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[brogan]

I'll be honest and say I don't know which is better. At home I've got two USB ones and they've never put a foot wrong but recently I helped a guy with a build and he used a PCI one and he says it's rock solid too, so I don't know which way to go

No problem, I appreciate your help.

Decided to go with a PCI one but I guess you couldn't go wrong with either really.

Just can't wait for it to come now, got a 3750K OC to 4.4 I think and a GTX 670, so should be a nice jump from my PS3.

 

[kharma45]

No problem, I appreciate your help.

Decided to go with a PCI one but I guess you couldn't go wrong with either really.

Just can't wait for it to come now, got a 3750K OC to 4.4 I think and a GTX 670, so should be a nice jump from my PS3.

Nice will be putting it mildly ;P

 

[DrForester]

Any good deals on PC monitors tomorrow in the 20-25" range?

 

[Canis lupus]

So I ordered a Crucial 256GB SSD for my htpc. What do you guys put on your SSD outside Windows? I'll put my music and videos on a hard drive.

 

[Baconsaurus Rex]

So 830 > m4 > 840 if I'm getting this right.

 

[kharma45]

So 830 > m4 > 840 if I'm getting this right.

Yep you are. Even stick in the Intel 330 as another one to consider before the 840.

 

[Mulligan]

what's the gtx590 like in comparison to the 670 and 680? might have chance to get one for a reasonable price.

 

[PedroPanache]

Which card is considered better for emulation (Dolphin & PCSX2), 7850/7950 or GTX 670? I plan to be using those emu's quite a bit, so I'll probably go for the one that works best with those emulators.

 

[Krauser Kat]

looks like amazon has 660 (no ti) for 209 with MIR so close to biting.
microcenter has the same but with Assassins Creed 3 and Borderlands 2... dont know which is better.

 

[Arlecchino]

Which card is considered better for emulation (Dolphin & PCSX2), 7850/7950 or GTX 670? I plan to be using those emu's quite a bit, so I'll probably go for the one that works best with those emulators.

It was my impression that those emulators are mostly CPU heavy and the GPU is only crucial when jacking up the AA. And because you are beefing up the internal res so high, AA becomes inconsequential.

 

[DTKT]

Which card is considered better for emulation (Dolphin & PCSX2), 7850/7950 or GTX 670? I plan to be using those emu's quite a bit, so I'll probably go for the one that works best with those emulators.

I thought emulation benefited from the CPU more than the GPU. Might be more maxing that component first.

 

[kharma45]

I thought emulation benefited from the CPU more than the GPU. Might be more maxing that component first.

Yep it does.

 

[famousmortimer]

Any advice on a $100 (possibly more if big jump in power) graphics card. I currently have a 6450. I think I want to go nvidia as I have physX envy.


Any bf sales online? I'm heading to my parents house and would love to drop my dad a link for my Xmas present. Sorry to just be an annoying newb asking a question that has probably been answered. I looked back about 4 pages and didn't see anything, but I'm dumb.

Thanks in advance.

 

[beje]

Any advice on a $100 (possibly more if big jump in power) graphics card. I currently have a 6450. I think I want to go nvidia as I have physX envy.


Any bf sales online? I'm heading to my parents house and would love to drop my dad a link for my Xmas present. Sorry to just be an annoying newb asking a question that has probably been answered. I looked back about 4 pages and didn't see anything, but I'm dumb.

Thanks in advance.

The $100 range in Nvidia is very lackluster as you only have the GTX650 which is barely a GT640 with better memory, and dwarfed by last gen GTX 560. Strictly by that budget I'd go for an HD 7770

 

[famousmortimer]

Does jumping up to $125-140 do anything?

Edit: and newb question... Are these a decent upgrade over the 6450? I find this little card can still jack up most games without an issue.

 

[Krauser Kat]

Does jumping up to $125-140 do anything?

the 560 is great and at 130 and the 650 is awesome at 155

7750 is the strongest card that requires no external power like your 6450 does.

560 se

650

if you go ATI/AMD the 7770 is the best card in that range. all of these cards will get you 1080p at almost max in borderlands 2

 

[Data West]

nothing wrong with a 640

 

[famousmortimer]

I believe my box has a 550w power source (I'm laying in bed right now being lazy). Is that enough to run those nvidia cards? If so that 560se seems like a logical choice for power/not scaring my folks off in price.

 

[beje]

Does jumping up to $125-140 do anything?

Going by newegg, you'd be able to go for a 650 Ti, which is better than a 7770.

 

[MiniBossman]

What are you doing that you need 16GB of RAM for? and the 3770K too.

The 3770 is only a little more and I would get hyper-threading. So I could if i wanted to run some VMs on there when not gaming (I run lots of VMs on my regular desktop). For gaming alone its overkill, same on the RAM. But if i did dual purpose the box I would be all set.

