I'm wanting to make an upgrade along with the GTX760ti

Nexozable

Nexozable

Nexozable

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Hey, I was planning on upgrading my GPU (GTX 560ti) for a MSI GeForce GTX 760 2GB Twin Frozr, but figuring that I've been wanting a new motherboard and case for a while, I decided that I wanna go for a full on upgrade.

Could I maybe get some recommendations for a case, motherboard, PSU, hard drive (Wanting to use another hard drive alongside the one I'm currently using.) CPU cooler. Basically recommedations to improve on my build listed below.

Current build is,

1TB HDD Western Digital Caviar Blue
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz
Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB
MSI GTX560TI Twin Frozr
650WAT Corsair Enthusiast
Sharkoon T9 ATX Midi Tower Case

I'm looking to save and spend around £300-450, maybe £500 and will take suggestions on a different GPU, just as long as it's Nvidia, weird, I know, but it's a personal preference deal.
 
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stulid said:
Looking at your spec I think you just need to get a new GFX card and a SSD.
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+1 A new GPU and an SSD will do wonders for your PCs perfromance both in and out of games. Similar money spent on a new CPU+motherboard would be hardly noticeable, since the i5 3570K is already a very good CPU and only a few % slower than the i5 4670K which is the go-to gamers CPU.

That said, if you haven't already then it would be worthwhile investing in a decent CPU cooler, so you can overclock your chip to a very achievable 4.2-4.4GHz. Personally I would suggest the thermalright HR-02 macho as its a very capable cooler for not too much money.

As for the case, what are you looking for over your existing case? (eg. different styling, silence, better suited for water cooling)
 
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Nexozable said:
I'm looking to save and spend around £300-450, maybe £500 and will take suggestions on a different GPU, just as long as it's Nvidia, weird, I know, but it's a personal preference deal.
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I's not wierd at all Nvidia produce better GFX cards with more benefits than AMD do theirs, that's why AMD can be cheaper.

I'd recommend MSI, They're a good company and make good cards.

tbh mate if you can hold off for a few more months you will see the desktop 800 series come along.

But if you want to upgrade now then anything above 770 is a bit overkill. 760 is still very good
 
cmndr_andi said:
+1 A new GPU and an SSD will do wonders for your PCs perfromance both in and out of games. Similar money spent on a new CPU+motherboard would be hardly noticeable, since the i5 3570K is already a very good CPU and only a few % slower than the i5 4670K which is the go-to gamers CPU.

That said, if you haven't already then it would be worthwhile investing in a decent CPU cooler, so you can overclock your chip to a very achievable 4.2-4.4GHz. Personally I would suggest the thermalright HR-02 macho as its a very capable cooler for not too much money.
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The motherboard I have now is apparently awkward for CPU coolers in the sense they're a nightmare to get installed, my case is getting cramped and tight with wires as well.

I'd be fine with the CPU I have now, I believe, but I really do fancy getting a new board and case, trying to fit a CPU cooler and attempts at cable management are a nightmare because of how tight and narrow it is.
 
Nexozable said:
The motherboard I have now is apparently awkward for CPU coolers in the sense they're a nightmare to get installed, my case is getting cramped and tight with wires as well.

I'd be fine with the CPU I have now, I believe, but I really do fancy getting a new board and case, trying to fit a CPU cooler and attempts at cable management are a nightmare because of how tight and narrow it is.
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sounds as if you just need to take the time to open up and properly tidy your wires up...

it's amazing the space you gain when you tidy them up...
...and airflow
 
Svyper1 said:
I's not wierd at all Nvidia produce better GFX cards with more benefits than AMD do theirs, that's why AMD can be cheaper.
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I would disagree with that as its a very sweeping statement. Objectively, both AMD and Nvidia make good graphics cards and they compete against each other on pretty much all price points. Plus both have features/benefits which appeal to different users.
 
Buying a new board when you probably only intend to ever run a single GFX card is silly.

Why is fitting a cooler difficult? most modern cases have a cut out on the tray to access the rear of the board and if you choose the right cooler then fitting can be made as painless as it can get, get it wrong and you could start wishing you had three of four hands.
 
cmndr_andi said:
I would disagree with that as its a very sweeping statement. Objectively, both AMD and Nvidia make good graphics cards and they compete against each other on pretty much all price points. Plus both have features/benefits which appeal to different users.
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not to hijack the thread - the problem is that AMD tech tends not to be as efficient as intel/nvidia. I didnt say they were bad, just not as well built...(built is not the right word but i know what i mean...)

