What Graphics card should I buy?

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xAIMx

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Hello,

A few years back a friend of mine picked out some components for my PC and a online shop put it all together for me. Now I think it's time to upgrade it, it can't really keep up anymore.
I do 3D Animation for YouTube, so I figured a new Graphics Card would be a very good place to start, since I only have a AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series.
I have been looking around and GeForce GTX 980 or 970 is the one being recommended the most. Now my question is, witch one to buy? There are tons of different GTX 980 and 970 models, with different price tags, and I can't seem to tell the difference.

It also needs to be able to fit and have enough power
I have a Crossair Case :
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case

And I have a bequiet pure power, power supply 630w
http://www.bequiet.com/en/powersupply/250

Any ideas, where I might start looking for a graphics card that will fit?
 
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rcald2000
You're not bothering me or anyone else. This is fun stuff. By the way, I have that exact card: EVGA 980 Ti (with reference cooler). Why don't you throw your components into http://pcpartpicker.com/ so that you can see it all together before ordering. Backplate? It's just for aesthetics. Many people think it helps remove heat from the card, but not really. It's pulling heat through the back of the PCB, which is usually heat that would have been expelled on the front side of the custom PCB anyway. Many people think it makes the card more physically sturdy and I can't speak to whether or not that's true. In my humble opinion, it's purpose is aesthetics, and there is nothing wrong with that. I think it does make the card look...
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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I know nothing about animation, but are you sure a new GPU is the place to invest your money? You do GPU rendering or is your CPU holding you back? If the latter, wouldn't an Intel 5820K be a better investment, and possibly a second SSD to use as a scratch disk? Would you like to post your specs and describe an action you take with animation and how long it takes? Whether you just want a graphics card recommendation or an entire system upgrade, please post your system specs and your budget for improving this situation.
 
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xAIMx

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Hello,

Thanks for taking the time, I'll make a list with the specs :

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz
Video Card 1 Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Video Card 2 AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series
Memory 16 GB

The Program (Cinema 4D) Uses the CPU to render, but the reason I thought it would be best to get a graphics card is I want it to be as smooth as possible when I'm in the viewport making the actual animation. And I like to play games alot :p

But maybe a new CPU is what is needed, maybe an i7 intel?
Currently with my settings at only 720p it takes between 1 minute and 2 minutes to render a frame. I normally use 1080p though, witch does indeed take alot more time. so some extra cores will help there.
I just earned 650 $ on a animation, so I figured it would be that money i invented in my PC so that is the budget for it.
I realize you can't get many upgrades for that, money, but already signed on a new project, so maybe I would upgrade it a little at the time, as I wrap up projects.

Thank you
 
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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Okay, I don't know about Cinema 4D, so I'll have to ask one of my animator friends. I'll let you know when he acknowledges my email. In the meantime, when you mentioned viewport, you reminded me of this program, Octane Render. Check out the video below, as it's highly fascinating.

Octane Render with 2 GTX 980ti's in Modo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aIl4VMyzxo

By the way, does Cinema 4D provide the option of rendering through the GPU? That's an important factor in making a recommendation. If it did, then the obvious suggestion would be purchasing a 980 Ti. Octane Render does allow this, but I don't know anything about Cinema 4D, hence my email to my friend.
 
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xAIMx

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Thank you for helping out!
From what I understand, the GPU only helps the viewport, and CUP helps the rendertime (Overclocking will also decrease)
But if you have a friend who actually knows such stuff with certainty I'll await his answer! :)
 
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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Still waiting on my friend, but I'm guessing that he's gone to bed. His name is Hamlet by the way. Strangely when I google "Cinema 4D GPU rendering", a 1.5 year old thread came up on Tom's Hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/354927-28-cinema-rendering

"
from what I know, cinema 4d does not use GPU to render. It uses the CPU.
To get cinema 4d use the GPU, you need Vray with Vray RT or Iray M4d http://www.m4d.info/index.php?id=15336.
"

The M4d does have a student license that cuts the cost in half. But I'm still waiting to hear back from my friend, who actually knows something about this stuff. By the way, I dropped a message to the guy who did the Octane Render video. I don't personally know him, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. By the way, please watch the Octane Render video because the guy has the same problem with an extremely sluggish viewport, when he's rendering on two GTX 980 Ti's !!! He then reassigned a single 980 Ti to just the viewport and left the other 980 Ti to the render. It's really fascinating to watch. He also showed the beginning results from trying to render via just the CPU alone. Really fascinating stuff.

Sorry for the delay in getting you an answer. I just want you to get the best bang for your buck. Perhaps someone with animation knowledge will chime in as well.
 
