New card suggestions?

[xroe]

I am planing on upgrading my video card soon and am unable to decide on which would be my best choice. At the moment I am stuck between three choices.

EVGA gtx 570 1.25gb card
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7218672&Sku=E145-0574

MSI gtx 660 TI 2gb card
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4805058&CatId=7387

Gigabyte 7950 3gb card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125414
I'm looking to stay in the 200-300 dollar range. Any suggestions, information or other card ideas would be greatly appreciated.



PS incase specs are an issue, mine are as follows

AMD fx6120
10 gb ddr3 1600
2 x 1TB hdd
gtx 550TI 1gb (just not cutting it)
400 watt power supply (will be ordering a 650 watt when I order the card)

 

[ASHISH65]

Get hd 7950 with eyes closed.perfect choice for heavy gaming and also future proof.

 

[xroe]

that is what i was thinking however i have read a few reviews saying radeons drivers tend to crash often. honestly i have never owned a radeon so i dont really know how often it really would be if ever.

 

[bigshootr8]

I would say it would truly depend on what you play if there are games that you play that utilize things. There are reviews that point towards the 660Ti being the superior option.
http://techreport.com/review/23981/radeon-hd-7950-vs-geforce-gtx-660-ti-revisited

 

[digitalmiget]

yeh just go for the 7950

 

[bigshootr8]

Also keep in mind the size of the 7950's is around 12 inches so please be sure you have the clearance for the card. If you do end up going with something like a 7950. The 660Ti's are a bit smaller.
11.42" x 4.92" x 1.38"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202006

 

[ASHISH65]

Amd driver is bit buggy.

 

[xroe]

If i can fit it i believe i'll go with the 7950 due to raw power advantages however i'm not sure. It's dimensions are Height 16.3" Width 16.2" Depth 6.9"

i dont have a camera to show where the position of the card is but the fourth picture in the link shows the inside

also i should say that my cable management will be much neater then that in the images.

http://moofi.woot.com/offers/hp-h8-i7-desktop-with-12gb-ram

 

[bigshootr8]

EEEk!

I would get a smaller card if I were you. Airflow in that case is going to be horrible for a longer card.

 

[ASHISH65]

Or you can get full tower case.

 

[xroe]

smaller then a 660 TI?

 

[bigshootr8]

No a 660Ti is smaller then a 7950 I would say that would be a better way to go if you were debating between the two.

 

[ASHISH65]

Ya gtx 660ti would be better looking at your case.

 

[bigshootr8]

haha yea I cringed honestly thinking about a long graphics card being placed in that case ><

 

[xroe]

personally (im sure its obvious by now) im not the best with video cards. i am open to suggestions. also would you say that the 660 TI should last me 2.5 - 3 years of good to decent gaming performance. (i am a bit limited as the mobo has only one pcie x16 slot)

 

[xroe]

also, i do realise that i kinda f'd up on buying this comp. I was in a rush and couldnt wait to get off my 7 year old pentium 4 (although it served me well until it finally burned out)

 

[bigshootr8]

I would say that a 660Ti would probably have lifespan of 2.5 years tops if you want medium to high settings with no AA+AF yes you would be just fine. But keep in mind though its mighty hard to judge what the future will bring.

 

[xroe]

is that for current performance or possible future. currently games such as planetside 2 get me and average of 40 frames on high settings with no AA+AF at 1920x1080 resolution on my 550 TI. It also handles borderlands 2 on high with no physx

 

[ASHISH65]

Gtx 660ti would easily last next 3years.

 

[bigshootr8]

Well I would say now you could get high settings with ease. And you could probably toss in some light AA+AF now and have no problems at all. However I would feel in the next couple of years you would have to scale down towards the end. So what I'm saying is by the end you should still be able to mix in high and medium settings where as now you could max out everything but AA+AF hope that answers your question.

 

[xroe]

well i think i'll go with the 660TI, now i only have one more question. any specific brand to recommend?

 

[xroe]

and yes bigshootr8 that answered it swimmingly.

 

[bigshootr8]

well i think i'll go with the 660TI, now i only have one more question. any specific brand to recommend?

Really truly depends on you. Do you value warranty/support if so EVGA Is it. Stuff happens sometimes with cards and you are left with RMA'ing a card if that ends up happening EVGA is the company you would want to have on your side however, if you are looking for the best cooled cards I would look towards these.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%2050001402%20600286741&IsNodeId=1&Description=660ti&name=EVGA&Order=BESTMATCH

out of all of these I would go ASUS or MSI the gigabyte card is appealing though with 3 gigabytes of ram however EVGA also provides that on some of there cards in that tier.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121653

 

[xroe]

would the 660TI even be fast enough to use 3 gb of ram?

 

[mike789]

The best choice in my opinion is the 7950. But then you surely have to get perhaps a new case as well as psu. So for total youll pay a lot. perhaps u could consider different options if u d like to be more future proof. Get the psu (ex.corsair650)and case(ex.fractal define4), but instead of a 7950 get a new m/b(ex arsock z77 extreme4) and cpu(i5-3570k) with the same amount of cash. Put in your 550 for starters and the rest of your hardware, wait a bit for a gpu and gain double the years future-proof-wise..