- May 11, 2014
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Hello everyone, I'm a new member here on tom's hardware and I'm a newbie at working with PC hardware. I have a custom built gaming PC that I got pre-built from ibuypower and I've never actually gotten my hands dirty and installed/changed any parts, however I think it may be time for an upgrade after about 2 years with the same hardware.
Let's jump right into it. I'm making this thread because I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card from my Nvidia GTX 650ti to a GTX 760 or more likely a GTX 770. I have a few questions about wether or not I will be able to do this without making more changes in the form of my case or PSU.
My first question is about wether or not either of those cards will physically fit in my case as they are much larger than my current card. I have linked all the specifications for each card above. My case is the NZXT Guardian 921RB which is a mid-tower case. Part of my concern is that I have a lot of hard drive bays that would be in the way for the length of the new graphics card. I only have one Hard drive in my PC right now so most of the bays are empty but I don't know if they can be removed to make room for the graphics card.
My second question is regarding my PSU and it's compatibility with either the GTX 760 or GTX 770. My current PSU is a Corsair AX1200. The GTX 650ti has one 6-pin connector but the GTX 760 has two 6-pin connectors and the GTX 770 has one 8-pin and one 6-pin connector. I honestly don't know what this means as far as compatibility or if it just means I need to get some new cables/adapters or something. As for the wattage, I'm pretty sure 1200w should be more than enough for any card.
My third question is about manufacture brands of graphics cards. I've seen that you can get graphics cards from many different manufactures and I'm not sure what's best for me or what's good quality/what isn't. Does brand name matter? For example, this GTX 770 is made by "Gigabyte" and this one is made by "Asus" and has slightly different specs. Can anyone give any insight into what brand name means in this situation and possibly offer some advice?
My fourth and final question which may be a dumb one is about bottlenecking. I've heard a lot about how bottlenecking is a serious issue for graphics card/CPU combos and I don't think that I'd have any issues but I thought I'd check to be sure. My current CPU is an Intel i7 3770k 8-core running at 3.5Ghz.
So that's all the questions I have regarding upgrading my graphics card. If you need any more information in order to properly help or give advice then please let me know. Thanks a lot to everyone who read this and to everyone willing to lend a helping hand. I really appreciate it.
Let's jump right into it. I'm making this thread because I'm looking to upgrade my graphics card from my Nvidia GTX 650ti to a GTX 760 or more likely a GTX 770. I have a few questions about wether or not I will be able to do this without making more changes in the form of my case or PSU.
My first question is about wether or not either of those cards will physically fit in my case as they are much larger than my current card. I have linked all the specifications for each card above. My case is the NZXT Guardian 921RB which is a mid-tower case. Part of my concern is that I have a lot of hard drive bays that would be in the way for the length of the new graphics card. I only have one Hard drive in my PC right now so most of the bays are empty but I don't know if they can be removed to make room for the graphics card.
My second question is regarding my PSU and it's compatibility with either the GTX 760 or GTX 770. My current PSU is a Corsair AX1200. The GTX 650ti has one 6-pin connector but the GTX 760 has two 6-pin connectors and the GTX 770 has one 8-pin and one 6-pin connector. I honestly don't know what this means as far as compatibility or if it just means I need to get some new cables/adapters or something. As for the wattage, I'm pretty sure 1200w should be more than enough for any card.
My third question is about manufacture brands of graphics cards. I've seen that you can get graphics cards from many different manufactures and I'm not sure what's best for me or what's good quality/what isn't. Does brand name matter? For example, this GTX 770 is made by "Gigabyte" and this one is made by "Asus" and has slightly different specs. Can anyone give any insight into what brand name means in this situation and possibly offer some advice?
My fourth and final question which may be a dumb one is about bottlenecking. I've heard a lot about how bottlenecking is a serious issue for graphics card/CPU combos and I don't think that I'd have any issues but I thought I'd check to be sure. My current CPU is an Intel i7 3770k 8-core running at 3.5Ghz.
So that's all the questions I have regarding upgrading my graphics card. If you need any more information in order to properly help or give advice then please let me know. Thanks a lot to everyone who read this and to everyone willing to lend a helping hand. I really appreciate it.
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