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GTX 660Ti Which one to buy?

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  • Gtx
  • Computers
  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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January 19, 2014 9:02:30 PM

Lately, I have been saving up some cash in order to buy a new graphics card for my computer (upgrading substantially from GT 610). After doing some research and giving it some thought, I decided that the best GPU to upgrade to would be GeForce's GTX 660Ti. Although I know which model to get, I've found that there are tons of different brand names like Gigabyte and Zotac. All in all, here are the questions that I need answered...

Are there differences between brands and which one would you recommend?

What does the video memory exactly mean?

Where and what is the best 660Ti GPU I can get for its price (links would be appreciated)?

I have a $430 price limit but would like to save as much money as possible while also getting the biggest "bang for my buck." If it's relevant, I have a 500W power supply and would need to get an adapter to make the GPU compatible with my monitor (VGA format, also nice if adapter comes with card but obviously not necessary). If you need some more specs or information from me in order to help just ask. Thank you very much!


Edit: some system specs and reply to woltej1 below...

Edit 2: new parts decided upon, Thanks to everyone who posted and helped out. Have a nice day!

More about : gtx 660ti buy

a c 102 U Graphics card
January 19, 2014 9:11:44 PM

Your entire system specs would be nice to know. Also, what resolution do you play at and what games do you play as this will determine what card you would need to get acceptable FPS. Asus, evga and MSI are the best brands to go for. The difference is in the coolers on the cards, each company has their own, and also the quality. From what I can see the 660ti is phased out and hard to find. You can get a 760 for a similar price and much better performance.

Video memory refers to the RAM on the card. This is used to store the images being rendered by the GPU and other information. For a gpu in your price range 2gb will suffice as the GPUs won't be powerful enough to render images too detailed for 2gb of VRAM.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=... Evga

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CJPTot... Asus

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=CJPBp-... MSI.
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January 20, 2014 2:23:17 AM

Thank you for replying. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong places? Anyway, my monitor has a native resolution of 1920X1080p, although, I commonly don't play games at that resolution. I usually turn down the resolution to around 1280X720p as anything higher on certain games will lag a bit too much. I am currently (or will soon be) playing games such as Amnesia: AMfP, Bioshock Infinite, Skyrim, Payday 2, and Far Cry 3 (there's a lot of tweaking involved). I'll probably revisit Battlefield 3 as well. I wanted to upgrade because I wanted to play a game and have it look great without having to go to the settings and tune things down until I can get around 25fps. I was hoping to play games at the native 1920X1080p resolution or at least really close. I was also planning on using shaders in Minecraft as well, but my computer hasn't been able to handle it. As for the system specs, they are right here below...

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: GA-78LMT-S2
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8174MB RAM

I copy and pasted some things from the dxdiag. Hopefully it's the right stuff. As I said the current GPU I have is the GeForce GT 610. The power supply gives 500W. Another question, though. Is having a GPU that has a minimum system power requirement the same as your own a bad thing? Or does it not matter? Thanks again for replying. Let me know if you need anymore information. I hadn't noticed the GTX 760 before, but it does seem like a superior option. I'll check out those links, too.
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a c 102 U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 12:25:58 PM

I would suggest getting a cooler for your CPU and doing an OC if you get a 760. 500w will be fine for a 760 as the recommendations are usually well on the safe side. What brand is your PSU, if it is really low quality I would get a new one the keep your hardware safe. Good thing about the 760 is you can play at your max resolution with good graphics.
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a b U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 12:41:08 PM

I agree with these guys, for a budget of $430, only look a the 700 series cards. GTX760 or 770 are going to be your best choices. A 780 is overkill for 1080p gaming though.
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January 20, 2014 2:08:11 PM

The brand of the PSU is Turbolink (I believe). I've heard that certain brands can't take on graphics cards as well (or at all). Will the PSU I have suffice?
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a c 102 U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 2:13:01 PM

That is ranked as a PSU that should be replaced immediately even on a low end gaming system.

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

Your best option I say would be a 760 and a new power supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... here is a good psu at a good price.

I'm recommending the 760 even though the 770 is well within your price range because your CPU would hold back a 770 by a decent amount.
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January 20, 2014 2:38:21 PM

Thanks for the recommendations. So, replace the PSU with the suggested one (from others I've looked at, that's a really good price) and get the GTX 760 GPU from EVGA (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=...). These would be smart choices (just double-checking)? Also, out of curiosity, how would my CPU hold the 770 back? Thanks again for the help.
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a b U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 2:38:49 PM

I'd recommend a seasonic PSU. They are built like a tank and put out their power rating.
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a b U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 2:41:49 PM

ONEYG said:
Thanks for the recommendations. So, replace the PSU with the suggested one (from others I've looked at, that's a really good price) and get the GTX 760 GPU from EVGA (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=...). These would be smart choices (just double-checking)? Also, out of curiosity, how would my CPU hold the 770 back? Thanks again for the help.


Get the Superclocked version for $10 extra:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=...
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a c 102 U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 3:26:20 PM

The seasonic is definitely better quality and is more efficient, but I wouldn't say it's worth twice the price.
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a c 102 U Graphics card
January 20, 2014 3:59:38 PM

Yea, a quick look and at that price range there's a couple other good choices quality wise but they aren't modular like that one. Pull the trigger and buy that set up if you don't plan to upgrade your cpu soon.
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January 20, 2014 4:40:02 PM

Okay, then. Those are my final choices. Thank you again for helping so much. I learned a lot. Have a nice day!
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January 20, 2014 4:47:11 PM

Definitely go for 760 or 770 and i suggest asus directcuii, never zotac, at least i went for asus over gigabyte and msi (we dont have evga in turkey, so i have no experience on them)
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