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  1. #1
    Deleted

    Replacing GPU - Will it have any effect?

    Solved. - Ended up buying the Gigabyte Radeon 7950 with the Antec HCG 520 PSU.

    ------------Original Post------------

    Hi folks,

    Recently I rebuild my pc on a fairly low budget. You're going to want to think back to 2011, basically. Considering the pc was built in 2006, it was a massive upgrade nonetheless.

    Stats are in my sig, but for completion:

    CPU: Intel Core i3 2130 @ 3.4ghz (stock speed with stock cooler);
    Mobo: Asrock B75 Pro3-M;
    RAM: Corsair 16GB DDR3 Ram @ 1333mhz (16gb is complete overkill, but I stupidly bought a single 8gb stick only to find out about dual channel later on. Figured I'd just add the same stick to make use of dual channel.);
    GPU: Asus Radeon HD 6670 2GB DDR3;
    PSU: Some old shitty 350 or 450 watt power supply. Currently powers the setup fine.

    It's running Windows 7 Pro 64bit. It's running on a Samsung 22" screen at 1650x1050.

    At the moment, I pretty much only play WoW. However, I'm looking to get into somewhat recent games again and being able to play it on near-max settings. Doesn't have to be all ultra everywhere, but generally good looking. (ie: WoW runs on all ultra @ 1650x1050 with Shadows, SSAO and projected textures on off/low (because frankly, they don't provide enough visual aspects to justify the drop in performance)).

    I'd love to be able to play fairly recent MMO's and RPG's on fairly high settings. I'm not necessarily talking about Far Cry on ultra, but being able to max games like WoW and GW2 (and possibly ESO) would be very nice. I'm also interested in non-mmo games which are, afaik, heavier on the GPU than the CPU/Ram in comparison with MMO's like wow.

    Will my current motherboard/cpu/ram combo be sufficient for fairly new games? And if so, does that mean my graphics card is a bottleneck? Or will a Radeon 6670 run new games fairly okay?

    I've been assuming my graphics card is my current bottleneck for most games. What graphics card would you guys recommend in my setup? (Budget is not necessarily an issue but I really don't feel like having an OP card in my system, making the cpu a new bottleneck or whatever. This entire setup has to last me as long as possible. Suggesting a radeon hd 7990 is not helpful, at all :P) - This is all excluding the power supply. I'm assuming that will need replacement with a new videocard.

    If I left anything out, just ask and I'll provide what's needed. Thanks a million in advance for any input. :-)
    Last edited by mmoce04b469aa5; 2013-02-06 at 10:07 AM.

  2. #2
    Radeon 6670 is a disaster when thinking about new 3D games, it's very low end card and not meant to play anything at high or max settings. Replacing it will definitely make a big difference. In some games you are limited by the processor, but not as much as you're limited by the graphics card. Motherboard is not a problem at all.

    350W noname PSU might have problems running anything decent though, so replacing that is also in your to-do list. If it's good quality 450W it's plenty.

    btw. Projected textures in WoW is the setting for seeing spell effects. If it's off you might not be able to see all fires you're standing in because those simply aren't rendered on screen at all.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  3. #3
    Deleted
    Thank you very much for the reply Vesseblah. What graphic cards would you be looking into to get the radeon up to par with the rest of the system? Again, it doesn't have the be the cream of the crop.

    The PSU I figured wouldn't make the cut. Was kind of surprised it powered my current setup.

    As for the textures, I might be mixing something up. I was under the impression that I had turned something off that literally projects textures onto other areas. (I was thinking along the lines of reflections in water for instance). I'm raiding pretty casual at the moment, but have never had an issue with not seeing a certain pool or voidzone/fire whatever. I might have turned something else down and named it wrong in the post. At work at the moment, will check back on that later tonight.

