Advice on Upgrading GFX Card for Shadowplay

[Ltor]

Hey now, I'm looking to upgrade to one of Nvidia's new graphics cards capable of shadowplay. Their new proprietary capture software that runs in the background and has little impact on frame rate. My understanding is it works with GTX 650 and higher, so I was hoping to figure out which of those cards currently fall into that sweet spot for price/performance and ensure its compatible with all my shit.

Also let me know how worthwhile it is replacing a 2 year old video card and if there are any other upgrades I should consider that will improve my weird 1440p monitor and 1080p tv setup. I'm hoping overclocking my cpu should be enough to remedy any performance bottleneck. I should prolly learn how to overclock my cpu.

Current Specs:
-UltraSharp U2713HM-IPS-LED 1440P Monitor
-50 inch Samsung Plasma 1080p TV
-Intel Core i5-2500K CPU
-MSI Z68A-GD55 Motherboard
-Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 RAM
-XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB Video Card (Card I'll be replacing)
-Crucial M4 128GB SSD
-Hitachi Desktar 1TB
-Western Digital WD Green 2TB
-Seagate Barracuda 2TB
-Sound Blaster Z Sound Card
-Corsair 750TX V2 750W Power Supply
-NZXT Phantom Case
-Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Heatsink

Oh and if you know any quieter fans for both my case and my heat sink please let me know.

 

[limitedaccess]

You might be misunderstand Shadowplay, it doesn't turn an Nvidia card into a video capture device per say. Shadowplay works by capturing frames directly from the GPUs framebuffer. Basically it would only work if you were actually using that particular GPU to render and output whatever game it is your are looking to record. See here for technical explanation - http://forums.guru3d.com/showpost.php?p=4687310&postcount=61

So to use Shadowplay you would need to replace your current video card. With that being said then would you want an upgrade in performance (and if so how much)? Or are you looking a certain level of performance for a particular game as the baseline?

You will need to get at least a GTX 650ti Boost or GTX 750ti to get roughly performance parity with what you have now.

 

[Ltor]

I know that, you misunderstood me. I'm looking to replace my current graphics card.

 

[tiraides]

You should look at the GTX 770 4GB card as the "bare minimum" for 1440p. It's a noticeable improvement over the HD 6950, but depending on the game, it may not be enough.

Which games are you playing? Are you playing them at 1080p or 1440p?

 

[Ltor]

You should look at the GTX 770 4GB card as the "bare minimum" for 1440p. It's a noticeable improvement over the HD 6950, but depending on the game, it may not be enough.

Which games are you playing? Are you playing them at 1080p or 1440p?

I get into some BF4 from time to time, I'd obviously like to play at 1440p. Are there any sites where i can do a straight up fps comparison between these cards. I'm kinda dissapointed with how much I'd have to pay to see a marked improvement over a $260 card that i bought two years ago.

 

[Dangman]

I get into some BF4 from time to time, I'd obviously like to play at 1440p. Are there any sites where i can do a straight up fps comparison between these cards. I'm kinda dissapointed with how much I'd have to pay to see a marked improvement over a $260 card that i bought two years ago.

You can kind of see the FPS difference here:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1061?vs=1037

Granted, that's the HD 6970, that's only the 2GB version of the GTX 770, and the highest resolution they're using is 1080P but should still give you a fair idea of the kind of performance you'll get.

With that said, your disappointment might be a combination case of rather exaggerated expectations (rarely are there massive marked shifts in performance like the one seen between the GTX 7xxxx series and the GTX 8xxx series), the fact that you bought the HD 6970 when it was on the way out and therefore was cheaper than initial release, and the knockdown effects of the crypto-currency mining crazy happening now that's driving up the prices of AMD cards. If it wasn't for the latter, more than likely your next upgrade would have been the $300 MSRP R9 280X which does provide a decent enough performance increase over the HD 6950 as seen here:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1061?vs=1041

But alas, the mining craze is indeed happening. So your best bet really is the GTX 770.

