New GPU advice needed

If you need a new card then buy now. The new Nvidia cards are rumored to be out around October or November this year so that might be worth waiting on. But if youre current rig is struggling, then 4 or 5 months is a long time to endure choppy frame rates so nothing at all wrong with buying now. A pair of these Asus DirecCU II 4GB 290's for £616 shipped would be one hell of a lot of horsepower and should be for a long time to come.
 
barnsley said:
I'd reccomend against those particular gpus. Asus were lazy with them and as such they're crap at cooling.

I'd personally go for a Sapphire gpu, Aria have a great deal on the 290 tri-x. £282 each!
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That's the second time I've heard that on here but I don't see reviews saying that. They're usually getting high marks with very good temps. They may not be the best coolers on the market but I don't see where they're crap. Granted I don't read every review site but my main reference sites for GPU reviews seem to like the DirecCU II cooler.
 
The only problem with Sapphire is the two year warrantee, rather than the three year warrantee you get with Asus, Gigabyte, or MSI. That's why the cards are cheaper. Personally, I go for the three years every time.
 
MacLeod said:
That's the second time I've heard that on here but I don't see reviews saying that. They're usually getting high marks with very good temps. They may not be the best coolers on the market but I don't see where they're crap. Granted I don't read every review site but my main reference sites for GPU reviews seem to like the DirecCU II cooler.
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Everyone on here whos had that card has had it perform like a quieter stock card. You have to run it on uber mode to get better cooling, which is crap considering Sapphire, Powercolor and Club 3d's cards run cooler and quieter. Its crap because of the price/performance ratio and limited headroom to OC. I don't know if there is a DCUII TOP one out now though.
 
Pugsport said:
i am after some advice on which GPU would be better to get, im not really to fussed about chip, brand or markers brand as long as it works.

im looking at spending at around the £250 to £300 mark. im also in two minds if i should wait till the end of year when the new GPU come out
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TTL has just reviewed the Club3D Royal Ace 290 if you want to take a look at that? I think it retails for £322 on Amazon?

Both PowerColour and Sapphire offer their top spec 290's at £299 on Overclockers at the moment.

In regards to Nvidia you may have to wait until deals come around as every GTX780 I have found is over £300 at this moment in time.



Regards,

WeLikeLead
 
it's a no brainer then! 290 and a XSPC razor block. they even did a review specially for you yesterday : )
 
im not a huge fan of the way their stuff looks, the black plastic with the clear around the edge for the leds just makes me think cheap and nasty :(

i can be really picky over some stuff and even more so when i have choice :) but dont get me wrong its better looking than some of the water blocks ive seen. i kind of like the way the EK stuff looks but the clean version of their new blocks, their older style blocks worked better for me just plain black acetal with EK engraved in
 
Pugsport said:
im not a huge fan of the way their stuff looks, the black plastic with the clear around the edge for the leds just makes me think cheap and nasty :(

i can be really picky over some stuff and even more so when i have choice :) but dont get me wrong its better looking than some of the water blocks ive seen. i kind of like the way the EK stuff looks but the clean version of their new blocks, their older style blocks worked better for me just plain black acetal with EK engraved in
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When you have a full XSPC set up with red LED's it looks badass in the dark :) If you are going to water cool just buy a ref 290 or 780.


Regards,

WeLikeLead
 
get where you're coming from pug, I don't use any LEDs myself on the XSPC stuff but really there isn't any cheap plastic in their builds and arunning dark, their stuff looks pretty damned good, IMHO, also I have no complaint about performance and quality. but each to their own.
 
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Pugsport said:
yes granted it can look cool if done right but im one for a bit of a stealth look and dont mind LED's for lighting up the whole case but im not really a huge fan of them for adding colour to areas or water blocks, some times i think they can look alright in a reservoir but thats about my limits.

this is my sort of build

http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=64280&page=3
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Thanks for the plug Pug. And a massive +1 to your argument about the raystorms and razors, they don't always work especially with coloured LED's but I think project Magnus rocked them pretty convincingly. That's not an XSPC bash in any way I really hate the original CSQ EK stuff as well, blocks are a difficult aesthetic to get right it seems but the Clean CSQ EK stuff certainly does wether that be plexi or acetal.

JR
 
Just to chip in a little, XSPC LEDs work quite well, the only real problem I had was the LED actually came off, likely due to bending o-o

Also avoid their dual bay res with the LED, it is utter crap for that one. All you will see the a light where it was placed and the coolant is just dark... no illumination whatsoever.

If you dont want the LED and like a stealth like build the EK FC Nickel/Acetal is a great choice, not to mention the back plate looks utterly beautiful.
 
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