Looking to upgrade my HD6950 (Accidentally ordered a GPU too big!)

triss · 5 Jan 2015 at 20:58

GefGz said:
5.25inch bays are the ones used for CD drives, the one above your hard drive cage, bungies are a way of mounting hard drives

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18269719

Or if you wanted to do a less pretty but just as good solution.. get a hacksaw and cut the top half of the 3.5inch hard drive cage off

+1 for a hacksaw and a case mod

Once the sides back on you wont see it

Malmortius · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:11

GefGz said:
5.25inch bays are the ones used for CD drives, the one above your hard drive cage, bungies are a way of mounting hard drives

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18269719

Or if you wanted to do a less pretty but just as good solution.. get a hacksaw and cut the top half of the 3.5inch hard drive cage off

Thats a good idea that ill remember. For now, i think tinkering with my pc is not a good idea since i know so little, so i think ill return this tomorrow and get the smaller r9 290.

Just one last question which i mentioned above:
Do you think OCUK would mind if i ordered http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-239-MS&tool=3 while i'm waiting to return the Tri-X? I'm getting a refund on it, im just not sure if it'd be alright to buy as im sending something back.

GefGz · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:19

Malmortius said:
Thats a good idea that ill remember. For now, i think tinkering with my pc is not a good idea since i know so little, so i think ill return this tomorrow and get the smaller r9 290.

Just one last question which i mentioned above:
Do you think OCUK would mind if i ordered http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-239-MS&tool=3 while i'm waiting to return the Tri-X? I'm getting a refund on it, im just not sure if it'd be alright to buy as im sending something back.

It's reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally not worth getting a refund when you can take 5 minutes to make it fit :confused:

It's nothing technical it's just carefully destroying a bit of your case, if you're really scared you could remove the mobo, but getting a smaller, less powerful card when you've got a great one already there..

varkanoid · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:29

OCUK wont be bothered.

I would have removed the 3.5" drive cage too. Just my two penneth. Looking at your pic it would also mean you have greater air flow on that front case fan as there would be no obstructions in front of it.

Bonjour · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:31

Maybe get some canned air to clean out some of the dust. If left to built up your computer could go 'pop', especially with a 290 in there.

r7slayer · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:37

You seriously could do with a new case tbh! Hasn't anyone realised he's opting for a non reference 290 series card and the 290 series cards do produce more heat than your average GPU. Meaning all this heat will get dissipated inside his case. The case looks small and airflow looks very poor.

Looks like you have just the one x 120mm front fan and one x 120mm rear fan which is the fan on your H50.

So the airflow isn't great and this extra heat will impact on your cpu temps greatly too.

Id try and get a new case too mate tbh! So maybe modding your current case for now by removing the hdd cage? And then save for a new case?

Dont forget you never have to upgrade a decent case! Just the stuff inside it.

Bonjour · 5 Jan 2015 at 21:44

Agreed. A good case should last you 10 or so years, and several generations of innards.

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 00:39

r7slayer said:
You seriously could do with a new case tbh! Hasn't anyone realised he's opting for a non reference 290 series card and the 290 series cards do produce more heat than your average GPU. Meaning all this heat will get dissipated inside his case. The case looks small and airflow looks very poor.

Looks like you have just the one x 120mm front fan and one x 120mm rear fan which is the fan on your H50.

So the airflow isn't great and this extra heat will impact on your cpu temps greatly too.

Id try and get a new case too mate tbh! So maybe modding your current case for now by removing the hdd cage? And then save for a new case?

Dont forget you never have to upgrade a decent case! Just the stuff inside it.

Forget it. Ill return this r9 290, forget upgrading and be done with this whole thing. Getting a new case would require taking everything apart and i've never done that, plus im not going to buy a new case for all these old parts.

I wasn't even aware that i'd have problems with cooling or increased temps since nobody mentioned it in my other thread.

Im beyond annoyed and frustrated. At this point its probably worth just buying a new pc altogether.

new boy · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:02

Dont be like that mate, its all part of the fun

I vote for removing the hdd cage to fit your current 290. I'm sure you can figure out a way to suspend the hard drive with some cable ties or whatever (I've run a hard drive just resting at the bottom of the case for years too, nothing bad happened, but its probably not a fantastic idea)

Yeah, your cooling looks prety poor man. I'd still give it a go though. I mean, You got the stuff so why not right? kust keep an eye on cpu/gpu temps, and if they get a little crazy, then re think your next plan of action.

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:05

new boy said:
Dont be like that mate, its all part of the fun

I vote for removing the hdd cage to fit your current 290. I'm sure you can figure out a way to suspend the hard drive with some cable ties or whatever (I've run a hard drive just resting at the bottom of the case for years too, nothing bad happened, but its probably not a fantastic idea)

Yeah, your cooling looks prety poor man. I'd still give it a go though. I mean, You got the stuff so why not right? kust keep an eye on cpu/gpu temps, and if they get a little crazy, then re think your next plan of action.

