Opinion of PC

[adeleander]

Hi, have just purchased a new Asus CM6650 with a GT545 fitted.

Many after it for playing Skyrim and similar games, is it worth upgrading the card fitted? I know there are better cards available but what difference would fitting a £200 odd card make, would I notice the difference and if so how much would I be able to crank up the settings?

 

[skaz]

Probably make a noticeable difference. Here's some benchmarks that compare that card to others. http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+545

 

[adeleander]

Hi, thanks for that. If I get a GeForce GTX 560 Ti am I going to have to upgrade my PSU or are the requirements the same?

 

[skaz]

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-560ti-us.html

Recommended system power from nvidia for the 560 is 500w.

 

[adeleander]

One last dopey question then i will sod off.

If i buy a new 500w PSU, are they all the same, will any PSU fit in?

 

[adeleander]

Basically planning to get these two bits of kit, anyone see any problems?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/500-WATT-ATX-POWER-SUPPLY/dp/7135799313/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1327172397&sr=1-1
and
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-TI-DirectCu-TOP-Graphics/dp/B004KW5ARC/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1327172320&sr=1-3

 

[skaz]

Not a dobey question at all.

All PSUs are not the same. Most PSUs are of the ATX12v type. I couldn't find any specs on your case but open her up and see if it list the type on the PSU itself.

 

[skaz]

Stay away from no name PSUs like the one you found listed on amazon by "atx". They will fail on you or even worse damage other components in your system. I recommend seasonic and some corsair PSUs. Also keep in mind your not restricted to staying at 500w. If you find a better deal on something solid with 500w or more your okay. So you can go above 500w if you want. Would help future proof yourself a little too.

 

[adeleander]

Hi, thanks for all the help, understand the graphics cards ok, but PSU's confuse me about what will and won't work.

Will this work ok with the GTX560 Ti.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMPSU-600CXV2UK-Builder-Power-Supply/dp/B0050AFU46/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1327177125&sr=1-3

As far as I can tell I have a standard ATX PSU at the moment, it doesn't really say what it is helpfully, but its model is a HBA005-ZA1GT 350

 

[skaz]

Hi, thanks for all the help, understand the graphics cards ok, but PSU's confuse me about what will and won't work.

Will this work ok with the GTX560 Ti.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CMPSU-600CXV2UK-Builder-Power-Supply/dp/B0050AFU46/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1327177125&sr=1-3

As far as I can tell I have a standard ATX PSU at the moment, it doesn't really say what it is helpfully, but its model is a HBA005-ZA1GT 350

Yes that will work. The reason I recommend "some" corsair PSUs is because some of them are made by seasonic. I'm unfamiliar with the model you listed. Here's a seasonic I found on the UK amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Seasonic-S12II-520-ATX12V-Standard-Supply/dp/B00390P1NO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1327178367&sr=8-7

Manufactures of the corsair models in the uk could be different so not sure who makes what models there. Good luck mate.

 

[adeleander]

Ta, placed the order with Amazon today. Hopefully it will also be easy to fit, been a long time since Ive done anything with a PC!

I can get Skyrim to run acceptably on my kit, but hoping this will get the graphic settings right up, also am looking forward to playing the Witcher 2 properly as that really struggles with my GT545, as the GTX560 Ti seems to get over double the 3D mark score then hoping it will fly along.

One other question, should I pay much attention to the Windows system rating thing, it gives everything on my system something in the 7 range, with the hard disk speed pulling it down to 6?

 

[skaz]

Shouldn't be hard. Your 545 is a PCIe card so just take that sucker out and the 560 will fit right in. Just make sure to ground yourself properly before working on the inside of the computer. I personally touch the inside of my computer to ground myself throughout the process of working on.

I don't pay to much attention to the windows experience index. But it does give you an idea of what part of your system is the bottle neck. It's common for the HDD to be the lowest scored number. An SSD would speed your system up if you wanted to upgrade in the future. Although specifically for gaming it wouldn't do much besides make levels load quicker. Which is nice though, especially in games like skyrim or shogun 2 total war.

My HDD score was I think 5.9 or 6.0 and was the lowest score on my windows exp index. Now that I have replaced it with an SSD my score has gone up to 7.8. And I think the range now is 1.0 - 7.9.

 

[adeleander]

Well stage one is complete! My PSU came today, which I fitted without a glitch (amazingly), the new one has a much bigger fan so am hoping will help with the cooling as well.

Just waiting for my 560 now, was surprised the 545 didn't have its own direct power supply, will the 560?

Also been thinking about getting a second 560 at some point for a SLI link up, do you guys think this will be worth it?

If so, will my PC take it, it seems to have 3 PCIe slots but as the cards take up more than one slot will this work? Also is it just a case of slotting in a second card or do they have to be linked? and if so what cable.

Final question, do you have to have the exact same card to SLI or will any 560 Ti do?

 

[envymert]

Well stage one is complete! My PSU came today, which I fitted without a glitch (amazingly), the new one has a much bigger fan so am hoping will help with the cooling as well.

Just waiting for my 560 now, was surprised the 545 didn't have its own direct power supply, will the 560?

Also been thinking about getting a second 560 at some point for a SLI link up, do you guys think this will be worth it?

If so, will my PC take it, it seems to have 3 PCIe slots but as the cards take up more than one slot will this work? Also is it just a case of slotting in a second card or do they have to be linked? and if so what cable.

Final question, do you have to have the exact same card to SLI or will any 560 Ti do?

The 560ti and other cards do not have their own power supplies, you will typically have one or two 6 to 8pin power connectors. Which most will come with the 4pin to 6/8 pin adapters with them.
sli'd 560 tis are very very nice, and depending on your gaming res it be worth it. however not sure if you mobo would accept SLI. PCIe and PCI expansion slots are two very different animals. What type of motherboard do you have?

And the last question as long as its a 560 ti you will be fine, if the two cards are not clocked the same it will simply down clock the quicker of the two cards.

 

[adeleander]

Not sure on what motherboard I have unfortunately, the PC itself is a Asus CM6650. It definitely has 3 x PCI-e though.

One more thought, the power requirement of a 560Ti is 500w, what is the requirement of 2 of them SLI'ed?

 

[skaz]

Take the 500w recommended system power and add whatever the peak Watts of the card is to that number.

 

[adeleander]

Well its all done and up and running, thanks for your help!

Looking at the motherboard, doesn't look like I can install a second card for SLI (the other slots look different to the graphics card one!). So will have a be an expensive card if i decide to upgrade again in the future, but its good for now, can actually get the witcher 2 to run properly. Anyway gotta go, Skyrim calls!

 

[skaz]

Haha have fun. Just got done collecting some daedric hearts myself =).