New GPU or new monitor?

nicktay2605 · 15 Jun 2012 at 13:58

Bit by bit, I'm upgrading my PC. I've already upgraded the case and got a Z77 motherboard, and recently bought a Vertex 4 too. Now I'm looking at upgrading my monitor and graphics card, but can only afford to upgrade one this month, so the other will have to wait until next month. I'm currently using an XFX 6870 black edition, and running that on a Dell 2008wfp, which has a max resolution of 1680x1050.

I'm fairly set on getting a 670 as my new graphics card, and a Dell U2412M for the monitor, but which one would I be better off getting this month? Am I going to see the 6870 really struggling at 1920x1200 or should it cope for the time being?

Also, I'm currently using a 600W Coolermaster Silent Pro Gold PSU, is this going to be capable of handling a 670? I've checked a few reviews and the 670 only seems to be 20-30W more power-hungry than my 6870, so I'm assuming it will be ok, but just wanted to confirm this.

Idleman · 15 Jun 2012 at 14:06

http://www.techspot.com/review/325-amd-radeon-6870/page4.html

The 6870 will handle the resolution and the Psu is fine for a single 670.

MatsyLR · 15 Jun 2012 at 14:08

Whether or not the 6870 will struggle, depends on what games your playing....and what FPS you consider good.

If your playing high intensity games like BF3 etc, I would get the graphics card, you will be able to max it out.

Look at your FPS your getting in games your playing and just minus like 20 fps for the extra resolution, if your still within FPS you find good, then get the monitor.
The PSU is fine.

mp260767 · 15 Jun 2012 at 14:29

go for the graphics card first, less likely to notice a drop in quality, than if you run the 6870 on a 24".

nicktay2605 · 15 Jun 2012 at 14:52

mp260767 said:
go for the graphics card first, less likely to notice a drop in quality, than if you run the 6870 on a 24".

That's what I was leaning towards. Having looked at some benchmarks for the 6870 at 1920x1200, it seems like it could struggle at higher quality settings. Plus a 670 is £100 more than the monitor so I'd probably rather get the biggest purchase out of the way while I can.

Thanks for the confirmation on the PSU too. One other thing I'd like to upgrade, for various reasons, is my cpu cooler. I'm currently using the Gelid Tranquillo, and was looking at replacing it with one of the all-in-one liquid coolers that Antec and Corsair sell. I don't really want to spend more than £60 if possible, which leaves me with the Kuhler 620 or Corsair H60, or waiting to see if anything comes up on the MM. Is there one in particular that would be best to go for? Silence is as important to me as cooling by the way.

mp260767 · 15 Jun 2012 at 15:01

what reason do you have for wanting to change the gelid, asking due to the fact theres no point recommending something that might have similar issues

honosuseri · 15 Jun 2012 at 15:33

670 is a very good card, makes the 680 pointless to be fair. I would do the GPU first aswell. Are you aware the 670 can output to 3 screens from just the one GPU? As you mention upgrading the screen, maybe you could find 2 screens to match your current one cheap? The resolution is lower but to be fair this makes life easier on the GPU....just a thought.

The gelid is a good cooler, I have used them a lot. You could use a heatsink with more heatpipes but unless you buy something like the large noctua heatsinks I think you will be disappointed by what you gain for what you are paying out.

Again the smaller closed loop coolers won't be a great leap forward either. The H100 with the 240mm rad is considered to be the sensible choice for a closed loop cooler, if your case can fit it.

nicktay2605 · 15 Jun 2012 at 18:41

The main reason I'm looking to change the Gelid is that in the case I've got (TJ08E), the hard drive cage stops me from being able to have the fan on the cooler at the front, so that it's blowing air through the heatsink and out of the back of the case. The way I've got it set up at the moment, the fan is taking air from the rear of the case and sending it through the heatsink. This isn't ideal, seeing as the only fan the TJ08 comes with is a massive 180mm intake fan. Although temps inside the case aren't terrible, I still feel it must be affecting the airflow.

Therefore, another tower cooler isn't really an option as I'd more than likely run into the same problem, hence why I was looking at the closed loop liquid coolers.

edit: I suppose the other option would be to buy a larger capacity HDD and a 5.25" to 3.5" bay adapter, or just a large capacity external HDD, so that I could remove the internal hard drive cage.

mp260767 · 16 Jun 2012 at 00:40

nicktay2605 said:
The main reason I'm looking to change the Gelid is that in the case I've got (TJ08E), the hard drive cage stops me from being able to have the fan on the cooler at the front, so that it's blowing air through the heatsink and out of the back of the case. The way I've got it set up at the moment, the fan is taking air from the rear of the case and sending it through the heatsink.

have you thought about turning the fan around so when its on the back of the cooler it pulls air through the cooler and expels it out the back fan ?

of the 2 mentioned i'd go for the Kuhler 620.

nicktay2605 · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:01

mp260767 said:
have you thought about turning the fan around so when its on the back of the cooler it pulls air through the cooler and expels it out the back fan ?

of the 2 mentioned i'd go for the Kuhler 620.

I hadn't thought about that actually, do you think the processor would get sufficient cooling still? Or that the heatsink won't get too hot? The main thing I was thinking about doing was taking the HDD cage out. I've looked at the TJ08E owner's club on another forum and loads of them seem to have the SSD mounted behind the motherboard tray, which I didn't know you could do. So all I'd need is to buy a larger capacity HDD and a 5.25" bay adapter and I could then fit the fan on the front of the cooler blowing air the right way!

mp260767 · 18 Jun 2012 at 22:38

might be a touch warmer, but by venting the air of the case out the back it should even out.

just out of interest do you have a fan extracting air via the front of the case, considering your pushing air in via the back ?

would be worth trying it, give it a test and see what the temps look like.

yeah ssd's, due to them having no moving parts can be put near enough anywhere, could even strap them to the side of the 5.25 bays, if you have anywhere to run the zip ties to hold it into place.