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Nvidia cards - compatibility question

buachille

buachille

buachille

Associate
Joined
28 Dec 2004
Posts
757
Currently I have a gtx 295 and I'm thinking it's time for an upgrade.

I'm thinking of a gtx 660 (under £200 region anyway).

My main question is, will this card be compatible with my mobo. It's a "Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard".

Existing gtx 295 has 2 power sockets plugged into it.

Also, does the card just take up 2 slots height wise in the case?

And is it any longer than the 295. Can't imagine it would be as then it wouldn't fit most cases??

Final question, how much of a jump in performance would I see?
 
1. Yes, it will be compatible with your current mobo (what CPU do you have?)

2. It requires just one power socket I believe and will use far less power than your 295.

3. It is a 2 slot card.

4. It is shorter than a 295

5. It will be faster than a 295 and bring DX11 (tesselation) along with it, so visually it will be better also.

I hope this helps and depending on what CPU you currently have, will depend on if you can push the card to its full and not bottleneck it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £159.95
Total : £170.75 (includes shipping : £9.00).



This is my recommendation for a 660 :)
 
Gregster,

Really appreciate your detailed reply. I will probably go with the card you've recommended, but interested to know why you chose this one.

The CPU is an i7, but I don't have the exact model to hand as I'm posting this from my phone. It was the top of the line i7 when I bought it and this was at the same time as the gtx295 being nvidia's top end card.

I gather pci express power connectors haven't changed?

I'm surprised to hear that the card will use less power and be shorter!
 
No probs :)

With any I7, it will be fine. The 295 is still a beast of a card and should cope well with most of todays games but you are missing out on DX11 and if you look at DX11 features, it sure makes games look so much better.

It will be the exact same 6 pin connector that already is used on your 295.

That MSI I recommeded is because of the warranty and MSI have an active rep on these forums. Ii also measures 8.75" and your current 295 should be 10.5"
 
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Well I just threw that out for a rough idea of how much quicker the 660 can render games.

Currently playing black ops 2 at about 30fps but settings not maxed out.

My daughters laptop has a 675m in her laptop and she has black Ops 2 on Max settings and it runs at 70fps.

I'd like to frame rates jump significantly when I install the 660.

Thanks for all your advice so far by the way.
 
The biggest factor in you upgrading is the extra detail of DX11. For me personaly, I love games that look the best as well as playability, so I would upgrade however this isn't me buying and isn't my money.

Look at those anand charts and remember that you will get more graphical detail if you do upgrade and will see an improvement in fps.

Happy to help :) and nice specced lappy your Daughter has.
 
I didn't know about the comparison charts. I'll have a proper look at them once I get back to my computer. On a poxy mobile gprs connection right now :'(
 
gregster said:
The biggest factor in you upgrading is the extra detail of DX11. For me personaly, I love games that look the best as well as playability, so I would upgrade however this isn't me buying and isn't my money.

Look at those anand charts and remember that you will get more graphical detail if you do upgrade and will see an improvement in fps.

Happy to help :) and nice specced lappy your Daughter has.
Click to expand...

It's a beast. An alienware. I spoil her but she is a well behaved girl so she deserves it :-)

I can afford the card no problem, but in view of what I've learned from you I should maybe spend a bit more. How much more would I need to spend to get a good jump in performance? If you are busy with other things forget I asked as I will see those charts later on.

cheers
 
buachille said:
I didn't know about the comparison charts. I'll have a proper look at them once I get back to my computer. On a poxy mobile gprs connection right now :'(
Click to expand...

:)

CODBO220high201920.png


As you can see (hopefully you can on your mobile) that with the highest possible settings in Black Ops 2, you will get an average of 55.2fps.

This should help your decision :)

Edit:

The sweetspot for mid range Nvidia cards is the 660. I like the 660TI but do feel it is over priced and could do with dropping a few notes. The next best Nvidia card is the 670 and the best bang per buck card out is the 7950.

The wife is at the hair dressers, and I have a couple of hours to kill before we go out on the beer tonight. Happy to help.
 
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Thanks for this. Briefly back at computer (so much easier).

Maybe the 670 is worth looking at? I see they are all around £300..........

I dunno though. Must spend a bit more time tonight reading up.
 
Thanks for this. Briefly back at computer (so much easier).

Maybe the 670 is worth looking at? I see they are all around £300..........

I dunno though. Must spend a bit more time tonight reading up.
 
buachille said:
Thanks for this. Briefly back at computer (so much easier).

Maybe the 670 is worth looking at? I see they are all around £300..........

I dunno though. Must spend a bit more time tonight reading up.
Click to expand...

I would advise doing lots of research and looking at reviews. I can give limited unbiased opinions but having never used one or seen one being used, it is best to see if others will chip in.

You seem very sensible, so I know you will make the best choice. :)
 
The 670 is a cracking card, but again a tad pricey. As gregster has mentioned, the 7950 is the best in value for the money at present.
 
I've done a fair bit of reading, and I think I'm not going to bother upgrading right at the moment. My games still run well and looks like I'm not going to get a big difference in frame rate unless I go for one of the really expensive cards.

Check out this page - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html. It puts the gtx 295 on a level footing with the 660 (which shocks me a bit :confused:). Looks like I would need to go for a 680 to get much of a "hit".

I suppose this means that when I was trying to put together a powerful computer in 2009 I made a good job of it :D

If anyone thinks I'm wrong though, I'd be interested to hear opinions.
 
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