 

[Totobeni]

So I bought extra fans (two 120mm and 200mm) for my Haf X.I'll to put the 2 120mm in the front above the HDD slots.

Only problem is should I make the 2nd top 200mm intake or exhaust..any idea?

 

[PedroPanache]

I thought emulation benefited from the CPU more than the GPU. Might be more maxing that component first.

I'll be overclocking an i5 3570k, but I just wondered if the GPU aided in anything at all beyond the heavy CPU requirements of both emulators. From what I've just been reading, it would seem PCSX2 prefers Nvidia cards, so I'm going to go with the GTX 670 card.

 

[famousmortimer]

Just emailed my dad with this...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130838

Good cost to power? Especially considering I was planning on dropping $50 on AC3 which comes with it.


Validate me pc gaf.

 

[GK86]

Any thoughts on this card: MSI R7770-PMD1GD5 Radeon HD 7770. It is at $99 right now. And $70 after $30 MiR.

Building a pc, starting from nothing. Budget is around 500-600.

 

[SolarPowered]

Woah... when did the GIGABYTE GV-N670OC-2GD GeForce GTX 670 drop from $400 to $350? I think this is it for me. I really wanted to go Nvida, but the $100 price difference between the 7960/660ti and the 670(the one I've been hunting) was pushing me towards AMD. I can't see this card going any lower. This card is super tempting at $350...

 

[PedroPanache]

After much procrastination, these are going to be my final build specs.

CPU : i5 3570k
GPU : Gigabyte GF GTX670 2GB
RAM : Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 (2x4)
MB : Asrock Z77 Pro4
HDD : OCZ Agility 3 SSD (Swapping this out from current PC)
PSU : OCZ OCZ600MXSP-UK ModXStream Pro 600W

In the end I decided to upgrade my motherboard choice from the Pro3 to the Pro4. The Pro4 has more SATA slots and an optical out, which will come in handy as I've an old 5.1 receiver I can use. At some point I will overclock, but I'll need to invest in a better CPU fan, so that, for now, can wait. Any comments? In particular, any feedback on the PSU choice (600w should be enough, I think) would be most welcome.

 

[kharma45]

After much procrastination, these are going to be my final build specs.

CPU : i5 3570k
GPU : Gigabyte GF GTX670 2GB
RAM : Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 (2x4)
MB : Asrock Z77 Pro4
HDD : OCZ Agility 3 SSD (Swapping this out from current PC)
PSU : OCZ OCZ600MXSP-UK ModXStream Pro 600W

In the end I decided to upgrade my motherboard choice from the Pro3 to the Pro4. The Pro4 has more SATA slots and an optical out, which will come in handy as I've an old 5.1 receiver I can use. At some point I will overclock, but I'll need to invest in a better CPU fan, so that, for now, can wait. Any comments? In particular, any feedback on the PSU choice (600w should be enough, I think) would be most welcome.

I'm presuming you're in the UK, change the RAM to this stuff

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00569K7LM/

I'd also consider this Seasonic-made XFX PSU

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004RJ8EKI/

A little less power and it's not modular but I'd trust a Seasonic made one a lot more than an XFX one, but I did get someone I know to get that OCZ one when the XFX was OOS and it seems to be a good enough unit so far.

 

[PedroPanache]

I'm presuming you're in the UK, change the RAM to this stuff

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00569K7LM/

I'd also consider this Seasonic-made XFX PSU

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004RJ8EKI/

A little less power and it's not modular but I'd trust a Seasonic made one a lot more than an XFX one, but I did get someone I know to get that OCZ one when the XFX was OOS and it seems to be a good enough unit so far.

Yes, I'm from the UK; reading through this thread and seeing the US prices for various parts has been a painful experience. Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll swap the ram over to your recommendation. Just having a look at your PSU recommendation on Amazon; it's cheaper, which is always a good thing (I'm not really fussed whether my PSU is modular or not, just that's it's reliable and high build quality). Anyway, once it's built, I'm hoping for something just a tiny bit better than my PS3. Skyrim just won't be the same anymore without those muddy sub-hd visuals and 10fps.

 

[kharma45]

Yes, I'm from the UK; reading through this thread and seeing the US prices for various parts has been a painful experience. Anyway, thanks for the tips, I'll swap the ram over to your recommendation. Just having a look at your PSU recommendation on Amazon; it's cheaper, which is always a good thing (I'm not really fussed whether my PSU is modular or not, just that's it's reliable and high build quality). Anyway, once it's built, I'm hoping for something just a tiny bit better than my PS3. Skyrim just won't be the same anymore without those muddy sub-hd visuals and 10fps.

The XFX is essentially this one here rebranded

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003M2YQYO/

Good reviews for it too

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story3&reid=225

http://www.kitguru.net/components/p...pro-series-450w-and-550w-power-supply-review/

It'd be my choice out of the two if you're not worried about a modular unit, a Seasonic made PSU should be more reliable than an OCZ one.

