Assembling a new PC, advice appreciated. - by zombe
june gloom on 12/10/2012 at 16:01
Basically the card crashed over and over again. At first I thought it was the drivers -- they were the latest at the time and everyone hated them apparently -- so I rolled back. And that didn't really fix the issue. I did some digging and it turns out the 560 Tis are all bad and on top of that, the entire range of EVGA 500s -- all of them -- are buggy as well. The 570 I'm using now is an MSI Twin Frozr III and I couldn't be happier with it.
voodoo47 on 13/10/2012 at 10:10
I seriously wouldn't go for the previous generation of gpus when buying a new pc. if nv is your preferred choice, there is the cheaper and slower 650ti for 150e, and the sweet spot 660 (non-ti) for 210e.
and I would really skip on that Fortron - out of the 5 I had, 4 blew up.
bikerdude on 13/10/2012 at 13:15
Quote Posted by voodoo47
I seriously wouldn't go for the previous generation of gpus when buying a new pc. and I would really skip on that Fortron
I agree, but he has limited choice.
Albert on 13/10/2012 at 21:48
As far as Nvidia goes, I myself am at a loss. I want the latest of their GTX line, but every which way I look people are giving mixed signals as to the overall quality. Is the 660 a gimped POS like the remnants of the 8000 series? Or is it worth the 200+ USD?
Confusing stuff. But one thing I do know, is that my ATI card is decent at overall performance (Although the most intricate of Thief II FMs like Kings story 2nd mission, tends to show it is not a contender), but it is too buggy with the drivers and that burn-in graphical issue I get on textures. It'd be nice to bring this up though -- What mid-price/range Nvidia card is worth every buck? And for linux users, even.
zombe on 14/10/2012 at 12:07
Ok, update.
Current choice (the small shop):
CPU LGA1155 -- Intel Core i5 3470 (Ivy Bridge 3.2GHz 6MB cache)
memory DDR3 -- 8GB Kingstone HyperX DDR3-1600 PC12800 (kit 2x 4GB)
board LGA1155 -- Asus P8B75-V
optic -- DVD-RW Optiarc/Sony 5280S 24x
case -- ... anything that they can offer based on my requirements as no case ANYWHERE lists relevant stats.
power -- Fortron 400W Active PFC 85+ (GPU test peak 130W, listed max 150W, dual mon idle <10W, CPU 69-77W, the rest is relatively negligible) 43.20€
Sum: ~477€ (price with default case)
Elsewhere:
HDD -- Hitachi SATA 500GB 7200RPM 3GB/S/16MB 7K1000.C 0F10381 - 50.40€
GPU -- MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Ti Twin Frozr III OC - 209.00€
* (
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III/26.html)
* "Display connectivity options include two dual-link DVI ports, one full-size HDMI port, and one full-size DisplayPort. You may use all the outputs at the same time." Wha..? I can attach 4 mon!?
* Skyrim at 5760x1080 4xAA => 33.2 FPS ... well, beats the crap out of my current GPU ... at quarter of the resolution.
* AMD same class offer is slightly worse - so, definitely back to NVIDIA.
Total: ~ 477+51+209 = 737€However, hoping to get a better offer from (
http://www.ordi.ee/EPood/Index.aspx) Ordi, as they have very wide variety of stuff in storage - among others:
Intel Core i5 3350P (Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz 6MB cache) (4C4T) 178.00€ ... instead of the 200€ option.
* P = integrated GPU is disabled
Speaking of PSU, what would one recommend from (
http://www.ordi.ee/EPood/Products.aspx?MC=KOMP&IC=1810) here, given my modest (right? did i miss something?) power requirements?
