Looking to upgrade from my trusty 470 GTX

[Xerco]

I've had my trusty NVIDIA 470GTX for a few years now and it has lasted well. But I feel its time for an upgrade, but I'm not sure about bottle necks etc. and how dated my PC is.

So basically, I'm looking to upgrade:
I currently have this GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 470 1280MB

My system specs are:
MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze'
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
2 X 4GB DDR3 RAM (cant remember but can find out if needed.)
My monitor is 1920x1080 and I use the PC for gaming.

I was thinking of the GTX780 as I'm Nvidia fan, but I'm willing to be swayed.
Budget of around £500 give or take.

 

[Purgatory]

Is your CPU overclocked ? If not try overclock it to 4.5ghz which is pretty easy to do on a 2600K. Also your system can take the latest 780 Ti and will be great, you can even SLI two 780 Ti's with that CPU and won't have a problem (But you will need a PSU upgrade if you go SLI to be safe). None of the new 4 core/ 8 thread CPUS are much better than a 2600K. So don't worry about bottlenecks.

A great card for £500 at the moment is this Ti it's a reference design which is perfect for throwing out warm air in the case.

Inno3D GeForce GTX 780Ti 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N78T-1DDN-L5HS)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-034-IN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1402


OR if you don't want to send that much, this 780 NONE Ti below is great too for £380.

Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (C78V-1SDN-L5HSX)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-IN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

 

[Xerco]

Is your CPU overclocked ? If not try overclock it to 4.5ghz which is pretty easy to do on a 2600K. Also your system can take the latest 780 Ti and will be great, you can even SLI two 780 Ti's with that CPU and won't have a problem (But you will need a PSU upgrade if you go SLI to be safe). None of the new 4 core/ 8 thread CPUS are much better than a 2600K. So don't worry about bottlenecks.

A great card for £500 at the moment is this Ti it's a reference design which is perfect for throwing out warm air in the case.

Inno3D GeForce GTX 780Ti 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (N78T-1DDN-L5HS)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-034-IN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1402


OR if you don't want to send that much, this 780 NONE Ti below is great too for £380.

Inno3D GeForce GTX 780 iChill HerculeZ X3 Ultra 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (C78V-1SDN-L5HSX)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-014-IN&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

Thanks for the words of support for the CPU, I do try to future proof all my builds. Really enjoying the 2600K. Never really looked into overclocking which I should as I have the corsair H100 setup to it. Care to point me in the right direction?

The Ti does look good but is it worth it over the 780 for the extra hundred? Will the Ti add a year or two on future proofing my pc?

I also notice the 780 is a large card would this fit in my Fractal Design Define R4 case?

Thanks for your time

 

[Purgatory]

As you can see from this CPU review and gaming performance benchmarks, the cpu you have will make no difference.

http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1185


Yes with that cooler you have you should be overclocking, that's a great cooler you have there.

Here is an overclocking guide for Sandybridge.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18227651


The 780 none Ti is great value of course compared to the TI, but the Ti is a fantastic card that can also overclock well, it really is up to you.

Here is a benchmark of a Ti and you can compare it to a none Ti too in these benchmarks.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_780_Ti/


Personally I would go for the Ti if I had the money for a 780 or a Ti but really is up to you. The difference if they were both at stock is the Ti is 15% faster, but as I said the Ti's can overclock really well or you could get an overclocked Ti like the MSI GeForce GTX 780Ti Gaming Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card for £540, which is overclocked out of the box and you don't have to overclock it if you are not really into overclocking.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-241-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1402


Review here of the MSI 780Ti :-

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/


You will see it is 22% faster than a stock 780 and 8% faster than a stock 780Ti.



The case you have can take a Graphics cards up to 295mm in length with the top HDD cage installed. The cards above will all fit fine with about 40mm clearance with the HDD cage installed. With the top cage removed, graphics cards up to 430mm in length may be installed

 

[smsmasters]

*** No Buying or Selling outside the MM! *** - Will Gill

 

[Xerco]

As you can see from this CPU review and gaming performance benchmarks, the cpu you have will make no difference.

http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1185


Yes with that cooler you have you should be overclocking, that's a great cooler you have there.

Here is an overclocking guide for Sandybridge.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18227651


The 780 none Ti is great value of course compared to the TI, but the Ti is a fantastic card that can also overclock well, it really is up to you.

Here is a benchmark of a Ti and you can compare it to a none Ti too in these benchmarks.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_780_Ti/


Personally I would go for the Ti if I had the money for a 780 or a Ti but really is up to you. The difference if they were both at stock is the Ti is 15% faster, but as I said the Ti's can overclock really well or you could get an overclocked Ti like the MSI GeForce GTX 780Ti Gaming Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card for £540, which is overclocked out of the box and you don't have to overclock it if you are not really into overclocking.


http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-241-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1402


Review here of the MSI 780Ti :-

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/


You will see it is 22% faster than a stock 780 and 8% faster than a stock 780Ti.

Thanks for all this info really great, the 2600K is still going strong sweet! Ok I am going towards to the 780Ti, I dont mind however holding on if there is something new coming round the corner? I know this is always the case but is the 780Ti a 'big deal' out of the 4's 5's and 6's series cards?

Sorry for all the questions, im going to read into overclocking now.

*** No Buying or Selling outside the MM! *** - Will Gill

 

[Purgatory]

There is nothing coming out from Nvidia till late this year on the high end parts anyway 3rd/4th quarter, only thing they will be bringing out is the 790 the dual GPU maybe for now and an updated Titan. The Ti is the fastest single GPU card on the market so yes it's a big deal it is as fast as 2 x 580's so you will see a huge improvement from a 470.

The case you have can take a Graphics cards up to 295mm in length with the top HDD cage installed. The cards i mentioned above will all fit fine with about 40mm clearance with the HDD cage installed. With the top cage removed, graphics cards up to 430mm in length may be installed


You could post in the CPU or motherboards forums the motherboard and CPU you have and see if someone has the same motherboard and CPU as you and what settings they have for their overclock and of course use it as a guideline/starting point. The MSI motherboard you have may even have Overclock profiles on it you could just set it to, they are easy to overclock Sandybridge so just a bit of reading will get you overclocked.

 

[nicnik]

It'll fit fine in a fractal R4. I know the usual 10.5 Inch cards will. Not so sure if you get a 11.5+ though. As far as I know all 780ti/780's should be fine.

I would personally get a 780, unless you plan to change monitors very soon. And modestly overclock that CPU.

 

[Xerco]

Ok guys thanks for the great input, I'm waiting on the money to come in so I will reevaluate in a week or so. I am looking at the 780ti as it looks great.

Iv also read that my motherboard having Pci2 instead of 3 is not a problem as the difference is negligible, just to confirm?

ps, to the mods sorry for the above.

 

[Deceptor]

PCIe2 isn't a problem at all

 

[JediFragger]

780Ti is def where it's at

 

[Xerco]

Cheers guys! All my worry's have been answered great community as ever.

Still not decided on which one but aiming for the Ti looks like a beaut.

Once again thanks and il let you know which I went for!