So Cool, I think I Could Cry...

EchoWars

EchoWars

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 7, 2010
Messages
497
I'm sure a lot of you will think this is stupid, but just got done installing an MSI GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G into my aging x58 system. I have NEVER had a video card where I could simply crank up the details to Max with a new AAA title and not had to fret about framerates or stuttering; every card I've ever had has been behind the curve so far that I had to futz with settings and search the web for tricks to get it to work the best I can with whatever I was attempting to play. And that includes modern type systems going back to '96 (and machine code & DOS machines going back to 1980, so that probably encompasses 30 or so systems). It's just so damn amazing to turn everything up and still see the frame counter flying past 130FPS.

Price of admission was a bit more than I would have liked, but I swore that I was going to get something cutting edge this time. And I'm glad I did.

Probably a few here remember what it's like to install your first serious vid card. I'm feelin' that now, and without any exaggeration, it brings a tear to my eye...

ef1.gif
 
Happy for you :)

I have forgotten what that feeling is like.
Long time ago - well maybe not so long compared to how old some people here are ;), when I was younger and living at home, I could not afford to swap video cards every year. So I would swap it every 3-4 years, or when I just could not run new games on acceptable frame rates (back then 24 fps was considered ok and everything above that "could not be seen by the eye"), then I would beg my parents to buy me something new, and it was always something mid range that would hold for another few years.
Today I just go for the highest end and buy two of them. And I upgrade faster now than before, so I never really notice the FPS difference. And also, well, I game on 4k, so maybe I'm used to low fps :rolleyes:
 
EchoWars said:
I have NEVER had a video card where I could simply crank up the details to Max with a new AAA title and not had to fret about framerates or stuttering;
Click to expand...

Last time I experienced that feeling was when I picked up an AMD 5850 back in late 2009.
 
what card where you coming from? lol And what games are you speaking off? Not to mention display?
 
Nice! I picked up the same card, and loving it. Going from a GTX 970, I immediately cranked up everything. (Doom, GTAV, Mirror's Edge Catalyst so far.) I play at 1080, so I think this will be the case across the board more or less. 4690K, 16GB, Z97 for comparison...

I think the last time I had that feeling was my GTX 295. Before that, probably the Ti4600 or Radeon 9700/9800 Pro. (the first time was probably when I got my VLB Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 :D )
 
My first time was building a new PC with 8800GTX SLI back in 2007. Up until that point I ran budget to midrange cards from the GeForce2 MX200 PCI up to the 7800GS AGP. First game I ran was Doom 3 with everything cranked up running on my roommate's 1080p TV. I was giggling with excitement. And then Crysis came out... I could still run that game with everything on High and no AA at 1600x1200, though, but it still made me a little sad inside. Ever since then I have made the decision that it is worth saving the money for the high- to enthusiast-level video card(s).
 
I went the opposite route :D I used to buy the high end on every iteration. (back when this was my primary hobby and I didn't have kids :D ) These days I buy the x70 (read, one step down) version on major releases only. I'll spend $400 or less on a video card once a year or so. That typically serves me quite well. My other hobby (designing analog synthesizers) gets very expensive, (part orders, panel manufacturing, PCB manufacturing, etc.) so I can only divert so much into the gaming hobby.
 
EchoWars said:
I'm sure a lot of you will think this is stupid, but just got done installing an MSI GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G into my aging x58 system. I have NEVER had a video card where I could simply crank up the details to Max with a new AAA title and not had to fret about framerates or stuttering; every card I've ever had has been behind the curve so far that I had to futz with settings and search the web for tricks to get it to work the best I can with whatever I was attempting to play. And that includes modern type systems going back to '96 (and machine code & DOS machines going back to 1980, so that probably encompasses 30 or so systems). It's just so damn amazing to turn everything up and still see the frame counter flying past 130FPS.

Price of admission was a bit more than I would have liked, but I swore that I was going to get something cutting edge this time. And I'm glad I did.