  4. #4
    Something like

    nVidia: GTX 660 (~$230), GTX 660ti(~$290), GTX 670 (~$350)
    AMD: HD 7850 (~$200), HD 7870 (~$250), HD 7950 (~$290)

    will play wow on high/ultra settings with no problem. If you want to go slightly cheaper, an HD 6850 or 7770 GHz will get the job done too.

    You may need to buy a new PSU depending on how crap it is. It will need a PCI-E connector (2x6pin), and if you could post the contents of the label displaying the maximum outputs that would be very useful. Although it is probably better to just buy a Seasonic M12ii 520 (or one of the Antec/XFX derivatives thereof) for ~$60 and be done with it.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    For the Mid Range, I would Recommend a HD 7770 (~£80 - £90). It should last at least 4 - 5 years as a casual gamer.

    But honestly the Power Supply is a very important component. Get a decent one if possible they are not expensive.

    Corsair 500W CX Builder 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty (£45)
    Corsair 430W CXM Builder Modular 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty (£38)
    Be Quiet Pure Power 430W PSU - 4x SATA 1x PCI-E (£44)

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by mujz86 View Post
    For the Mid Range, I would Recommend a HD 7770 (~£80 - £90). It should last at least 4 - 5 years as a casual gamer.

    But honestly the Power Supply is a very important component. Get a decent one if possible they are not expensive.

    Corsair 500W CX Builder 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty (£45)
    Corsair 430W CXM Builder Modular 80 Plus Bronze PSU 3 Year Warranty (£38)
    Be Quiet Pure Power 430W PSU - 4x SATA 1x PCI-E (£44)
    Normally Corsair is a reliable brand, but their CX line is pretty terrible.

  7. #7
    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Butler Log View Post
    Normally Corsair is a reliable brand, but their CX line is pretty terrible.
    The Builder (CX) Series seems to be made entirely by Channel Well. Is Channel Well the crappy aspect?

    Notably, the Builder CX400 is made by Seasonic, but all other CX are Channel Well.

  8. #8
    A GTX 660 and a quality 450-550W PSU should suit you well.
    Intel i5-3570K @ 4.7GHz | MSI Z77 Mpower | Noctua NH-D14 | Corsair Vengeance LP White 1.35V 8GB 1600MHz
    Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Windforce 3X @ 1372/7604MHz | Corsair Force GT 120GB | Silverstone Fortress FT02 | Corsair VX450

  9. #9
    Deleted
    Thanks for the replies guys. If I'd be buying a card I'd probably want to look in the 7950 range. Saw a nice sapphire one, which was recommended in a few guides, for about 270 euros. I would assume that means sapphire is decent at building these cards? Furthermore, I'm not entirely sure about choosing between the xx50, xx70 and xx90. Any clarification would be awesome.

    As for the power supply, I've read alot about seasonic all over the interwebs. Is that really the top brand available at the moment? Power consumption is a low priority, I'd settle for a bronze certification fairly quick.

    I just want to make sure I don't spend loads of cash on a card that has features my system won't be able to handle due to other components.

    As a side question, will I even notice any improvements in WoW going from a radeon 6670 to, say, a 7950? (Or the nvidia equivelant). Still having the idea WoW is like 75% cpu/ram vs 25% gpu. I could be very wrong ofc
    Last edited by mmoce04b469aa5; 2013-01-31 at 12:52 PM.

  10. #10
    The CPU you have, while not top of the line by any means, should be adequate for entry level gaming. It is hard to say for sure since there are so many games out there with high CPU needs, High GPU needs, or a combination of both.

    You should be able to find a 500-600W good quality power supply for $60-$90 (In fact, found this on New Egg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139020 $90, with a $20 rebate, 650W Cosair TX650)


    Like others have said, something in the 660 / 670 family from Nvidia or 7850 / 7870 / 7950 family from ATI would fall in the $225-$350 range, although if your budget supports it, I would suggest getting something with more than 2GB of memory, just as a small measure of added "future proofing" (and in case you need to replace your LCD and get something that is higher resolution) Also, keep in mind that your CPU and Motherboard don't support PCIe Gen 3, so that will be a small performance hit.