 

[Omiee]

i have a msi 660ti sli in the one basket and the msi 7950 crossfire in the other basket.

difference in money is that the 6950 is about 140 euro more ( 190 dollars i guess )

is the 7950 crossfire worth the extra money?

i play battlefield 3 and black ops 2 and games like metro and assassins creed 3. i only game on 1080p

 

[pooptacular]

Deciding between a 660 ti or a 7950 not sure which way to go. Which of the two consistently overclock better? Anyone have benchmarks of either card heavily overclocked?

 

[Omiee]

Deciding between a 660 ti or a 7950 not sure which way to go. Which of the two consistently overclock better? Anyone have benchmarks of either card heavily overclocked?

lol my same questions.

im thinking of pulling the plug on two 660's or two 7950's

the two 7950's are 140 euro more together though. Dont know if the 7950 is that more powerfull.

 

[kharma45]

Deciding between a 660 ti or a 7950 not sure which way to go. Which of the two consistently overclock better? Anyone have benchmarks of either card heavily overclocked?

7950 is the better buy at stock with the latest drivers

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/images/perfrel.gif

Also worth noting the limited memory bus on the 660Ti too

This review might be of interest too http://hardocp.com/article/2012/08/23/galaxy_gtx_660_ti_gc_oc_vs_670_hd_7950/1 and that's pre-12.11 drivers.

lol my same questions.

im thinking of pulling the plug on two 660's or two 7950's

the two 7950's are 140 euro more together though. Dont know if the 7950 is that more powerfull.

Why is the price difference so big for you? 660Ti and 7950 are roughly the same price level in most markets.

 

[longdi]

Hitman is a AMD Gaming Evolved game and 7950 is balls here!

 

[Firebrand]

What's wrong with your E8500? Mine holds up well w/ a GTX260.

I personally don't think consoles will be the graphic behemoths that current PC's can do and push out.

Yeah, I have the same GPU as you as well. I've found that there's a disappointing amount of games that perform poorly on dualcores specifically (Batman:AC, Brink, NFS:HP, Darksiders to name a few). Aside from legitimately demanding games like BF3 it's mostly due to shoddy port jobs, but still, it'd be nice to not run into the same situation within 1½ years from now.

My current machine is 3½ years by now though so I don't feel like waiting 6+ more months, so I'll probably just go with the i5. Thanks for the input.

 

[Lunar15]

I've seen a few people mention this, but could someone give me the details on why the Samsung 830 SSD's are better than the 840's and 840 Pro's? I'm looking to pick up an SSD, and I see the 840's going for lower right now, but that only makes me suspicious.

Also, this seems like a ridiculous deal on a Corsair Neutron Series 240GB drive: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00340388000P?srccode=cii_37736649&cpncode=33-108629548-2&=&sid=IDx20120809x00001a ($140 for a drive that goes 200+ elsewhere)

Anyone know anything about this drive? Is it the real deal or should I stick with the 830?

 

[kharma45]

I've seen a few people mention this, but could someone give me the details on why the Samsung 830 SSD's are better than the 840's and 840 Pro's? I'm looking to pick up an SSD, and I see the 840's going for lower right now, but that only makes me suspicious.

Also, this seems like a ridiculous deal on a Corsair Neutron Series 240GB drive: http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00340388000P?srccode=cii_37736649&cpncode=33-108629548-2&=&sid=IDx20120809x00001a

Anyone know anything about this drive? Is it the real deal or should I stick with the 830?

The NAND in the 840 isn't as good quality as the stuff in the 830 iirc, and the reliability may not be as good so it's worth sticking to the proven (and faster) 830.

Hitman is a AMD Gaming Evolved game and 7950 is balls here!
http://gamegpu.ru/images/stories/Test_GPU/Action/Hitman%20Absolution/hitman%201920.png[img][/QUOTE]

Balls how? It's almost on par with a 680.

 

[longdi]

oh balls means good to me. big bouncy juice filled balls of goodness.

 

[kharma45]

oh balls means good to me. big bouncy juice filled balls of goodness.

Ah right haha something being balls to me means it's shite.

 

[Omiee]

7950 is the better buy at stock with the latest drivers


Also worth noting the limited memory bus on the 660Ti too



Why is the price difference so big for you? 660Ti and 7950 are roughly the same price level in most markets.

In holland they are not. The 660ti is 205 euro and the 7950 is 285. both of them msi versions overclocked.
so the difference would be around 150 euro if i buy two. Thats why i cant make a decision. if the difference would have been lower if would have gone for the 7950/


most benchmarks i see for total war battlefield and metro show that the 660ti sli is faster than the 7950 at 1080p

 

[Lunar15]

The NAND in the 840 isn't as good quality as the stuff in the 830 iirc, and the reliability may not be as good so it's worth sticking to the proven (and faster) 830.

