Best card for gaming longevity?

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 11:17

Hey people, :cool:

Been long time since posted on here but here it goes.

My 5 year old 8800 GTX has just died on me - *sheds a tear* "it's been a good ride".

Time for a substantial GFX card update I reckon - specially considering this years gaming releases.
I'm willing to spend whatever (I'm a sucka for finance :rolleyes:

) however, won't go over £600.

I've always been Nvidia but open to ATI.

What would you guys recommend for a extremely powerful card that will last for high end gaming for years to come?

GTX580?
R6970?
:confused:

I've been out-the-loop of keeping up with latests cards and components, so apologies for my ignorance.
My 5 year old old 8800 GTX still played some new games impressively well today considering it's age - so hope to mimic that cards usage in the time period with a new card.

I've been googling around but I know this board's users knows it's stuff

muchos gracias peeps :cool:

no_1_dave · 8 Sep 2011 at 11:21

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 for £371
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-141-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Or

2 x OcUK GeForce GTX 570 for £500
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010
Is your motherboard SLI enabled?

aproctor · 8 Sep 2011 at 11:22

I would get a GTX560 or 570 and spend the rest of getting an i5 2500k and a mobo.

If you want to SLI in future, you can.

The q6600 is a great chip (i have one) but it will bottle kneck the £500 cards.

Tediore · 8 Sep 2011 at 11:59

To me, buying a new 580 over a 570 seems like a waste of money (although they're a good used buy). You're paying an extra £100+ for roughly <10% extra frames in most games.

If you were still happy with the 8800, I guarantee you'll be perfectly happy with a 570. Then when (if) you feel you need a bit more power, you can add another for a lot less money in 12 months time.

If you can comfortably afford the £600 budget, my choice would be an i5 2500k, P67/Z68 motherboard, and a 570.

The MSI Twin Frozr III on this week only is a good buy, as is the Gigabyte Z68 on today only if you're quick.

Don't forget you'll need RAM too. 4 - 8GB of Corsair Vengeance LP will do you fine. The taller heatspreaders on regular Vengeance modules might interfere with any future CPU cooler upgrades - Sandybridge motherboards use slots 1 and 3 for dual channel memory.

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:05

no_1_dave said:
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 for £371
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-141-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Or

2 x OcUK GeForce GTX 570 for £500
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010
Is your motherboard SLI enabled?

Yea - I'm edging closer to the GTX 580. My case sadly won't fit two cards at the moment - will avoid spending money on new case at this moment.

aproctor said:
I would get a GTX560 or 570 and spend the rest of getting an i5 2500k and a mobo.

If you want to SLI in future, you can.

The q6600 is a great chip (i have one) but it will bottle kneck the £500 cards.

I think I will upgrade chip and mobo closer to end of year/start of next year - essentially upgrading my whole rig. At this time, just need a new Graphics card which will be used in my new rig when the time comes.

Thanks for the ideas - GTX 580 looks to be a good option.

Are Gainwards best?

Tediore · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:14

d2wud said:
Yea - I'm edging closer to the GTX 580. My case sadly won't fit two cards at the moment - will avoid spending money on new case at this moment.

I think I will upgrade chip and mobo closer to end of year/start of next year - essentially upgrading my whole rig. At this time, just need a new Graphics card which will be used in my new rig when the time comes.

Thanks for the ideas - GTX 580 looks to be a good option.

Are Gainwards best?

If you're decided on a 580, yes, the Gainward will be fine (they're owned by Palit if I remember correctly), but if it was my money I'd get the Asus GTX 580 Matrix Platinum (it looks ridiculous, but very cool

) or MSI GTX 580 Lightning for their overclocks. Failing either of those, the cooler on the Gigabyte is pretty tasty too. I had one on a GTX 480, and it was fantastic, even though those cards were plagued with problems.

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:18

Tediore said:
To me, buying a new 580 over a 570 seems like a waste of money (although they're a good used buy). You're paying an extra £100+ for roughly <10% extra frames in most games.

If you were still happy with the 8800, I guarantee you'll be perfectly happy with a 570. Then when (if) you feel you need a bit more power, you can add another for a lot less money in 12 months time.

If you can comfortably afford the £600 budget, my choice would be an i5 2500k, P67/Z68 motherboard, and a 570.

Yea - I have read that comparison with 570 and 580s.
I know how stuff can snowball and become a whole new build - just need replacement graphics card for now, and new mobo/cpu/ram/case at a later date.

Thanks for recommendations on mobos and chips.

