£700 to spend on a single card solution.

[Asomodai]

Hey guys.

Heres my current specs.

I7 930 OC'd to 4Ghz watercooled
6GB OCZ Reaper Ram. Triple Channel
2 Vertex II's Striped.
GTX 280.
28 Inch monitor running at 1920x1200.
Antec 1200 with Antec CP1000 Power supply.

Essentially my GTX 280 has been failing for the past few months to deliver and I think it is time to move on from it. It overheats very easily whilst the rest of the system is running cool.

Essentially I am looking for a single card solution, I play lots of Physx enabled games and benchmarking.

I have £700 to spend, I do NOT want to SLI at this time though I will in the future. I want to have a working life of about 3 years running near to ultra high settings. I will only use one monitor running at 1920X1200. I may start playing games in 3D on my TV at somepoint. I like OVERKILL and ultra smooth gameplay.

Ideas?

 

[Surveyor]

You'll struggle to spend £700 on a single consumer grade card without SLI or Crossfire.

The most expensive single cards are the ATI HD 6990 and Nvidia GTX 590 but they're 2 GPU's on one card so operate in Crossfire or SLI.

You could blow £620 on one of these as you're in to watercooling but the price is completely OTT if you ask me.

 

[matthew31]

best card i can think of is the new asus mars 2 gtx 580x2 dual gpu card which is the fastest card atm a massive %22 faster than a gtx 590 but they are only a limited number of these about a 1000 if correct if u cant get you hands on this then u will prob want to go for a 6990 or gtx 590 but i think there is problems with the 590s as a lot of people say the keep blowing up

http://uk.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/MARS_II

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-257-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1752

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-080-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1966

these are prob best cards u can buy atm

 

[Surveyor]

best card i can think of is the new asus mars 2 gtx 580x2 dual gpu card which is the fastest card atm a massive %22 faster than a gtx 590 but they are only a limited number of these about a 1000 if correct if u cant get you hands on this then u will prob want to go for a 6990 or gtx 590 but i think there is problems with the 590s as a lot of people say the keep blowing up

http://uk.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVIDIA_Series/MARS_II

I have £700 to spend, I do NOT want to SLI at this time though I will in the future.

 

[.Max.]

By SLI however, does he just mean he does not want to cards taking 4 slots and have to bother with setting it all up? As he asked for a single card solution, that there is a single card solution?

 

[jinxpad]

That's a big budget to spend on a single card. If you only want a single GPU card, and have to spend that much, I can only see you getting one of the Hyrdrocopper watercooled 580's I guess.

Or just get a standard 580 and keep the change

 

[PakJai]

ATi 6970 or Nvidia GTX 580 are both top end single cards money can buy. They will cope fine with any titles now on highest settings at your current resolutions. Gaming wise on the highest settings, they should be capable enough for the next year or so at the very least.

By SLI however, does he just mean he does not want to cards taking 4 slots and have to bother with setting it all up? As he asked for a single card solution, that there is a single card solution?

Both 6990 or 590 are technically crossfire and sLi. When you disable the sLi or Crossfire settings they will perform as one gpu. Which leaves the 6970 and 580 being the only single card non crossfire/sLi solution.

 

[Asomodai]

By SLI however, does he just mean he does not want to cards taking 4 slots and have to bother with setting it all up? As he asked for a single card solution, that there is a single card solution?

Sorry guys I have been very vague.

I want a single card solution, I do not mind if its a dual gfx card. So a GTX 590 would be suitable as is the ATI equivilant.

Cheers!

 

[daveash]

Sorry guys I have been very vague.

I want a single card solution, I do not mind if its a dual gfx card. So a GTX 590 would be suitable as is the ATI equivilant.

Cheers!

There's your answer then. Choose either. I think the 6990 is a touch faster but the fan design is inferior and runs hotter and louder. For the sake of a couple of FPS I'd go with the 590 simply due to noise. That is, unless you're thinking of putting it under water, in which case go for the 6990!

 

[Marine-RX179]

GTX 280.
28 Inch monitor running at 1920x1200.
Antec 1200 with Antec CP1000 Power supply.

Essentially my GTX 280 has been failing for the past few months to deliver and I think it is time to move on from it. It overheats very easily whilst the rest of the system is running cool.

Essentially I am looking for a single card solution, I play lots of Physx enabled games and benchmarking.

I have £700 to spend, I do NOT want to SLI at this time though I will in the future. I want to have a working life of about 3 years running near to ultra high settings. I will only use one monitor running at 1920X1200. I may start playing games in 3D on my TV at somepoint. I like OVERKILL and ultra smooth gameplay.

AMD's 3D compatability/support is pretty poor, so that rules out AMD cards.

And as for not wanting SLI, can you clarify do you mean you want only a single GPU card and not dual-GPU card- which is essentially two GPUs running SLI on the single card. Either way, a standard GTX590 should be ruled out, as they have high chance of commiting suicide by burning themselves down.