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xAIMx

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After I finished watch the video, it gave me an idea. We get vray from my College, a educational version, that might be able to work as my render
Gonna see if I can get it working!
I also looked up furryball, but the free version, the make it so that to have no watermark the speed is 3x slower than normal and that kinda defeats the purpose xD
 
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semiroundboss

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I'm not an expert on this, but I would either get an 390 series or an R9 Nano since AMD has better compute power than Nvidia outside of the Titan, Titan Black, and Titan Z. But then again, not entirely sure it is compute power you are looking for since I know almost nothing about this stuff. Just something to consider as they are in the same price range, provide more compute power, and provide either twice the RAM or HBM.
 
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xAIMx

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Hey,
So looking though everything, I have decided to upgrade both, and I found two good guesses, but seeing as I don't have that much knowledge I would like to ask you about it and see if you think it's good choices
A ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB
And a Intel Core i7-4790K
It runs up in quite some money, so it will have to be over two purchases, but what do you think?
I could be way off here, and I need to make absolutely sure that what I buy will fit and work with the current motherboard and case etc.
 
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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I "think" your i5-3570K uses a Z77 motherboard and the i7-4790K requires a Z97. So, I don't think you can just swap the 4790k into your current motherboard.

Your case supports full ATX and micro ATX motherboards, so the fit won't be an issue.

Yes, let me know if vray is a possible solution and I'll let you know when I hear back from my friend. The 980 Ti would be such an incredible rendering beast.

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-gaming-case
 
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xAIMx

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Hey,

So I am to understand the Grapichs Card will fit?
And the Processor wont?
I found a list of supported processors for my motherboard, but they seem outdated? Is there anything on this list better tahn the current one I have?
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/P8Z77-V_LX.html

Would it be wise to invest in a z97? I don't think they are that expensive?
Thanks
 
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xAIMx

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I see!
I have an upgrade plan then! And I will start with a grapichs card, cause that have been something I wanted to change from the get go. I just have a few more questions, and then I'll stop bothering you :p
From what I can read, this card here will fit with my power supply, and my case
https://www.komplett.dk/evga-geforce-gtx-980-ti-6gb-sc/845662#productinfo
(In Danish - but the system specs in the bottom of the page is on English)

Do I need to check anything else before making a purchase? Does it have to be compatible with my motherboard as well or any other components?
And there is one that in all specs are the same but without a Backplate?
What does that do?
https://www.komplett.dk/evga-geforce-gtx-980-ti-6gb-sc/845662#

Thank you so much for your time!
 
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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You're not bothering me or anyone else. This is fun stuff. By the way, I have that exact card: EVGA 980 Ti (with reference cooler). Why don't you throw your components into http://pcpartpicker.com/ so that you can see it all together before ordering. Backplate? It's just for aesthetics. Many people think it helps remove heat from the card, but not really. It's pulling heat through the back of the PCB, which is usually heat that would have been expelled on the front side of the custom PCB anyway. Many people think it makes the card more physically sturdy and I can't speak to whether or not that's true. In my humble opinion, it's purpose is aesthetics, and there is nothing wrong with that. I think it does make the card look cooler. My card didn't come with one, but it would have been nice if it did. What are your other questions?

*** Power requirements for graphics cards ***

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
 
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xAIMx

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Hey!

Alright, thanks for the part picker website, I didn't know about that one
I made one as close as I could. some of the components I had didn't show up on the list so I had to find the one closest to it, and I have no errors
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QtNfZL

And as for the power supply, the link you sent says that the 980 ti only requires 600 W and 1 6 pin and 1 8 pin
Mine has 630 W and it has says on the website 2 6 pin and 2 6+2 pin connectors
So I'm very sure it will fit perfectly! I don't think there is much else to do than to order it! :D
And then a new Core and motherboard up next! Hopefully it will be easy to find some components that will fit!
I'm getting the one with the backplate, it looks cooler I agree and it's also a little cheaper :p
Thank you so much for your help!
 
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rcald2000

rcald2000

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No problem. If you have any doubts about any part of your order, you could always order it from Amazon. Their return policy is amazing! I don't use that word lightly. Many times I'll order through NewEgg because I don't have to pay tax, since they are in New Jersey and I'm located in New York. Amazon, however is required to collect sales tax from New York residents. But whenever I need to buy something and I'm unsure if I'm going to keep it, I go with Amazon, because of their stellar return policy. Wherever you purchase from, I'm sure that it'll be fine. Just something to be aware of. Good luck. Your build sounds exciting.
 
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xAIMx

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Thanks, if I lived in USA that would probably also be the place Id buy, but I live in Denmark, and we have to use amazon.co.uk. The UK version, and the prices are just extremely over priced compared to anywhere else. They charge 910 $ for it in there and that is without cross country shipping, So I'm picking a Swedish place, that have stores in Denmark, witch are cheaper and I don't have to wait a month before retrieving the item :p
Again thanks for all the help, I can't wait till I get started!
 
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