Assistance with upgrading graphics card for existing machine!

[DaftBasterd]

I am in need of upgrading my graphics card now as I have had a GTX 295 for 6 or 7 years now which has served me immensely well (and still does). I was told by a friend who works at a computer repair store that I should get a GTX 770 or 780 and I am inclined to believe him but I am not sure I should base it on the opinion of one person so I came here!

Here are my computer's specs. Let me know if I need to tell you guys anything else:

i7 950 3.1GHz~
6GB DDR3 RAM (3 individual 2GB sticks)
700W power supply
Not sure what motherboard, if that matters

Any opinions on whether I should get a 770 or 780 (other than the $200 price difference) and do I need anything else to run this card or will my current specs be alright to handle a 770/780? Thank you in advance!

 

[THSNOTLEK]

yep get 770

 

[chemmajorp53]

It will be able to handle a GTX 770 no problem. What resolution are you gaming at? No sense spending more than US$350 if it's only 1080p.

 

[2mugo]

Yea, 295 cant handle BF3 max setting quite well if that what you're gaming so yea it made sense going up to 770 even at 1080p. Go for it!

 

[DaftBasterd]

Yes I game A LOT. Recently got The Witcher 2 and realized that it was starting to stutter on max settings and thought hey, it's been 7 years, let's upgrade. Yes, I do dual monitor 1920x1080. Thanks for the replies so far! I wasn't sure if a 770 could handle my 700W power supply and processor and current memory or if I needed to upgrade those too.

 

[2mugo]

Yes I game A LOT. Recently got The Witcher 2 and realized that it was starting to stutter on max settings and thought hey, it's been 7 years, let's upgrade. Yes, I do dual monitor 1920x1080. Thanks for the replies so far! I wasn't sure if a 770 could handle my 700W power supply and processor and current memory or if I needed to upgrade those too.

700w psu and your cpu will fair well. More ram is advised if you're going for SSD but if it's just hdd 6GB is quite plenty.

 

[DaftBasterd]

I was specifically thinking of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

However I do not understand a lot of the specific things, I'm told it's great due to it being overclocked already.

 

[2mugo]

I was specifically thinking of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

However I do not understand a lot of the specific things, I'm told it's great due to it being overclocked already.

Yep it's overclocked one and still within your current psu n cpu limit.

One thing though that worries me is the capacitors aging all over your motherboard and even psu as they might not giving you 100%, assuming they're as old as your gpu. While everything on paper looks fine, ie wattage supply and cpu, the real world performance only God know.

 

[DaftBasterd]

I was specifically thinking of this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462

However I do not understand a lot of the specific things, I'm told it's great due to it being overclocked already.

Yep it's overclocked one and still within your current psu n cpu limit.

One thing though that worries me is the capacitors aging all over your motherboard and even psu as they might not giving you 100%, assuming they're as old as your gpu. While everything on paper looks fine, ie wattage supply and cpu, the real world performance only God know.

So you recommend getting a new motherboard? Motherboard is the one component that I know almost nothing about haha.

 

[EvgaLover]

I personally have the Evga gtx 770 (sc) installed and its a beast. Go for it!

 

[DaftBasterd]

Funny you should ask, I actually had to send it into a PC repair store for diagnostics. I sent it in Friday and it is now Wednesday and they said they still don't know what's causing me to get BSODs every time I uninstalled something, updated something, played a game for a while, etc etc. They determined after 2 hours whilst I was physically there at the check-in that my memory wasn't faulty nor was my video card (they changed out the video card and tested it with a different one and it still failed. Soooo yeah I'm waiting to get that back and if they say my motherboard was the cause or something then I guess I gotta get a new one before anything. We will see.

 

[2mugo]

Sorry to hear that. For me, a system is good enough if it boot to window for the first time then if it walks pass one yer then it's a blessing. 5 years is luxury and more than that is heaven. It has served you well over the years. Good luck mate.

Too, dual monitor gaming yearns for SLI/two graphic cards setup/very powerful card as in your 295 (while it lacks graphic memory just 900MB of DDR3 ram available, it's still playable with decent frame rate since it's SLI on a single board). Mate, you might be in for a major upgrade.

 

[DaftBasterd]

Computer store determined that my hard drive stopped spinning correctly or something so I'm just gonna get a replacement WD Black (or Blue) 7200 RPM Sata 6GB 64MB cache internal hard drive.

So even though my GTX 295 is SLI in a single board, the 770 I linked is a huge upgrade right? Sorry, I just want to really make sure it's a good thing to do.

 

[2mugo]

On paper, 770 is better than 295. WIth driver optimized, latest direct X support, better architecture and almost everything in favor of 770, yea I'm still sure 770 is a good replacement for 295. Anything lower is not recommended. I read that a fresh high quality 700w psu can handle GTX 780 too, except it'll blow your wallet apart better than 770.