GPU Upgrade

[bigmalky]

Hi all,

I've got a gaming rig with a Nvidia GTX 580 1.5GB model at the moment and was looking to upgrade.

I've spotted a KFA2 670 GTX 4GB that apparently runs quite well and almost silently for under £400, which is around my budget for the new GPU.

As the current card is 1.5GB, I'm looking to future proof the system and was wondering if this would do the trick or are there any other similarly powered cards for cheaper?

Much appreciated,

Malky

 

[seumasbeathan]

Tbh I don't see a real reason for you to upgrade, and a 580 to a 670 certainly wouldn't be worth it

 

[bigmalky]

Not even for the bump in GB? I'm just looking to the future here.

 

[S_I_N]

what are the rest of your specs??? 1.5gb to 4gb is really only worth it for higher res or multi monitors

 

[bigmalky]

AMD Bulldozer eight core fx-8120 3.10GHz/8MB Cache/AM3+ (Stock cooler)
Asus M5A99X EVO
8GB Kingston Hyper-X Genesis Dual-DDR3 1600MHz
1.5GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 580
500GB Storage

That's it so far.

 

[S_I_N]

ok just wanted to see if the gpu would be bottlenecked and I dont think it will. but as said before unless your expanding your res or adding more monitors you wont see that extra 2.5gb of memory utilized

 

[bigmalky]

Thanks for the tip Sin. Is there anything I can substitute for the cash I would have spent on the GPU to make the rig any better?

 

[S_I_N]

outside of a cpu mobo (to intel) change not really It should do ya fine for gaming. But I know the pains of having that cash in your pocket wanting to be spent. ever think about a second 580 to boost performance??? since you have a 990FX mobo it is sli capable

 

[bigmalky]

The PSU is a 650w... Will that be enough or am I looking at an upgrade for SLI'd 580's?

Thanks for all this info by the way. It's been a long time since I rigged a PC out. About 4 years ago with a 8800gtx lol.

 

[S_I_N]

nope you'l most likely kill a 650watter if ya sli'd 580's not sure about quid conversion but around here for 400$ you can get a good deal on a used 580 and still have enough left for a 850watt psu

 

[bigmalky]

Just spotted a 580 on Ebay for £200. Just looking for a Corsair 850w HX+ for cheap. So far £130 is the lowest.

 

[s3ns3]

there is no point buying another 580 if you are using that cpu.if it would be vishera yeah...bulldozer will be a bottleneck even for a 670.anyway the gtx 580 is a great card for 1080p and the memory is plenty.so why do you want to upgrade so soon? just wait for gtx 7xx series...if you want to spend money buy a fx 8350 or i5+mobo

 

[bigmalky]

I decided against the second GPU anyway. I thought it was a lot of money just for a wee bit extra performance. There's a few deals on 8350's at the minute but I'm a cpu installation virgin, so I'm a wee bit unsure of the process...

That's what the internet is for though.

 

[remember300]

i was a cpu virgin till a week ago ... popped my cherry so to speak and its fine, maybe spend some of that money on better cooling so you can push your cpu more and have less bottle necking,
or is that a silly suggestion guys?

 

[iBeInspire]

I decided against the second GPU anyway. I thought it was a lot of money just for a wee bit extra performance.

Not strictly true, another GPU should effectively double your framerate in games...
Overclock your CPU to at least a healthy 4Ghz or more, and you won't run into much bottlenecking...

 

[bigmalky]

I've bought a new heatsink and some quieter fans already and I've got a few hundred quid floating around for upgrades.

Just looking to make this rig a bit better while I can.

Is it that easy to switch out cpu's then?

 

[iBeInspire]

I've bought a new heatsink and some quieter fans already and I've got a few hundred quid floating around for upgrades.

Just looking to make this rig a bit better while I can.

Is it that easy to switch out cpu's then?

Take off heatsink < Take out CPU < Put in new CPU < Put heatsink back on.
10 minz of work if you have a half decent case

 

[bigmalky]

OKay... Sounds easier than fitting a new heatsink. I guess I'll have done everything but fit a custom cooling sytem shortly lol.

Thanks for the advice all.

 

[remember300]

sorry i saw you had stock cooling hence why i said about the cooling and hope the mods make the differance

 

[bigmalky]

Sins advised on a D14 and spectre pro fans... It's needed as the AMD stock heatsink is bloody noisy. That was my first priority.