What GTX 580 manufacturer to choose?

[darkq]

Hello there,

I decided to buy a gtx 580 but the manufacturer available for me are: asus, gigabyte, msi, evga.

I can get from zotac too, but there is the delivery time, since they dont have zotac in stock atm.

So, what to choose from these manufacturers above?

My mobo is this: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3154#sp, as you can see has 1 x PCI Express x16 slot. Now, can i put the gtx 580 which capable of : PCI Express 2.0 x16, into my mobo? will the performance be affected in any way?

Also, another thing: my current CPU is a amd phenom 955 be @ 3.8 GHz. I dont want to change it right away, but from your experience, will the CPU bottleneck my gtx 580 in games? (sometimes I play, so yeah)

Last question: I have to change my PSU also, currently have a 550 W one. Which one to choose? 750? 850? 1000?

Thank you.

 

[sadams04]

Any manufacturer you listed would be a good pickup for the 580. Maybe base your decision on the warranty... ??

Your motherboard has one PCIe 2.0 16x slot so the GTX 580 would be "at home" in that slot. There MIGHT be times where the GPU is bottlenecked by the Phenom 955 while playing at maxed detail, but overclocked to 3.8GHz will minimize that risk. Wouldn't worry there until you see a problem with framerates (you probably won't).

On the PSU front... 550w is really pushing it. When you get to serious processing demand you will most likely have power problems. Look for a Corsair or Antec PSU no smaller than 750w with an 80+ efficiency rating. For example => http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026&cm_re=antec_750w_power_supply-_-17-371-026-_-Product

 

[darkq]

Thank you for reply. these were my concerns.

 

[Syrocc]

Hello darkq.

About the 580 Manufacturers, they are all pretty good companies, however, out of personal experience, I've noticed a downhill on MSI's quality, it isn't what it used to be years ago. If the price range is more or less the same, I'd go for EVGA (one of the best GPU manufacturers out there atm) > Gigabyte > Asus > MSI. But, it's worth comparing the warranties, like sadams said, and also keep in mind that some models from manufacturers come overclocked from the factory, meaning they will have slightly better performances and still be in warranty, so compare the actual running frequencies too.

Your Phenom CPU isn't the best out there anymore, but in normal gaming conditions, it should not have an effect on gaming performance, except for some rare cases. Most games rely heavily on GPU performance, so the Phenom won't slow your PC down a lot for now. Of course, if you want to run Crysis on the highest possible details, you would need to upgrade that too.

As for the PSU, it really depends on the manufacturer and model of your current PSU, 550W is relative. If it's a good brand, such as SeaSonic or Antec PSU, it should be enough to run the 580, but this is influenced by a lot of factors (how many hard drives your using, USB devices, overclocked CPU or not, etc.).

I recommend that you use an online calculator such as this to see if your PSU will be enough or not. However, like sadams said, it's at the limit, so you might consider investing into a better PSU later on too.

Hope this helped

 

[darkq]

The calculator Syrocc suggested gave me a 845 W minimum. I have 2x HDD 7200 RAID 0, 1 x optical drive, will have the gtx 580, 2x2 GB 1600 Corsair and the OC 955 phenom.

Now, regarding the CPU, I don't have atm the money to upgrade my mobo and CPU also, thats why I'd opt for the changes I mentioned.

In the feature, I'll get a new mobo and maybe i7 890 extreme cpu, but that would be another $1000 which atm I don't want to invest in my desktop.

My biggest concern were if the gtx 580 would fit in my existent mobo (wasnt extremely clear whats the diff between pci expressx16 and pci exprex x 16 2.0) and if my current cpu would be capable to handle without to bottleneck my video card.

So, should I consider (given that in a few months will change mobo and cpu, tripple chan ram and maybe another gtx 580 for sli - but will see how my stuff performs with 1 gtx 580 I dont want power that i dont use) a 1000 w psu then?

And after i install my new video card, how to figure out if my CPU bottlenecks my system?

 

[asheesh1_2000]

And after i install my new video card, how to figure out if my CPU bottlenecks my system?

My GTX 460 with AMD hexacore at 2.8 ghz gives me a FPS of 45-50. With your card I would not expect anything less then 60-70 FPS. So if you are getting anything less then that , it would be becaz of your CPU.

 

[sadams04]

Not sure what you used for your PSU calculations, but you should be needing 600w - 650w to cover your hardware. Maybe if you selected dual 580 GPUs in SLI you would need 800w... Did you happen to select "Quad Sockets" instead of "Single Socket" by chance?

The Antec PSU I recommended earlier is still a good option.

 

[mdd1963]

And after i install my new video card, how to figure out if my CPU bottlenecks my system?

People tend to 'overthink' this...much better to be at 60 frames/sec and have a cpu bottleneck, than to be at 1920x1280 and have 25 frames/sec...

Just because the gpu is no longer the bottle neck is no reason to contemplate a cpu/mb uprade for another $600 or so.....

But, to answer your question, if you increase your resolution/ and your framerate does not substantially decrease, the cpu is the bottleneck. (Common with the GTX580, which is capable of fluid framerates with high details/AA/AF at 1920x1200 and up!)

 

[darkq]

@sadams: Finally, after rethinking the whole, I choose this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171049

I don't want to change my PSU in 1 year or so, and I think that this PSU can handle much more that I have currently. And who knows, maybe in 1 year I'll grab another gtx580, maybe some SSDs. So, I know that I'm "prepared".

Also, I ordered the EVGA gtx 580, as you guys suggested.

And because my old case was very outdated, I grabbed this case too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

@mdd1963: That was my idea, too. IF sometime, I'll feel terrible and frustrated about my CPU, I'll change it but I have to change my mobo, too. That indeed is around another $1000, which at the moment I can not invest in my system. All I wanted to figure out is that if my old Phenom II 955 @3,8 Ghz, can handle the job. In a metaphoric sense, I don't want the situation in which to put in a box ring a pro 80 kilo player and a 60 kilo beginner. If you understand what I mean. And for this I wanted some opinions, because I'm not that expert technician to know them all.