Best GPU for my budget and case details inside

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 12, 2015

I currently have a Dell XPS studio 8100

http://

It has I7 860 @ 2.80 GHz And a thermaltake 600W PSU I bought for it.

I currently have an xfx HD r7770 card in it now. Its not that great and has issues. I would like a new card to play mainly WoW, D3, and Marvel 2015 at ultra or very high settings.

I have a budget of about $250 but under 200 would be ideal. I would much rather go with AMD radeon products as I have had better luck with them. I checked out the R9 270, 270x, 280 and 280x but I am not sure which would work best with my CPU, I have seen others say things about bottlenecking.

I would like to not have to upgrade my PSU again and im not looking for the best PC on the market ya know, just want to play my main games on ultra, which those games aren't too taxing. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I would like to buy the card today!!!

****EDIT****** I had on here about space in my case...well I opened up the case and found out I could move the HDD up a spot and that basically gave me a ton more space!

Im leaning towards the R9 280 now but not sure if this PC can take it with what I got in it. PSU is fine but not sure about the rest?

Like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202112

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

Your configuration would do well with the 280 or 280x. Not so sure about the PSU though. What model is your Thermaltake? They make some pretty decent and also some pretty terrible power supplies.

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 13, 2015

TR2

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153166

Im hoping it is a good enough one, i've had it for the same length of time as the HD 7770, about 2-3 years without issues.

The one I posted above is the one im going to buy, so long as it works.

I can buy a new PSU if I MUST to run that specific card. The case I use will not be upgraded so it has to fit. The TR2 fits perfectly. In about 2 more year or so I plan on building from ground up so Im only willing to invest in a new GPU and PSU is need be. I want to order both at the same time, same place, so they are delivered same time. I want basically the minimum to run the card correctly, so not something overly expensive ya know?

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

No, that's one of the worst units ever made, get it out of your computer as fast as you possibly can. I'm not even exaggerating. That unit is what originally brought me to Tom's hardware in the first place and is the source of MANY threads on Tom's and other hardware forums. It's a Tier 5 replace immediately unit and should not be used with any system under any circumstances. The fact that you've been lucky with it so far is no indication of the trouble that may be directly forthcoming, with or without, but especially with, the introduction of a new higher demand graphics card.

PSU Tier list (TR2 is listed on Tier 5, and for good reason.):

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html

My first thread at Tom's Hardware:

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2194316/likelihood-psu-failure.html

There are literally hundreds more threads like that one related to the TR2. Sorry for the bad news, but better that than damage to your system.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

What do you think your max budget would be for both a GPU and PSU?

madmatt30 · Mar 13, 2015

In all honesty I would veer towards the gtx 960 ,
Half the power draw of the 280 & in wow specifically it beats the 280 performance wise by around 50%.
I'm a big big fan of the r9 280 but in your case & with your PSU I think the nvidia card would be better suited to you.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

With his PSU, he needs to not add ANY cards until it's replaced.

madmatt30 · Mar 13, 2015

^ agree mate - only glanced at the first post originally.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

No worries, just wanted to make sure the OP didn't get confused on this issue.

madmatt30 · Mar 13, 2015

Just an afterthought - there are 2 models of the tr2.
The straight tr2-600 & the tr2-600p.

The p variation is a completely different model & while not brilliant is a passable PSU - its at least a real 600w not like the other which is a jumped up 450w.

The crap model has 2 x 12v rails ,the half decent one has a single 50a 12v.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

They're both bad in my book, but considering the unit he has is several years old, it can't possibly be the better of the two, or at least I wouldn't think so. I'm pretty sure the "bronze" version wasn't reworked until last year. Feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken. Still, I don't think I'd use that unit with a high end card either, it's surely not as good as even a crappy CX series PSU and I wouldn't want that in with my card either, although some folks seem to think they're ok. I like my hardware running on clean power that protects it, not borderline units that might or might not damage something. But you're right about the two different versions so it might not be AS bad as it could be.

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 13, 2015

so ummmmm I will replace to PSU. I'd like to stay under 100 on it.

And what type of GTX 960? The card I linked is definiitly cheaper and looks to be more powerful?

