Uprade to nvidia gtx 560

[Zubasa]

^h.a.w.x 2 tells a different story.
but yeah the radeon beats in moderate tess. but they still dont like high levels of tesselation.
i like the 6950 but its still ~$300, and i wouldnt go with the 1gb version.

That fact is no card likes high level of tessellation, they all runs like crap.
The difference is one is crappier than the other.

The thing is Unigine Heaven is as high level of Tessellation as you can get.
Most games hardly use much tessellation at all.

 

[laithmeister]

should be fine but would start investing into a 850watts psu

 

[newtekie1]

I've got a VX550 powering one of my rigs right now, rock solid PSU. Handles a GTX470 without even breaking a sweat, it even handled the two GTX460s I have for a few weaks folding full blast the entire time.

considered a HD6950?? its cheaper and better

It is better, but not all that much cheaper. In fact the 1GB version is about $15-20 more.

Though I would consider a GTX460 for a good $70 cheaper than both, and easily overclocks to match the stock GTX560 and beyond. Yes, I know the stock GTX560 can overclock as well, but not really all that well since nVidia did a pretty good job of maxxing out the clocks to make it look like a huge leap in performance. The GTX560 will still come out ahead after overclocking, and the HD6950 even further ahead, but IMO the ~10% performance difference isn't worth the $70-90 price premium.

 

[xsistor]

I run a 1090T and a GTX460 on a 500w corsair PSU, both overclocked and overvolted, so you should have no issues running a GTX560 at all.

I think it would be worth adding another 2gb ram and getting the 560 or a 6950, my choice would be a GTX560 tho, there are some stunning non reference cards out already. I'd pick from the two gigabyte models, the base model costs MSRP ($249) and has an OC to put it on par with a 6950 and a better/quieter cooler, and their SOC model is on par with a 6970/GTX570 with an even better cooler on it @ roughly $269

1. Your PSU is fine

2. You need more RAM

3. Don't get the 2GB card unless you are planning to run this card on something like 2560x1600 resolution with 8xAA. OR if nothing but 32x sampled AA will do for you.

4. I'd probably pick the GTX 560. After looking at a lot of benches it seems to beat the 6950 more often than it loses to it, and it's nice to see it beat the 6970 now and then. Also, NVIDIA is just plain better with drivers, compatibility, PhysX etc.

 

[xBruce88x]

should be fine but would start investing into a 850watts psu

Why?

 

[xsistor]

Why?

That's a very good question. Too many idiots buying/recommending PSUs way above spec. Just yesterday I heard about this chap who bough an expensive 1200watt supply to power a i7 920 with a GTX 460 on some random recommendation.

 

[xBruce88x]

don't get me wrong... its not a completely bad idea... the extra wattage will ensure the psu will still power the rig for years to come even after capacitor aging kicks in.

If he was going for an I7 EE and 3 way sli, yea.

speaking of power check this out... proves cards aren't as power hungry as people think...

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gpu-power-consumption-2010_3.html#sect0

 

[xsistor]

1. Capacitor aging still doesn't justify that much power overkill... Capacitor aging is a nonlinear curve, which makes it high in the first 1-2 years and then flattens out as you go along, so when calculating PSU requirements with cap aging thrown into play it would still only be reasonable to account for about 10%-20% (around 30% if you want to go real hardcore) factor into your power calculations. it still doesn't make financial sense to get something with several hundred watts/amperes on the off chance that you're using that same PSU several years down the line

2. Yeah graphics cards don't draw "that" much power... I've seen people on some forums recommending high power PSUs because tehy interpret the "wall socket" power measurements as GPU power, and then they double or triple that for multip GPU configs. There was one in particular I read on an indian forum that cracked me up. It starts with one guy asking if his PSU was okay for GTX 580. From the specs on his PSU it looked to me like it would manage to run the GTX 580 by the skin of its teeth. The posts on the forum started out by saying his PSU was fine, and then went on to recommend higher and higher wattage PSUs going all the way up to 950w to power a single GTX 580

 

[xBruce88x]

yea i usually set 15-20% aging in outervision's psu calculator...i did that in my "tax time upgrade" thread. good to know its a nonlinear curve b/c my PSU is 8 freaking years old lol (since it is that old i may do %30)

 

[xsistor]

that's some bloody good quality control those manufacturers used

 

[xBruce88x]

yea i just found out how old the darn thing is the other day... i looked up the model b/c i was wondering why it didn't have PCI-e... well in 03 that was kinda a new thing... or still being thought of. my psu was reviewed in '03, got a pretty damn good one too lol. I got a 2x4pin to 6pin so all is well lol

 

[rockleez]

I don't think that your 5770 is what is holding your system back. I'd go for RAM and a CPU upgrade first. I think that you would be disappointed with the increase in system performance with either the 6850 or the GTX560. Better yet, grap a used 5770 and crossfire them!

EDIT: Also, you don't mention if you've tried to unlock/overclock that CPU.

I used to have 4gb ram 2x2 sticks but suddenly they stopped working after couple of months so i tested each stick and they were fine so i tested slots, and found out that in doesnt work on one of the slots, so just use one stick for now. Im not using the other 2 slots because one slot is being blocked by the cooler, so should i buy a new motherboard?.. orr