GPU Upgrade Questions

[Happy]

Possible GPU Upgrade, or PC Too Old?

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to give my PC a cheap boost, I would like to be able to play the latest games with good framerates.

Currently, I have the below spec:

Intel i7 920 D0 @ 3.4GHz (Won't really clock higher anymore, although used to run all day long at 4.2GHz).
6GB Patriot Viper @ 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 2T
Gigabyte EX58-UD5
2x Gigabyte GTX 260s (216s) in SLI @ 650MHz/1450MHz/1000MHz
Games installed on 1TB 7200rpm HDD
NEC 24WMGX3

Can I get away with just replacing the GPUs, or will newer GPUs be bottlenecked too much by the rest of the system?

All suggestions welcome, thanks!

 

[Happy]

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[stulid]

My first thought is get those two 260s swapped out for a more powerful single card.

Your CPU/RAM is fine.

What PSU+case do you have?

Do you have a SSD?

 

[Ian Evey]

Choose your price range and order a card, providing your psu is up to it, 650w will be sufficient.

 

[stooeh]

GTX 970 or a 290X would be a massive improvement even with the 920. You could also pick up a cheap Xeon X5650 second hand

 

[M1k3H]

Was in the same boat as you 2 months ago.

Bought a 780ti in sig a month ago and couldn't be happier. With the 920 @ 3.8GHz it runs really well, and I think it could even handle something more powerful.

So I think you would be okay getting even a 980gtx/290x.

 

[mururoa]

Was in the same boat as you 2 months ago.

Bought a 780ti in sig a month ago and couldn't be happier. With the 920 @ 3.8GHz it runs really well, and I think it could even handle something more powerful.

So I think you would be okay getting even a 980gtx/290x.

290X is not more powerful than a 780Ti though.

 

[mahius]

I'd recommend GTX 970. Good value for money, and decent performance. Does better than 290x in most scenarios too, the only exception I can think of is Metro Last Light. The increased performance from a GTX980 comes at a higher cost. The CPU shouldn't have too many issues, maybe hold off CPU upgrade till Skylake, since it'll be on a new platform to stick around for a while.

 

[Leon Axel]

290X is not more powerful than a 780Ti though.

It's not, but its not far off.

 

[Happy]

Thanks for posting guys! I have a BeQuiet Dark Power PSU (720/750W - can't remember) and only an SSD for Windows only 60GB. I also have a LianLi A71B so size isn't an issue.

So a 970 is better than a 780Ti, but a 290x is in the middle? It's good to know it won't be too much of a bottleneck

 

[ALXAndy]

Thanks for posting guys! I have a BeQuiet Dark Power PSU (720/750W - can't remember) and only an SSD for Windows only 60GB. I also have a LianLi A71B so size isn't an issue.

So a 970 is better than a 780Ti, but a 290x is in the middle? It's good to know it won't be too much of a bottleneck

No the 970 is not better than a 780ti it's about dead even. It used to be the better card until the extra gb of VRAM was cut in half.

I would also say the 290x is around dead even with both, but has the most VRAM and the best memory bus. Not that the bus is an issue on resolutions such as 1080p but it sure helps when you're talking 4k.

 

[Jamielicious]

The only thing I'd say that might favour the 970 is that it really does overclock well, matching 980 performance for the same wattage as a 290 (non x).

The catch is of course a greater risk of coil whine.

 

[Plec]

Hey Happy, long time no forum chat - hope you're doing well.

Just going to add my own recent experience as I've recently rejuvenated one of my rigs.

I've bought a Del 2515h 1440p monitor and my 2500k (@ 4.5 GHz) obviously struggled with the 7950 2gb.

I wanted best bang for buck for an aging system and so opted for the 290x (4Gb Vram) and can honestly say I've been really pleasantly surprised. Runs everything on ultra with an FPS I can tolerate (although i'm too old for hardcore online gaming now) - but then my screen is only 60 Hertz. OC have the ASUS @ £230 which seems a very good price for a, comparatively, monster of a card.

 

[Happy]

Just to report back I went ahead with the 970 and it's a tad of an upgrade! Thanks for the advice all!

Heya Plec! I'm not doing too bad thanks, hope all is well with you? Long time indeed! I'm a bit of a lurker nowadays.