Upgrade or Purchase new system!

George_w

George_w

George_w

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Joined
5 Oct 2011
Posts
35
Hi guys,

I'm unsure if to buy a new system, or if to just upgrade my current system... Here's the current specs:

Asus Rampage II Mobo
i7 920 D0 CPU (Not overclocked) - 2.6ghz
Corsair XMS3 3x2GB PC3-12800C7 (1600Mhz)
Be Quiet 1000W PSU
WD Raptor 150GB 10k RPM SATA II (x2 in RAID)
Prolimatech Megahalems CPU Cooler

I did have the following gfx:
BFG GTX285 OC 1024MB x 2 in SLI, but one decided to die last year, and been running on the one and this one seems to be dieing slowly. I Purchased everything aug 2009, and BFG went into liquidation, so really annoyed that I spent nearly £500 on 2 cards that haven't lasted.



Now, I'm tempted if to just Overclock the CPU, Buy an SSD (Probably a SATA III - along with a SATA III RAID controller PCI-E) and also a new GFX card.

I'm stuck between getting a 580/590 or a 6990, I've always been an nVidia fan but looking at the quality of some videos/screenshots I've seen of the ATI 6990, the ATI looks a lot smoother and better, But not happy about the way it blows air out the back and front of the card.



Look forward to hearing to your comments :)
 
George_w said:
Now, I'm tempted if to just Overclock the CPU, Buy an SSD (Probably a SATA III - along with a SATA III RAID controller PCI-E) and also a new GFX card.
Click to expand...

This is the right thing to do, overclock the CPU (it's still a great CPU, just make sure to have a good CPU cooler) and new GPU(s). You will see more benefits that way. I'm still not a fan of SSDs due to their size limits and a lot of horror stories of them failing, I would rather spend more on a faster,larger hardrive like a WD black range as a boot drive (that's just my opinion and I have one and boot times are really fast for windows so I really don't see how 1 sec to 5 secs faster is a benefit for me when booting and starting apps is fast on my setup too without an SSD).

George_w said:
I'm stuck between getting a 580/590 or a 6990, I've always been an nVidia fan but looking at the quality of some videos/screenshots I've seen of the ATI 6990, the ATI looks a lot smoother and better, But not happy about the way it blows air out the back and front of the card.
Click to expand...


Depends what resolution you have and how many screens. If one screen 580 or a 590 I would go for or even 580SLI if you like SLI setups.
 
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Well, My WD Raptor's in RAID are pritty quick still, especially with there 10k RPM.

Right now, I'm looking at just the one monitor (1920*1080), but I'm wanting to play like BF3 with ultra settings, and hopeing to keep the same in mind in furture for at least 2-3 years. Thats why I was wondering if it would be better for a 6990 or 590 for a "future proof" setup, but looking at the price of the 590 to 6990, I'd probably be cheaper getting a 580 and then when things start to perform poor, purchase an SLI setup when I'm sure the 580's will be cheaper.

It's a tricky choice!
 
Hi there,

+1 to the GTX 580 option (2x HD 6950 2GB in Crossfire is also a good option)

However, I wouldn't suggest picking up a dual-GPU card like the GTX 590 or HD 6990. The 590 has known issues with overheating and the HD 6990 is crazy loud.
 
1 gtx 580 will do then mate and as you said latter you can always add another one if you need it. Look at my spec, I max out all the games so far and even the new ones and I game at 1920 x 1200. Get one GTX 580 and overclock that CPU and maybe do some house keeping on the system, maybe a new case, sound card, speakers, new fans, more storage, you know what I mean all the things you put off and would make a difference to your user experience of the pc.

You have a nice system there just overclock, update the graphics card and any other thing you think needs renewing.
 
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Well TBH, the case is still good enough (Antec 1200) - Fans are all squeeky clean, and it's just mainly the GPU. Here's the next question.

Which 580 to get? I like the looks of the MSI ones (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-133-MS) But is out of stock :(

I then had the idea to jump in the deep end and get 2! (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-116-MS) of these...

I Just don't want to make the wrong mistake, especially after I've brought 2 before in the past and they've gone kaboom and wasn't used that much :(
 
Personally I would go with one of these, the cooler used on it is fantastic (very cool and quiet) and Gigabyte's warranty service is very good should anything go wrong.

Personally I would just try one card initially, it will give you a big performance boost over a GTX 285 and you don't have to worry about SLI scaling.

That said, the new 28nm cards are expected to start arriving in December and offer a big performance increase at current price points. Do you think your GTX 285 will hold on until then?
 
Just get one of these while they are on offer mate, they are great value. I doubt you will need 2 (also the 3Gb models are only useful for resolutions above 2500 x 1600 or multi monitor setups) and if you sell the included game for £18 on the MM, the card cost you less then £350 for a new 3 year warranty 580.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-116-MS

The Gigabyte card mentioned above I looked at before but what put me off them is they suck air into the case and blow it around, read about the cooler they use. I don't want graphics cards sucking air in and adding more heat internally to my system and I feel this is what this card will do.
 
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I'm just tempted to buy 2 of these... Reading up on reviews recently it seems games are performing better with SLI rather than the standard 1... Unless you can say that it's going to run I.E. BF3 in 1920x1080 on Ultra in good spec, or is it worth the extra for another card!

I'm just wondering, I could even sell my 285's for a couple of quid, maybe someone might know how the fixed the damaged card (The damaged card just flickers/restarts the game) who knows.
 
http://d3v.me.uk/1545487468468468464.jpg - TBH there isn't much room for air if I put 2 cards in, which would probably be better me just getting the one card in all fairness. Thats why I'd like something like the MSI whats on pre order, but comes with 3GB ram but if the 1.5GB isn't going to make much difference then I might just get the 1.5GB. I just don't to get a card that isn't going to last me at least 2 years.
 
I would get one card looking at your case there, maybe even think about these 2 cards, they are 3 slot cards and have great cooling and very quiet too.

I have this one (Asus GeForce GTX 580 DirectCU II 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** [ENGTX580 DCII/2DIS/1536MD5])

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-249-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812

Or of you want a more overclocked and more features card.

Asus GeForce GTX 580 Matrix Platinum 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** [Matrix GTX580 P/2DIS/1536MD5]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-260-AS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812


Both great cards.


This is my setup here with pictures showing the ASUS 580 card I have.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=20343245&postcount=5594
 
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Yes looks fine to me mate and yes that is a good offer on that graphics card. 6Gb for a gaming rig is more then enough (if that is all you do with it), but maybe good idea to grab more memory while it is still cheap and you do more demanding things on that PC. Only reason I have 16Gb is for video editing and rendering huge files so if you don't do such things or photo edit giant resolution files don't bother.


Wow that asus matrix gtx 580 vanished real quick ....
 
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