• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

GPU Selection Woes

Yawbster

Yawbster

Yawbster

Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2013
Posts
24
Hello.

I was going to wait patiently for a aftermarket cooler for the 290, as some people suggested one could potentially come out before Christmas.

Since then, a post has come up saying that AMD say its not going to happen.

I can't wait this long. So, I'm not entirely sure what card to choose from.

My current Specs :

64bit Win 7

CPU: i5 2500k overclocked 4.6ghz
GPU: gtx 570 twin frozr III
MotherBoard: Z68A-GD65 MS-7681
Ram: 8gb
PSU: OCZ ZS Series 750W Power Supply
Case: Antec Nine Hundred
--------------------------------------------

I'm guessing the best component for me to upgrade here would be my GPU; I'm guessing my PSU is fine for a 400 - 450 price range GPU.

I'm looking to spend around £400 - £450 on a card. I've seen people suggest the 7990, 780, etc but I'm undecided. I'm specifically looking for a better GPU for BF4 & the ability to use of the higher quality mods for skyrim ( Such as Real Vision )
I'm not looking to SLI, i would like to stick to a single card.


Any suggestions would be great, I'm also looking into purchasing Windows 8 along with the card as i hear it gives a reasonable performance boost for BF4; and i wouldn't mind the quicker boot times along with it.

Thanks for all the help,

Greg
 
Yawbster said:
Okay, i don't have a SSD. What sort of size should i be looking at?
Click to expand...
IMO if you play more than just a few games, you should ideally get a 250/256GB SSB.

I was using just a 120GB SSD before, and after installing windows onto it, there's not really much room left except enough for a few games. Good thing I managed to pick up a OCZ Vertex2 480GB for just £140 from OcUK around 2 months back- granted it's only a SATA2 SSD and 3.5" as well, but price to capacity made it the perfect Steam drive for me :p
 
Marine-RX179 said:
IMO if you play more than just a few games, you should ideally get a 250/256GB SSB.

I was using just a 120GB SSD before, and after installing windows onto it, there's not really much room left except enough for a few games. Good thing I managed to pick up a OCZ Vertex2 480GB for just £140 from OcUK around 2 months back- granted it's only a SATA2 SSD and 3.5" as well, but price to capacity made it the perfect Steam drive for me :p
Click to expand...

Yeah you could go this route, although all it'll do to games is improve load speed times so not a huge deal. That said I've done the same thing with a couple in raid but that's because all I could hear from my case was HDDs, noisy things!
 
or you can use steam mover to move the games you want to play, at lightning speed to your SSD. Move the games you dont play anymore back to your normal HDD.

Simples :)


incidentally this program works for just about any game/program you can think of. Move entire steam library or just single games. Especially useful tool for Battlefield (Had 3 + all DLC on my SSD, moved it to normal HDD, Moved BF4 to SSD)
 
To be honest, I never liked putting system and games on same drive.
I have system on ssd and games, programs and other data on 2 sshd's.
They are cheap, fast and have much bigger capacity, so much better choice for fast storage drive than ssd.
 
I use my SSD for just OS and apps but now BF4 is on it too because it takes an age to load.
To be fair, most games if on their own mechanical drive (separate from OS) load quite fast anyway
 
Thanks for the help. My steam folder is nearly 1tb in size. I have probably too many games installed. But i could move a few that i'm currently playing onto the SSD if i get a bigger one. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
The 780 is a good card but waiting on the 290 will get you a faster cheaper card with more memory and with what i feel to be better features. Do you really want to be kicking your self in a couple of months time?
 
EdgeDs said:
The 780 is a good card but waiting on the 290 will get you a faster cheaper card with more memory and with what i feel to be better features. Do you really want to be kicking your self in a couple of months time?
Click to expand...

How do you know the custom cooled ones will be cheaper? I think you are guessing.
3GB is enough for 2560x1440 even in BF4.
You don't know how long you'll be waiting for, it'll be Jan/Feb at the earliest.
At resolutions under 2560x1440 (so 1080p) I doubt you can tell the difference in performance because they are very close.

Chances are in a couple of months time the custom 290s will cost more than the 780s and may still not be that good. Then you'd really be kicking yourself for waiting. IMO if you're buying now grab a 780, if you're thinking of buying in Jan/Feb then see what is available then and decide.
 
I have another question. The requirements for the 780 require 8pin. My PSU is non modular & it only has 6 pins coming out of it. Does this mean i need to use 2 6 pins, to 1 8 pin to connect the GPU to the PSU?

mncOMLy.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom