• Competitor rules

    Please remember that any mention of competitors, hinting at competitors or offering to provide details of competitors will result in an account suspension. The full rules can be found under the 'Terms and Rules' link in the bottom right corner of your screen. Just don't mention competitors in any way, shape or form and you'll be OK.

Upgrade/Sidegrade From a 280x Dilemma

Associate
Joined
4 Jan 2004
Posts
1,404
Location
Finally, Swindon
Blimey, last time I posted in here was when I got a 9800Pro!

Specs are as my signature, and looking for some advice/insight. Bear in mind I'm a tight****

The problem I have is that everytime I do anything mildly graphics intensive, the fans spin up and the case fan goes into overdrive. I guess stuffing a 250w card into am m-itx case is going to cause heat problems no matter what. It's only a recent issue since I ran the card for years with the side off the case

Also, I've always had reservations about the strain of the card on the power supply. It's rated at 250w and the PSU is 500w.

The solution seems to be to get a lower TDP card - graphics horsepower is not really an issue for me, but an upgarde would obviously be nice

Ideally something like a compact 1060 would fit the bill (120w TDP) but they seem to be as rare as hen's teeth, so sourcing one from the MM is unlikely, and they ain't too cheap either. I guess the compact element was attractive as well since the case is a bit small, so it's logical to get a small card. However, that's not a unsurmountable problem since the 280x is ~297mm long

I then saw a 570 itx on the MM, but that went really quickly as well (150w)

So the I started looking at full size 570s and even some cheap 580s - a 580 went for <£100 in the MM a few days ago. I think they are 185w

So I'm mulling all this over and then see this:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18f-gi.html

With a 3 year guarantee I get a bit more comfort over longevity

Now I'm thinking I'm all over the place and don't really know what I want. Help!
 
Back
Top Bottom