£300 upgrade Help

.:Blindfaith:.

.:Blindfaith:.

.:Blindfaith:.

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Joined
21 Jan 2010
Posts
205
Location
Wales
Looking for a GFX and RAM upgrade

Current:

i7 860@ - 3.6
Corsair Hydro H70
Asus - Maximus III GENE
6gb - unbranded ram (from a "purple" machine)
XFX - 6970-2GB
Corsair Modular 750w

My 6970 is dying/dead, looking for a new card
Obviously i have been slacking on RAM looking for 16gb of something

I am leaning towards Green Team this time round as i have had nothing but headaches with the XFX6970...

I'm not one for keeping up with tech/trends once bought
i usually just ignore everything as long as my system is working.
All i hear from my gaming circle is 660-TI best bang for buck,
looking around the price fits but would still like some opinions.

Also interested in a new mid tower as my current one is nothing but a waste of alu MM monticle (most depressing purchase ever)

TLDR
£300: new card and 16gb of ram Spec me !! (extra 50-100 if needed)
 
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You will be spending a lot if you go with nVidia and want a top end card.

You can however get a 7950 + new ram and IF you want to spend the extra £100, a nice SSD :p

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) £259.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £53.99
Total : £325.38 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Why do you want 16GB, if it is for gaming 8GB is pretty much enough, not many games use more than 3-4.

If you want nVidia you are looking at a 660ti, I heard there is not much point in a 670 for its price compared to a 7950, the next step up would a 680 which is ridiculously expensive.

To note, the 7950 is technically a better card and usually scores better than a 660ti, then again apparently nVidia have better drivers. The 670 is not far off a 7950 but then it's price is not justified compared to a 7950 unless you really don't want AMD.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660TI OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £239.99
1 x GeIL EVO Leggera 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GEL38GB1600C9DC) £53.99
Total : £304.78 (includes shipping : £9.00).

 
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The 700 Series cards from Nvidia are being released towards the end of the month. If you are wanting to go with team green then it is probably worth waiting for them.
 
Can do nowt but recommend my 7970, its not the best manufacturer (Sapphire) but the power to price ratio is awesome. going to miss it bad!
 
16gb for recording and making videos (gotta get those full loot PvPs recorded eh?)

seriously that "extra" is going to go on a case/card if anything
my current one is awful (so so bad selling for scrap)

Really weary of ATI as you said drivers are awful and was never happy with my 6970

ill take a gander at the range you mentioned though "you never know"
might be swayed

what the crack with Bit Fenix shinobi midi ?
also looking ar the Fractal R4Define

cheers
 
shinobi is a good looker but i hear coolings poor on it.
Im going for a fractal design R3 or R4, very quiet, my dad has a 2500k/gtx 670 and its almost silent and temps are good too.
 
+1 with the 7950. Price/performance is unbeliavable. Dont think its worth waiting for 7xx. NVIDIA know people will splash out and from the cards they released, i doubt theyd lower the prices.
 
Tricky one this.

Your mobo is X58 so ideally you want to be running Tri-Channel RAM and you are being spec'd dual channel kits. The 7950 is great bang for buck and you should cop some free games too at the mo (check in the presales section of customer services to clarify this)

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7950 Twin Frozr III Boost Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **NEW REVISION** £239.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
3 x GeIL Black Dragon 4GB (1x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Single Module (GD34GB1600C11SC) £31.99 (£95.97)
Total : £405.91 (includes shipping : FREE).



Good windowed midi case. 12GB of RAM in Tri-Channel. It's colour coded to your mobo (the dragon has a red LED eye). I used the MSI 7950 as it has a black PCB to keep the colour scheme going. As I said it should come with games but some of these Frozr cards had an issue with the fans going full chat once the GPU hit 60 degrees. It does say this is the new revision so hopefully it's ok but you might want to do a little homework on the card or look for an alternative (does the colour scheme really bother you?)

The 7870XTs are also worth a mention as they are closely related to the 7950, you won't cop any games with one though :(

I look forward to seeing what you settle on in the end bud
 
I see most are leaning heavily on the 7950 i might give em a shot after all.

@honosuseri
I was looking through that cards thread, sadly the free games are all gone
But it is a sexy design that could sway me. hah

worryingly though a few people in the thread have some issues,
seems its all sorted with a bios flash though (more faffing about)

That Ram looks about what i need good one

like the look on that corsair but those "extra large" windows usually
show bays etc.

Good post though mate thanks !

@squarehead94
Ok so i will avoid the shinobi if its a HotBox thanks for the heads up
My bad case i was thinking of is the FRACTAL ARC2 MIDI... the new one

Cheers guys !


(Still open for input the more the merrier)
 
.:Blindfaith:. said:
I was looking through that cards thread, sadly the free games are all gone
But it is a sexy design that could sway me. hah

worryingly though a few people in the thread have some issues,
seems its all sorted with a bios flash though (more faffing about)

That Ram looks about what i need good one

like the look on that corsair but those "extra large" windows usually
show bays etc.

Good post though mate thanks !
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Case is a personal preference, I have nothing against the Shinobi but I always do suggest the windowed variant as it comes with two fans. The non windowed variant has only a single fan and the Core variants have no fans or grills/badges so need to be pimped.

Like I said don't dismiss the Tahiti 7870XTs. With an overclock they can equal if not surpass a stock 7950.

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
Total : £200.75 (includes shipping : £9.00).



That would sit pretty on the mobo. It's on preorder but it's cheaper than the Sapphire version by quite a bit :D
 
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stulid said:
No its not, it is P55 and is socket 1156 so is dual channel.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_III_GENE/

@OP, dual channel RAM kits are what you want.
Click to expand...

I do apologise. I was thinking of the Rampage III. Thank you for that Stulid and covering my ass.

I'll amend the basket

YOUR BASKET
1 x VTX3D HD 7870 Black Boost Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £189.95
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £95.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Windowed Case - Black £69.95
Total : £369.98 (includes shipping : £11.75).

 
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if im honest, I personally would rather spend an extra 30 or so pounds on a 7950, resale value in the future, and its easier than overclocking a card to be as good as it, for the minor price difference... To me, 10% more cost for a better product is worth it. but the 7870 is a good shout if you cant move on your budget...
 
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