Questions about GPU upgrade

Ahriman · Jul 22, 2013

Hello, I bought an AM3970g-uw10p desktop for the purpose of gaming about a year ago. I now need to upgrade the GPU and PSU for this machine as the stock card is to be polite, not very good. I have received advice on these forums to go for a Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (PSU) and a Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 OC 2GB DDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/DVI-D/DP PCI-Express Graphics Card for the GPU. Specs for my current system here (http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=AM3970G-UW10P-FB-R). Can anyone confirm that this setup would be compatible and what i was looking for? For a reference of what I want to do with the desktop, being able to run the witcher2 and planetside 2 as well as some of the next gen stuff ( DA inquistion etc) at a reasonable rate on medium/high settings would be the goal. Any assistance would be very much appreciated.

RyanTH98 · Jul 22, 2013

Ahriman :

Corsair is a very good and well known brand so you can't go wrong with the PSU. The graphics cards will be compatible with your current motherboard since you currently have a PCI Express 2.0 x16 lane. Additionally you should be able to attain playable frame rates at medium and high settings.

robert_johnson · Jul 22, 2013

The power supply should be correct. However, to be sure, you can check the power supply's connectivity here :
http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx600-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

As for the graphic card, it should fit in your computer and the suggested power supply has the required 2x75 Watt 6-pin power connectors.
As for performance, assuming that you are playing at 1080p, The Witcher 2 has a very good performance but for Planetside 2 you will need to lower you settings.

You can check the following benchmarks:
http://forums.videocardz.com/topic/188-planetside-2-performance-test/
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page10.html

What is your budget for this upgrade?

Ahriman · Jul 22, 2013

robert_johnson :

The power supply should be correct. However, to be sure, you can check the power supply's connectivity here :
http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx600-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

As for the graphic card, it should fit in your computer and the suggested power supply has the required 2x75 Watt 6-pin power connectors.
As for performance, assuming that you are playing at 1080p, The Witcher 2 has a very good performance but for Planetside 2 you will need to lower you settings.

You can check the following benchmarks:
http://forums.videocardz.com/topic/188-planetside-2-performance-test/
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page10.html

What is your budget for this upgrade?

Max 300$ would I get medium settings on PS2?

Ahriman · Jul 22, 2013

robert_johnson :

The power supply should be correct. However, to be sure, you can check the power supply's connectivity here :
http://www.corsair.com/builder-series-cx600-v2-80plus-certified-power-supply.html

As for the graphic card, it should fit in your computer and the suggested power supply has the required 2x75 Watt 6-pin power connectors.
As for performance, assuming that you are playing at 1080p, The Witcher 2 has a very good performance but for Planetside 2 you will need to lower you settings.

You can check the following benchmarks:
http://forums.videocardz.com/topic/188-planetside-2-performance-test/
http://www.techspot.com/review/603-best-graphics-cards/page10.html

What is your budget for this upgrade?

Could I manage medium settings for PS2 with this? also about 300$

RyanTH98 · Jul 22, 2013

Ahriman :

If you buy this power supply:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
Which has tons of reviews and has 4 stars.

You could use the left over 240 dollars to get a 7870 Tahiti LE or you could even save it up a little and get a gtx 760.

Ahriman · Jul 22, 2013

RyanTH98 :

Ahriman :

If you buy this power supply:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341022
Which has tons of reviews and has 4 stars.

You could use the left over 240 dollars to get a 7870 Tahiti LE or you could even save it up a little and get a gtx 760.

What would the difference in PSU be other than price with the one I listed?
Also, would that 7870 tahiti le work on my comp, it says on newegg that it is pci-e v3.0

RyanTH98 · Jul 22, 2013

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

What would the difference in PSU be other than price with the one I listed?
Also, would that 7870 tahiti le work on my comp, it says on newegg that it is pci-e v3.0

Yes the watts on this PSU are 550 watts instead of 600. So a little give and take really. You could trade a little wattage on your PSU for a better GPU or have a higher wattage PSU and a lower graphics cards. And PCIE 3.0 cards are backwards compatible with PCIE 2.0 slots. 550 watts should be enough for a 7870 tahiti le.

robert_johnson · Jul 22, 2013

GTX 760 with the power supply that RyanTH98 suggested would be the best option, but it would be over your budget ( $320 USD ).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125466

Or you could consider, Radeon HD7870Ghz Edition with the same power supply ($245 USD)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605

For the Planetside 2, I think that you could tweak the game to run comfortably at 1080p with medium.

This tweak guide may help you : http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/guides/planetside-2-tweak-guide#1

RyanTH98 · Jul 22, 2013

robert_johnson :

If you want the best value for the money 7870 is in 4th place based on passmark scores. But with the interesting features that Nvidia has coming out such as Shadow play and of course physx or you can just use the driver hack and get it on an AMD card and it comes with a free splinter cell game. He could even lower the price overall if he doesn't want the game he could sell the game that comes along with it. Which would total in at 260. Honestly it's up to the OP if he can sell the game that comes with the card and get get some money back that would be the best option. If he doesn't want to go through that then he can get a 7870 seeing as it's a very nice card for the money.

