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nvidia based upgrade path for my setup?

A

Avenger

n00b
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Messages
23
I'm looking to beef up the graphics power of my system. I have:

QX9650 3.0 ghz core 2 quad cpu
Asus P5E motherboard
eVGA 8800 GTS 512MB
2 hard drives 1 WD 750GB and 1 WD 2 TB.
450 Watt power supply. Have to look up the make (edit: found it Nspire NSP-450P4LF12)

For the most part I am happy with my system for normal tasks but would like to see what I can do for games. My particular question is how high on the video card scale should I be looking? Would a nVidia 460 GTX be okay with my current setup (note 450 watt power supply)? And if I wanted better performance should I upgrade the power supply and get a GTX 480 or the upcoming 580? Or is it not worth it with the current CPU I have and I should start from scratch if I want to do that? I run games at the native 1920x1200 of my monitor. I want to stay with nVidia due to the fact that I've used their products for a long time and I had a recent bad experience trying to swap an AMD card in the system (drivers, etc.).
 
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We can't answer any of your questions until you find out what 450W PSU you have. A good quality 450W would be enough for a GTX 460 1GB. But a shitty one isn't.

Also what resolution are you playing at?
 
Looks like you got a 6850 to replace that 8800. What happened?
 
I'm running at 1920x1200 resolution. I did briefly get a AMD 6850 to try out but I ran into some problems with the drivers on my system as well as a port problem (promptly returned it). I'm running the nVidia card fine with the latest drivers so I think I'll stick with the brand. I just cracked the case open and see the power supply is an Nspire NSP-450P4LF12.
 
You're looking at a new PSU no matter what card you go with: That NSpire PSU is crap. I recommend the Corsair 650TX 650W PSU.

Your best bet for Nvidia after you upgrade the video card is the GTX 4601GB or the 470 1GB. The GTX 480 is a tad overkill for your setup.
 
@avenger

Edit: Oops, mis-post way to early

When you say you ran into some drivers problems, did you first use DriverCleaner or DriverSweeper etc(some third party driver removal tool and remove your nVidia drivers before installing that latest catalyst drivers?)
 
New power supply definitely recommended. How long can you wait. Can you wait to Mid-late December? Is there a gaming itch you need to scratch right now?

I believe there should be good options by December. I anticipate the GTX 560 and GTX 570 may be available by years end. This should stimulate competitive price wars and imagine a 6870 for $199, it could happen. Same goes with nvidia, some of their GPUs will probably be found at very good prices. If the wait is possible I'd say wait, at least till the end of November, by then if something were coming it'd either be out or the leaks will point to it if it will be out in december or next year then you can forget about the wait once you know more.
 
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Thanks for all the advice. Will that corsair 650 handle any single gpu thrown at it or is it worth getting the 750 watt model just in case? Thinking if I wind up eventually with a 480 gtx or 580 gtx in the future to be on the safe side.
 
Personally, I would get the 750 tx power supply. It's only $20 more and you won't ever have to wonder or worry that you under bought and will have piece of mind.

Two and a half years ago when I bought my Corsair 750tx for the pc in my sig, a lot of people told me I was stupid. They were saying things like "your a fool, the 650w model is $20 cheaper, you don't need the 750". Today I have to say I am very glad I spent the little bit of extra money for the piece of mind it has given me, as well as the fact that I can choose any video card I want to upgrade to and not have to worry about my power supply. If I had bought the 650w model I would be slightly limited today (higher end gpu's) with gpu upgrade choices.
 
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leh18621 said:
Personally, I would get the 750 tx power supply. It's only $20 more and you won't ever have to wonder or worry that you under bought and will have piece of mind.

Two and a half years ago when I bought my Corsair 750tx for the pc in my sig, a lot of people told me I was stupid. They were saying things like "your a fool, the 650w model is $20 cheaper, you don't need the 750". Today I have to say I am very glad I spent the little bit of extra money for the piece of mind it has given me, as well as the fact that I can choose any video card I want to upgrade to and not have to worry about my power supply. If I had bought the 650w model I would be slightly limited today (higher end gpu's) with gpu upgrade choices.
Click to expand...