    Also, Is that resolution listed correct? Or did you mean 1680 x 1050?

  11. #11
    Thanks for the replies guys. If I'd be buying a card I'd probably want to look in the 7950 range. Saw a nice sapphire one, which was recommended in a few guides, for about 270 euros. I would assume that means sapphire is decent at building these cards?
    Would get the gigabyte or MSI version instead. Sapphire's customer service is supposed to be lacking.

    Furthermore, I'm not entirely sure about choosing between the xx50, xx70 and xx90. Any clarification would be awesome.
    AMD has ranges, and splits those product ranges into classes.

    so in the case of the 7000 series:

    The 7900 range is the top end stuff. The 7970 is faster than the 7950. The 7990s are dual-GPU cards that cost over a grand.
    The 7800 range is the mid-range. The 7870 is faster than the 7850.
    The 7700 range is the low-range. The 7770 is faster than the 7750.
    Anything below a 7700 range is only worth using in a home theatre pc (HTPC).

    In addition, an HD 6870 is rather faster than a 7770, but not as fast as a 7850. This is because it is the 6000 (i.e. previous) series' equivalent of the 7870.

    As for the power supply, I've read alot about seasonic all over the interwebs. Is that really the top brand available at the moment? Power consumption is a low priority, I'd settle for a bronze certification fairly quick.
    Seasonic manufacture a large proportion of the power supplies on the market, not only for their own branded products but also as OEM devices for other companies.


    I just want to make sure I don't spend loads of cash on a card that has features my system won't be able to handle due to other components.
    You might see the i3 slightly limiting a 7950, but it won't be by much at all.

    As a side question, will I even notice any improvements in WoW going from a radeon 6670 to, say, a 7950? (Or the nvidia equivelant).
    Most definitely yes. Probably over 3x the FPS while running at higher settings.

    Still having the idea WoW is like 75% cpu/ram vs 25% gpu. I could be very wrong ofc
    A lot of the work is, indeed, done by the CPU. However, the stuff that the GPU does makes such a huge difference to what the game actually looks like.
    Last edited by Butler to Baby Sloths; 2013-01-31 at 01:55 PM.

  12. #12
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Butler Log View Post
    Normally Corsair is a reliable brand, but their CX line is pretty terrible.
    Thanks for the advice, I agree with you. But I would still recommend them over a no name PSU. I doubt you would notice a difference between a CX & HX series on a mid range PC.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Darksideblues42 View Post
    You should be able to find a 500-600W good quality power supply for $60-$90 (In fact, found this on New Egg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139020 $90, with a $20 rebate, 650W Cosair TX650)
    Actually it is $49 after rebate and promo code.
    Intel i5-3570K @ 4.7GHz | MSI Z77 Mpower | Noctua NH-D14 | Corsair Vengeance LP White 1.35V 8GB 1600MHz
    Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Windforce 3X @ 1372/7604MHz | Corsair Force GT 120GB | Silverstone Fortress FT02 | Corsair VX450

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by chazus View Post
    The Builder (CX) Series seems to be made entirely by Channel Well. Is Channel Well the crappy aspect?

    Notably, the Builder CX400 is made by Seasonic, but all other CX are Channel Well.
    Problem with CX series is they're upselling those. 430W is in reality 380W, 500W is 430 and 600W is actually 520. It doesn't mean those are inherently crap, but people have gotten used to recieving better PSUs than advertised from Corsair, and the CX series is actually worse than advertised and worse than anything else they put out.