--------------------
Narrowed my GPU search to 2GB / DDR5 cards in ~100-200€ range only:
Code:
GK107 384:32:16 ??/34/80 812GF 64W
* Zotac GeForce GTX 650 2GB ZT-61002-10M 121,96 - 135,00 €
* Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 2GB OC GV-N650OC-2GI 125,00 - 145,00 €
* Gainward GeForce GTX 650 2GB 426018336-2784 133,00 - 133,00 €
GK106 768:64:16 ??/59/86 1421GF 110W
* Leadtek GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB rev:b 143,00 - 143,00 €
* Gigabyte GeForce GTX 650 Ti 2GB OC GV-N65TOC-2GI 158,50 - 182,00 €
GK104/GK106 ... ambiquous info
* Sparkle GeForce GTX 660 2GB SX6602048MH 205,00 - 232,00 €
* Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 2GB OC GV-N660OC-2GD 208,00 - 246,00 €
GK104 1344:112:24 29/102/144 2459GF 150W (135W test peak, multi-mon ide <10W)
* MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Ti Twin Frozr III OC N660TF2GD5/OC 209,00 - 239,00 €
Cape Verde 640:40:16 16/40/72 1280GF 80W
Asus RADEON HD 7770 2GB HD7770-2GD5 144,60 - 180,00 €
Pitcairn Pro 1024:64:32 28/55/153 1761GF 130W
Sapphire RADEON HD 7850 2GB Lite Retail 11200-07-20G 176,90 - 209,00 €
Sapphire RADEON HD 7850 2GB OC 11200-14-20G 181,90 - 230,00 €
Club 3D RADEON 2GB HD7850F CGAX-7856F 193,30 - 222,00 €
Gigabyte RADEON HD 7850 2GB OC GV-R785OC-2GD 196,83 - 231,00 €
MSI RADEON HD 7850 2GB Twin Frozr OC R7850TWINFROZR2GD5/OC 202,00 - 227,00 €
PowerColor RADEON HD 7850 2GB DDR5 AX7850 2GBD5-DH 203,00 - 203,00 €
Asus RADEON HD 7850 2GB HD7850-DC2-2GD5 203,20 - 244,00 €
Pitcairn XT 1280:80:32 32/80/153 2560GF 175W
Asus RADEON HD 7870 2GB HD7870-DC2-2GD5 204,40 - 282,00 €
bikerdude on 14/10/2012 at 13:06
Quote Posted by zombe
* GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 660 2GB Ti Twin Frozr III OC ( Wha..? I can attach 4 mon!?) - - 209.00€
* CPU: Intel Core i5 3350P (Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz 6MB cache) 178.00€
* PSU: what would one recommend from (
http://www.ordi.ee/EPood/Products.aspx?MC=KOMP&IC=1810) here,
* The 660 is the best bang for buck and I would have recommended it had the online shops I looked at had one in stock. Don't bother with a GTX 550 (as already mentioned) and only go for the GTX 650 if money is tight. Dont waste your time on ATi as the OpenGL compatibly and perf will suck.
* That CPU is spot on, and again would have mentioned it had the links I looked at had it listed. You don't need the internal gpu if you have off board gfx (the 660 etc)
* Regarding the PSU, again a limited choice of unbranded PSU's, in the wattage you need the (
http://www.ordi.ee/EPood/Product.aspx?MC=KOMP&IC=1810&Page=2&ItemID=1810-1364) Cheiftec 650 @ €63 looks solid enough.
*
voodoo47 on 14/10/2012 at 14:35
660 is, indeed, the best bang for the buck, and yes, it will allow you to connect 4 independent displays.
bikerdude on 14/10/2012 at 15:40
Quote Posted by voodoo47
660 is, indeed, the best bang for the buck, and yes, it will allow you to connect 4 independent displays.
Ah yes I forgot to mention that, the 6 series cards are the first from nvidia that will allow surround screen gaming!!!
Im actually thinking of getting one of these or a 670 to upgrade my old GTX 480 :-)
zombe on 14/10/2012 at 19:24
:/ Why so high wattage? GPU+CPU is declared to not go over 220W at top load ... what is the reminder for?
GPU is the biggest draw: (
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III/25.html)
Perhaps you had a older gen card in mind (480 GTX will take up to
361W under load [at least the one listed in the test results in the linked page]).
/me is confused.
bikerdude on 14/10/2012 at 21:28
Your not considering the total system load and at what point the psu is most efficient, in most psu's thats 1/2 to 2/3 of the power rating of the unit, so with the 640 unit thats 325-433W.
Using the (
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine) PSU calculator, your system will draw a maximum of 450W under load, which is smack in the middle of the effective curve of the PSU. And that's with the components inside the PSU being brand new, once you factor in even just 1yrs ageing of said components the power output and the efficiency drops. So a 650W w/85% efficiency will be 550-600W w/75-80%.
The above is why I always recommend a PSU with more wattage than you think you need.
