Choosing a gpu

[dummos]

ok i need a gpu in a hurry so pls no "just wait for 7xxx" chances are they wont hit australia for under $600
what i need to know about is with 570's-580's and 6970's.
i have no intentions on ever using multi screen and want top performance in multiplayer bf3 at 1920x1200
i want to know about which cards are noisy/run at high temps
which brand of non reference cards are good etc.
i want to know does bf3 need more than 1.2gb of vram ala 570
i have read a million benchtests etc this is mainly about the hardware itself

 

[demar3214]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121429
is a good cool under load and quiet card but takes up 3 expansion slots and whats your build motherboard psu cpu etc

 

[inzone]

I agree with the fact that it is quiet and cool but I could never give up three slots for a card. The GTX 580 is cooler and quieter than the AMD cards , and perform better in BF3 than any other card. Are you going with a single card or two for SLI?
So my vote would be for the GTX 580 in whatever configuration you choose. I chose the 580 and I also chose water cooling which eliminates any heat and noise issues.

 

[kajabla]

How much money do you have to drop on this, and do you have any other parts? You could go crazy and get the PNY XLR8s. One's just liquid cooled, and the other's a liquid cooler for your CPU as well.

 

[dummos]

about $550 aud is my limit
using an asrock extreme 4 gen 3 mobo
2500k
in a coolermaster 690 II case
thermaltake litepower 700 psu
looking for single card solution for now with a view to buying another if and when needed
my case has 3 fans and have an evo hyper 212 cpu cooler

 

[demar3214]

2 slot 580 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125364

 

[kajabla]

Cheaper, external exhaust 580 in case you ever want to add another http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590

 

[fb39ca4]

IMO the refrence design isn't bad, it keeps the cards at 70ish C, and has the advantage of external exhaust so the heat doesn't go back in your case.

 

[dummos]

does anyone know if vram is an issue with new games like bf3. is there any advantage to the 2gb in amd cards over 1.5gb in 580 or 1.3 in 570

 

[fb39ca4]

It is worth it if you want to SLI, or if you like installing insanely high resolution texture mods. Other than that, games nowadays are designed for 1GB of VRAM.

 

[demar3214]

the evga one is vapor cool not refrence

 

[demar3214]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130751
if you are worried about vram it has 3072 mb of it

 

[JackNaylorPE]

To my mind, the best bang for the buck is offered by twin 900Mhz 560 Ti's .... $560 Aussie dollars for two .... given ya $550 target, this would seem the way to go.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1193&products_id=17207

But look this over b4 ya decide:

Guru3D uses the following games in their test suite, COD-MW, Bad Company 2, Dirt 2, Far Cry 2, Metro 2033, Dawn of Discovery, Crysis Warhead. Total fps (summing fps in each game @ 1920 x 1200) for the various options in parenthesis (single card / SL or CF) are tabulated below along with their cost in dollars per frame single card - CF or SLI:


$ 240.00 6950 Frozr OC (484/759) $ 0.50 - $ 0.63
$ 320.00 6970 (526/825) $ 0.61 - $ 0.78
$ 215.00 560 Ti - 900 Mhz (495/862) $ 0.43 - $ 0.50
$ 340.00 570 (524/873) $ 0.65 - $ 0.78
$ 500.00 580 (616/953) $ 0.81 - $ 1.05

That's 495 fps in a single card configuration which costs us here in the US of A about 43 cents per frame and in SLI it gets 862 fps in which costs us here in the US of A about 50 cents per frame.

The twin 560's will get ya 40% more fps than the single 580.

Twin 580's get ya about 10% more fps than two of those 560's.....but that's $1,130 aussie dollars ..... question for you is ..... is 10% more fps worth more than double the price ?

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1170&products_id=16871

I usually go with an 850 watter but 750 is known to be conservative.....700W may be a lil tight but each card "stock" draws only a max about 170 watts .... Nvidia's system req'ts state 500 watts for one card .... add 170 and ya at 670, so "theoretically" you're within limits....but these cards are factory OC'd ... so ya looking at an extra 35 or so watts.

 

[dummos]

i thought about this but i heard 560 ti's have some problems with sli with noise and temps
im thinking about getting 1 570 now and another for sli later but i really dont understand the vram i know sli doesnt double dip on the ram so im not sure how much modern games need and will 1.3gb be enough

 

[kajabla]

Yes, it will be enough. More VRAM will do absolutely nothing for you, if and only if you stay at 1920x1080. At higher resolutions it would be worth getting 2gb cards.

 

[dummos]

Best answer selected by dummos.