Ah, thanks. I just wanted some clarification.

 

[kharma45]

In holland they are not. The 660ti is 205 euro and the 7950 is 285. both of them msi versions overclocked.
so the difference would be around 150 euro if i buy two. Thats why i cant make a decision. if the difference would have been lower if would have gone for the 7950/


most benchmarks i see for total war battlefield and metro show that the 660ti sli is faster than the 7950 at 1080p

What drivers are those with? 12.11 brings a pretty good performance boost across the board.

What's making you want a multi-GPU set-up as opposed to something like a single 7970 or 670?

 

[Omiee]

What drivers are those with?

I dont know its these:

http://nl.hardware.info/productinfo/benchmarks/6/3d-chips?tcId=286&specId=9004&products[]=136493

anandtech bench gpu 12 also shows the 660ti being slightely better than the 7950 on battlefield and shogun 2.

Is a single 7970 as fast as two 7950's?

because i really want cards that are high performance so i can keep them for two years before changing again.

 

[Firebrand]

I've seen a few people mention this, but could someone give me the details on why the Samsung 830 SSD's are better than the 840's and 840 Pro's? I'm looking to pick up an SSD, and I see the 840's going for lower right now, but that only makes me suspicious.

Sweclockers.com did a test and found that the non-Pro version of the 840 performed much worse after the "torture" test and the following TRIM compared to the 830.

I was looking to buy a Samsung SSD and I'm a bit undecided which to pick of the two.

 

[kharma45]

I dont know its these:

http://nl.hardware.info/productinfo/benchmarks/6/3d-chips?tcId=286&specId=9004&products[]=136493

anandtech bench gpu 12 also shows the 660ti being slightely better than the 7950 on battlefield and shogun 2.

Anandbench hasn't updated to 12.11 yet, the two cards are neck and neck on BF3 but for Shogun the 660Ti still has a decent lead.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/5.html

Overall the 7950 is the faster card if you skip to the end of the review but it's not worth €75 more or whatever it is going to cost. There still is the issue of the limited memory bus on the 660Ti though.

Is a single 7970 as fast as two 7950's?

because i really want cards that are high performance so i can keep them for two years before changing again.

It's not as fast no but you shouldn't really need anything more powerful than a 7970 now (it's the fastest single GPU on the market) and if you ever did you can add another down the line.

I always prefer a single card too rather than two as it's usually less hassle.

 

[Omiee]

Anandbench hasn't updated to 12.11 yet, the two cards are neck and neck on BF3 but for Shogun the 660Ti still has a decent lead.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Catalyst_12.11_Performance/5.html

Overall the 7950 is the faster card if you skip to the end of the review but it's not worth €75 more or whatever it is going to cost. There still is the issue of the limited memory bus on the 660Ti though.

What does this memory bus mean? Is that a bad thing for direct x 11 games?

I could also just go for a 670 or 7970 now and switch to a second one in a year right?

 

[MaritalWheat]

You guys know of any current or upcoming SSD deals? Looking for 240+ GB and sub $140 ideally...I couldn't find anything particularly good myself but any links would be appreciated!

 

[kharma45]

What does this memory bus mean? Is that a bad thing for direct x 11 games?

I could also just go for a 670 or 7970 now and switch to a second one in a year right?

If games are going to be using more VRAM in the next couple of years the limited bus on the 660Ti could be an issue.

Yeah you could just add another 670 or 7970 down the line if you needed to, but with a 7970 especially (when overclocked) you hopefully shouldn't need to for a good while.

This is also worth a read for you imo http://hardocp.com/article/2012/11/12/fall_2012_gpu_driver_comparison_roundup/

Mull it over and get a few more opinions from say mkenyon or Hazaro first before taking the plunge on any card, but if it were me I'd look at a single card set-up from either the 7970 or 670.

 

[Zoibie]

Hey Gaf. A bit of a noob problem but I just installed updated video drivers fro Steam (didn't really need them, just thought 'what the hell') and now videos won't display properly (games are fine.) Any ideas what I could do to solve this?

 

[Hazaro]

Sweclockers.com did a test and found that the non-Pro version of the 840 performed much worse after the "torture" test and the following TRIM compared to the 830.

I was looking to buy a Samsung SSD and I'm a bit undecided which to pick of the two.

Do not buy an 840 imo. Too many other good deals floating around.
830/M4 is still the go to

Hey Gaf. A bit of a noob problem but I just installed updated video drivers fro Steam (didn't really need them, just thought 'what the hell') and now videos won't display properly (games are fine.) Any ideas what I could do to solve this?

Update Flash. Reboot.

If still not working then: Disable hardware acceleration (Right click a video)