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Upgrade time - recommendations?

S

silicide

Gawd
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
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The holiday season is coming up, and I have a bit of disposable cash. My rig is currently running an i7 920 at 3.7ghz, and a gtx275 at stock clocks. The PSU is a 650w Corsair. I'd like to upgrade the graphics, and the primary purpose of this box is folding. That said, I do still game on it occasionally, and do light web browsing/write papers for school. For a cost of between $300 and $350, what would the [H]orde put in this box? Currently, a gtx460 1gb SLI is looking attractive, but I'm quite happy to consider other options. My only concern is that that may be pushing the limits of my PSU - it would put me at nearly 600w if the Anandtech power consumption numbers are accurate.

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Lord_of_Doors said:
The holiday season is coming up, and I have a bit of disposable cash. My rig is currently running an i7 920 at 3.7ghz, and a gtx275 at stock clocks. The PSU is a 650w Corsair. I'd like to upgrade the graphics, and the primary purpose of this box is folding. That said, I do still game on it occasionally, and do light web browsing/write papers for school. For a cost of between $300 and $350, what would the [H]orde put in this box? Currently, a gtx460 1gb SLI is looking attractive, but I'm quite happy to consider other options. My only concern is that that may be pushing the limits of my PSU - it would put me at nearly 600w if the Anandtech power consumption numbers are accurate.

Fold [H]ard

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For a budget of $300-350, is it possible that you could swing a GTX470 + PSU upgrade? You could also wait and see what else is going to come out in the nVidia 500 series now that the GTX 580 has come out.
 
I could swing a 750w corsair and a 470 - just. An 850w and a 470 if I get lucky and the budget stretches a little. I like my Corsairs - they were great when I had trouble with this unit, and I'd like to stick with them. Contrarily, I have no brand loyalty whatsoever with graphics. My only reason for preferring nVidia at this junction is that the gpu client seems to support them better.

This is also likely to be the last upgrade this box sees for 2-3 years, so I'm hesitant about the PSU upgrade - it doesn't seem the best value.
 
Yeah at this point I would also probably recommend a larger Pwr Supply and a 470 card. Then later on if the 275 dies or you get some more disposable cash you could get another 470 (will prob be cheaper then) or whatever the hot new card is.
 
You should be fine powering two GTX 470's and an oc'd i7 off of a Corsair TX or HX 650 (52amp@12V) but the TX 650 only has 2 PCIe power connectors so you would need to use adapters which can get hairy. I personally think that GTX 460 SLI sounds like a very good option that whould last a long time without need for an upgrade and give you good ppd.
There should be a GTX 570 model, basically a GTX 480 using GF110, coming out before Christmas but it will probably be $300-$400 and the deals on 470s are nice. By the middle of next year you should be able to find a second GTX 470 to SLI with for $200 and you could upgrade then if you feel like it.
 
Anandtech's power numbers have made me a little wary of trying the 2x470s. I have the amps, but a 714w peak load seems like pushing my luck on a 650w psu. It is the TX, but my 275 came with the relevant adapters, so I think I'll be ok there. The best options at this point seem to be 460sli and sell the 275, or a single 470 and keep the 275. I'm going to guess the 460 sli would offer better performance all around, but if someone disagrees, please speak up.
 
I would go with 460 SLI. Performance will probably be similar in folding vs a 470 and a 275 (depending on clocks and work units) but the 460s will use less power and create less heat. The gaming performance will also be better with the 2 460's.
 
Newegg currently has a couple gtx465s in the same basic price range as the 460 1gbs. I don't know much about the 465s, would it be a noticeable improvement to the 460s, or is there a reason they're so cheap?
 
The 465 performs slightly better on the newer 6800 and 6811 units while the 460's perform better on the other work units(depending on clocks ofc). The 460's run much cooler and use less power. Definitely go with the 460's imo.
 
FlipBack said:
The 465 performs slightly better on the newer 6800 and 6811 units while the 460's perform better on the other work units(depending on clocks ofc). The 460's run much cooler and use less power. Definitely go with the 460's imo.
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nailed it
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Ok. I'm pretty much settled on the 460 1gb sli, which leaves the issue of which cards to get. I've got a PNY card at the moment, and it's been good to me, but a) Newegg is out of the PNY 460s at the moment and B) I'm in the mood to try something new. The ASUS card looks nice, but I have no experience with their gfx cards - are they as quality as ASUS mobos? If not, what brand would you folks recommend?
 
Personally I would recomend an evga card thats model number ends w AR. AR models have lifetime warranties and cover anything as long as there is no physical damage to the board (TR only has a 2 year warranty). PNY are good also and I think they have a lifetime warranty as well. ASUS make good cards as well but the warranty doesnt match up quite as well
 
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