Advice on Graphics Cards

[Abriael]

Ya like Abriael said, the only thing you really need is a new video card. Whats your budget? If your budget is around $300+, then there are some more GPU options then a 660 but if your budget is $200, then 660 is your best bet, the one linked above is a nice card.

I personally like This one better. Its higher clocked for the same price and I personally prefer EVGA over Gigabyte. It gets a bit hot though so you need a well vented case.

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.

[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.

[Zenaku]

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.

ya that what i thought thank you

@abriael

Thanks that even more info did not know about the warranty thanks

[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.

[Quesse]

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.

You act like everyone knows how to upgrade their CPU/Motherboard like its no big deal. It is a big deal for a lot of people and they are going to run into issues - whether it is with cabling/drivers/mismatched components. So pairing a GTX 660 with a dual core athlon2 because they 'might' upgrade in the future is a terrible idea. Better to buy a properly matched card like a 6670 and then just buy a complete new system pre-configured at a later date. That is the advise you should be giving people.

Link1

[Zenaku]

You act like everyone knows how to upgrade their CPU/Motherboard like its no big deal. It is a big deal for a lot of people and they are going to run into issues - whether it is with cabling/drivers/mismatched components. So pairing a GTX 660 with a dual core athlon2 because they 'might' upgrade in the future is a terrible idea. Better to buy a properly matched card like a 6670 and then just buy a complete new system pre-configured at a later date. That is the advise you should be giving people.
Link1

I think the reason he saying that if you going to upgrade later like 5-8month or 1year you have the card 660. But buying the 6670 then wasting the money for 660 would cost more.

I think that it's point

[Abriael]

You act like everyone knows how to upgrade their CPU/Motherboard like its no big deal. It is a big deal for a lot of people and they are going to run into issues - whether it is with cabling/drivers/mismatched components. So pairing a GTX 660 with a dual core athlon2 because they 'might' upgrade in the future is a terrible idea. Better to buy a properly matched card like a 6670 and then just buy a complete new system pre-configured at a later date. That is the advise you should be giving people.

I give people the advice I know works well and optimizes their budget, not the advice you want me to give for some mysterious reason.

Your solution is simply not money efficient. Buying something only to throw it away in a few months is a waste of money.

I doubt the thermal paste can change the temps by ~15°C, but might look into it. Does the paste lose it's features over time? I used the paste provided with the cooler this time, but before that it was arctic silver. Didn't really change the temps.

Wrote to AMD to see if they will be willing to do anything, if not, then I guess I will be looking around for a different CPU. My budget is as low as it gets atm, I'm usually aiming for best bang for the buck though.

Good paste doesn't deteriorate for several years if at all, so I wouldn't think that's the cause. At the moment I'm simply thinking about a defective CPU, unless your case ventilation is REALLY horrible. But even in that case it shouldn't be that bad.