780 Ti suggestions

[NeverBackDown]

I know you are looking for a 780ti but tbh i found the Tri-x 290x card for only $520 or you can get a 290x Powercolor PCS+ for $619 that comes with a free 250GB Samsung Evo ssd. I see no reason to go for a 780ti with these kinds of deals on newegg atm.

 

[Puck]

They can do if you get the ones made out of metal, Then they will act as a sort of passive heatsink helping with temps by maybe 1-2'c in the best case scenario.

I got a black one made from plexi with a 2-3mm gap between it and the card so it doesn't impede heat or act as a sort of passive heatsink as it's not metal but looks damn sexy ^_^

Indeed it does... Wow.

agent_x007, I didn't realize that. My non-reference (Going to make use of that term now ) GTX 770 has a GPU core clock of 1136 MHz and a memory clock of 1928 MHz. In game the GPU Core clock jumps to 1215 MHz... I'm assuming that's from the boost? or am I wrong there?

 

[Dicehunter]

Indeed it does... Wow.

agent_x007, I didn't realize that. My non-reference (Going to make use of that term now ) GTX 770 has a GPU core clock of 1136 MHz and a memory clock of 1928 MHz. In game the GPU Core clock jumps to 1215 MHz... I'm assuming that's from the boost? or am I wrong there?

Yes thats from boost

I know you are looking for a 780ti but tbh i found the Tri-x 290x card for only $520 or you can get a 290x Powercolor PCS+ for $619 that comes with a free 250GB Samsung Evo ssd. I see no reason to go for a 780ti with these kinds of deals on newegg atm.

Like it or not though the 780 Ti does perform better, As I said before I've had both 290X and 780 Ti *also played around with other 290X's apart from the Asus version* and I cannot recommend AMD cards at this moment in time and I am by no means a fan boy, I have had every variant of ATI and AMD card since the early 2000's.

When AMD bring their top of the line next gen card out that outperforms Nvidias top of the lines next gen card but with good temps I will happily buy it.

 

[Puck]

NeverBackDown, I guess it's just personal preference... at this tier of GPUs I know I want the best for what is within my price range. Just because AMD is cheaper than NVIDIA doesn't make it worse, I completely get that. To be honest, I'm not sure which is better. I guess I'll just have to do more research.

 

[Dicehunter]

Apart from the hardware side of things you also have to consider the software side of things.

Do you want Nvidia features such as -

Shadowplay

Physx

GeForce Experience

CUDA *Used in certain apps and games*

Nvidia Exclusive Game Features

TXAA

3D Vision

3D Vision Surround

Adaptive VSync

GPU Boost 2.0

HBAO+


Or on the AMD side -

Mantle

TressFX

AMD DVR *Very early AMD version of Shadowplay*

RAPTR Gaming Evolved App *AMD version of GeForce Experience*

AMD Eyefinity

AMD Trueaudio

AMD ZeroCore *Very low power usage at idle*

AMD App Acceleration

AMD Eyefinity

AMD HD3D


Both companies offer some great choices

 

[Puck]

Well this is an upgrade. And because I already have NVIDIA I might as well go with a 780 Ti. What I find interesting that EVGA's Superclocked version is cheaper than their standard version. Could that be a mistake?

 

[MadShadow]

Well this is an upgrade. And because I already have NVIDIA I might as well go with a 780 Ti. What I find interesting that EVGA's Superclocked version is cheaper than their standard version. Could that be a mistake?

Whatever the cost, avoid evga acx coolers at all costs (pun semi-intended). Many people here have had very bad experiences with them.

 

[Dicehunter]

Well this is an upgrade. And because I already have NVIDIA I might as well go with a 780 Ti. What I find interesting that EVGA's Superclocked version is cheaper than their standard version. Could that be a mistake?

Good choice, Probably on offer, If it is a mistake then take advantage of it ^_^

 

[Puck]

No ACX Cooler, understood. Dicehunter, you would recommend the Factory overclocked EVGA? EVGA is linked.

 

[Dicehunter]

No ACX Cooler, understood. Dicehunter, you would recommend the Factory overclocked EVGA? EVGA is linked.

If it's at a good price hell yeah ! ^_^

 

[Puck]

Awesome. Now i just have to plan my airflow around the card!

 

[Dicehunter]

Awesome. Now i just have to plan my airflow around the card!

Fans sucking in air from the front, Blowing over the card and getting exhausted out the back usually does the trick ^_^

 

[Puck]

I've currently got the rear fan as an intake. I'm gonna put a radiator in the top with two exhaust fans in push. Two intakes in the front. Speaking of airflow, what kind of temperatures do you see with a referenced card? You probably are pushing your card(s) harder than I will.

 

[Dicehunter]

I've currently got the rear fan as an intake. I'm gonna put a radiator in the top with two exhaust fans in push. Two intakes in the front. Speaking of airflow, what kind of temperatures do you see with a referenced card? You probably are pushing your card(s) harder than I will.

If I have it at stock it sits around 28'c idle, Sometimes lower depending on ambient, Load temps I've seen in the 80's but bear in mind this is all at stock settings with automatic fan control which generally has fans set to low.

I used furmark at max settings which is known to raise temps to hell'ish levels, also enabled burn in and extreme burn in and the temps hovered in the mid 80's, This benchmark is very unrealistic for a GPU.

I tried the same benchmark with the 290X and I had to stop as the plexi on my case started getting uncomfortably hot.

Roughly the same results across the board, Stock your looking at 80'c ish with auto fans and no custom fan curve, Overclocked about the same or lower with a fan curve or stock with a fan curve 60's to 70's depending on the situation, Bear in mind these are all in GPU intensive games.

I play Star Wars The Old Republic when I get the chance and it always hovers in the 60's with an overclock to 1200, So again it depends on the game intensity.

 

[Puck]

I hover in the mid 60's during gameplay. I think I broke 70 once, but that was with an Overlay and Fraps running at the same time. I'm really looking forward to this upgrade.

Thank you for all your help, that goes for everyone that contributed to this thread.

 

[Dicehunter]

I hover in the mid 60's during gameplay. I think I broke 70 once, but that was with an Overlay and Fraps running at the same time. I'm really looking forward to this upgrade.

Thank you for all your help, that goes for everyone that contributed to this thread.

Your welcome, I'm about to play a little Crysis 3 and monitor temps, I'll report back with stock, Stock with custom fan curve, Overclocked and overclocked with custom fan curve in about 30 minutes ^_^

 

[Puck]

You're the man! Looking forward to it!

 

[Dicehunter]

You're the man! Looking forward to it!

Ok just did one of the last levels, The one with the buggy, Lots of big explosions on that one and here are the results for you

Results -

Idle at Default and OC with and without the custom fan curve hovers from 28'c to 33'c

Ambient temp is 20'C / 68'F with not even a whisper of a breeze.

Stock Clocks Auto Fan = 81.5'c, Boost 1120 core +200 memory

Stock Clocks With Custom Moderate Fan Curve = 75'c, Boost 1120 +200 memory

OC Auto Fan = 85'c, Boost 1210 Core +75mv +400 memory

OC With Custom Moderate Fan Curve = 78'c, Boost 1210 Core +75mv +400 memory


Only did a small overclock to show you roughly what you can expect

 

[Puck]

Thanks that is super helpful and I really appreciate it!

 

[Dicehunter]

Thanks that is super helpful and I really appreciate it!

Happy to help, Just updated the idle temps as well