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Advice needed on NVIDIA card purchase

vinnygufc

vinnygufc

vinnygufc

Associate
Joined
7 Sep 2013
Posts
10
Location
Ireland
Hi all,

My current system:

Intel Core i7-3770K
Samsung SSD 840 250GB
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe
8GB-Kit Corsair Dominator Platinum
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX850 V2

I've had nothing but issues with my HD 7970, anyways, enough about that. I've finally decided to change to NVIDIA and I'm wondering what card would best suit my system/needs. I've been looking through all the different types and the GTX 780 series seems to catch my eye the most. My price range would be around the 550-575 pounds mark.

I would play most of the latest FPS games, I'm not an experienced overclocker, so that wouldn't be too relevant, something that's easily adjustable would best suit me. I'd be looking for a card that would come pretty much stock that would compliment my system and run the latest games for the next few years. I've been looking at a few models and the MSI GeForce GTX 780 Gaming Edition seems to tick all the boxes for me but I'm unsure if it would be compatible with my system or not, or if another card would do the job better. That's why I'm asking here.

All advice appreciated as this will be a very important purchase for me.
 
The 780 would be compatible yes. AMD's new cards are coming out in a few weeks - perhaps you'd want to wait till then to see what they have to offer or if prices shake up (although a budget like that you'd hardly care bout the price lol)?
 
Honestly, now isn't a great time to be buying. AMD new releases could be with us inside of a month. I'd hold off, see how things turn out with reviews and pricing. It isn't like you have a slow card so if you can afford to wait, I'd wait it out.

With regards to brand, Gigabyte are currently my go to brand if I have to buy a new card. Most of the differences between brands are pretty minor and come down to coolers and RMA support. Gigabyte have a UK RMA centre but you do have to arrange postage both ways now. Even so they are very fast, much faster than retailers and their non-reference coolers tend to be very good. EVGA are also excellent, RMA centre is in Germany, customer support is second to none.

The other brands you tend to have to deal with the retailer, which can take 30 days+ to RMA with their supplier overseas. MSI are the only other brand I'd consider and thats only due to their Lightnings range, but as you stated yourself your not an overclocker so that wouldn't really apply to you.
 
All 780s will be pretty much the same, the main differences will be factory overclock, brand and cooler. So yes that one would be a good buy, Gigabyte coolers are excellent, however you could well hold off to see what the new AMD releases do to the prices of the nVidia cards.
 
Are you sure you're set on having the 780? it is a nice card yes,but for price/performance there are a number of cards that are cheaper and do a great job. Take for example the 670's and 770's extremely good cards with a lot of bang. I just upgraded to the 670 PE card and I'm getting 80-120 FPS in games like splintercell blacklist, FF 14, GTA 4.

That's playing at 1080p with max settings, and since my monitor is only 60Hz that extra FPS is lost on me. Personally, I'd go the cheaper options which you could add another in the future to further boost your performance if you start running in to FPS issues, which isn't likely anytime soon.

This,of course is just my opinion. Just trying to save you a bit of cash to maybe upgrade something else? or treat yourself to some new games, mouse, keyboard, whatever.
 
Suarez7 said:
If you go for the Giga Windforce make sure you get the rev 2 version.
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I can't seem to see it listed anywhere on Overclockers? The rev2 version, that is.

avit27 said:
Are you sure you're set on having the 780? it is a nice card yes,but for price/performance there are a number of cards that are cheaper and do a great job. Take for example the 670's and 770's extremely good cards with a lot of bang. I just upgraded to the 670 PE card and I'm getting 80-120 FPS in games like splintercell blacklist, FF 14, GTA 4.

That's playing at 1080p with max settings, and since my monitor is only 60Hz that extra FPS is lost on me. Personally, I'd go the cheaper options which you could add another in the future to further boost your performance if you start running in to FPS issues, which isn't likely anytime soon.

This,of course is just my opinion. Just trying to save you a bit of cash to maybe upgrade something else? or treat yourself to some new games, mouse, keyboard, whatever.
Click to expand...
Cheers for your feedback. I actually went out and bought a BenQ gaming monitor for around €350. It's 120hz. I'm fairly set on getting a top of the range graphics card.

I've been reading reviews of the MSI Geforce GTX 780 Gaming Ed and the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce. I think it's pretty much between both of these. I'm still unsure what to get, though...
 
avit27 said:
That's playing at 1080p with max settings, and since my monitor is only 60Hz that extra FPS is lost on me. Personally, I'd go the cheaper options which you could add another in the future to further boost your performance if you start running in to FPS issues, which isn't likely anytime soon..
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No its not. It still adds fluidity and while your monitor may only be updating 60 times a second the extra fps will make the game feel more responsive game.
 
vinnygufc said:
I can't seem to see it listed anywhere on Overclockers? The rev2 version, that is.


Cheers for your feedback. I actually went out and bought a BenQ gaming monitor for around €350. It's 120hz. I'm fairly set on getting a top of the range graphics card.

I've been reading reviews of the MSI Geforce GTX 780 Gaming Ed and the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce. I think it's pretty much between both of these. I'm still unsure what to get, though...
Click to expand...
That's fair enough, in the case of those 2 brands I'm a bit of an MSI fan boy lol I've never had any problems with MSI products and my current system is running an msi mobo and gfx card haha I find the twinfrozr on msi cards to be great, dust removal ,great cooling and all around great performance.
 
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vinnygufc said:
I can't seem to see it listed anywhere on Overclockers? The rev2 version, that is.
Click to expand...

I suspect they are all Rev 2 by now, new stock and all. Confirm with OcUK via webnote or the CS forums.

vinnygufc said:
Cheers for your feedback. I actually went out and bought a BenQ gaming monitor for around €350. It's 120hz. I'm fairly set on getting a top of the range graphics card.

I've been reading reviews of the MSI Geforce GTX 780 Gaming Ed and the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 WindForce. I think it's pretty much between both of these. I'm still unsure what to get, though...
Click to expand...

If you are spending that sort of money on a 780 then the MSI Lightning might be worth a look. Still Pre-Order but they are excellent cards.

Phixsator said:
No its not. It still adds fluidity and while your monitor may only be updating 60 times a second the extra fps will make the game feel more responsive game.
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If avit27 is getting a solid 60 FPS with no drops then any extra performance is completely wasted. How can it been any more "fluid" if the FPS is completely capped?
 
se_vietboi said:
The 780 would be compatible yes. AMD's new cards are coming out in a few weeks - perhaps you'd want to wait till then to see what they have to offer or if prices shake up (although a budget like that you'd hardly care bout the price lol)?
Click to expand...

+1

780 is a great card but it can't hurt to wait a little bit more to see the AMD offerings.
 
I have the rev 2 version of that gigabyte and it's awesome, keeps itself cool even when I unlocked the voltage and sent 1.3v through it. Maxed out at like 73c on a Unigine Heaven loop.

At stock settings it barely goes above 60c when gaming and is very quiet.
 
vinnygufc said:
I'm not that experienced when it comes to graphics cards, so bare with me. Is the card I linked Rev 2 (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-114-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341)? Also, what relevance does Rev2 hold? I never heard of it before.
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Rev 2 would mean a improved version over the first rev. That's the right link, but to make sure it is a rev 2 I would either call OCUK or ask in the customer service area to make sure your getting the right one.
 
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