Should I get a 680 to replace my 570?

It usually takes alot more resources then you think to record what your playing if your using the same graphics card for capturing. Trying using a video capture card specifically for you recordings to increase preformance. For the gtx 570 you should be fine for awhile if you need more preformance you can overclock it and have more power then a stock 580

P.S your processor is fine

As far as I know a SSD would help you out more for what your tring to do. Playing and recording. One of my friends picked up an SSD and while recording he said his FPS was much higher while playing. I don't know first hand but maybe some of the other guys could chime in.

I'm in almost the exact same boat you are, OP. Debating the upgrade to 680 from 570.. considering I my card is an EVGA and I am eligible for the Step Up program it would only cost me a little over $100.

Aka.. bump. I'd like to see more comments.

Are you having any problems playing any games with the GTX570, like low FPS? Are you tring to run 3D or multimonitors? If your games run fine, and you not tring to run 3d/multiple monitors then you don't need it. A better idea might be to try and find a second GTX570 for cheap when you need it. SLI 570's would be faster than a single GTX680 anyway.

PS: Your GTX570 may even hold you over till the 700 series if there is no need for a new GPU right now, and then you could use your step up program for one of those instead.

Step up has a limited time frame.. 90 days I believe. Thus I'd have to take advantage of it now.. so basically I could upgrade to a 680 for ~$150 now or pay twice as much (or a bit less) to deal with SLI (meh) in the future..

Nice programme, do EVGA offer that in the uk? i must say if i had the choice over here i would go SLI 570, but the step up programme sounds rather good so i would jump ship and grab one of them.

Do you have much time left on the 90 days though? if so would you be able to hold out and use the programme to get yourself a custom EVGA card? thats if, ofc, EVGA release them anytime soon but a super overclocked 680 would be damn nice for $150

Wow, I'm jealous! All you guys in the US has great tech deals. Here in Singapore, the closest we get is a giant clusterf- called Sim Lim square, and there is a moderate chance you'll get ripped off.  
Anyway, no one has answered my reference vs non-ref question. Anyone willing to help out?

By the way, I'd always assumed that Fraps is CPU-dependent, is it not?


EDIT
SSDs are way overpriced here. We pay about 4-6 dollars a GB and at about 1.4SGD=1USD. So I won't be getting a SSD locally anytime soon, anyone wants to recommend something from Amazon, that'll be awesome.

The upgrade from a 570 to 680 would be very noticeable depending on what you are playing. However, is it worth it? That is your judgement call. If you can unload your 570 at a good price, the upgrade wouldn't be so bad. Some will say, just get a 2nd 570 and SLI the cards, but there are more things to think of such as a bigger power supply and better cooling.

Also, your CPU is fine. I'm running an i7 920 (@4ghz) and have no issues.

As far as the recording issue. I think others have already mentioned it relies on other resources. It can be very depending on a hard drive, so upgrading to an SSD or at least a dedicated drive for recording might help. It isn't necessarily a video card thing.


I'd do it. I just sold my gtx580 on eBay 2 weeks ago to reclaim the most I could from it. It paid for about 2/3 the cost of the 680. I just got it today and it's definitely an increase in performance. I ran a bunch of benches, but then tried out BF3, which I haven't touched for a while. I was running at High settings with the 580 OCed. I'm running everything on Ultra and cranked up on the 680.

I am recording onto a dedicated drive, my game runs from my primary drive and I record to my secondary. I won't want a SLI setup, need a new PSU, and then, might as well build a new machine. A question, what did you do whilst waiting on your 680? I'd assume you didn't use your computer or had a back up machine/graphics card?

Reference coolers get the job done

Non-Reference coolers get the job done well.

This allows for better and more stable overclocks as well as cooler cases.

Do you have a preference? I've not been very knowledgeable about graphics card until quite recently. And I've only had experience with the MSI Twin Frozr cooler.

one thing about fraps is you should record to a 2nd hard drive (a different one from the game's install)
trust me I used to get major slow downs when trying to record and after adding a second hard drive to record on it is smooth as silk

one thing about fraps is you should record to a 2nd hard drive (a different one from the game's install)
trust me I used to get major slow downs when trying to record and after adding a second hard drive to record on it is smooth as silk

I am recording onto a second drive.   Puzzling.

You would probably have to check the EVGA website to find out, I don't know off hand.  

I think I have around 25 days left on my step-up.. I will likely go through the process and hopefully there will be more options.

Thanks all for the input and sorry to semi-hi-jack your thread, xii4iobear.  

I assume you can order from amazon.uk, so here is a couple of drives I would recommend:

Samsung 830 128gb http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-2-5inch-Desktop-Accesso...

Crucial M4 128gb http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT128M4SSD2-128GB-M4-SS...


I would of recommended an Intel drive as well, but price seemed to be a factor for you. The intel drives are $30/40 more on average higher priced then the Samsung drive over there, and I've read great reviews for both the Samsung 830 and the Crucial M4.

I have a Samsung 830, no complaints here - I'm quite happy with it. Do note, however, that if I remember correctly it's write speed is slower than some of the alternatives.

Yeah the sandforce based drives tend to have higher writes then the non-sandforce drives, but they also tend to not be as reliable. I guess it all comes down to how well the drives are supported through firmware updates for the most part. I was allways told to stay away from sandforce if I could, so I bought a kingston SSD v-100 with a JB micron controller(similar to the crucial M4). My brother bought the M4 and he loves it, too bad that drive was well over $200 when I got the kingston on sale for $120. When my brother picked up his M4 a few months later it was ony $159.99. If that was the price when I was ready to purchase I probally would of got the M4 instead.

The Samsung drive wasn't out then, but from everything i've read or seen Samsung probally slipped into second place behind intel bumping Crucial to 3rd when it comes to recommended SSDs from most people. Either way I don't think anyone could go wrong with either of the 3 manufacturers. It all comes down to the price, and the warranty.

I borrowed "The loaner" from my buddy. An 8800GTX.

Price is a factor when I source my parts locally. Stupidly high prices for the local market. I try to buy from Amazon when I can, I have not tried buying Newegg and then shipping it to a 3rd party shipper who'll then ship it to me. The prices here aren't all that much affected by the release of new products, they just price the new products ridiculously high, and then wonders why no one buys them, before finally lowering the price little by little. The price of the HD7970 is about 900SGD(approx 715USD) on average currently. Local warranties are also kinda sketchy if you go to the place with the best bargains. So  . Wish I had access to newegg.

I do have a GTS 250 that was my previous card, but I feel attached to the 570. Emotional attachment to a piece of silicon, maybe my friends are right, I do need to get out more.

I'll check out the US Amazon, they have all my credit details, too lazy to type out everything again for the UK, unless you could just log in and they're automatically there. xD

ANOTHER QUESTION, oh boy, full of that ain't I. WTH is GK110? Isn't that supposed to be the flagship for nVidia this generation? But the 680 is GK104. Unless they're gonna come up with another flagship card?



EDIT.
Attempting to sell the card on a marketplace forum has proven.. bad. I got the card for 515SGD, and they're offering 250SGD. Any tips?