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Thinking of upgrading my graphics card, need guidance...I built my computer about 3 years ago; and by "built" I mean "held the flashlight while my friend built" I spent quite a bit of money at the time (approx 1,500 bucks) off newegg and my friend slapped it altogether. Since that time, I completely tuned out on whats new in the PC world, so I have no idea what the latest and greatest is. I feel as though my gfx card is starting to show its age, and I was wondering whats out there these days. Im on a tighter budget now (200 dollars MAX), so Ive come to you gurus to see if there are any cards out there in that price range that would significantly improve my performance, or would it be pointless as the rest of my PC would just bottleneck any improvement anyway? My basic specs are: Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 Intel Core i7 CPU 920@2.67 ghz 6.0GB ram NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:12 am · (locked) |
KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit |
The rest of your build is fine (but Vista??), so here's a card that will provide a considerable step up from the 285: It is over-budget by $10, but the cheapest 570 I could find: » www.newegg.com/Product/P ··· 14127682Three weeks ago I got a Zotac 570 for $200 (after $30 MIR) but it has been discontinued now that the GTX 600 series is out and established. You also might want to think about doubling your ram to 12 GB when you get spare change (I assume you are 3x 2 GB 1600 DDR3?). Look at any of these (buy three single 2GB sticks for tri-channel) or two 2x 2GB kits and have one spare in case something goes bad. If you really want to go crazy, buy three kits of 2x 4GB and go for 24 GB (although the system will probably only recognize 16 or 20 GB). Trichannel kind of sucks to upgrade. You either have too much space or too many left over sticks. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 5:59 am · (locked) |
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to Pollux7777
I still have my 285, it still runs most games out there. I can play Skyrim among others just fine. To really see a big jump in FPS, you will need to move to the 600 cards. I just got a 670 a few days ago. You will see a little boost with the 570. Anything less than that really is not worth it.
Still in shock how well that 285 has held up over the years!
If you do move into a 600 down the road, the 285 works well for a physx card. Been testing it now with batman.
On a side note, it also works great for a hand warmer. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 8:33 am · (locked) |
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to Krisnatharok
Thanks for the replies guys.
So the 600 series are a lot better than the 500's?
I probably wouldnt be getting anything until Christmas time... so maybe prices would drop even further by then. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 11:49 am · (locked) |
KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit |
The GTX 570 ($230+) is still more powerful than the GTX 660 Ti ($300+) and the GTX 670 ($400+) won't fall to $200 in the next year (or until the GTX 700 series is out).
Get a GTX 570. They are being phased out and heavily discounted until they go out of stock. If you wait until Christmas, you will likely have to get a GTX 660 Ti. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 11:54 am · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX |
DarkLogix
Premium Member
2012-Aug-30 11:57 am
Well that stinks, and here I was thinking of getting a 2nd GTX570 to try out sli (if I can be sure the breaker won't trip) |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 11:57 am · (locked) |
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KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit |
What stinks? The 570 is the best bang/buck right now, IMO, especially if you find one like I did with a MIR that brings it down to $200 flat. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:01 pm · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX |
DarkLogix
Premium Member
2012-Aug-30 12:22 pm
What stinks is that they're being phased out. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:22 pm · (locked) |
KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit |
Well yeah, they've been replaced. Get 'em while you can, and while the manufacturers are still offering MIRs to move inventory. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:23 pm · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX |
DarkLogix
Premium Member
2012-Aug-30 12:28 pm
I was thinking IF I do get a 2nd one it'd be around January, but if they're phasing them out I don't know might just save for a GTX685 and get ready to upgrade to a 2011 system. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:28 pm · (locked) |
KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit |
Here's a Zotac 570 for $230--I can't tell if there is a MIR on it or not as Zotac requires you to register a product first then check for rebates. However, Newegg gave me a link directly to the PDF whereas Amazon does not. » www.amazon.com/GeForce-E ··· =GTX+570Edit: Here's the link to rebate from Newegg-looks like it has to be purchased *from* Newegg only: » images10.newegg.com/uplo ··· ey39.pdf |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:29 pm · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX |
DarkLogix
Premium Member
2012-Aug-30 12:57 pm
Its not about if its available now but if it is when I'm ready to buy it.
And I plan that if I do it it'll be the same make/model as my current one. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 12:57 pm · (locked) |
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to Pollux7777
The 670 can be easy o/c to match the 680. and its $100 less.
But like years past, time will move on and new ones will come out. I would just keep eyes open and find the right deal. Newegg seems to always have that daily deal that really is a good deal. And around x-mas sure you will be able to get something good for a great price. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:06 pm · (locked) |
Ghastlyone Premium Member join:2009-01-07 Nashville, TN |
to DarkLogix
said by DarkLogix:Its not about if its available now but if it is when I'm ready to buy it.
And I plan that if I do it it'll be the same make/model as my current one. You know what's going to happen. You'll purchase another 570, and then the GTX 685 is going to release and you'll be kicking yourself in ass for doing so |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:13 pm · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX |
said by Ghastlyone:said by DarkLogix:Its not about if its available now but if it is when I'm ready to buy it.