You best option is probably grab the MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition 3072MB and overclocked it from to as high as possible (some people managed to push the overclock on this card up to 1,000MHz on the core clock). Next you should grab a 3rd party cooler for your existing GTX280, and use it as a dedicated PhysX card. The reason why you would want a dedicated PhysX card is because if you have only a single GTX580 doing both rendering and PhysX, with the extra workload for PhysX, it would reduce the amount of resource available for rendering, thus reducing performance. Here's some example of how the speed of the Nvidia card used for PhysX affect frame rate in Mafia II:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-physx-hack-amd-radeon,2764-8.html

 

[Asomodai]

AMD's 3D compatability/support is pretty poor, so that rules out AMD cards.

And as for not wanting SLI, can you clarify do you mean you want only a single GPU card and not dual-GPU card- which is essentially two GPUs running SLI on the single card. Either way, a standard GTX590 should be ruled out, as they have high chance of commiting suicide by burning themselves down.

You best option is probably grab the MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition 3072MB and overclocked it from to as high as possible (some people managed to push the overclock on this card up to 1,000MHz on the core clock). Next you should grab a 3rd party cooler for your existing GTX280, and use it as a dedicated PhysX card. The reason why you would want a dedicated PhysX card is because if you have only a single GTX580 doing both rendering and PhysX, with the extra workload for PhysX, it would reduce the amount of resource available for rendering, thus reducing performance. Here's some example of how the speed of the Nvidia card used for PhysX affect frame rate in Mafia II:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-physx-hack-amd-radeon,2764-8.html

I meant Its not that I am against SLI, I am just against getting two cards at the moment. I just want a single card, whether it is dual GPU on a single card using SLI makes no difference.

I have to admit I am very tempted by a GTX590, however I am concerned of the lack of support it's getting and the fact that very few shops have it in stock .

 

[Marine-RX179]

I meant Its not that I am against SLI, I am just against getting two cards at the moment. I just want a single card, whether it is dual GPU on a single card using SLI makes no difference.

I have to admit I am very tempted by a GTX590, however I am concerned of the lack of support it's getting and the fact that very few shops have it in stock .

Just remember, people in general would advise against getting the GTX590...as I mentioned before, they might burn and kill themselves off (the main reason shops stop stocking and selling them).

But to be honest, I would imagine even a 1,000MHz core clock MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition 3072MB would struggle in future demanding games if you do go 3D in the future, as it would drop the frame rate by half. I know you said you want a single card soloution, but for future 3D's sake, I would urge you to consider going SLI either on a GTX570 or GTX580 instead.

Graphic card upgrade aside, there's no way you gonna use the GTX280 as dedicated PhysX card since you want only one card in your PC right?

 

[Asomodai]

Just remember, people in general would advise against getting the GTX590...as I mentioned before, they might burn and kill themselves off (the main reason shops stop stocking and selling them).

But to be honest, I would imagine even a 1,000MHz core clock MSI GTX 580 Lightning Xtreme Edition 3072MB would struggle in future demanding games if you do go 3D in the future, as it would drop the frame rate by half. I know you said you want a single card soloution, but for future 3D's sake, I would urge you to consider going SLI either on a GTX570 or GTX580 instead.

I had assumed that the revised GTX 590s did not have that problem?

 

[Marine-RX179]

I had assumed that the revised GTX 590s did not have that problem?

There was a fix on driver level yes, but nothing has been revised physically on the GTX590 itself as far as I know. Also while the driver fix are said to be able to stop the card from killing itself, it is at the cost of reduced performance, plus some stability issue.

Personally, I wouldn't spend £600+ on a card with design fault. The only card that's worth the confident that is safe to use is the Asus Mars 2 GTX580x2, since it uses Asus's own custom designed PCB...however that card cost £1,000...

 

[arc@css]

I wouldn't bother with the 590. Really not worth it.

 

['Wes]

have £700 to spend, I do NOT want to SLI at this time though I will in the future.

Then spend £350 and save £350 for when you go SLi or Crossfire.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Then spend £350 and save £350 for when you go SLi or Crossfire.

lol that's actually a good idea He probably can pick up two 2nd hand GTX580 for £350 by the time he goes 3D.

 

['Wes]

lol that's actually a good idea He probably can pick up two 2nd hand GTX580 for £350 by the time he goes 3D.

He may as well buy both of them now considering he's planning on going SLi or Crossfire in the future, it makes sense considering he has £700 to spend.

 

[arc@css]

Pick up 570 SLI or something similar to that spec. Job done.

 

[Asomodai]

OK, in which case, what GTX 580 to go for? I will be using my 280GTX for Physx.

3GB, 1.5gb, Watercooled (Though it would have to be self contained as I dont have a full watercooled system, just the CPU block) Anyone want to point one out to me?

I am unsure about brands as well, generally I just got the cheapest own brand gfx card.