CinderzFTW · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:33

no_1_dave said:
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 for £371
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-141-GW&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Or

2 x OcUK GeForce GTX 570 for £500
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-149-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1010
Is your motherboard SLI enabled?

Can I ask the point of adding a GTX 570 SLI or GTX580 when he has a lga775 quad core and ddr2 memory... Hmm... I wonder what will be the bottlenecks in that system.

For that sort of system, he wants to use a GTX460 or GTX560ti or 6850/6870 card so it wont bottleneck...

Just because they are the best and fastest cards, doesnt mean they will run great with every processor.... you suggestion is like adding a 6990 to a freaking dual core rig. Freaking' ridiculous! Get your facts right dude! :mad:

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:36

I've just realised this may need a new case as well - my 8800GTX only just fits in the case - because of the harddrive rack at the bottom of my LianLi case.

8800GTX has a couple inches at the end where it's only few centimetres wide. (like this picture - notice the ATI is just that little extra longer/thicker toward the end - I would struggle if at all, to put that ATI card in my system.
I have the Lian Li PC-61.

Found this picture - not mine but very similar to my set-up although I have 4 HDD all with sata + power coming out of them.
notice how close the end of the GFX card is to the HDD rack.

Not sure I'm going to be able to fit a GTX 580 in there.

New case seems a must now.

Off tangent sorry - but anyone recommend a good case?

mickyflinn · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:46

Look at the corsair range, whats your budget?

Shayper · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:46

I'd go for a 3gb 580, and case wise? Hmm... If you would say that a 3gb 580 is around 400 quid, then a good case would be something like an NZXT phantom for roughly 120 quid. I have a full water-cooling setup and a 580 in mine and it's fantastic, so much space

CinderzFTW · 8 Sep 2011 at 12:55

mickyflinn said:
Look at the corsair range, whats your budget?

the Corsair 600T is a great case and looks BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Get the white version and its only £130: http://bit.ly/qQKIgP

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:02

CinderzFTW said:
Can I ask the point of adding a GTX 570 SLI or GTX580 when he has a lga775 quad core and ddr2 memory... Hmm... I wonder what will be the bottlenecks in that system.

For that sort of system, he wants to use a GTX460 or GTX560ti or 6850/6870 card so it wont bottleneck...

Just because they are the best and fastest cards, doesn't mean they will run great with every processor.... you suggestion is like adding a 6990 to a freaking dual core rig. Freaking' ridiculous! Get your facts right dude!

Yes - my rig is massively old but my main concern at the moment is just getting my computer back gaming, new mobo/cpu/ram will come in time.
Bottleneck isn't a major issue atm - although i see the issues that will arise.

Case budget, i'd say roughly £100 - willing to go over if worth it.

Will check out the Corsair cases thanks - that 600T looks tasty

Tediore · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:03

Corsair 600T in white gets my vote too. My friend has one and it looks fantastic with the LED fans.

I have a pic of it on my phone. Give me 5 and I'll get it uploaded.

Tediore · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:10

So pretty

oweneades · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:25

Considering the spec and case limitations have you thought about a decent GTX560TI?

That would tide you over for now and still give you a massive boost in gaming performance from a 8800GTX.

The money you save by not getting a GTX580 (or similar) can be put towards the next build.

CinderzFTW · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:32

Tediore said:
So pretty

That is one pretty freakin' case!!! I'm officially getting one!

Tediore · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:41

CinderzFTW said:
That is one pretty freakin' case!!! I'm officially getting one!

It looks even nicer in the flesh :eek:

More than big enough for any build you'd want to put in it. It's advertised as a mid-sized case, but it's a lot bigger than my Define R3. The front and top fans are 200mm to give you a sense of scale.

It looks more blue in the pic because he has a blue LED fan at the rear. The fans that come with the case are actually white LED.

d2wud · 8 Sep 2011 at 13:44

yes - very very nice.

Corsair Obsidian 650D also looks good - and gets very good reviews across the board.

Will keep scouring.

oweneades said:
Considering the spec and case limitations have you thought about a decent GTX560TI?

That would tide you over for now and still give you a massive boost in gaming performance from a 8800GTX.

The money you save by not getting a GTX580 (or similar) can be put towards the next build.

Yes good point.
Though don't want to risk regretting buying a weaker card a year or so down the line.
When I brought the 8800GTX that was around the £400 mark and has done me very well all these years.

I think I may have to mull over this - I'm such an indecisive muppet when it comes to buying stuff.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions - certainly helped.

fowler002 · 8 Sep 2011 at 14:07

how about a 2nd hand card now(getting posting on the forums so you can enter the mm) and then once the new cards are released get the best you can afford?