Im going to order both from newegg. I'll order it now if the suggestions fit

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

This would be good and allow SLI with a second card or plenty of room for overclocking later:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $276.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 03:10 EDT-0400

If you won't SLI or overclock, then this would be fine:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($57.99 @ Directron)
Total: $257.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 03:11 EDT-0400

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

Or, from Newegg only:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($203.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($76.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $280.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 03:12 EDT-0400

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($203.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Antec Neo Eco 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($78.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $282.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 03:13 EDT-0400

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 13, 2015

Im going to order it now! I will check amazon for both and see if the price is any different. I just wanted the same place. Thanks a ton in advance for helping me avoid a serious pitfall!

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

Absolutely. That's what we hope to do in most cases.

madmatt30 · Mar 13, 2015

The 960 performs a bit better than the 280,the 280x is a bit better than the 960.
So 280>960>280x

If you can get a 280x in budget it would be the best choice.

The 960 still performs better in wow though as its nvidia biased.
The 280x will still net you 60fps at max settings though.

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 13, 2015

I went with the suggested one above for the 960. I have had like 5 cards in a row of AMD so maybe its time for a change up anyway right? I am wondering if the linked one is the best one right now. It looks rather new, only has 4 reviews. I will not be ever OCing it, just mainly for wow and some non FPS games. Is the gigabit one better then EVGA and others? I saw some lesser amount ones, just wanna make sure before I hit order.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

This is probably the BEST one, but the one I linked to is very good, it's fine. They are all good if made by EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte or MSI.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $209.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-03-13 03:38 EDT-0400

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

Actually, there are some 4GB models either already released, or releasing very soon. It might be worth it to wait for that. Let me check to see if any are available yet.

Darkbreeze · Mar 13, 2015

Doesn't look like they've hit the shelves yet, but I expect them to any day. They'll be more expensive though, but will likely be significantly more capable, especially with higher resolutions.

http://techreport.com/news/27948/4gb-gtx-960s-are-coming-from-asus-evga-gigabyte-and-msi

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 14, 2015

Well, as I was trying to make my order on newegg, i learned I cannot get it because it won't ship to a PO box...

So I went to amazon, got the same order, the SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply wont ship to po box?

I got a card that will, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SC6HAS4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And its smaller too so I know it will fit, but the PSU won't ship? Any suggestions on that?

Darkbreeze · Mar 14, 2015

Unfortunately, shipping limitations aren't something we can do much about. If you have a friend or relative with a street address that might let you use their address for the shipment, that might be an option.

BlasphemousMusic · Mar 14, 2015

Actually, I have a new idea and hopefully it pans out!

I have a best buy an hour away, I found 2 items that fit what I need, I think. I would GREATLY appreciate your advice.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=02G-P4-2968-KR Bestbuy has this item, I called and they had no sku for it at the time so I asked for the model number. Its $219

AND http://www.bestbuy.com/site/corsair-cx-series-modular-cx750m-750w-atx-power-supply-black/8324202.p?id=1218872214205&skuId=8324202

Imeasured my case and the PSU seems it will fit. These would equal out to same price with shipping.

Are these good? If so one last question. I have 2 montiors, neither have HDMI connections

Could I buy a HDMI to DVI splitter for one and use the Dual link dvi for the other?

Darkbreeze · Mar 14, 2015

I'll be blunt, since I get tired of repeating this over and over, and I realize it's not your fault, but the Corsair CX series, and the CS, RM and RS series units, basically suck. The only Corsair units I'd ever use with any gaming card are the AX and HX units, and they're grossly expensive when compared to as good or better units of the same capacity. CX is a tier 3 unit which is fine for mainstream rigs or very low end GPU cards like the R7 AMD adapters or the GTX 750 or lower cards.

Problems with members who have high end GPUs, which the 960 definitely is, that use CX series units, probably account for 50% of the PSU related threads on this forum. The GPU they have is good though, so that's no problem. If the unit isn't listed at a position of Tier 1 or Tier 2 on the PSU tier list, I just wouldn't spend my money on it. IF it was a worthwhile unit, it's 99% likely to have been listed there.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2547993/psu-tier-list.html#15349669

As far as the PSU fitting, if it conforms to ATX standards, it should fit just about any ATX or mATX case. There might be a few rare exceptions, but for the most part, unless it's specified as a different form factor, it will fit.

Best GPU for my budget and case details inside

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