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Which graphics card to go for?

TomG17

TomG17

TomG17

Associate
Joined
19 Jul 2012
Posts
38
YOUR BASKET
1 x Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X OC 3072MB PCI-Express Graphics Card (11196-09-40G) £251.99
1 x Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor - Retail with FREE Grid 2 PC Game £194.99
1 x Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard £158.99
1 x Samsung 250GB SSD 840 SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7TD250BW) £133.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £85.99
1 x NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal £84.95
1 x Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403) £72
1 x Corsair Vengeance Pro Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMY8GX3M2A1600C9B) £64
Total : £1,061.89 (includes shipping : £12.50).




This is my current potential build, I like the look of the 7950, but I am thinking for the future, and now wondering if I should be thinking about a GTX 770 instead. The only real way I could afford to do this would be to go slightly less extravagant on the motherboard and go for something like the:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-437-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2574

I would also only be able to afford one of the cheapest 770s so can I justify spending less on the motherboard to get a 770 instead of a 7950 and will that skimping on the motherboard be worth the low (if any) frame rate upgrades that I would end up getting?

Just for reference, I think if I went for the 7950, I would probably upgrade to Crossfire at Christmas and if I went 770 I wouldn't be able to afford the extra card.

Thanks!
 
Aw man I really don't like the look of that! Are there any other cards around £250-£280 that perform better than the card I have already that don't look like this!

Thanks
 
 
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1920x1080 at the moment but I would look to go higher in the future as soon as I can afford another monitor.

I currently have this at the moment Acer S240HLbid 24'' Full HD widescreen LCD monitor, I don't know about putting a link to the monitor on a competing website if OC don't stock it but I won't take the chance. When I have enough money to purchase a gaming monitor with a higher refresh rate I will, in fact, I know this is a GPU part of the forums but if anyone has a recommendation for a gaming monitor of around £250 I would greatly appreciate it!
 
120Hz for fast action games all day long but 1440/1600P for more involved/slower paced games in my opinion.

YOUR BASKET
1 x BenQ XL2411T 24" TRUE 144Hz 3D Vision 2.0 Widescreen LED Monitor - Black/Red £249.95
Total : £261.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



If you are a fast paced gamer, these BenQ monitors get a very good write up :)

As for your original question, the 760 is faster out of the box by the looks of it over the 7950 but I would believe that after the 7950 has been given a decent overclock, there will be nothing in it but the choice is yours. AMD or Nvidia, both are doing well :)

Don't forget that you get the free games with the 7950 and don't forget that you get PhysX with Nvidia, so win lose, lose win.
 
Can you give a small explanation of both PhysX and how easy it would be to overclock the 7950 as I am totally new to building desktops!

Also I play mainly RPGs and MMOs and the rare shooter, so I wouldn't say fast paced would be an accurate description of my style, for example the main game I am looking forward to this year would be Elder Scrolls Online, I have to say the addition of 3 free games does seem HUGELY tempting, I really want to play Bioshock and Crysis 3 so I think that will be a factor.

If I was to get an additional 7950 for Xmas, and then overclocked would I be able to attain similar performance to something like a GTX780? Or is that just a pipe dream?!

Thanks
 
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PhysX is used in a few games (not many) and it adds extra effects that are not available to AMD GPU's (maybe someday). I am a fan of those effects and games like Borderlands 2/Metro Last Light/Batman AC/Batman AA/New Batman coming/ The Witcher 3 all use PhysX and here is an example.



As for overclocking the 7950, there is plenty of guys here who would help in that. Crossfire 7950's would beat a 780 easily and AMD are working on new drivers that make crossfire ultra smooth :)
 
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OK when you said about XFire outperforming 780 I think I am set on AMD, now which of these is going to be best and easiest to overclock and will result in a better performance:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-066-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-098-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-304-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

If you could take XFire overclocking into account as well I would be very grateful

Thanks
 
TomG17 said:
OK when you said about XFire outperforming 780 I think I am set on AMD, now which of these is going to be best and easiest to overclock and will result in a better performance:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-066-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-098-GI&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-304-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

If you could take XFire overclocking into account as well I would be very grateful

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the Gigabyte is voltage locked and that the HIS isn't. As far the Sapphire card though, I'm not 100%.
 
OK guys, I am really grateful for all your help, you guys at OC really lived up to your reputation of being incredibly helpful!

Just for those of you who desire a bit of closure, I have decided to go for this:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-066-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1673

And a second one at Xmas, just for my own closure's sake, will this motherboard fit 2 of these cards?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-437-GI

A final thank you to all who have posted in this thread!
 
Sorry to be a noob but does this mean that on this board or on any board Crossfiring will lead to no performance (or at least very little performance) boosts? I really have 0 idea what you mean when you say x16 x4 etc. Sorry!
 
TomG17 said:
Sorry to be a noob but does this mean that on this board or on any board Crossfiring will lead to no performance (or at least very little performance) boosts? I really have 0 idea what you mean when you say x16 x4 etc. Sorry!
Click to expand...

The PCIe lanes that are on a motherboard dictate the 'speed' if you like at which a graphics card can run at (x16 or x8 are good, x4 not quite so). At x4, there will be a performance boost, just not as much as x8 / 16.
 
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