- May 3, 2013
- 137
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- 10,710
Hi there!
As the title suggests, I'm on the verge of finally upgrading my old GTS 250 to something that will last me for hopefully a fair while.
Now initially, I wanted to tough out my 9 year old Dell (with a replaced 250 GTS) until this summer so I could build my own from scratch for the first time. However, disaster struck that damned machine 2 days before the beginning of my final internship year last fall - the mobo gave out. I had to get something built ASAP, so I got a decent custom for 750$ without a GPU, and placed that 250 in there; good enough since I didn't have much time for gaming anyway. (In other words, this is why my build has a K-chip, yet no real cooling for serious overclocking, entry-level mobo, so-so casing, etc... if I had done my build myself things would have been different but what's done is done and I accept it).
But now that I'm actually graduating, let's get serious: I want a performing GPU that will play recent and upcoming titles at very high settings/1080p.
I am currently leaning towards the GTX 770. But here are my questions:
1. What manufacturer should I get? I'm heavily leaning towards Gigabyte's WindForce (good bang-for-buck, good thermal, good db), but here's the thing: Since my case-cooling ain't the greatest, should I be worried about a cooling design that blows the hot air back into my chassis, or am I fine? If so, which do you recommend?
2. Also, I just want to confirm that Gigabyte's 770 would fit in my case (or any other 770s if need be).
3. Finally, torn on either getting 2gb vram or 4gb... Right now on NCIX the pricing on the 4gb GTX 770 are whack: around 600$ compared to 400-450$ for the 2gb! IF, and only if, prices align more like a 50$ premium over the standard 2gb in a few weeks, should I invest in 4gb? Yeah, I'm only going to be gaming at 1080p and 2gb is plenty for now, but this would be more towards future-proofing.
Thank you for your help! Here is my info (sorry for the long post...).
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within a month at the latest, most likely sooner.
BUDGET RANGE: ~400$ Canadian +/- 50$.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, varied from indie titles to Farcry 3: BD. At 1080p for the foreseeable future.
PREFERENCES: Nvidia, but not closed off towards AMD's 7970. Also, Gigabyte's WindForce if compatible with my case?
■ CURRENT COMPONENTS:
-GPU: MSI GTS 250
-PSU: Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W
-Mobo: Gigabyte Z77-D3H
-CPU: i5-3570K
-RAM: Kingston DDR3 @ 1333 (8gb)
-Case: Rosewill Redbone U3 (stock fans, 1 in front, 1 on side)
-Windows 7 x64
OVERCLOCKING: Slight, if any (until I get a better case/cooling).
SLI: Unlikely.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080.
As the title suggests, I'm on the verge of finally upgrading my old GTS 250 to something that will last me for hopefully a fair while.
Now initially, I wanted to tough out my 9 year old Dell (with a replaced 250 GTS) until this summer so I could build my own from scratch for the first time. However, disaster struck that damned machine 2 days before the beginning of my final internship year last fall - the mobo gave out. I had to get something built ASAP, so I got a decent custom for 750$ without a GPU, and placed that 250 in there; good enough since I didn't have much time for gaming anyway. (In other words, this is why my build has a K-chip, yet no real cooling for serious overclocking, entry-level mobo, so-so casing, etc... if I had done my build myself things would have been different but what's done is done and I accept it).
But now that I'm actually graduating, let's get serious: I want a performing GPU that will play recent and upcoming titles at very high settings/1080p.
I am currently leaning towards the GTX 770. But here are my questions:
1. What manufacturer should I get? I'm heavily leaning towards Gigabyte's WindForce (good bang-for-buck, good thermal, good db), but here's the thing: Since my case-cooling ain't the greatest, should I be worried about a cooling design that blows the hot air back into my chassis, or am I fine? If so, which do you recommend?
2. Also, I just want to confirm that Gigabyte's 770 would fit in my case (or any other 770s if need be).
3. Finally, torn on either getting 2gb vram or 4gb... Right now on NCIX the pricing on the 4gb GTX 770 are whack: around 600$ compared to 400-450$ for the 2gb! IF, and only if, prices align more like a 50$ premium over the standard 2gb in a few weeks, should I invest in 4gb? Yeah, I'm only going to be gaming at 1080p and 2gb is plenty for now, but this would be more towards future-proofing.
Thank you for your help! Here is my info (sorry for the long post...).
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within a month at the latest, most likely sooner.
BUDGET RANGE: ~400$ Canadian +/- 50$.
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, varied from indie titles to Farcry 3: BD. At 1080p for the foreseeable future.
PREFERENCES: Nvidia, but not closed off towards AMD's 7970. Also, Gigabyte's WindForce if compatible with my case?
■ CURRENT COMPONENTS:
-GPU: MSI GTS 250
-PSU: Thermaltake TR2 RX 750W
-Mobo: Gigabyte Z77-D3H
-CPU: i5-3570K
-RAM: Kingston DDR3 @ 1333 (8gb)
-Case: Rosewill Redbone U3 (stock fans, 1 in front, 1 on side)
-Windows 7 x64
OVERCLOCKING: Slight, if any (until I get a better case/cooling).
SLI: Unlikely.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080.
.
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