Should I Upgrade?

[nawit]

Hey guys,

I am currently using a EVGA GTX 550 TI (Fermi). It seems to be a card that runs hot and I'm not sure if i like that, but it seems pretty good for my needs. I was thinking about upgrading but only if I could get a decent upgrade for an okay price (180-200). I play games like League of Legends, WoW, Bioshock, Darksiders, and I'm thinking of getting CoD.

Appreciate the help and happy new year!

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Hi. What's your resolution? Those games aren't very demanding and don't need a $200 graphics card. You may not even need an upgrade if you're happy with the GTX 550 Ti.

 

[nawit]

1980x1080 on my main monitor. I mean my FPS is fine. I am more worried about the temps. Not really sure how hot this thing should be running but while playing games for about an hour it reaches around 65 C. Is that safe? I also don't know if the card is causing in issue with league of legends that causes my computer to freeze, and thats why I was looking to replace it.

 

[johnsonjohnson]

I think the max temp is 95 C.

Edit: Nvidia says 100 C. http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-550ti/specifications

 

[johnsonjohnson]

If your temperature of 65 C is accurate, then it's safe and might not be cause.

 

[jessterman21]

You do want your card to stay below about 80C, but you're never getting anywhere near that. The freezing is something else - most likely your hard drive or CPU. What are your full specs?

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Maybe it's a game specific issue.

 

[nawit]

CPU- i5 3570k
Mobo- ASUS p8Z77- V LK
Video Card- GTX 550 TI (fermi)
PSU- Antec 550 W BP550
RAM- 8g Corsair Vengeance 8g Patriot Gamer 2 Series
Case- Rosewill Challenger U3
SSD- Crucial m4 128g
HDD- WDC WD5000 465 GB

I had another thread in another thread trying to figure out the issue. Some said it could be the rail on my video card but I think it's in the right one. Others thought overheating but after posting temps that was not the cause either. Some said it was an issue with League of Legends itself seeing as I only freeze while I play that game; they said it was a memory leak, but I really don't know how to go about fixing that. Any help would be appreciated. I thought it may have been my GPU so I was thinking about replacing it.

Edit: Here is the thread. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/376282-31-random-freeze-while

 

[johnsonjohnson]

Well if it only happens when you play that game, then it is highly like game specific. A quick search on Google shows threads of people with freezing issues with the game. Maybe you should search to see if anyone has a similar freezing problem that you do.

 

[nawit]

I've spent HOURS searching the issue. I have found tons of people with the same issue but no clear solution at all.

 

[rockadrock1]

If you are willing to pay that much i would say you should get the 7850. Pretty good bang for the buck.

 

[jessterman21]

If you are willing to pay that much i would say you should get the 7850. Pretty good bang for the buck.

Not for Crysis 2, though. Much better to get a GTX 660.

@nawit, you aren't running the game on Ultra, are you? Try High settings in DX9, and see if you still have freezing issues in multi. Also download HWMonitor and check your temps as you play.

 

[nawit]

I am running the game on very high. My FPS is fine and my temps (as posted beforehand) seem okay. It reaches about 64 which from what I have researched is normal for a GTX 550 TI. Could the high settings be causing my entire computer to freeze?

Edit- Also not really sure if Vertical Sync makes a difference. Also, not sure what frame rate cap really is or if that could cause an issue but it is set to benchmark.

Edit2- What exactly is DX9? Sorry kind of new to computers :/