Upgrading from a GTX 560 ti

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

Hi everyone, I have an Intel i7 870 with 8gbs of RAM, a 700 or 750 watt PSU and a Nvidia GTX 560 ti. I would like to beef up my graphically capabilities for when Rome 2 and Battlefield 4 comes out. However I'm not savvy with computer parts or installation so i'm not sure what will work with my set up. What would be a worthwhile and cost effective card to upgrade from a 560 ti? Thanks!

sam_p_lay · Jul 11, 2013

The GTX760 is what you want. Anything more and you're paying a lot for relatively small gains. Anything less and it won't be a massively noticeable upgrade. It happens to be incredible performance for the price so an excellent choice.

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

sam_p_lay :

That won't require me upgrading my motherboard or anything will it? I have no idea how these things connect and what pins they need.

sam_p_lay · Jul 11, 2013

Nah you're fine with what you have. A power supply able to power a GTX560 Ti should be ample for a GTX760 (the recent models are incredibly energy-efficient) and the card will be fully compatible with your PCI-E slot.

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

sam_p_lay :

Should I try installing it myself? I have taken my tower apart before and i'm sure I can figure how to connect it, I'm just not sure about the process of installing drivers or if i have to uninstall my old driver?

TidusJames · Jul 11, 2013

Ive got two msi 560 ti 2GB editions, and i ALMOST bought a 760... but then i figured to hell with that, i can already play everything, i would have to get two 760s to notice an increase, so im waiting till ~march~ or next year for the 860s....

but if you are going to go with a 760, get the 4GB edition, its only 10$ more then the others, but that extra VRAM will help insure you dont need to upgrade for a while.

sam_p_lay · Jul 11, 2013

Yeah it's dead easy. Touch an unpainted part of the case first while the PSU is still plugged in (but switched off) to ground yourself. Disconnect the PCI-E connectors and unscrew the GTX560 Ti mounting bracket and remember to use the clip at the far end of the PCI-E slot to release the card as you pull it out (assuming you have a clip). Pop the GTX760 in, screw in the mounting bracket and connect the PCI-E connectors. Uninstall nVIDIA drivers before all that and reinstall fresh drivers after booting with the GTX760.

And if the best price on a 4GB really is only $10 more than the best 2GB price then go for it! For comparison:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_760/27.html

And some prices (there may be good deals not listed here):

http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/video-card/#sort=a5&qq=1&c=142

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

sam_p_lay :

Awesome, thanks so much. I'll give it a go. I was always afraid of messing with the drivers because I thought if I'd uninstall it then I wouldn't get video to my display and then be screwed lol.

drewhoo · Jul 11, 2013

The PCIe revision for the 760 is 3.0. The PCIe revision for your processor is 2.0. That may seem like an incompatibility, but no GPU currently on the market can saturate a PCIe 2.0 slot, and PCIe is backwards/forward compatible, so NBD.

I agree that it would not be worth your time or money to upgrade with less than a 760. However, if you have two x16 PCIe slots on your motherboard, you might also consider buying a matching 560 Ti (same make/model/edition). I think they run as low as $130 now. 700W seems like it would support a second Fermi GPU at stock speeds.

If you haven't overclocked your 560 Ti, that card is remarkably overclockable. My 560 Ti AMP! performance falls right in the gap between a 560 Ti and a 570, in some games edging very close to 570 stock speeds. I can still get framerates in the 40s on medium-high settings on DX11 games on 2560x1440, so I, too, am waiting until the 800 series to upgrade.

Another thing to consider is that the performance increase between architectures is greater than the performance increase between series of the same architecture. 500 is Fermi, 600/700 are Kepler architecure, and 800 is Maxwell. So 500 to 600 was a big performance increase, 600 to 700 was a smaller performance increase, and so 700 to 800 should be a big performance increase.

It sounds like you've gotten a lot of mileage out of your card, and if I were in your shoes (I am in your shoes, really) I would put aside $250-$300 for a new card in case your current one fails while waiting on the 860.

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

drewhoo :

The PCIe revision for the 760 is 3.0. The PCIe revision for your processor is 2.0. That may seem like an incompatibility, but no GPU currently on the market can saturate a PCIe 2.0 slot, and PCIe is backwards/forward compatible, so NBD.

I agree that it would not be worth your time or money to upgrade with less than a 760. However, if you have two x16 PCIe slots on your motherboard, you might also consider buying a matching 560 Ti (same make/model/edition). I think they run as low as $130 now. 700W seems like it would support a second Fermi GPU at stock speeds.

If you haven't overclocked your 560 Ti, that card is remarkably overclockable. My 560 Ti AMP! performance falls right in the gap between a 560 Ti and a 570, in some games edging very close to 570 stock speeds. I can still get framerates in the 40s on medium-high settings on DX11 games on 2560x1440, so I, too, am waiting until the 800 series to upgrade.

Another thing to consider is that the performance increase between architectures is greater than the performance increase between series of the same architecture. 500 is Fermi, 600/700 are Kepler architecure, and 800 is Maxwell. So 500 to 600 was a big performance increase, 600 to 700 was a smaller performance increase, and so 700 to 800 should be a big performance increase.

It sounds like you've gotten a lot of mileage out of your card, and if I were in your shoes (I am in your shoes, really) I would put aside $250-$300 for a new card in case your current one fails while waiting on the 860.

Is it easy to overclock a card if you don't know what you're doing? My card is an EVGA but I don't remember which edition? Overclock, superclock, something like that. It's the 1024 GB of RAM though.

sam_p_lay · Jul 11, 2013

Glad to help

drewhoo · Jul 11, 2013

chrisfromoh :

Hmmm, it sounds like your card is already overclocked (though I would still verify... maybe look up your order history wherever you bought it), and even if it isn't a super overclock, it is unlikely that you would get a meaningful amount of extra performance by overclocking it further. I would start by installing MSI Afterburner or EVGA's Precision X: https://www.evga.com/precision/

A lot folks prefer MSI Afterburner regardless of their card's brand (The Zotac software that came with my card was terrible, so I also use MSI Afterburner).

chrisfromoh · Jul 11, 2013

drewhoo :

chrisfromoh :

Hmmm, it sounds like your card is already overclocked (though I would still verify... maybe look up your order history wherever you bought it), and even if it isn't a super overclock, it is unlikely that you would get a meaningful amount of extra performance by overclocking it further. I would start by installing MSI Afterburner or EVGA's Precision X: https://www.evga.com/precision/

A lot folks prefer MSI Afterburner regardless of their card's brand (The Zotac software that came with my card was terrible, so I also use MSI Afterburner).

Yeah, you're right. I believe it was overclocked from the factory. I better not mess with it anymore lol.

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