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Video card decisions

  • Thread starter Deleted member 96510
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 96510

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OK, here's my problem. I have an itch for an upgrade. I'm gaming on my rig in the signature. The idea of dual 6870s seemed a bit lame to me, so I decided I wanted something newer. Now, I'm only running 1080p and don't get muchi time to play, but I decided on a 7850 or maybe jumping up to a 670. I also want it water cooled so I have to take into account a waterblock or stick with my MCW82.

I just got a deal on a 580 3GB with a full cover block, so I bought it. I feel like I can't go wrong either way, but part of me says I should have went with some new 2012 goodness. But I'll be just as happy rocking a clocked-up 580, right?
 
Here's the deal, I had dual 6870's and when crossfire is working properly, it was really quick at 1920 resolution. The only reason I sold that setup was because AMD's driver udpates and crossfire profiles for newly released games was very dissapointing. So, I went with a single 7950 which was overclocked above 7970 speeds and seemed to run most games very well except NFS Shift and SHIFT 2 Unleashed which seemed to stutter even though the framerates were reported as almost 60fps. However, my Sapphire 7950 OC had some strange horizontal lines in games when using the HDMI output which I had to use in my HTPC so I sent it back for a full refund. While I was trying to find another non-Sapphire 7950 to replace it, Nvidia released the 670 and I'm glad they did because otherwise I would have purchased another 7950 but instead I chose a Gigabyte Windforce 670 which was the same price, gives better performance and overclocks very well. I'm very happy with the 670, its faster in most games than the dual 6870 setup, Metreo 2033 is about the only one I can think of that it falls short compared to the previous setup. I hate the Nvidia control panel compared to the AMD CCC but I'll live with it.
 
I just don't think a 580 is a good buy at all anymore, although that's a good price with a waterblock already included. I just think a simple air cooled Gigabyte Windforce 670 will give you a lot more performance for $100 more. If you insist on watercooling it, I guess that would drive the price up more, but a properly air cooled 6xx series isn't gaining anything from watercooling since temps aren't an issue below 70c, its really voltage that's limiting them. So ultimately if you insist on watercooling, I don't think you're going to buy more performance than a $300 580 with a waterblock included, I just think you're already settling for less performance just to get a watercooled vid card. It will be a good bit faster than your 6870 though.
 
I know I can do fine air cooled, but I'm invested in a watercooled system and my setup is a waste for CPU only. Even still, isn't that the [H] way?
 
wolfofsin said:
I know I can do fine air cooled, but I'm invested in a watercooled system and my setup is a waste for CPU only. Even still, isn't that the [H] way?
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Sure which is why I gave offered my opinion both setups, its your dollar so spend it on whatever makes you happy.
 
An OC'd 580 should be able to max or almost max all current games at 1080p. $300 is a good deal for the card + water block.

p.s. just because you invested in something doesn't mean you have to keep going down that route, not really sure why you needed a watercooled system with your specs anyway...
 
$300 was the limit of what I was going to spend. And I probably misused it in this case. Impulse buy on my part maybe but I knew I was not likely to pull the $400 trigger on the 670

I watercooled because it was something else to do with my rig. I know I don't have to keep doing it, but I choose to keep doing. Benefit of adulthood.
 
wolfofsin said:
$300 was the limit of what I was going to spend. And I probably misused it in this case. Impulse buy on my part maybe but I knew I was not likely to pull the $400 trigger on the 670

I watercooled because it was something else to do with my rig. I know I don't have to keep doing it, but I choose to keep doing. Benefit of adulthood.
Click to expand...

I've been there believe me, I invested a lot in watercooling my components 3 years ago and had some great equipment, blocks, rads, pump, etc, but then I started to realize, I hated breaking the loop down whenever I need to change components such as a new video card, I also started to realize that the resell on watercooling components was quite poor so I was losing a lot of money everytime I needed to sell waterblocks again when I change video cards so frequently. I was however obsessed for a while with the quietness of watercooling and ultra low temps that allowed me even more overclocking headroom, it was fun for sure. But, a few years later and I now realize that squeezing a few more MHz out of a CPU or GPU's just isn't worth the amount of money it takes with new blocks and watercooling equipment in general when I was losing too much on my purchases in resell when it came time to upgrade again. It was just wasteful spending.

Hence, my CPU and GPU's these days are air cooled. It might mean 5% or less performance than being watercooled but my rig is still very quiet with today's efficient CPU's and GPU's and I don't lose nearly as much on resell when I upgrade every year or so as I often do.
 
wolfofsin said:
$300 was the limit of what I was going to spend. And I probably misused it in this case. Impulse buy on my part maybe but I knew I was not likely to pull the $400 trigger on the 670. I watercooled because it was something else to do with my rig. I know I don't have to keep doing it, but I choose to keep doing. Benefit of adulthood.
Click to expand...

Let me tell you 300 for a watercooled 580 is a good deal. Try getting your GTX 580 to 850 - 900 Mhz. You will max out any game at 1080p including BF3. :)
 
For what I got it for, it was a good deal and I'm going to put it to damn good use too
 
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