Probably a few here remember what it's like to install your first serious vid card. I'm feelin' that now, and without any exaggeration, it brings a tear to my eye...

ef1.gif
Click to expand...

I felt the same way when I put a single 1080 in my old x58 i7-980x system replacing 3 GTX 680s when I was getting all the parts for the new rig. Wow, what a difference. That x58 system was perfectly capable or driving games max on the 3x 1080p Surround monitors. First time I'd ever put a brand new card in a 6 year old system and the results were amazing. Just that single 1080 would have made old system fine for modern gaming at high settings.

Indeed in moving over to the new rig using a single card games felt the same that I played on the older rig. I'm sure the new rig does get some more performance out the 1080, but nothing noticeable to me. Actually adding the second 1080 has been very problematic with Surround. You can't disable SLI when in Surround and there's some issues with games, Doom crashes now with the latest nVidia drivers in Surround. But it's a mixed experience. Tomb Raider just got an update for DX 12 multi-GPU and frames have almost doubled in SLI now, and this with the Windows Store version.

Enjoy!
 
heatlesssun said:
You can't disable SLI when in Surround
Click to expand...
Didn't know that. Glad I don't have to worry about it. Anyway, thanks for the well-wishes. I'm jacked.:smuggrin:

primetime said:
what card where you coming from? lol And what games are you speaking off? Not to mention display?
Click to expand...
Running two 24" 1080P 60Hz monitors side-by-side for desktop work, but gaming only on the main monitor.

Last three cards...

Radeon HD 5850
Radeon HD 6870
Radeon HD 7870

None are terrible cards, but all were removed from the top tier cards of their generation by two or three models and all were bought on sale a notable time after their release. And none would allow full 'balls to the wall' settings on the latest games available at the time at full HD rez, so I'd shop for titles that were a couple of years old (Steam sale baby!). Even then, I had to watch my settings @ 1080P.

For instance, Bioshock Infinite was a giveaway with the 7870, but it struggled at various points in the game (frames in the low 20's in some scenes), so to play at 1080P a lot of eye candy had to be dialed down. Just last year I bought Fallout New Vegas, a nearly 6 year-old title, and even here I had to dial down a bunch of settings to keep frames from dropping down into the 20's.

No more.

If you're curious about the rest of the system:
Asus P6X58D Premium
I7-990X (recently installed after working a deal too good to pass up, before that it was a mildly OC's I7-930)
24GB Crucial DDR3-1866
Corsair 750W supply
Couple 'O SSD's and a 1TB WD Black
Running Win10 Pro

(I'll mention that I built a system for a bud about 6 months ago and he went with an Asus Radeon R9 Fury, which I installed in my system for an evening. Ran everything I threw at it butter-smooth and is when I decided I had to do something expensive [expensive for me, mind you])

As much as I'd like to upgrade MoBo and processor, the Asus MoBo has been an absolute flawless performer for over 6 years. What I miss are some things like native USB 3 (the implementation on the P6X58D leaves a little bit to be desired) and native SATA III. But 98% of the time it does everything I need it to do just peachy...except gaming, and that's not a MB or CPU issue. I just needed to put in a serious vid card, but budget-wise it was hard to do.

OK...that's enough rambling. It's beginning to look like I'm attempting to justify something that really cannot be truly justified. First-world problems...guy with an old computer and slow video card. But dammit! It makes me awfully happy to have something that kicks-ass in games for a change.

[H], finally. (sort of).:cool:
 
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I agree on most all of your points!...these asus x58 boards were engineered beyond expectations lol! Im running hex at 4.2 so i have a bit less cpu issues than you currently do. Everyone should treat themselves once in a while! Your not really paying any more than i did when i got my 8800gtx or was it the 6800 ultra? lol cant remember. Like you mentioned NATIVE usb 3.1 for loading new installs is kick ass! add in cards are cool but dont help in that area. (most of the time) :( I'm holding off for a premium rx480, but im no where near as gpu bottle necked as that 7870.:woot: Know one can blame you for upgrading lol
 
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