Looking for advice please.

walshy2142 · 16 Oct 2015 at 10:48

So my PC is pretty trash but i don't want much and i'm happy to play on medium/low.

Well i'm not impressed with the 760 and fallout 4 is coming soon so i want to upgrade to a 780.

The issue i believe is my processor AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1090T Processor 3.2ghz i'm worried about bottlenecking and could really use some advice can my PC take this card?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post.

pastymuncher · 16 Oct 2015 at 11:56

Hi and welcome to the forums.

While the cpu will bottleneck a GTX780 you should still see a nice boost from a GTX760. Is your cpu overclocked at all? What motherboard do you have and what make and model psu do you have please?

walshy2142 · 16 Oct 2015 at 14:06

First off thank you for taking the time to help me

My motherboard is Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H

My power supply i'm not so sure although i was told it was a decent brand 550wat

edit : my cpu is not overclocked.

edit : i can't really upgrade the PC any further as the motherboard if im correct won't take any higher than my current processor, so i was hoping to be a cheap a** and use the gtx 780 until i can scrape together some funds for a new system, but at the minute upgrading the card is the only idea i have.

walshy2142 · 16 Oct 2015 at 17:14

Lemin · 16 Oct 2015 at 18:48

use the gtx 780 until funds for a new system, seems good idea to me.

pastymuncher · 16 Oct 2015 at 19:32

Really need to know the make and model of the psu before you go and buy a 780. We need to see how strong the 12v rail is. Not all psu's are created equal and some have 12v rails that are a lot weaker than the total wattage stated on the label.

You should be able to overclock the cpu a bit but the problem is that your motherboard has naked vrm chips so they may overheat and throttle with the extra load from overclocking. You could stick some ramsinks on them and direct a fan across them but if you are not bothered about overclocking just leave it as it is.

PapaLazaru · 16 Oct 2015 at 19:39

As above, PSU info is really important here.

walshy2142 · 17 Oct 2015 at 08:18

Hi again all, thanks for your help.

My PSU is a ocz zs series 550w

as seen in this link http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/ocz-zs-series-550w-power-supply-review/

Sorry if i'm not allowed to post links but that is my psu.

pastymuncher · 17 Oct 2015 at 14:19

Exactly why we asked about the psu. Your's has a very weak 12v rail of only 456w and I have seen my pc with a GTX 780 pull 452w. While that power is measured at the wall it leaves you with practically no headroom. I also believe your cpu is more power hungry than mine as well so you also need a new decent psu. The EVGA Supernova G2 650w is what I would recommend. It's built by Superflower, is fully modular, has a single 12v rail of 649w and has a 7 year warranty.

walshy2142 · 17 Oct 2015 at 15:10

Thanks for the help, it's appreciated i knew upgrading this PC was a waste of time although i could get that PSU install it then buy the card i just don't know if it's worth doing might aswell buy a whole new system.

Take care chaps and thanks.

edit : last question would the gtx 770 be a good alternative or will i have the same issue? i've heard good things about the 770

pastymuncher · 18 Oct 2015 at 13:09

It's not really a waste of time as you will still see a gain from a new gpu. It will just be bottlenecked a bit by the cpu. I wouldn't go from a 760 to a 770 though as the gain just isn't big enough for me but you could run one with your current psu.

walshy2142 · 18 Oct 2015 at 15:47

pastymuncher said:
It's not really a waste of time as you will still see a gain from a new gpu. It will just be bottlenecked a bit by the cpu. I wouldn't go from a 760 to a 770 though as the gain just isn't big enough for me but you could run one with your current psu.

I see i just want to run fallout 4 on medium settings at smooth FPS i don't believe the gtx 760 can do that, the extra performance from the gtx 770 i thought would help me.

by the way thanks for all your help man, really appreciate it, im going to upgrade my psu to the one you suggested, but im going to get the card first.

what do you recommend get the gtx 770 or get the 780 pray it doesn't break until i can my new psu.

pastymuncher · 18 Oct 2015 at 18:47

I wouldn't even try the 780 with your psu as it just doesn't have a strong enough 12v rail. Like I said, I have seen mine pull 452w and you only have another 4w on top of that. it's just not worth trying. Either get the new psu and 780 together or save up a bit more money until you can afford them both together. Alternatively, a GTX970 will run on your current psu due to them being extremely power efficient but that's almost as expensive as buying a new psu on top of a 780. It does make more sense though and will give you a bigger boost.

walshy2142 · 18 Oct 2015 at 20:33

pastymuncher said:
I wouldn't even try the 780 with your psu as it just doesn't have a strong enough 12v rail. Like I said, I have seen mine pull 452w and you only have another 4w on top of that. it's just not worth trying. Either get the new psu and 780 together or save up a bit more money until you can afford them both together. Alternatively, a GTX970 will run on your current psu due to them being extremely power efficient but that's almost as expensive as buying a new psu on top of a 780. It does make more sense though and will give you a bigger boost.

Alright man, thanks for all your help i'm probably just going to buy the 770 if there are any issues and i see a shutdown then i'll put the 760 back in.

Again thanks you have been a massive help, in truth i need a new PC lmao but thats not an option atm.

Anyway take care pal.