Ahriman · Jul 23, 2013

RyanTH98 :

Ok for the 7870 I like the graphics set up and it checks out as fairly good, however there are a lot (20+) complaints of crashing, really bugged out cards that are just broken. Therefore I am not sure about picking up a discontinued card that has a bit of a service record issue but I am not exactly a GPU expert. Have you guys heard anything about this issue?
Also, what do you think about the nvidia equivalent for this card ( I believe this would be a 660ti)

RyanTH98 · Jul 23, 2013

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

Ok for the 7870 I like the graphics set up and it checks out as fairly good, however there are a lot (20+) complaints of crashing, really bugged out cards that are just broken. Therefore I am not sure about picking up a discontinued card that has a bit of a service record issue but I am not exactly a GPU expert. Have you guys heard anything about this issue?
Also, what do you think about the nvidia equivalent for this card ( I believe this would be a 660ti)

Wow I didn't notice that but tons of cards are being discontinued. Maybe it's because of the 8000 series coming soon which are basically re batches of the 7000 series from the OEM's. The nvidia equivalent would be a 760 the 660 ti is currently higher priced and performs worse than a 760. Nvidia made the gtx 760 to replace the gtx 660 ti.

Ahriman · Jul 23, 2013

RyanTH98 :

Ahriman :

Wow I didn't notice that but tons of cards are being discontinued. Maybe it's because of the 8000 series coming soon which are basically re batches of the 7000 series from the OEM's. The nvidia equivalent would be a 760 the 660 ti is currently higher priced and performs worse than a 760. Nvidia made the gtx 760 to replace the gtx 660 ti.

Ok, thanks. nvidia uses a different manufacturers I guess and I don't really know anything about them. what would be a good model of gtx760 to look at? ( In the vein of sapphire etc for radeon)

robert_johnson · Jul 23, 2013

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

Ahriman :

Wow I didn't notice that but tons of cards are being discontinued. Maybe it's because of the 8000 series coming soon which are basically re batches of the 7000 series from the OEM's. The nvidia equivalent would be a 760 the 660 ti is currently higher priced and performs worse than a 760. Nvidia made the gtx 760 to replace the gtx 660 ti.

Ok, thanks. nvidia uses a different manufacturers I guess and I don't really know anything about them. what would be a good model of gtx760 to look at? ( In the vein of sapphire etc for radeon)

For NVIDIA, EVGA is a good manufacturer. You could look at this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130933

RyanTH98 · Jul 23, 2013

robert_johnson :

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

Ok, thanks. nvidia uses a different manufacturers I guess and I don't really know anything about them. what would be a good model of gtx760 to look at? ( In the vein of sapphire etc for radeon)

For NVIDIA, EVGA is a good manufacturer. You could look at this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130933

Their customer service I heard is excellent. Though from some noise and heat tests I've seen online a MSI gtx 760 would be better all around :http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4608/8/geforce-gtx-760-round-up-asus-vs-msi-vs-evga-vs-inno-3d-cooling-and-noise-levels

Ahriman · Jul 23, 2013

RyanTH98 :

robert_johnson :

Ahriman :

For NVIDIA, EVGA is a good manufacturer. You could look at this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130933

Their customer service I heard is excellent. Though from some noise and heat tests I've seen online a MSI gtx 760 would be better all around :http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4608/8/geforce-gtx-760-round-up-asus-vs-msi-vs-evga-vs-inno-3d-cooling-and-noise-levels

I cannot find the exact case that comes with my am3970g-uw10p but if anyone can confirm with a link that the 760 gtx by either msi or evga would fit in my case. Also definite figures on the power load for this one (MSI N760 TF 2GD5/OC) would be appreciated. If it can run of the 80+ bronze corsair cx600 I was originally planning on getting and fits then I will stop bothering you guys for fact finding and buy the darn thing lol.

Ahriman · Jul 23, 2013

byogamingpc :

Thanks for the power figures. Do you think that the card would fit in my case? Also would the cx600 have enough connectors to power my whole system appropriately with a msi gtx760 (list here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028)?

Ahriman · Jul 23, 2013

RyanTH98 :

robert_johnson :

Ahriman :

For NVIDIA, EVGA is a good manufacturer. You could look at this card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130933

Their customer service I heard is excellent. Though from some noise and heat tests I've seen online a MSI gtx 760 would be better all around :http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4608/8/geforce-gtx-760-round-up-asus-vs-msi-vs-evga-vs-inno-3d-cooling-and-noise-levels

Any ideas about this question ryan (Do you think that the card would fit in my case? Also would the cx600 have enough connectors to power my whole system appropriately with a msi gtx760 (list here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028)?)

robert_johnson · Jul 23, 2013

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

robert_johnson :

Their customer service I heard is excellent. Though from some noise and heat tests I've seen online a MSI gtx 760 would be better all around :http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4608/8/geforce-gtx-760-round-up-asus-vs-msi-vs-evga-vs-inno-3d-cooling-and-noise-levels

Any ideas about this question ryan (Do you think that the card would fit in my case? Also would the cx600 have enough connectors to power my whole system appropriately with a msi gtx760 (list here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028)?)

The CX600 has the required cables to power the card and the system as well.
From the image of your system, the card should fit in.

RyanTH98 · Jul 23, 2013

Ahriman :

RyanTH98 :

robert_johnson :

Their customer service I heard is excellent. Though from some noise and heat tests I've seen online a MSI gtx 760 would be better all around :http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4608/8/geforce-gtx-760-round-up-asus-vs-msi-vs-evga-vs-inno-3d-cooling-and-noise-levels

Any ideas about this question ryan (Do you think that the card would fit in my case? Also would the cx600 have enough connectors to power my whole system appropriately with a msi gtx760 (list here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028)?)

Yes your PSU will accommodate your card and your system. Iv'e had that same system but I soon changed the case. I put a powercolor 7750 in there before. Honestly I would just open up your case and measure the space available. The card is 10 1/2 inches long.

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