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I need some advice.

AnthonyA85

AnthonyA85

AnthonyA85

Associate
Joined
23 Sep 2012
Posts
124
Location
South Yorkshire, UK
Hi folks. :)

I need some advice on a replacement graphics card i'm looking to get, specifically, which card should i choose for my system and what (if anything) else i should upgrade?

I'm primarily a gamer, though i do 3D modeling work as a hobby (I am hoping to turn it into a career eventually, i'm still exploring possibilities as to how i'll go about that, but that's not important here), and i've recently decided to give video capture/editing/encoding a try, i'm planning to get Sony Movie Studio 12 for xmas, (along with Assassin's Creed 3)

My current system specs are in my signature.

I unfortunately made the mistake of buying this card yesterday, thinking the high ram would compensate for the low specs, then i did some more research online, and after reading a few reviews, and looking at 3Dmark benchmark graphs, I saw the card i'd just ordered was bottom of the pile, and wasn't even on the list of Sony Movie Studio's minimum spec cards (they recommend roughly GTX 4xx/HD 57xx and up).

So, my parents suggested i ask on here for advice on which would be the best card to pick. I was originally going to go for a HD 6670 at £55, but i read a blog post online, the author of which stated that he hadn't been able to get his AMD card with PCIe 2.1/3.0 to work with his old motherboard (AMD Tech staff even told him his 9750 wasn't compatible), but a 2.1/3.0 Nvidia card did work for him, so this has got me thinking that if i want to get a new, good DX11 capable card that will give me excellent frame-rates while recording games, and encoding/editing video, and for best guarantee of backwards compatibility (though i'm aware my motherboard will probably slow things down since the PCIe x16 slot isn't 2.0), my best bet would be Nvidia.

Now my question is, which card would be best for me? and what else should i upgrade? (if you think i need to)

I'm also using a Fujitsu Siemens 17 inch monitor, max res 1650x1080.

Thanks in advance for your advice :)
 
I'm going for my next card very soon, but this will only be my fifth ever, so please don't take this as gospel (or anywhere near Jerusalem).

The card you went for has the old RAM - the GDDR3, which is what mine still has and it isn't quick enough these days. You need GDDR5.

The card is one of the 600 range (630), but it is pretty much at the bottom of that range. The better cards (which is obviously reflected in the prices) are the 560s and the 660s, etc. These are the cards worth going for, but it's more wonga (quelle surprise).

The ones I like at the moment are:

NVIDIA
GeForce GTX 660 2048MB GDDR5 (£180)
GeForce GTX 660Ti Power Edition 2048MB GDDR5 (£250)

AMD
MSI HD 7850 OC 1024MB GDDR5 (£130)
HD 7870 GHz Edition 2048MB GDDR5 (£200)

Generally, I watch stuff like Tech Tips with Linus on YouTube (reviews, benchmarks, etc), and then read up afterwards. It is clear that it is less money and hassle in the long run to buy a really nice card and have a couple of years trouble free gaming (or whatever).

Good luck

AD
 
Thanks :)

Yeah, i know about the low spec of the GT 630, we'll be sending it back when it arrives in the post tomorrow (I still can't believe i couldn't cancel the order), i forgot to mention that in my original post.

Now, what about my motherboard? Will it handle a GTX 660? (I do like the look of the 690, but at it's current price, it's out of the question.)

Here are the specs if you need them.

Will the PCIe x16 (1.1 speed i think) be too much of a bottelneck on performance?

If i need to replace that, then I've seen a mobo/cpu/ram bundle that i like the look of.

I might also get a 1TB internal drive for extra storage, i dunno yet.
 
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The Gpu slot on that board is Pcie 2.0x16.
So i see no reason why you can`t use any of the cards that are around to date.
 
Thank you :)

At least now i know i won't have to worry about needing a new mainboard.

EDIT

Actually, i just double-checked, and my main board isn't the SE version, it's just the regular P5k, i think, is there any real difference?
 
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AnthonyA85 said:
Thank you :)

At least now i know i won't have to worry about needing a new mainboard.

EDIT

Actually, i just double-checked, and my main board isn't the SE version, it's just the regular P5k, i think, is there any real difference?
Click to expand...

No it shouldn't be any different :)
I'd grab a GeForce GTX 660.
 
Thank you for your help gentlemen :)

You've all given me some choices to go over, now, i just have to figure out what to do to send back the card i mistakenly ordered two days ago (it got here today, we're gonna send it back)
 
After doing a lot of reading myself on these forums I agree with the sentiment of some posters here that the AMD route is not only 1. better but also 2. cheaper.

Everyone has a personal preference though and sometimes an absolutely specific use for their card that some card chipsets support more effectively.
 
I totally agree with what the other guys have said here.

One thing I forgot to say was that I usually use the following to compare cards:

http://www.hwcompare.com/

It is quite informative.

The GTX 660Ti is a seriously good card that gives much more expensive ones a run for their money, but the AMD 7850 is the best deal around, followed by the 7870.

The GTX 690 is the fastest 2 GPU card around at the moment, hence why it is £900 (ish). It is only bettered with an SLI config. (the obvious example being two 680s, but the cost works out at about the same).

If I go AMD I will miss all of the cool stuff that NVIDIA offers, but overclocking a 7850 or 7870 just makes more sense.

In my case, I will also need a new monitor, because my current one connects via VGA, and buying a new card without a monitor upgrade would be redundant; I have to figure this into the equation.

AD
 
In my case, I will also need a new monitor, because my current one connects via VGA, and buying a new card without a monitor upgrade would be redundant; I have to figure this into the equation.
Click to expand...

Just use the DVI-VGA adapter, that comes with the card.
 
It'll probably be a week or two before we get the £60 back for that other card we're returning, so that gives me a bit more time to think, but i'm starting to lean towards the 660ti, I just hope my Akasa ZEN V2 case will have the width, i'll need to do some measuring just to be sure.
 
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