Which graphics card should I go for?

[dave0305]

Hello, Im putting a build together and I wanted to ask what graphics card should I pick?

I really like the KFA2 GeForce GTX 570 MDT X4 [ http://www.dabs.com/products/kfa2-geforce-gtx-570-800mhz-1280mb-pci-express-mdt-x4-7Y3J.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=product+search&utm_content=Q200 ]

Before I found this card I was just looking at the GTX 560 or ATI 6870...



Here I have filled in the form:


Approximate purchase date: In 1-2 months

Budget: £800-900 (excluding the monitor)

Usage: I want to use the computer for gaming (COD, Metro 2033, BF3/Bad company 2, F1,Assassins Creed.... Some MMO's and just all good games)
Next year Im going to college to do A levels in Computing and ICT at the same time, so i will also be doing programming (game programming mostly) also I would use the computer for video editing like AfterEffects.

The parts I have picked so far:

CPU: i5 2500k
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/processors/intelcorei3,i5andi71155socket/bx80623i52500k.html

MOBO: MSI Z68A-GD55 (G3) Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) Motherboard
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/motherboards/intel1155z68chipsetmotherboards/z68a-gd55-g3.html

RAM: Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/memory-pc/ddr3-pc3-12800/1600mhz/cmz8gx3m2a1600c9r.html

PSU: OCZ ModXStream Pro 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Modular Power Supply
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/powersupplies/ocz700mxsp-uk.html

CASE: Coolermaster HAF X Case - Black
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/rc-942-kkn1.html

or

Corsair 600T Limited Edition White Case - No PSU
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/cases/cases/cc600twm-wht.html

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 16MB Cache Hard Drive SATA 6Gb/s <8.9ms 7200rpm - OEM
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/harddrives-internal/sata500gbto1tb/wd5000aakx.html

And i dont think optical drive is too important


PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: For the website I just want a good trustable website in UK that has decent prices. So far I found wwwnovatech.co.uk and www.aria.co.uk I got a friend that has ordered stuff from novatech before and had no problem what so ever, but for aria i dont have any proof.

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference really, first I was looking at AMD but as i want to start video editing I read that Intel and Nvidia are a better pick

OVERCLOCKING: I dont have any experience with overclocking but Im sure once I will have enough confidence to try it out. So yes for overclocking and yes for the option of having SLI or crossfire.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080/1920x1200

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: If I can fit a decent cooler in with my budget then I will be more then happy But its not too important as I wount be overclocking straight away.

All those parts added to chart at novatech.co.uk come to £631.88

So I got £270 for a GPU.

Thanks in advance.

and please get back to me.

Dave

 

[ricardois]

Best single card solution is one of of those 570 :
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx570fermiseries/n570gtxtwinfrozriiioc.html

like you have a Mobo 2x 16x pci-e and also a certified PSU, you can buy a 560ti now like this one :
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560tifermiseries/n560gtx-titwinfrozriioc.html
and wait for some money and buy another later the performance will be much higher than the 570 itself.

 

[xtreme5]

a single gtx 570 can maxed out every current game especailly with 2500k.

 

[purple stain]

If your not buying for another 2 months I suggest you wait and see how the new lineup from Nvidia does to the current card prices as well as the rest of AMD's lineup.You might want one of the newer cards or you might find a really good deal on a GTX580 or something.

 

[dave0305]

Best solution is one of of those 570 :
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx570fermiseries/n570gtxtwinfrozriiioc.html

like you have a Mobo 2x 16x pci-e and also a certified PSU, you can buy a 560ti now like this one :
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/nvidiageforcegraphicscards/nvidiagtx560tifermiseries/n560gtx-titwinfrozriioc.html
and wait for some money and buy another later the performance will be much higher than the 570 itself.

Is that 570 from msi better then the kfa2? I mean if i can get a bit better cooling and performace for that extra £10-15 then i dont mind payin that bit extra

and yeah I was thinkin about that too but i wount be capable of saving up money as I got loads of stuff to be saving up for.

 

[dave0305]

If your not buying for another 2 months I suggest you wait and see how the new lineup from Nvidia does to the current card prices as well as the rest of AMD's lineup.You might want one of the newer cards or you might find a really good deal on a GTX580 or something.

And do you think the prices will drop? Because last time when the new line up from ATI (6000) the 5000 series prices didnt really drop...

But it would be nice to find a good deal as you said

 

[dave0305]

a single gtx 570 can maxed out every current game especailly with 2500k.

But do you think its worth the money?

 

[swifty_morgan]

how many monitors do you need to run ?

 

[dave0305]

how many monitors do you need to run ?

One for now, maybe next year i will go crazy and set up 3 screens

 

[ricardois]

Is that 570 from msi better then the kfa2? I mean if i can get a bit better cooling and performace for that extra £10-15 then i dont mind payin that bit extra

and yeah I was thinkin about that too but i wount be capable of saving up money as I got loads of stuff to be saving up for.

yes msi cooling is really awesome, silence + cool graphics card there it is, it really worth paying the extra 10-15 for the awesome Twin Frozr III/Twin Frozr II coolers.

 

[catatafish]

Great article, right up your alley. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[ricardois]

And do you think the prices will drop? Because last time when the new line up from ATI (6000) the 5000 series prices didnt really drop...

But it would be nice to find a good deal as you said

well by what i know graphics card prices don't drop, they release new ones better and cheaper but the old ones "when drop" is not much, they just stop selling them.

