Time for An Upgrade!

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ericlplante

Honorable
Feb 20, 2014
34
0
10,530
Its about time for me to replace my old EVGA GTX 560 after recently overclocking my cpu, upgrading my ram and installing a SSD.

I am looking for a card in the $150-$250 and with the recent Newegg Sale was looking at the
MSI N660
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127756&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL041814&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL041814-_-EMC-041814-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsVideoCards-_-14127756-L07B

as well as the MSI R9 270X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127761&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL041814&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL041814-_-EMC-041814-Index-_-DesktopGraphicsVideoCards-_-14127761-L06D

So I have three questions

1. My MOBO is a older, it does have a PCIe x16 slot but I am not sure if it is PCI express 3.0, how would I check this?
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M4N68TM_V2/specifications/

2. Of these two graphics cards mentioned above, which would be the best for my money? (I would be running with an AMD Phenom XII BE 965 4.2 x4 OC W/C'd)

3. Are there any other cards out there that would be better suited for my set up and still in my price range?

Thanks!
 
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coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
The PCI-E version will not be a problem, use GPU-Z (excellent little freebie BTW) to see what it is if you're curious..
Run the render test (click on the blue ? beside the PCI-E info to run it) to make sure it is reporting the correct revision and link speed, many cards drop to lower speeds or an older revision (my board reports PCI-E 1.1@x16 under idle but the correct 2.0x16 under the test).
With the CPU so very nicely overclocked :) I'd say it may be best for you to go to the upper edge of your $250 and look for a GTX760, it's noticeably faster than the 660: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html
Of the two listed probably the R9 270X edges the GTX660 out in value, it's a fair bit quicker for those extra $20.
 
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theadler

theadler

Honorable
Jan 28, 2014
267
1
10,960
You're better of upgrading your motherboard to something with at least a PCIe 2.0. Yours is a 1.0. While you can buy the 3.0 card and put into your computer, it might work. Might. But at the very least you will see no improvement due to bandwidth limitations of your board. You may even see poorer performance. If you have to keep your current mobo, go for a GTX 650. But I will say that it's time to upgrade your board. It's too old.
 
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