Help me choose a new video card...

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crashingmedic

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I just upgraded my system from mildly OC'ed q6600 (3.0Ghz) and and old lga775 motherboard with 8GB DDR2 and here is what I currently have...


My main machine...

Intel i5 2500k (4.4Ghz OC stable in all tasks so far)
COOLER MASTER Seidon 120XL (keeps temps in the high 20's and low 30's on idle and in the 40's during gaming with stated OC)
Asrock z77 Extreme6 motherboard
EVGA GTS 450 SC x 2
Sandisk Extreme 240GB SSD
WD Black 1TB x 2
WD Green 2TB
16GB (2X8GB) DDR31600 Crucial Ballistix Sport
LG 24x DVDRW
Coolmax 950 PS (CUG-950B)
Antec NineHundred Ultimate Gamer Case
Acer AL2223W 22” LCD x 4
W7 Ultimate 64-Bit


I am looking at upgrading my graphics cards from my current dual set up to a single card. I do use SLI on occasion when gaming with Crysis 1 & 2 and some other older titles, but not everyday.

I've been looking at the Nvidia 600 and new 700 series cards and have been narrowing it down between either a couple of 650 ti boost 2gb cards, a single gtx 670 4gb card, or new gtx 760 4gb card. I've been looking at used cards on eBay but my favorite so far is a new card MSI GTX 760 below...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127748

My primary uses for the card will be using financial software for trading via all 4 monitors at 1680x1050 as well as a good deal of video encoding of family home movies. I do some moderate gaming as well and intend to buy some of the newest games such as Metro Last Light, Bioshock Infinite, and a few newer titles as well. I will also in the future be upgrading my monitors to 1080p so this is a strong consideration in my decision. I usually build a new system every 5 years (last in 2008) and upgrade my video cards approx half way through, like I did this time buying the two GTS 450s in late 2010.

I'd like to stay with Nvidia vs AMD because of driver issues from AMD which I always seem to have with my trading software. My budget is around the $300 range max but if possible I'd like to stay within the $250 area. However, if the right card presents itself, $300 or just over is no problem. I'd also like my card to last at least 3 years and more if possible to be able to keep up with the newer games being released.

Any help is appreciated. Please no AMD fanboy responses (nothing personal but AMD drivers don't like my trading software and I've had nothing but problems in the past).

Thanks in advance.


EWB
 
Solution
geofelt
For gaming, the GTX760 would be the best performer.
I might prefer the cheaper and equally good performing EVGA GTX760 superclocked:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130934
The direct exhaust cooler will get the hot air out of your case quicker.

As a trader, I have a wild thought for you.
Look at the seiki 50" 4k monitor for $1500 or so. I saw it at CompUSA and the picture is stunning. It is no good as a gaming monitor since it will only go 30hz.
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geofelt

geofelt

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For gaming, the GTX760 would be the best performer.
I might prefer the cheaper and equally good performing EVGA GTX760 superclocked:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130934
The direct exhaust cooler will get the hot air out of your case quicker.

As a trader, I have a wild thought for you.
Look at the seiki 50" 4k monitor for $1500 or so. I saw it at CompUSA and the picture is stunning. It is no good as a gaming monitor since it will only go 30hz.
 
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Solution
Diamond-HP

Diamond-HP

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Feb 4, 2013
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If your using multiple screens it would be good for you to have a card that can access 2GB+.

The problem with your choice of 760 is it does not have the bandwidth to access its 4GB of VRAM ....... silly I know.

To have a set up running multiple 1080p screens won't be cheap and AMD cards usually have superior bandwidth for VRAM however you've explained why you'd prefer Nvidia so in that case you may as well get the 760 2GB version and save some money.

If a 760 can't use it's 4GB VRAM what's the point in paying for it?
 
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Diamond-HP

Diamond-HP

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Well that basically show's equal performance but on your function vs performance comment.

I've heard even if a game or set up were to draw a need for more VRAM the 760 can't provide it due to not having enough bandwidth to provide it.

What's your take on that?
 
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jessterman21

jessterman21

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Dec 14, 2010
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Not sure if you have the monitors set up in 2+2 or 3+1, and if you game on 3 monitors (I'd find that difficult with just 2 450s...)

If you game on just one monitor, go for the GTX 760 2GB.
If you game on 3 monitors but don't use a lot of antialiasing and HD textures in your games, then go for the GTX 760 2GB. You'll probably never saturate 2GB VRAM.
If you game on 3 monitors, and use >4xMSAA in all your games, plus Ultra textures or HD texture mods, then go for an HD 7950 3GB.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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My thought is that vram behaves somewhat like system ram. You want enough so that most of what you need fits in the available space.
If you run out of space, extra work is done either by pcie data transfers or paging operations respectively.
 
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Diamond-HP

Diamond-HP

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Yes but as I mentioned that wasn't my point, my point was a GPU needs enough bandwidth to be able to utilize the VRAM it has and reports are that the GTX 760 does not have enough bandwidth to make use of 4 GB VRAM.
 
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Diamond-HP

Diamond-HP

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Of course its about frames per second however the test you showed was a straight match and that is for 2 reasons ......

1) Hardly anything out on the market even at 1080p requires more than 2GB of VRAM so how can you measure the 2GB vs the 4GB?

2) The one thing I've been trying to get across (and failing for some reason) is that even if you could run a game bench of something that would require more than 2GB for example Crisis 3 on a 1440p screen, surely here 4GB would help? wrong, because as I'm trying to point out the GTX 760 is NOT powerful enough to harness the 4GB of VRAM it possess's!

Here is an excerpt from a review ......

"GeForce GTX 760 EVGA 4GB Edition is a special edition of GeForce GTX 760.
This edition comes with a frame buffer twice as big as the reference card. However, this Graphics Card is not powerful enough to work under the circumstances needed to use so much video memory and so it's a gimmick.
Therefore, it performs like the reference card." (As in the 2GB version)

http://www.game-debate.com/hardware/?gid=1803&graphics=GeForce%20GTX%20760%20EVGA%204GB%20Edition
 
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