As for fan replacement, I recommend the Scythe GentleTyphoon 120mm:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001Q6X0S6/?tag=extension-kb-20

Pretty much a solid quiet fan:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1342-page9.html

 

[Ltor]

You can kind of see the FPS difference here:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1061?vs=1037

Granted, that's the HD 6970, that's only the 2GB version of the GTX 770, and the highest resolution they're using is 1080P but should still give you a fair idea of the kind of performance you'll get.

With that said, your disappointment might be a combination case of rather exaggerated expectations (rarely are there massive marked shifts in performance like the one seen between the GTX 7xxxx series and the GTX 8xxx series), the fact that you bought the HD 6970 when it was on the way out and therefore was cheaper than initial release, and the knockdown effects of the crypto-currency mining crazy happening now that's driving up the prices of AMD cards. If it wasn't for the latter, more than likely your next upgrade would have been the $300 MSRP R9 280X which does provide a decent enough performance increase over the HD 6950 as seen here:
http://anandtech.com/bench/product/1061?vs=1041

But alas, the mining craze is indeed happening. So your best bet really is the GTX 770.

As for fan replacement, I recommend the Scythe GentleTyphoon 120mm:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001Q6X0S6/?tag=extension-kb-20

Pretty much a solid quiet fan:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1342-page9.html

Thanks for all the great info Dangman, now I've got more questions! I'll number em to keep it neat.

1. so you agree the 770 GTX 4GB is the way to go?

2. Someone on reddit recommended this: http://www.ncixus.com/products/?usa...=N770 TF 2GD5/OC&manufacture=MSI&promoid=1263 If I only had my 1440p monitor plugged in while running BF4 would I still want the extra Vram?

3. Also does it matter much whose version of the card I get? It seems Gigabyte's Windforce is the cheapest, are there any major differences between them performance or noise wise?

4. Think it would be worth it to spend $100 and replace all 4 40mm case fans plus the heatsink fan with those gentleTyphoons?

5. Will my 750 PSU accommodate this and will I run into any bottlenecking with my CPU?

6. Where should I buy it, Newegg has no Tax in NY but would it be worth it to try to find a used one or is that mostly a crapshoot?

 

[Dangman]

1) In your case, yes.

2) Yes.

3) The Windforce is slightly more noisier than the MSI TwinFrozr or Asus DirectCU II cards but the performance is basically all the same.

4) 40mm? The Phantom's main fans are 120mm. The top and side fans are 200mm (in reality 190mm). Whether or not to replace all of the 120mm fans with the GT fans is largely dependent on how badly you hate the noise level from the PC. Though if you have connected the fans to the Phantom's built-in fan controller, that should have alleviated the noise somewhat. With that said, I do recommend replacing the fan on the HSF. The stock fan on the Hyper 212 is kinda louder than the NZXT fans and really shouldn't be connected to the case's fan controller. So at the very least, just replace the fan on that Coolermaster with the GT and you should notice a drop in the noise levels. I certainly did when I replaced my Hyper 212's stock fan with a Scythe S-Flex SFF21E fan (no longer being sold).

5) Yes your PSU is more than enough. Hell you could do a lot of overclocking and get a second GTX 770 and still be fine power-wise. Your CPU is enough but I recommend learning how to overclock.

6) Crapshoot. The GTX 770 cards are still technically "mainstream" cards so you probably won't find them used for a really low price. Buy it from a trusted and reputable retailer who happens to have the lowest overall price on the card. Good customer support is a plus (hence my Amazon.com recommendation).

 

[Ltor]

Well I think I'll order a 4GB 770 from newegg unless someone expects a big price drop in price in the near future.

Newegg has no sales tax here, if you were to order now, which would you get?

$379 GIGABYTEhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125462 5% off

$389 PNY http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133500

$409 EVGA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130945

$369 ZOLTAC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500303 O.O.S.

 

[Dangman]

I'd go witn the eVGA or Gigabyte cards