AMD tned to be power hungry...
 
Nexozable said:
The motherboard I have now is apparently awkward for CPU coolers in the sense they're a nightmare to get installed, my case is getting cramped and tight with wires as well.

I'd be fine with the CPU I have now, I believe, but I really do fancy getting a new board and case, trying to fit a CPU cooler and attempts at cable management are a nightmare because of how tight and narrow it is.
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It sounds like you may need to get some cable ties and sort out some cable management as the Sharkoon T9 isn't a particularly small case.

To make life easier it would be best to remove the motherboard from the case when installing the CPU cooler (though it is possible to install it while in the case due to the cut-out in the motherboard tray for installing a cpu backplate).The Z77 D3H is a rather popular budget board and is known to work fine with a wide range of CPU coolers, so once you have it out of the case it should be no more difficult that other Z77 boards.

If you are worried about installation complexity then I would instead recommend the Prolimatech Magahalems - that CPU cooler is pretty effortless to install, a really excellent mounting design.

If you are looking for a recommendation for a larger case upgrade, then the Fractal Design XL USB 3.0 is a large, well made case with good cable management and some useful sound-damping to reduce noise.

Svyper1 said:
not to hijack the thread - the problem is that AMD tech tends not to be as efficient as intel/nvidia. I didnt say they were bad, just not as well built...(built is not the right word but i know what i mean...)

AMD tned to be power hungry...
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Well that is true, current gen AMD cards do tend to use more power than current gen Nvidia cards of the same performance level. For example in anadtech's Crysis 3 test the R9 290 used 54W more than the GTX 780 under load.

However, just because it uses more power does not mean its an inherently worse card, as that is just one metric for judging it.
 
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@ Nexozable I agree on the above comments:

you dont need to upgrade motherboard or case. you just need to tidy it...

SSD + GTX 760/770 will be a good upgrade, plus you can get a decent 20 quid cpu cooller...

cmndr_andi said:
However, just because it uses more power does not mean its an inherently worse card, as that is just one metric for judging it.
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True but think of it this way, If you play for total of 18.5hrs under load (made up of many times playing example 6days of 3hrs) it would have cost you 1kWhr worth of electricity more to use the r 290 than the 780

over the years of owning the card the difference of price can be made up and infact cost you more to use the AMD card...

that is the cost of efficiency...
 
Svyper1 said:
True but think of it this way, If you play for total of 18.5hrs under load (made up of many times playing example 6days of 3hrs) it would have cost you 1kWhr worth of electricity more to use the r 290 than the 780

over the years of owning the card the difference of price can be made up and infact cost you more to use the AMD card...

that is the cost of efficiency...
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Agreed, 18.5 hours of gaming will mean the r9 290 uses 1kWh more energy than the GTX 780. The current price I am paying per kWh is 13.7p (sainsburys energy).

The price of the well reviewed Sappire R9 290 Tri-X on OCUK is currently £329.99.

The price of the cheapest GTX 780 on OCUK is currently £360 (the OCUK brand version).

To make up the difference of the £30 in power savings you would need to run both cards at full load for 4051 hours. If we take your 6 days at 3hrs, then that's 1350 days (3.69 years) before the GTX 780 starts saving you money.

Also, those extra 54W used by the R9 290 are technically not lost but used to heat your home. In the UK, that will tend to be marginally useful.
 
Svyper1 said:
True but think of it this way, If you play for total of 18.5hrs under load (made up of many times playing example 6days of 3hrs) it would have cost you 1kWhr worth of electricity more to use the r 290 than the 780

over the years of owning the card the difference of price can be made up and infact cost you more to use the AMD card...

that is the cost of efficiency...
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So it was the power draw of AMD cards which prompted you to make the sweeping generalisation that Nvidia make better cards was it? Of course it was..

The fact of the matter is, as was pointed out to you above, that power consumption and efficiency are only one small area of measurement when comparing GPUs. What is also important to people are frame rates and overall performance, overclockability, initial cost, driver support, and rudimentary future proofing.

There are a raft of reviews and user opinions from both professionals and enthusiasts that say that at various price points AMD and Nvidia trade blows and you will find users here that recommend both cards in their builds.

Sometimes it can be as simple as that card is on offer that week making it a better option at the time. It would be disingenuous to discount AMD entirely and not in the best interests of those you seek to give advice to.
 
