Graphics Upgrade - Advise Needed

[Mayfair]

Hello all,

My friend has called me stating he wants to upgrade his graphics card, He is thinking about getting 2x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 1024MB GDDR5 but is un-sure really what would be best as he hasnt gone SLI before, and has concerns regarding heat etc.

Just looking for advise really what would be the best option for him, He has around £500 budget to include a decent PSU too.

At the moment he will be gaming at 1680x1050 but he wants the head-room incase he decides to get a better monitor that supports 1920x1080. If he did upgrade to a new monitor at a later date he would want the card(s) to run at 1920x1080 at fully maxed with good fps. He mainly plays fps shooters example BFBC2 etc.

Here is his current system:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 4.0 ghz
Mobo: Asus P6X58D-E
Ram: Kingstone 6gb ddr3
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 295
Case: Antec Twelve Hundred

Thanks guys!

 

[Mayfair]

Aha, but he has - he's got a GTX 295 (dual GPU card with an internal SLI)

Very true

Is he finding the GTX 295 is not performing well enough?

Yes he is complaining the GTX295 isnt performing well enough for his needs lol

Also, what is his current PSU? (you mention that budget includes a PSU upgrade).

A very budget 1000w PSU that i have told him to change ASAP, also doesnt support SLI (only has 2x 6pin, I know he could use molex adaptors but it's a very budget PSU so i've advised him to upgrade it too)

 

[Mayfair]

Right - fair enough, get him a new PSU ASAP. Something like this would be excellent.

Excellent as that was the first choice we both had,

However, for the other point - he is finding a GTX 295 performs badly at 1680x1050? That card should be doing 100FPS+ in most games at that resolution.

I thought so too... But he said he is getting avg 35-60 FPS (he is one of these types that likes high numbers lol) I've also said he should keep the GTX295 but i think his heart is set on an upgrade. He said he wants DX11 support and a better card.

I suggest he maybe has a look at his own setup before buying a new GPU. It could possibly be a PSU problem - does he have the 8 pin PCIe power connection connected? It also could be drivers, so it would be well worth updating these (they often add new SLI profiles for new games - so a dual GPU card like the GTX 295 will get significant performance boosts by using these).

Yes i've made sure he has both the 8pin and 6pin connected i got him to send me a picture of the connections connected, And he also said he is running the latest drivers.

 

[Mayfair]

May I ask what games he is playing to get 35-60 FPS?

Is it by any chance either GTA 4, Crysis or Metro 2033?

Battlefield Bad Company 2 , Mafia 2 etc these types of games i.e all the latest games.

 

[Mayfair]

As Liampope suggests, has he gone into Nvidia Control Panel and checked that "SLI" mode is enabled?

Yes it's enabled and set for multi-GPU, I just made sure via remote

For both those games you mention he should be getting at least 60FPS considering his CPU, GPU and resolution.

I thought so too, As i'm getting 50-60 FPS with my Gigabyte GTX 460 1gb on an intel i5 @ 4GHz

No idea tbh, What do you guys recommend as an upgrade option for his "needs" (lol) within budget

 

[Mayfair]

I'm really in doubt if all that suggestions to reinstall system or enable some option will make him happy

I agree, I think his heart is set on an upgrade with DX11 etc, as you can probably tell

Do you guys think SLI'ing the two gigabyte GTX 460's would be the best option performance wise within this budget? and there wouldnt be a problem with the heat from both cards in his Antec 1200 case

would you be able to do the tests I suggested in Post#12?

I will get him to do the test tomorrow morning and will post the results, as he's had to pop out.

Once again thanks everyone for this excellent support / advise