Advice on Graphics Cards

[AdorraEloom]

That's my problem with EVGA's cards. Their cooling solutions are always pretty meh, which in turn doesn't leave much allowance for further clocking.

I'm currently running my Gigabyte at 1083/1148 6308 (which is quite a bit more than the EVGA) and the fans don't even need to go over 70% to keep it nice and cool.

Abriael a question for you, I'm semi good with PC"s but have a quick question since you seem to have a lot of knowledge, I'm changing my video card gtx 480 OC to a 680GTX. My mother board appears to have some built in vram I think, that is what I was told two years ago when I had it built, currently when I go to dxdiag under display tab, it says gtx 480 total memory 4048. I know the gtx480 has 1500 memory, so for it to say 4048 might mean that the mother board does in deed have memory support towards video?

I guess my question is, if I upgrade to the GTX 680 would I need to change any options in bios to use this extra memory? or just un-install drivers, power down swap cards and install new drivers and I'm good to go?

[Abriael]

Abriael a question for you, I'm semi good with PC"s but have a quick question since you seem to have a lot of knowledge, I'm changing my video card gtx 480 OC to a 680GTX. My mother board appears to have some built in vram I think, that is what I was told two years ago when I had it built, currently when I go to dxdiag under display tab, it says gtx 480 total memory 4048. I know the gtx480 has 1500 memory, so for it to say 4048 might mean that the mother board does in deed have memory support towards video?

I guess my question is, if I upgrade to the GTX 680 would I need to change any options in bios to use this extra memory? or just un-install drivers, power down swap cards and install new drivers and I'm good to go?

Dxdiag misrepresents video memory quite often. Mine for instance reports 3786 for a card that has 2048. Don't worry about it.

here's a relevant article that explains it:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2026022

If your motherboard has a built in integrated video card just disable it via bios to avoid conflicts.

[Zenaku]

That's my problem with EVGA's cards. Their cooling solutions are always pretty meh, which in turn doesn't leave much allowance for further clocking.

I'm currently running my Gigabyte at 1083/1148 6308 (which is quite a bit more than the EVGA) and the fans don't even need to go over 70% to keep it nice and cool.

So i never understood what the different from getting a normal 660 and a OC version? Beside the fact that the company itself OC it? I mean can't you get a normal version and OC it yourself or is there something special about the company OC version?

[Guyjin37]

So i never understood what the different from getting a normal 660 and a OC version? Beside the fact that the company itself OC it? I mean can't you get a normal version and OC it yourself or is there something special about the company OC version?

Yep, all you're getting (in the vast majority of cases) is a regular card, factory OCed. Generally they're better for people who are uncomfortable overclocking. If you're brave enough to overclock yourself then getting a normal version and overclocking that is a fine strategy and should give you similar results.

Another thing to look at is the cooling solution on a particular card. Reference coolers (the ones that are based on the original design spec of the card from either NVidia or ATI) are nowadays pretty good but still not as good as a custom fan like you'd find on an MSI Lightning or ASUS DC2 or something. You could conceivably get better overclocking results on one of those simply because the temps will be a little lower.

[Abriael]

I wouldn't bother getting a new video card with that system its a waste of money that CPU will just bottle neck anything that is good. Unless you want to buy a new motherboard and cpu probably not worth upgrading.

It's definitely worth upgrading, and if she wants to fully upgrade she doesn't even need a new motherboard, as her socket AM3 can host some definitely good processors and RAM.

So i never understood what the different from getting a normal 660 and a OC version? Beside the fact that the company itself OC it? I mean can't you get a normal version and OC it yourself or is there something special about the company OC version?

Biggest difference is that if you overclock a card yourself you void the warranty. A card that has been factory overclocked is covered by warranty for the overclock it comes with.

The second difference is that often factory overclocked cards have a much better cooling solution than the stock one, as they are actually designed to withstand higher voltage and heat.

[SkyeWindbinder]

Well, new power supply and graphics card for me. lol

I just hope I have enough to buy them after all my important expenses are taken care of when Iget my income tax check. Thanks everyone for all the awesome advice. I'll just have to buckle down and do it. And I guess I'll learn to install it as well. The only people I know who could do it for me are the people at Best Buy, and there's no way in hell I'm paying $50 for that. Nope, screw THAT.

[Shura]

Well, new power supply and graphics card for me. lol

I just hope I have enough to buy them after all my important expenses are taken care of when Iget my income tax check. Thanks everyone for all the awesome advice. I'll just have to buckle down and do it. And I guess I'll learn to install it as well. The only people I know who could do it for me are the people at Best Buy, and there's no way in hell I'm paying $50 for that. Nope, screw THAT.

Ya don't pay them $50 for that, Its not that hard these days to PC upgrades. I'm sure you can find some youtube videos that show you how, just look up changing PSU and cable management and you should be good. If you still have trouble, i'm sure people on the forums can help.

[RowanLauron]

Thanks for the replies! I'll research the options you guys suggested. Thanks again

I had a friend recommend this one.

He knows my budget so this is what I would be able to afford atm...and for some reason when I built my rig I bought a smaller case so it's a tad bit cramped in there...may cause some heating issues.

[Shura]

Thanks for the replies! I'll research the options you guys suggested. Thanks again

I had a friend recommend this one.

He knows my budget so this is what I would be able to afford atm...and for some reason when I built my rig I bought a smaller case so it's a tad bit cramped in there...may cause some heating issues.

Thats the same card i had linked, just on a different site, and a bit cheaper from the looks of it. Would help to know what case you have but if your worried about heating issues, the one Abriael recommended has better cooling.

[RowanLauron]

Thats the same card i had linked, just on a different site, and a bit cheaper from the looks of it. Would help to know what case you have but if your worried about heating issues, the one Abriael recommended has better cooling.

I can't even remember the name of it, but I can easily maneuver around everything when I clean it so it's not THAT small I guess. And I guess I didn't pay attention to what you linked. I'm half asleep with a headache so the words are getting blurry