Upgrading GPU/SSD in an older build, looking for a good sub $200 card

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Ceuper

Ceuper

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A recent hard disk failure (see here) has pressured me into upgrading my system. I no longer have a 1TB secondary, so I'm going to do a fresh install of windows on a new SSD and turn my current windows drive into storage. At the same time I want to replace my GTX 275 with something that isn't prone to freezing up as often, so I'm looking for suggestions on both a new SSD and GPU.

My current specs are a Core i7 920, Asus P6T SE, GTX 275 and an Antec Earthwatts 650 PSU. It's a CM storm scout case. Monitor res is 1920x1200. Pretty old system, so one of the reasons I'm looking for suggestions is because I want to ensure everything is compatible.

Usage for the card is gaming, video editing and some 3D work. I'm not too concerned with energy efficiency, I just want something that provides good power for the money and is relatively up to date in technology. In the next year or so I'll be building a new system and I'd like to be able to continue using the card in that build, so I'm looking for something that will have some longevity. I'd like to spend around $200.

As far as an SSD, I'm just looking for a quality 250GB that I can spend under $150 on. Something maybe like the Samsung 850 EVO.

I'm in Canada and likely will purchase through memory express, but I'm open to suggestions on any cards, not just what they stock. As an aside, I'm also looking for suggestions on decent data recovery software, free or otherwise. Thanks in advance.
 
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techgeek

techgeek

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Apr 11, 2004
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I do my shopping at Memory Express too.

For a GPU, I'd suggest something like the nvidia 960 GTX. It's a little outside your $200 budget, but if gaming is at all important, that's really as low as I'd go. What games are you hoping to play? And what's your resolution?

Here is a Link to one.

As for the SSD, I've read good things about the Samsung 850 EVO series. It won't have the issues that their TLC / firmware in the 840 EVO series had. However just a warning, Samsung hasn't dealt with that debacle very well. Particularly the people that have the 840 (non EVO series) that also have the same issue. They haven't acknowledged the problem in the non-EVO drives.

I've also read good things about Crucial's BX and MX series drives.

Data recovery? Or data backup? If it's for your 1TB HDD, I'd see if Recuva will work. Same company that makes DeFraggler and CClean (Piriform), I've read it's pretty good and it's free for personal use.
 
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Ceuper

Ceuper

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Thanks for the link, it helps. The P6T is a PCIe 2.0, but from what I understand there are many 3.0 cards which are backwards compatible.



Thanks for the reply. I should have specified which kind of games, but to be honest I wasn't sure what to say. Generally I play older games and my main reason for wanting to upgrade is because my current card is very unreliable. Yet I do like to play newer titles from time to time as well, and it's nice to have the card to handle it, and since I want to use it in my next build I am willing to spend a little more. Is there a particular reason you wouldn't go lower than the 960 though? Resolution is 1920x1200.

This is the 960 that I'm looking at, since it's in stock at my location. Thoughts on this particular model? http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX55602

I appreciate the heads up regarding the Samsung. I'll take a look into it as well as the Crucial drives.

Also I'm just looking for data recovery at the moment. I'll check out Recuva and see if it works for me, thanks!
 
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techgeek

techgeek

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Apr 11, 2004
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Since your resolution is 1920 X 1200, you'll definitely not want to go with anything less than the 960. It wouldn't hurt to consider the 970 at that resolution. The 960 is positioned for playing on medium to high settings on most of the games coming out right now. From the reviews I've read, the 4GB models aren't really worth it. It appears nVidia did a good job balancing the VRAM to the performance of the GPU when they picked 2GB. Having the extra VRAM is nice, but when the GPU can't utilize it, it's not really worth it.

I have the Strix model of the 980 GTX and my son has the Strix 970. The cooling solution on these cards is excellent. You won't be disappointed with it.

As for Samsung, I would probably buy from them again. I thought it was just something you should know prior to buying. I have a Samsung 840 EVO and was hit with this issue. Once it came out they fixed it with firmware. However the first attempt didn't fix it, it seems the second time they have fixed it. However the fix may turn out to actually lower the lifespan of the drive since it has to refresh the data every so often.
 
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Ceuper

Ceuper

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I ended up purchasing the 2GB 960 that I linked above, as well as the Samsung 850. Unfortunately I just don't have the money to stretch to a 970, which are priced almost $150 higher. I know people complain about the 128 bit memory bus, but I'm not concerned about running all the modern games on the highest settings. Being able to play them at all will be a big improvement for me. I think my old CPU is going to be more of a bottleneck anyway, until I upgrade. I am glad I didn't get the 750Ti, though, which was my original plan.

Thanks again for the thoughtful replies! I'm going to do a fresh install of Windows on my new drive, install the card, and enjoy my semi-modernized computer.
 
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