Yes i know, but again in more cases than not Nvidia have the upper hand. The 780 over the 290 for example has the edge on performance, heat, overclockability power consumption and drivers...

The inital cost of the item is the marketing of the company... it is only 1 factor in the cost of the card.

It's like saying 1 car costs 12000 but does 60mpg and another costs 10000 but does 40mpg

the inital cost of the 12000 is obviously more but the running cost is cheaper and so will repay the difference over time

ExRayTed said:
So it was the power draw of AMD cards which prompted you to make the sweeping generalisation that Nvidia make better cards was it? Of course it was..

The fact of the matter is, as was pointed out to you above, that power consumption and efficiency are only one small area of measurement when comparing GPUs. What is also important to people are frame rates and overall performance, overclockability, initial cost, driver support, and rudimentary future proofing.

There are a raft of reviews and user opinions from both professionals and enthusiasts that say that at various price points AMD and Nvidia trade blows and you will find users here that recommend both cards in their builds.

Sometimes it can be as simple as that card is on offer that week making it a better option at the time. It would be disingenuous to discount AMD entirely and not in the best interests of those you seek to give advice to.
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Svyper1 said:
Yes i know, but again in more cases than not Nvidia have the upper hand. The 780 over the 290 for example has the edge on performance, heat, overclockability power consumption and drivers...
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Really..And this opinion is based on fact is it? Utter rubbish again. I'm going to stop arguing with you now as you're clearly a fan-boy and I don't want to continue to trash the OPs thread. I'll just leave some evidence for you to look at.

ZUTtyVu.png
 
ExRayTed said:
Really..And this opinion is based on fact is it? Utter rubbish again. I'm going to stop arguing with you now as you're clearly a fan-boy and I don't want to continue to trash the OPs thread. I'll just leave some evidence for you to look at.
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can you stop insulting me please im trying to discuss not create arguments...

now if im wrong, im wrong but the research ive done is of the opposite so the internet is such a problem place to find information...
 
Svyper1 said:
Yes i know, but again in more cases than not Nvidia have the upper hand. The 780 over the 290 for example has the edge on performance, heat, overclockability power consumption and drivers...
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Again, this is a sweeping generalisation with no facts provided to back it up.

I would certainly accept that with power consumption the R9 290 is not as good as the GTX 780 - but as I demonstrated earlier this difference isn't very significant.

For performance ExRayTed quoted a very reliable source (Anandtech) which found that in most games the R9 290 is a bit faster than the GTX 780. They even conclude by saying:

At $400 AMD is delivering 106% of the $500 GeForce GTX 780’s performance
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Heat and noise has certainly been a problem with the R9 290 series, however with the arrival of a wave of cards with custom coolers this seems to have been negated. For example the Sapphire Tri-X version I mentioned earlier was reviewed by anandtech and found to run quieter than the GTX 780.

As for overclocking, in the same R9 290 Tri-X review they were able to achieve:

Out of this we were able to get another 125MHz (13%) out of the GPU and 800MHz (15%) out of the VRAM, now topping out at 1125MHz for the GPU boost clock, and 6GHz for the VRAM. The final clockspeeds are better than our previous efforts at overclocking our reference 290 (which was prior to voltage control), although only moderately so.
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This is not as good as the results they were able to achieve with the GTX 780

On our sample we’ve been able to push it ahead by 200MHz, moving the base clock from 863MHz to 1063MHz, a 23% improvement. Meanwhile on the memory side NVIDIA’s solid memory controller implementation once more shines through, with our sample easily going from a 6GHz memory clock to a 7GHz memory clock, a 1GHz (17%) improvement.
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So I would concede that the GTX 780 does seem to overclock better than the R9 290. However, I can say with some certainty that this isn't the case with all competing AMD and Nvidia cards.

Finally, drivers. I use both AMD and Nvidia card on separate systems and I don't find either of them so good or bad to consider drivers as a selection factor when buying or recommending a new card. Both Nvidia and AMD have different propietary features (PhysX, Mantle etc.) but i'm pretty confident that most people don't factor these extras into their decision makeing when buying a new graphics card.

I'm not trying to put you down, just trying to explain that if you make a sweeping statement about something you need to be able to back it up with credible data.
 
well it swings and about abit i guess...

personnally ive had a better run on Nvidia cards than AMD and even the older ATI

but thanks for showing me the above information i can have a more informed view of the differences
 
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