It definitely doesn't feel like fun. No ones to blame, but i'm pretty much only capable of changing GPUs so i came here for the other info so i didn't get it wrong.

£250 is a lot to risk my pc going "pop" as someone said above.

Telecaster · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:08

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, you're making things into a bigger issue than they actually are.

Personally I'd keep the card, mod the case, clean it out, improve air flow and add some sort of better filtration.

If you don't want to do that then just buy a card that fits, but at least clean the dust out and invest in a couple of filters.

new boy · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:10

Malmortius said:
£250 is a lot to risk my pc going "pop" as someone said above.

Things dont really just pop. If it gets hot really quickly, then it'll throttle and keep its self under the kind of temperature that could quickly kill your GPU.

If you let it do that for ages, then you would have problems. but for testing, no problem.

Nines11 · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:15

290 is just no good in that tiny pathetic case

For 250 get a 970.

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:27

Telecaster said:
Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, you're making things into a bigger issue than they actually are.

Personally I'd keep the card, mod the case, clean it out, improve air flow and add some sort of better filtration.

If you don't want to do that then just buy a card that fits, but at least clean the dust out and invest in a couple of filters.

My original plan with making this thread was to buy a card that fits after returning this one. a card that fits into my pc that will not overheat. Im just a bit crabby right now after waking up

If i'd have to mod my case just to make a gpu fit, then i think thats a sign my case was never meant to house a card that size. My pc is already 3 years old, so im just looking to upgrade for another year or two.

new boy · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:37

Malmortius said:
My original plan with making this thread was to buy a card that fits after returning this one. Thats the advice im looking for. a card that fits into my pc that will not overheat.

If i'd have to mod my case just to make a gpu fit, then i think thats my case was never meant to house a card that size, and a sign that somethings going to go wrong.

i'd go green then and get a 970. I know you said you dont want to go nvidia, but it really is the way to go. (and I'd say I'm an AMD fanboy)

either that or wait until AMDs new GPUs come out?

Not really sure its going to be worth the money upgrading to a 280x or less, might leave you disapointed with the upgrade from the 6950...

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:40

new boy said:
i'd go green then and get a 970. I know you said you dont want to go nvidia, but it really is the way to go. (and I'd say I'm an AMD fanboy)

either that or wait until AMDs new GPUs come out?

Not really sure its going to be worth the money upgrading to a 280x or less, might leave you disapointed with the upgrade from the 6950...

In what way is a 970 different from an r9 290 when it comes to cooling, air flow etc? How is the 970 a better option for my case and setup? Im willing to change to NVIDIA, thats no problem. Its just a case of uninstalling the AMD drivers, right?

Sorry, im going to ask a ton of questions from now on. I don't have too much experience but i'm trying to understand.

new boy · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:47

Malmortius said:
In what way is a 970 different from an r9 290 when it comes to cooling? How is the 970 a better option?

Sorry, im going to ask a ton of questions from now on.

It uses a ton less power and is more energy efficant.

The thermal design power (TDP) of the cards is a mesure of how much heat they produce.

Your 6950 was 150w-200w I think from googling
970 is just 145w
a 290 is 250w-300w

I dont think AMD give TDP figures, so these figures are just pulled from reveiw sites and probably arnt exact, but give you an idea.

I'm off to bed mate, hope it works out for you.

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:48

new boy said:
It uses a ton less power and is more energy efficant.

The thermal design power (TDP) of the cards is a mesure of how much heat they produce.

Your 6950 was 150w-200w I think from googling
970 is just 145w
a 290 is 250w-300w

I dont think AMD give TDP figures, so these figures are just pulled from reveiw sites and probably arnt exact, but give you an idea.

I'm off to bed mate, hope it works out for you.

oh i see. The GTX 970 seems like a much better alternative, and its a good size too.

Can't stay a little longer to help me choose a 970?

new boy · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:53

Malmortius said:
oh i see. Can't stay a little longer to help me choose 970?

As I said I'm an AMD fanboy, so no nothing about them lol. Might be worth considering a reference cooler in your case (no pun intended) as while they cool the card quite badly they exaust a lot of the heat out the case through the PCI slots, so It might actually be the best card for you. But IDK how good the refernce cooler is on the 970, so wait for a Nvida guy to help you out.

*sets alarm for 6:30

Malmortius · 6 Jan 2015 at 01:55

new boy said:
As I said I'm an AMD fanboy, so no nothing about them lol. Might be worth considering a reference cooler in your case (no pun intended) as while they cool the card quite badly they exaust a lot of the heat out the case through the PCI slots, so It might actually be the best card for you. But IDK how good the refernce cooler is on the 970, so wait for a Nvida guy to help you out.

*sets alarm for 6:30

Thanks for your help.

Ill wait for some more help from others about getting a gtx970 instead