for gaming; the others will have browsers/desktop stuff on them.

3) There's a couple of 280-non-X cards skirting the £200 mark. Are any of these decently quiet? Obviously the performance is a kick up, but I won't bother if it comes with extra noise. I want "Is it turned on?" kind of quiet :)

4) More a point than a question; I fancy going micro ATX next build, so oversized/3 fan cards may be a bit of a problem. Two fans is the goal.

Gaming will be primarily Wildstar Online, and massively modded Skyrim, both of which are just a bit too much for my current 6870 GPU. Possibly some Minecraft with shader mods, which is WAY too much for it, oddly enough.

Thanks for your advice :)
 
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-161-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982

This is an exceptional product, but it has 3 fans so per your wishes you can't take it into consideration.
You can get this one:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-324-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982

It has a well designed cooler and will overclock well (most probably). I've heard that MSI cards have problems with whining fans, so I would stay away from them.

4 GB would be overkill for such a card. You would run into processing power bottlenecks before memory becomes a problem.

OCUK have this 280 card available, although I personally haven't had any experience with it before. Maybe someone else can chime in ?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-171-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1842
 
Normally 2GB would be good match with graphic card of that price and performance level and 4GB would usually not offer any benefit over 2GB version, however since you mentioned you are playing heavily modded Skyrim, then 4GB version would not be pointless anymore, as 2GB won't be enough.

Normally I would recommend looking at 280 or 280x at this price range, but since you have concern about noise level in the future mini-itx build, then it is may be better to go with a lower-power consumption card (less heat thus cooling fans not need to spin as aggressively and quieter), such as the 270X 4GB.

I wouldn't bother with considering the GTX760, unless it's the 4GB version with the free Watchdogs game at under £200.
 
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Marine-RX179 said:
Normally 2GB would be good match with graphic card of that price and performance level and 4GB would usually not offer any benefit over 2GB version, however since you mentioned you are playing heavily modded Skyrim, then 4GB version would not be pointless anymore, as 2GB won't be enough.
Click to expand...

That was definitely a concern - my current 1GB card seems to have insta-crash issues with a hair mod, which most forums put down to VRAM limitations, but nobody was very conclusive about how much is enough. How much memory can hair possibly require? :S
 
ghost.florian said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-161-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982
Click to expand...

Tbh I'm not sure that would fit into my current case - it's not brilliantly designed for internal space. My current 2-fan MSI Twin Frozr is about the biggest thing I can get in there.


ghost.florian said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-324-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1982

It has a well designed cooler and will overclock well (most probably). I've heard that MSI cards have problems with whining fans, so I would stay away from them.
Click to expand...

Ah, yus, I am generally quite a fan of Asus hardware - IIRC that gets good reviews, may look into it further :)
 
oweneades said:
Would something like This (R9 280) not make more sense at the £170-200 price range?

Faster than the 270x and only a tenner more than the 4GB model.
Click to expand...
Normally I would suggest that too, but considering OP's mentioned that he would need it to be as quiet as possible for his future migration to mini-itx, it would be better to consider a lower-power consumption card such as the 270s.
 
ghost.florian said:
Have you tried running some monitoring tool to figure out how much VRAM you are currently using ? It might show you if memory quantity is indeed an issue.
Click to expand...

I know that the 1GB I have is an issue - what I don't know is how much I actually need to max modded Skyrim at 1200p :)
 
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