    Quote Originally Posted by n0cturnal View Post
    Actually it is $49 after rebate and promo code.
    Not helping as the OP was talking about euros already. PSUs are really expensive in EU, almost always being most expensive of all computer parts compared to US prices. TX650 is about $140 here in Finland and you can forget all promos and rebates.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by vesseblah View Post
    Not helping as the OP was talking about euros already. PSUs are really expensive in EU, almost always being most expensive of all computer parts compared to US prices. TX650 is about $140 here in Finland and you can forget all promos and rebates.
    Yeah I'm well aware of the prices in EU, didn't actually read the entire thread just wanted to add the correct pricing of the unit that was linked.

    Do we know in what country OP lives in?
    Last edited by n0cturnal; 2013-01-31 at 02:40 PM.
    Intel i5-3570K @ 4.7GHz | MSI Z77 Mpower | Noctua NH-D14 | Corsair Vengeance LP White 1.35V 8GB 1600MHz
    Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Windforce 3X @ 1372/7604MHz | Corsair Force GT 120GB | Silverstone Fortress FT02 | Corsair VX450

  16. #16
    Deleted
    Thanks so much for all your replies guys. I'll try to get into every comment and question without making this the longest reply in the history of mankind.

    - I'm based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A great way to find prices for components in holland would be to visit tweakers.net/pricewatch/. It's in dutch obviously, but any part can be searched for in the bar at the top which will show a list of prices for loads of dutch shops. Ofcourse, I'm not asking you guys to do all that research for me! Especially on, from your viewpoint, foreign sites.

    - PSU: What I'm getting is that next to wanting to have a good brand (seasonic probably?) I'll want a PSU with at least 450w of power. It must also have 2x 6pin PCI-E connectors. Will I actually need an even stronger PSU if I end up going for a 7950? (Which will probably be either MSI or Gigabyte)

    - GPU: Budget is not necessarily an issue. With what I'm getting from this thread, the rest of my setup will hardly throttle a 7950. With that being the case, I'm more than willing to pay 250-300 euros for that card. I've been reading a lot about the 'boost' versions of the 7950, which apparently allow you to easily OC the card on a stable level to increase performance drastically. Ofcourse, this will limit it's lifespan. I just hope it won't go down to 6 months. :P

    - I was already corrected on this, but my resolution is indeed 1680x1050, and not 1650x1050. I don't see myself upgrading my screen any time soon. Although it used to be two of the same monitors and on one of them the power supply died. Let's hope I dont jynx myself here by saying I wont be upgrading my monitor to find out the same happens to the other one.

    Last but not least a special thank you to Butler Log for providing me with loads of info, and especially the breakdown of the numbers used by amd cards. (And ofc also for promising 3x the frames. If I don't reach that, I'll come 'a knockin' for a refund! Heheh jk jk)
    Last edited by mmoce04b469aa5; 2013-01-31 at 03:08 PM.

  17. #17
    Deleted
    If you're gaming at that resolution I wouldn't bother getting a 7950, especially if you're not planning on replacing your monitor any time soon.

    You're better off with something like a 7850 1GB card.

    If you are planning on updating your monitor to play at 1080p in the near future the 660 is a happy middle

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Drudgery View Post
    You're better off with something like a 7850 1GB card.
    Even though 1GB cards work today, but it's bad idea to buy one as it is gimping some games even on 1080p monitor.
    Never going to log into this garbage forum again as long as calling obvious troll obvious troll is the easiest way to get banned.
    Trolling should be.

  19. #19
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by vesseblah View Post
    Even though 1GB cards work today, but it's bad idea to buy one as it is gimping some games even on 1080p monitor.
    I should have stated resolution rather than using the term 1080p, my mistake. At 1680x1050 there are some games that could use alot of VRAM and 2GB will certainly be recommended, however given the relative power of the 7850 investing in a 1GB version of a 7850 wouldn't be an entirely bad idea especially if it is significantly cheaper than the 2GB version. Although I admit prices do not tend to differ greatly between the two version.

  20. #20
    Apologies, I missed the Euro note.

    That being said, I would still look for something in the 500-600W range Just to have the extra head-room if needed. I would also look to get something in the 2-3GB Video Ram range as an added measure of future-proofing.

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