GPU upgrade power demands

[wills_b]

Hi there,
I have had a huge amount of help over the years from these forums but never needed to actually post before.
Before I explain exactly what I am after, I realise I am aiming for something that may well be unachievable.

I am looking to upgrade the graphics card in an HTPC setup that I built several years ago. These are the existing system specs.
Motherboard: Asus P6X58D-E
Intel Core i7-930
12GB Kingston 1600MHz DDR3
120GB Vertex 3 SSD
WD Caviar Green 3TB HDD
1TB 5400 HDD
Seasonic X-400FL Fanless PSU
HD 5750 1GB GDDR5 Silent Graphics Card
WinTV Nova-TD 500 TV Tuner

The weak link in this system is clearly the graphics card, which I went for due to the fanless design.
I've been incredibly happy with the system, but I am looking to update the graphics card for several reasons.
Firstly, I am PC gaming more and more (damn you Assetto Corsa), secondly I am thinking about buying a 4k TV, and lastly I want something that is going to be future proof for when the Oculus Rift arrives.
I am looking to buy something that is as powerful as possible, as quiet as possible, and falls below the limits of my 400W PSU that is already running quite a bit of kit.
Complicating matters further is the fact that the case is a Silverstone LC-16M which due to the ridiculous position of the optical drive means I am going to try losing the BD drive, or swapping to a Silverstone GD-08.

So - how do I achieve the impossible, high powered quiet gaming card capable of supporting the Rift, 4k, on my limited power supply and space??

The easiest option is to go for a fanless Geforce GTX 750 Ti. This won't stretch me on space, or power, but is only a modest upgrade from my current card.

If I didn't have the other limitations I think I'd buy a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 in a heartbeat, as it obviously has the power, is allegedly very quiet. Unfortunately that would necessitate a case upgrade, and I'm not sure the PSU would be able to handle it. I'd probably be prepared to upgrade the case and card at once, but case, card and PSU seems a lot to spend just for essentially a GPU update to a computer that is currently working well.
Additionally, there is only one fanless PSU that supplies >500W, and I'm not sure how I feel about a PSU that strong without any active cooling.

I realise that's a lot of info, but I really would appreciate some people's opinions on what they feel would be a good upgrade route - go for the cheaper card for a slight improvement, or go the whole hog and upgrade everything because the improvements will be worth it, or some compromise of the two??

Greatly appreciated in advance.

 

[pastymuncher]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

The 750Ti is actually a significant increase over your 5770. There is a comparison between them here. It will also be fine with your current psu.

Your psu has 396w on the 12v rail so it should be able to power a 970 as well. Reviews put total system load with a GTX970 at around 250-300w. Personally I am not sure I would want to try it.

 

[wills_b]

That's really helpful thanks. Website is amazing.

I just wonder whether it's worth throwing money at an intermediate card, or am I better off putting that money towards a bigger system overhaul? It's ~£130 worth of card; if a year or two down the line I decide to go for a GTX 970 or similar then that would cover the cost of a new case or a new PSU for it. If something like the oculus or 4K came out that I really wanted, would be a pain to have to upgrade the PSU, Case, Card, and cost of an oculus or similar.

When you say you wouldn't want to try it, do you mean the GTX 970? Yeah, I'm worried about that. A system power calculator app says it SHOULD work, but it makes me nervous.

Seasonic do a fanless 520W PSU but that seems like a lot of power draw to not have a fan to cool it.

 

[pastymuncher]

In a year or two the 970 will have been replaced by one or two newer generations. The 750ti is a big boost from your 5770. A extra 1GB of vram too. OCUK has some on this week only deals at the moment, including a passive one for £114. At the end of the day it's up to you if you think it's worth it or not.

 

[Devrij]

I have a 750ti and it's a great little card (stock cooler is very quiet btw thanks to the crazy low power draw it doesn't need much cooling). It's roughly on par with a 5850 anecdotally, which is certainly a step up from a 5750, although don't expect to max out any big new titles. The 970 is the longer term solution, but I think you would want to upgrade that psu as it's probably aged a bit judging by the rest of your kit.

My suggestion: Either bite the bullet and get the 970, psu and case, knowing that it will prepare you much better for your 4k upgrade, OR get the 750ti as an interim card and then upgrade the whole system in a year or two.

 

[flinco]

I would get the 970, reduce your i7 overclock / voltage and go for it on your current PSU. It may well work perfectly.

Go for the mini (think its a gigabyte one) 970 and maybe you wont need to upgrade case.

 

[wills_b]

Interesting thoughts and really helpful.

Having listened and considered, I think that the ~£100 for the GTX 750 seems the most sensible.
The total upgrade cost for case, PSU and card is ~£550, which is considerable.

The GTX 750 might be a bit of a temporary patch, but in a year or two the GTX 970 series might have dropped by that much.

In a years time I might have a better idea of where I am planning to go re 4k vs OLED, Oculus etc.

Thanks for the help, hugely appreciated.

 

[bru]

In your situation the upcoming 960 would probably be perfect, the only snag Nvidia haven't released the damm thing yet.

Just out of interest, you mention that you want things a quiet as possible, what cooler do you have on your i7 930 and is the chip overclocked at all?

 

[Cyber-Mav]

Wait for gtx 960

 

[wills_b]

bru:

The chip is not overclocked at the moment, it's running standard.
The cooler is an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev2. It's... fine.

The GTX 960 sounds really promising, but the uncertain release date, plus the fact that there's no way of knowing whether the power requirements will mean I can use it, and also whether it will fit in the case? Seems a bit of a gamble. Could be waiting until Feb for something that doesn't really work in my situation no?

 

[tommybhoy]

750Ti, cheap, tiny if you want, frugal on the power, low heat, quiet, nippy wee card if you play settings within it's limits, can be bios flashed to increase it's oc'ing scope.

Or wait for 960.