And I plan that if I do it it'll be the same make/model as my current one. You know what's going to happen. You'll purchase another 570, and then the GTX 685 is going to release and you'll be kicking yourself in ass for doing so Or the 570's will have vanished by the time I opt to buy and I'll do what I must to build an awesome 2011 based system. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:15 pm · (locked) |
El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
to Krisnatharok
said by Krisnatharok:The GTX 570 ($230+) is still more powerful than the GTX 660 Ti ($300+) and the GTX 670 ($400+) won't fall to $200 in the next year (or until the GTX 700 series is out). First off I don't want to OT the OPs thread, but I'd like to know why that is; I'm looking at a couple cards on NCIX and here's what I get: EVGA GeForce GTX 570 HD Fermi 732MHZ 1280MB GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card vs. EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Fpb 951MHZ 1024MB 4356MHZ GDDR5 2XDVI-I Mini-HDMI PCI-E Video Card Specifically why does the 570 have 732MHZ and the 550Ti have 951MHZ when I know it's a weaker card? |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:24 pm · (locked) |
KrisnatharokPC Builder, Gamer Premium Member join:2009-02-11 Earth Orbit
1 recommendation |
because clockspeed is only part of the story (also why an i5 at 3.6 GHz is faster than a Pentium 4 at 4.0 GHz). Quick answer is here: » www.hwcompare.com/9685/g ··· gtx-570/ |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:27 pm · (locked) |
DarkLogixTexan and Proud Premium Member join:2008-10-23 Baytown, TX
1 recommendation |
to El Quintron
The 570 has more cores enabled and the 580 has even more. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 1:35 pm · (locked) |
El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
to Krisnatharok
That's a great link, I think I'll be spending a fair bit of time making various comparisons on it. |
actions · 2012-Aug-30 2:08 pm · (locked) |
Raible join:2008-01-23 Plainfield, IN |
to primeomega
said by primeomega:I still have my 285, it still runs most games out there. I can play Skyrim among others just fine. To really see a big jump in FPS, you will need to move to the 600 cards. I just got a 670 a few days ago. You will see a little boost with the 570. Anything less than that really is not worth it. Unlike Prime's speculation, I have actually upgraded from a 285 to a 570 and I can assure you it's a significant difference. And I was happy I paid every bit of the $300 it cost me at the time. You also get DX11 out of the deal. You still need a new OS though. |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 8:07 am · (locked) |
McBrainBRB Face Melting join:2010-05-06 Marietta, GA |
to Pollux7777
This is what I used to make my choice when buying my card the other day: » www.tomshardware.com/rev ··· -16.htmlI mean, I only use my computer for WoW...and reality shows...I play at 1920x1080, and it seems the 7.2 fps increase over the 570 makes the 7870 GHz edition worth it. (~10% performance increase for virtually the same price...they both fluctuate between $229-$259 depending on the sale) |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 10:25 am · (locked) |
Ghastlyone Premium Member join:2009-01-07 Nashville, TN |
Are you running a 120hz monitor with Vsync off? |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 10:33 am · (locked) |
McBrainBRB Face Melting join:2010-05-06 Marietta, GA |
I play with vsync off, and stop trying to outsmart me!!!!! You know I don't know what the refresh rate of my monitor is off the top of my head. Damn you and your silky smooth baritone voice.
But if we're going to base it off playing with a 60hz refresh rate and vsync on, then isn't every frame per second over 60 a waste anyway?
Come on man, this is 'MURCAH...land of excess. |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 11:10 am · (locked) |
Ghastlyone Premium Member join:2009-01-07 Nashville, TN |
said by McBrain:I play with vsync off, and stop trying to outsmart me!!!!! You know I don't know what the refresh rate of my monitor is off the top of my head. Damn you and your silky smooth baritone voice.
But if we're going to base it off playing with a 60hz refresh rate and vsync on, then isn't every frame per second over 60 a waste anyway?
Come on man, this is 'MURCAH...land of excess. rofl @ "murcah" Yes, if you have a 60hz refresh rate, and running with Vsync on, then any more FPS your video card is able to produce over 60 is wasted. Unless you run with Vsync off and can stand all the cruddy screen tearing you get. I'm just wondering, because if WoW is the only game you play, then getting a 7870 might be slight overkill, since almost anything can run WoW. |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 11:17 am · (locked) |
McBrainBRB Face Melting join:2010-05-06 Marietta, GA |
I also drive a monster truck. |
actions · 2012-Sep-4 11:18 am · (locked) |
1 recommendation |
to Raible
said by Raible:said by primeomega:I still have my 285, it still runs most games out there. I can play Skyrim among others just fine. To really see a big jump in FPS, you will need to move to the 600 cards. I just got a 670 a few days ago. You will see a little boost with the 570. Anything less than that really is not worth it. Unlike Prime's speculation, I have actually upgraded from a 285 to a 570 and I can assure you it's a significant difference. And I was happy I paid every bit of the $300 it cost me at the time. You also get DX11 out of the deal. You still need a new OS though. A little late to the discussion but I just upgraded my GTX280(not quite a 285) to an EVGA Superclocked GTX570 and I see a heck of a difference. At $250(after a $20 rebate), I thought it was a great deal. I couldn't justify jumping the extra $$$ for a 580/670/680. |
actions · 2012-Sep-7 11:54 am · (locked) |
McBrainBRB Face Melting join:2010-05-06 Marietta, GA |
I'm loving the 7870 I got earlier this week. I've overclocked my CPU to just north of 4GHz, and could probably use 2 or 300 more MHz of clock speed to get rid of the bottleneck the Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition puts on the graphics card. |
actions · 2012-Sep-7 12:16 pm · (locked) |