Which GTX 570?

[witches_jelly]

Can I get some opinions on who makes the best GTX570 GPU? I'm in the process of building a computer and so far have decided on i5-2500k, z68 or p67 chipset(likely gigabyte or asus I think, still reading up on mobos), 8gb ram(2 x 4gb), 1tb HDD, 64gb SSD(may go higher once everything else is priced out), corsair 600t white case, 750w psu(brand undecided). So anyway at the moment I'm a bit burnt out on reading up on mobos so I'm gonna start looking at graphics cards and would love some recommendations I can read up on. My plan is I want to start with a single GTX 570 and later when price has dropped grab a second and go sli, I know I could likely get better performance now by going sli with 2 older cards but I'd rather go the single to sli down the road route I think.

 

[phishy714]

Depends on your budget. They range anywhere from $300 to $400, so that is quite a big difference. I suggest you go with a non-reference design and avoid Asus because of the fact that they have a 3 slot gtx 570. This will make it very difficult to SLI in the future.

As for the PSU, go with a quality brand like corsair, seasonic, antec, ocz.. you want to give these cards all the power they need.

 

[witches_jelly]

Depends on your budget. They range anywhere from $300 to $400, so that is quite a big difference. I suggest you go with a non-reference design and avoid Asus because of the fact that they have a 3 slot gtx 570. This will make it very difficult to SLI in the future.

As for the PSU, go with a quality brand like corsair, seasonic, antec, ocz.. you want to give these cards all the power they need.

I was hoping to spend around $350 but could go to $400 IF its genuinely worth the additional money. What do you mean by none referance design?

I was actually looking at corsairs when I was looking at psu's actually. lol

 

[witches_jelly]

Anybody?

 

[mr_zed]

Personally I'm grabbing myself the Gigabyte factory OC'd to 780mhz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125384

Triple fans, so it should be fairly quiet. Should also be Overclockable even further.

The MSI twin frozr OC is probably the one I would go with if Newegg shipped to my location however. Its brand I've come to trust, but with some of the customer reviews on newegg, some have had it break on them. So I'd just do your research before making a decision.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127564

Most if it is personal preference I think.

 

[cptpoppinfresh]

I highly advise the asus direct CU if you wont be SLIing more then 2 cards. It has a rebate that is from asus it's self so its only 310 dollars for just about any site ( currently that price on newegg) so its as expensive as most cards. As an added value to the card it comes with a back plate, which are all around 30 dollars.

This card offers superior cooling at anything out there. It overclocks like a beast ( if you know how to play around with voltages).

It is a huge 3 slot card, so it might cover a PCI port on your mobo. You will also, as said before, never be able to put more then 2 in sli.

 

[17seconds]

If I were buying a GTX 570, I would go for the Gigabyte Superoverclock (SOC), fast and quiet.

 

[witches_jelly]

I highly advise the asus direct CU if you wont be SLIing more then 2 cards. It has a rebate that is from asus it's self so its only 310 dollars for just about any site ( currently that price on newegg) so its as expensive as most cards. As an added value to the card it comes with a back plate, which are all around 30 dollars.

This card offers superior cooling at anything out there. It overclocks like a beast ( if you know how to play around with voltages).

It is a huge 3 slot card, so it might cover a PCI port on your mobo. You will also, as said before, never be able to put more then 2 in sli.

I'm not to sure I'd want a card that big as it seems like it would cover up all the other slots, preventing me from using my sound card. What a back plate???

 

[phishy714]

Back plate just makes it sturdier and will protect it further, not a big deal tho, it looks really cool though.

The reference design is the one where there is one big fan at the end of the card and its a basic rectangle shape, nothing fancy about it. Don't get cards like that cause they usually run loud and a bit hotter. A non reference, like the Asus, MSI or Gigabity cards, will be quieter and better overclockers if you are into that.

All in all, I would get a gigabyte or MSI, whichever one you prefer and have room for. They are both very good companies and both are quiet and cool and will overclock well. ts up to you!

 

[witches_jelly]

Back plate just makes it sturdier and will protect it further, not a big deal tho, it looks really cool though.

The reference design is the one where there is one big fan at the end of the card and its a basic rectangle shape, nothing fancy about it. Don't get cards like that cause they usually run loud and a bit hotter. A non reference, like the Asus, MSI or Gigabity cards, will be quieter and better overclockers if you are into that.

All in all, I would get a gigabyte or MSI, whichever one you prefer and have room for. They are both very good companies and both are quiet and cool and will overclock well. ts up to you!

Oh ok, I was wondering what the cooling difference would be compared to those rectangular enclosed cards would be. I've never over clocked a gpu before but I'd love to try it and since both gigabyte and msi's cards are in my budget I'll go with one of those I think. Now just to decide which one. Its surprisingly difficult to find reviews of either, haven't found one. Any idea what msi's warrenties are like? I know gigabytes are 3 years. Room wise I'll have to look at my new case, a corsair 600t white, looks to have plenty of room inside thanks to the added space for the cable routing but it never hurts to measure it out.

Oh by the way I've got a question about figuring out the appropriate psu wattage. Easy enough to figure out the minimum wattage needed for one card in its specs but how do you figure out whats needed for SLI? I'm only going to buy a single card to start, but I plan on getting a second to go SLI in a year or so or whenever the price goes down.

 

[17seconds]

Gigabyte SOC:
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/gigabyte_gtx570_1280mb_soc_edition,1.html
"I was blown away by the cooling design which is nothing short of exceptional and a credit to GIGABYTE as out of all the cards I have tested this year, the GIGABYTE WindForce cooler is the best aftermarket solution by a country mile. It kept the card very cool, even when pushed to its limit but best of all; it did so in relative silence. Finally, we get to the performance of the card. As expected it performed very well throughout our tests. What I did find surprising is it actually bettered the overclocked MSI GTX580 on numerous occasions which is a fantastic achievement!"

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=31154
"Recent history shows us that Gigabyte knows how to engineer a high-quality graphics card based on NVIDIA's GPUs. The GTX 570 Super Overclock is another case in point: it's well-built, pre-overclocked, and practically silent under load."

The MSI Twin Frozr III is a very similar card and also highly recommended. Check out reviews of the MSI 580 Twin Frozr III (Lightning) card to get an idea, since there doesn't seem to be any reviews of the 570 version.