But after almost 3 years the PSU is probably starting to wear a bit and if you were going to upgrade to a set up that needed close to limit of the 750W you'd probably be wanting to buy a new one anyway ;)

That said, [H] did a review on PSU recommendations for the GTX470/480, their reocmmendations leave plenty of buffer space. You could run a 6850, 6870 or GTX460 off a decent 450W PSU though, the GTX470 and 480 use a fuck load more power and you're looking into the realm of 600W and above.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/04/27/gtx_480_470_power_supply_unit_buying_guide/1

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/03/26/nvidia_fermi_gtx_470_480_sli_review/7
 
Tudz said:
But after almost 3 years the PSU is probably starting to wear a bit and if you were going to upgrade to a set up that needed close to limit of the 750W you'd probably be wanting to buy a new one anyway ;)
Click to expand...

I don't know much about how much power supply's wear and degrade over time to be honest, but were you serious that after only 2 1/2 years my power supply my have degraded that much that I couldn't run a GTX 480 right now if I wanted to?
 
leh18621 said:
Two and a half years ago when I bought my Corsair 750tx for the pc in my sig, a lot of people told me I was stupid.
Click to expand...

I got the same attitude, but I bought a 1200W (based on a [H] review) to make sure I wouldn't have issues, but I also run multiple HD's and usually SLI. Best investment I ever made though.

As for the OP, the PS upgrade is a smart move, and as far as cards, if you can wait a little you might as well see what pops out before the end of the year. I opted to blow a gift card and picked up 2 x 460's for SLI (with $100 out of my own pocket) which run very quiet and very cool and were a nice upgrade for me.
 
I think I am going to pickup a Corsair 850HX after reading the comments here and my own investigation. It may be a little overkill for my current system but I'll salvage it for use in a new build later when I decide to go for it. Thanks for the advice.
 
leh18621 said:
I don't know much about how much power supply's wear and degrade over time to be honest, but were you serious that after only 2 1/2 years my power supply my have degraded that much that I couldn't run a GTX 480 right now if I wanted to?
Click to expand...

Power supplies definitely do wear over time, but I can't tell you how much, no idea. It'd probably still be fine after only 2.5 years if you aren't running it 24/7 and are running it far from its peak. Antec have a PSU calculator which suggests....

"When used heavily or over an extended period of time (1+ years) a PSU will slowly lose some of its initial wattage capacity. We recommend you add 20% if you plan to keep your PSU for more than 1 year, or 25-30% for 24/7 usage and 1+ years."

http://www.antec.outervision.com/

But 20% for only 1 year sounds like a lot. People usually say PSUs have a life of 4 or 5 years or more if you use it far from capacity, over that time parts will start to wear. Fan bearings, capacitors, connectors, etc wear out with heat and time.
 
Tudz said:
Power supplies definitely do wear over time, but I can't tell you how much, no idea. It'd probably still be fine after only 2.5 years if you aren't running it 24/7 and are running it far from its peak. Antec have a PSU calculator which suggests....

"When used heavily or over an extended period of time (1+ years) a PSU will slowly lose some of its initial wattage capacity. We recommend you add 20% if you plan to keep your PSU for more than 1 year, or 25-30% for 24/7 usage and 1+ years."

http://www.antec.outervision.com/

But 20% for only 1 year sounds like a lot. People usually say PSUs have a life of 4 or 5 years or more if you use it far from capacity, over that time parts will start to wear. Fan bearings, capacitors, connectors, etc wear out with heat and time.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I do a couple of hours of gaming per week and about 80 hours of Folding per week but I don't draw a lot of power with this system. I tested my power consumption while I was Folding and I was only drawing 210 watts so that is nowhere close to putting heavy stress on the psu I wouldn't think.
 
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