GPU Upgrade Questions

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martkosmidgard

martkosmidgard

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Hello people, this is my first post ^^

I'm thinking about upgrading my current GPU to a more future-proof one. I was thinking about getting a GTX 970 (msi, gigabyte, asus or w/e) since it's not that power hungry compared to its equivalent AMD ones. Been reading so many reviews that i feel kinda lost.

Is the 970 an overkill ? And all these things about bottlenecking have troubled me but I can't afford a new mobo/cpu/psu upgrade at the moment.

My budget is around 375-440 $
(300-350 euros)

Here's my current setup :

CPU : AMD FX-6300 cooled by a Zalman CNPS7x
GPU : Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 OC 1GB
PSU: OCZ Fatal1ty 550W
RAM: 8GB (2x4) Corsair Vengeance
HDD: WD Black 500GB
MB: Asrock 970 extreme3


- I've never managed to overclock the 6300
- 1080p monitor gaming



What do you guys think ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance,
Mark.
 
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madmatt30


I have this one mated & couldnt be happier - it was sent out me as a temporary 14 day replacement for a msi gaming edition gtx 970 which had a faulty fan
I decided to keep it as to me it seems the better card & is one of the cheapest - build quality wise at least anyway - not had a problem at all with it - very cool & quiet.would appear that its omnly available in europe & the far east not the american regions.

http://www.galax.net/europe/970exoc.html
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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^ no you won't need to switch to Intel at all!!

I've said this a million times ,a 970 pairs fine with a fx6300 - it'll limit the GPU but you'll still be able to max settings on any games and just forget about it.
The 6300 is a better performer at 4ghz it'll remove any noticeable bottlenecking at that speed - your motherboard should be entirely capable of that kind of of IMO.
 
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iron8orn

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To put it nicely, the FX-8370E is a true middle-of-the-road CPU. Using it only makes sense as long as the graphics card you choose comes from a similar performance segment.

Depending on the game in question, AMD’s new processor has the potential to keep you happy around the AMD Radeon R9 270X/285 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or 660 Ti level.

A higher- or even high-end graphics card doesn’t make sense, as pairing it with AMD's FX-8370E simply limits the card's potential.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-fx-8370e-cpu,3929-7.html
takin from^^^
 
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martkosmidgard

martkosmidgard

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Don't think i'll be throwing money away, since I can rock the 970 with the 6300 as madmatt said. At least until i get the money for a more substantial CPU/MOBO upgrade.
Isn't the 970 decent enough for the next (?) couple of years ?

By the way madmatt, won't there be any power issues if I OC the 6300 ? I know I'm askjng dumb questions but I've never OC'd before :s
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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The 970 is the best card nvidia have ever made IMO along with the 750 ti.
Theyre both incrediible feats of engineering regarding performance/power draw/temp ratios.nvidia have never ever competed against at I/amd on the GPU front when it comes to price/performance IMO.
Whenever nvidia have released a card in the past a couple of months later amd have dropped a chipset with 10-15% performance increase at a lower price point & stolen the market back
Think they're nackered this time - you can tell by the massive drop in prices of the 280x/290 in a bid to compete.
I reckon the 970 is honestly that powerful it'll be good for 3-4 years.
Regarding the blatant Intel fanboyism (& its rife all over the forums) don't take it negatively - the fx6300 is IMO still the best sub $100 gaming CPU around ,the low end i3's & pentium G are not a patch with new titles becoming note & more multi threaded.
Regarding ovrrclocking the 6300 is a 95w chip,running at 4ghz pushes it to around 120w max which is still lower than the tdp of the 8320/8350.
Your cooler/mb are not the best but entirely capable of running at 4ghz IMO.
I was running a 280x before the 970 - the 970 is an obvious improvement - not massive but wjrteas I had to tinker with a few settings to get a solid 60fps,with the 970 its literally max everything & leave it alone.
50 or 60 fps frame locked is what I'm after in games - I couldn't care less that with vsnc off in a game an i5 with a 970 can pull 120fps,while the 6300 will only get 100fps - its totally & utterly irrelevant IMO.
 
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iron8orn

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mostly in online multi-player i would say but not totally sure. the fact is every game is different and some games will be fine and some games will be really shitty.

tom's considers every game when coming to a conclusion such as that with years of expert experience..
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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YOU personally coming up from a 7770 to a gtx 970 wouldn't notice a bottleneck even if there is one.its such a massive upgrade I think you'll be more than happy.
To put it into perspective - pick a game you have now - run it on the lowest settings & measure your fps.
Now bring a 970 into the equation ,play the same game ,put all the graphics settings to maximum & I guarantee that at the very least the fps will equal or 99% more likely surpass by a long way what the 7770 could manage on low.
In console term its equivalent of going from the ps1 or ps2 to the ps4 in one jump.
 
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martkosmidgard

martkosmidgard

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Damn I'm pretty sure i'll go for it :D
Can't wait to max out GTA V and Shadow of Mordor :3
Do you have any specific manufacturer suggestion ? Gigabyte, Asus, EVGA etc.

gosh, hope i don't burn anything lol
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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I have this one mated & couldnt be happier - it was sent out me as a temporary 14 day replacement for a msi gaming edition gtx 970 which had a faulty fan
I decided to keep it as to me it seems the better card & is one of the cheapest - build quality wise at least anyway - not had a problem at all with it - very cool & quiet.would appear that its omnly available in europe & the far east not the american regions.

http://www.galax.net/europe/970exoc.html
 
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