 

[maxinexus]

that is true ricardois but you might get new technology with more horsepower and cheaper.
I hope that Kepler delivers and AMD will be forced to reduce 7950/70 prices. I would by 7950 ober 570/80 anytime but 670 looks very promising

 

[swifty_morgan]

you want to look at a card with at least 2gigs of vram. Normally I would suggest a 6950 or 6970 with aspirations of cross firing in the future. However, those cards are at the end of their life and already supplies are dwindling. I think at least a one 7950........... pretty soon the new 7800 series will be here.... less than a month I think. A 7850/70 with thoughts of cross firing in the future would probably be the best bet.

the mdt you listed above will run multiple monitors but not very well at your resolution with a multi monitor set up. Better suited for a work environment. The other 570's are useless.

 

[xtreme5]

But do you think its worth the money?

of course it's worth to spend more money gtx 570, in my opinion that is incredible for your setup.

 

[dave0305]

wow thanks for all the replys guys so by the looks of it, if by the time i will be buying those parts the new cards release and there will be one with decent price and stronger performance than the 570 then i will go for that, but if not then i will probably stick to the 570 either msi or the kfa2 (but probably the msi one as it has more reviews and seems spot on with its temperatures and performance)

once again, thanks alot for takin your time O

 

[dave0305]

you want to look at a card with at least 2gigs of vram. Normally I would suggest a 6950 or 6970 with aspirations of cross firing in the future. However, those cards are at the end of their life and already supplies are dwindling. I think at least a one 7950........... pretty soon the new 7800 series will be here.... less than a month I think. A 7850/70 with thoughts of cross firing in the future would probably be the best bet.

the mdt you listed above will run multiple monitors but not very well at your resolution with a multi monitor set up. Better suited for a work environment. The other 570's are useless.

What about this one MSI AMD Radeon HD 6970 Lightning 2048MB GDDR5 [ http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/components/atiradeongraphicscards/atihd6900series/r6970lightning.html]

Or is there a better GPU for better price?

 

[purple stain]

The 6970 and GTX570 are comparable.At that point it really depends on personal preference.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_6970_Lightning/7.html

Personally I would go with the 6970 because of the dual BIOS and the extra VRAM.

More simple view...

http://www.hwcompare.com/9020/geforce-gtx-570-vs-radeon-hd-6970/

 

[swifty_morgan]

remember, the MDT will run more than one monitor. the others ( 570's ) will not. see my post above. that's why I suggested the alternatives. food for thought.

 

[swifty_morgan]

the Lightning........... yes, I'd select that over the 570. As much as I don't like MSI products, I do have an old nvidia Lightning and it still works........... unlike their older architecture.

 

[dave0305]

Right ok, but lets say if i get the 6970 and in a years time i put another one in crossfire i will be capable or running multiple monitors and games coming out at max resolution?

 

[dave0305]

The 6970 and GTX570 are comparable.At that point it really depends on personal preference.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/HD_6970_Lightning/7.html

Personally I would go with the 6970 because of the dual BIOS and the extra VRAM.

More simple view...

http://www.hwcompare.com/9020/geforce-gtx-570-vs-radeon-hd-6970/

Okay, so it worth it getting the 6970 because it has 2gb? Do you think it will come handy in future games? I heard people say get more vram...

 

[purple stain]

Nvidia cards can do up to a maximum of 2 monitors with a single card.AMD cards can do 3 monitors or more(with special connectors)with a single card.That KFA2 GTX570 is similair to what Galaxy use's with it's GTX570(basically the same thing).That GTX570 is special because it doesn't follow standard Nvidia guidelines.Those companies have created their own code where you can use a single GTX570 and display more than 2 monitors.

All that aside I do think think the 2GB of VRAM is the way to go.Even if you don't need it now, it's always better to have something and not need and need it and not have it.But note that if you do plan on going with a 3 monitor setup you will need a multi card setup to be able to get playable frames at such a high resolution with newer games.But if you intend to use it for older games a single 6970 should do fine.I've played a couple old games in eyefinity with my 6870 and it worked fine.

 

[dave0305]

Nvidia cards can do up to a maximum of 2 monitors with a single card.AMD cards can do 3 monitors or more(with special connectors)with a single card.That KFA2 GTX570 is similair to what Galaxy use's with it's GTX570(basically the same thing).That GTX570 is special because it doesn't follow standard Nvidia guidelines.Those companies have created their own code where you can use a single GTX570 and display more than 2 monitors.

All that aside I do think think the 2GB of VRAM is the way to go.Even if you don't need it now, it's always better to have something and not need and need it and not have it.But note that if you do plan on going with a 3 monitor setup you will need a multi card setup to be able to get playable frames at such a high resolution with newer games.But if you intend to use it for older games a single 6970 should do fine.I've played a couple old games in eyefinity with my 6870 and it worked fine.

Good point

I mean i dont really plan on having 3 screens but its nice to have that option.

And i see you got the 6870... Are you happy with it? I suggested my friend to get it... but his budget is a bit smaller... (6870 was the first card i wanted until a thought it would be better to get nvidia.

 

[purple stain]

I am.Almost every game I can play on high settings and maintain 60fps.I was a bit disapointed though to find out that BF3 needs more than 1GB of VRAM for Ultra textures.I bought mine about 3 months after the launch date so I payed $240 for a reference design.Now they are selling for as low as $150.Almost $100 cheaper.

But yah even if you aren't going to use a multi monitor setup the extra VRAM helps espically in future games.The 2GB of VRAM is starting to become the standard now.The 7970 and 7950 have 3GB while the 7870 has 2GB and i'm sure they will make 2GB models for the 7770 and 7850.