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Video card question

Alkiii

By Alkiii
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Alkiii

Alkiii

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Building a new rig for my son and am undecided on what GPU to buy.

 

Choices:

 

EvGA GTX 560 ti Overclocked Edition (1 GB RAM)

EvGA GTX 560 ti Standard Edition (2 GB RAM)

 

I'm leaning towards the OC version but is it worth it to spend the extra $35.00 for the 2 GB version?

 

Any help will greatly be appreciated.

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Alkiii

Alkiii

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I would highly suggest going with the 2gb model. It's always best to get more memory on the card.

 

Will it make that big of a difference in SWTOR?

 

(Just checked pricing and it's actually $50.00 more for the 2GB version).

 

Is it worth the extra $50.00?

 

(this is going in an i7 2700k system with a 120 GB SSD and 8 GB G. Skill Ripjawz RAM (Win 7 HP 64-bit).

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Proksham

Proksham

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I highly suggest the investment towards the higher ram model to promote longevity. I understand you may be on a tight budget, but keep in mind that you hopefully won't need to buy one for another year or more.

 

Edit - And there's really no reason to spend money on an OC'd edition of a video card unless it comes packaged with a heavier duty heatsink/fan combo. EVGA has it's own OC software you will be able to download and use for free.

Edited by Proksham
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Alkiii

Alkiii

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I highly suggest the investment towards the higher ram model to promote longevity. I understand you may be on a tight budget, but keep in mind that you hopefully won't need to buy one for another year or more.

 

Edit - And there's really no reason to spend money on an OC'd edition of a video card unless it comes packaged with a heavier duty heatsink/fan combo. EVGA has it's own OC software you will be able to download and use for free.

 

I'm not worried about the longevity of the card. I just want the better performer of the 2 based on price. I'll buy a new card in a year to replace this one. Just really wanted to know if it's worth the extra $50.00 for SWTOR.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. :)

Edited by Alkiii
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Proksham

Proksham

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I'm not worried about the longevity of the card. I just want the better performer of the 2 based on price. I'll buy a new card in a year to replace this one. Just really wanted to know if it's worth the extra $50.00 for SWTOR.

 

Thank you so much for your reply. :)

 

If you're not worried about longevity then I doubt you will see a performance improvement worth the extra 50 dollars, but it might be worth getting the DS version for an extra 10 since it comes equipped with dual fans.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130657

 

I tried to find you an actual benchmark, but I only came across the reference models. But for me personally, I would spend an extra 10 for the peace of mind knowing my card is staying as chilly as possible.

 

P.S. Either way, your son should be thrilled. If I could give you a cookie for an awesome parent award, I would ^.^

Edited by Proksham
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Alkiii

Alkiii

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If you're not worried about longevity then I doubt you will see a performance improvement worth the extra 50 dollars, but it might be worth getting the DS version for an extra 10 since it comes equipped with dual fans.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130657

 

I tried to find you an actual benchmark, but I only came across the reference models. But for me personally, I would spend an extra 10 for the peace of mind knowing my card is staying as chilly as possible.

 

P.S. Either way, your son should be thrilled. If I could give you a cookie for an awesome parent award, I would ^.^

 

I'm ordering the link you provided from Newegg. Thank you very much for the response(s)! You have been a great help!

 

As far as my son is concerned; He doesn't even know he's getting this computer yet. He's currently playing on a Core2Duo E6600 CPU, 8 GB HyperX RAM, GTS450 GPU system and he's not very happy about his frames when we do Warfronts together. I told him 2 days ago that I just couldn't afford to buy another computer (built a new rig for my wife just a few weeks ago) after building his mom's rig. He frowned and said, "it's ok dad, mom deserves it more. I'll be fine. Maybe in a few months for my birthday I'll get one. lol"

 

Little does he know, his selflessness just landed him a new rig.

 

 

Thanks again!

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Proksham

Proksham

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Get the lower video card and use the money savings to invest in a cheap sound card. Helps the processor as it won't have to focus on processing sounds and reduces bottlenecking for your system

 

Not a bad suggestion for most, but I'm doubting he will see such an issue while running his 2700k

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MEBIGGD

MEBIGGD

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If Gaming is all your son plans to do with the system, investing solely in a newer video card would have been the best choice imo. Overall, your sons current system is actually better than most games will ever utilize. Most things today are utilizing the GPU in many things from gaming to even encoding video. While I think it's great you are doing something nice for your son and I wouldn't want to be the one to spoil his new system, I would suggest rethinking the entire strategy and investment.

 

As an example, the current system would outperform the system you are building if you purchased top of the line video card. Sure the I7 chip is nice and is awesome but overkill.

 

What I don't understand is that you would splurge for high end parts yet cut short on the most important component. As a system designer, I would suggest this for you if you are going to build a new system.

 

 

Instead of an I7 chip, pick up an I5 2500 series chip. Hundred bucks cheaper than your I7 2700 and will perform just as good. Ram is dirt cheap and 8 GB's will cost you peanuts. If you want 16 go for the extra few bucks but it's a waste and will never be used unless doing professional work. Pick up a decent motherboard but don't spend more than a $150 bucks on it. Many have all the same bells and whistles. I actually like the Asrock board which is like 130 on new egg. My point of all of this is leading to the most important component. Saving a few bucks in the right areas will allow you to get the best Video card out there. I will tell you right now, a 1 GB memory card is just going to be your bottleneck and make the entire upgrade a waste. The card listed from another friendly member is around 250 bucks but overall the money save by just by suggestion over the components you mentioned, you can get the best Video card out on the market that will last you a few years which is the GTX 680. It was just released and probably hard to find right now but it runs a lot cooler, very efficiently and is future proof. Just the money it will save you in electric will be a positive factor. I would advise you to maybe even looking at AMD Radeon 7000 series but with the current build, you most likely want CUDA in your card for Video Editing or anything else your son may pick up an interest in.

 

Good luck and hopefully I didn't bore anyone with all of this.

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