Geforce 650Ti Boost & some other questions...

Myrddin

More or less ready to hit the button on one of these, as a replacement for an 8800GTX which gave up the ghost. There's quite a few different ones available though, with prices being €20/€30 in the difference in some cases between models. Is there a recommended 650Ti Boost, or are they all pretty much the same?

Gumbi

The price difference can be down to cooling, build quality and even simply brand name. You're probably best off buying from Amazon simply because the shipping will be free.

What is your budget? Are you fully settled on a 650ti? As there are some good competing AMD cards at that price range.

Myrddin

Gumbi wrote: »

The price difference can be down to cooling, build quality and even simply brand name. You're probably best off buying from Amazon simply because the shipping will be free.

What is your budget? Are you fully settled on a 650ti? As there are some good competing AMD cards at that price range.

Budget is around €200 tops, I'd still be open to looking at different cards, but from what I've read the 650Ti Boost is superior to its AMD competitors in the same price range no? Also I'd be buying from Amazon too

KilOit

My 4 year old Radeon 5850 is better than that card. What you using it for?
think you should throw a extra 50€ in and get a 7870 or gtx 670 unless your'e getting it for really cheap and just just playing minecraft

Gumbi

There's a 7870 for 149 euro on dabs right now which is an amazing deal. What is the rest of you build and what games do you play? Because sometimes buying a new card mightn't be the option which will net you the most performance.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/13339890/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-7870-ghz-editio.html

This deal is amazing. Notice the poster above suggesting another 50 euro for this card :P But do tell us your system specs first, and what you play.

Myrddin

KilOit wrote: »

My 4 year old Radeon 5850 is better than that card. What you using it for?
think you should throw a extra 50€ in and get a 7870 or gtx 670 unless your'e getting it for really cheap and just just playing minecraft

It's to be used for gaming, everything from small indie titles to modern aaa stuff.

Gumbi wrote: »

Because sometimes buying a new card mightn't be the option which will net you the most performance.

Well this isn't an upgrade per se, it's to replace a failed a 8800GTX, so regardless of system specs I need a new card.

But do tell us your system specs first, and what you play.

Ah it's a dinosaur by modern standards:

MSI P7N SLI Zilent
Core2Quad {Q6600 I think} 2.4Ghz
4GB DDR2800 Ram {Will prob buy another 4GB too}

TerrorFirmer

KilOit wrote: »

My 4 year old Radeon 5850 is better than that card. What you using it for?
think you should throw a extra 50€ in and get a 7870 or gtx 670 unless your'e getting it for really cheap and just just playing minecraft

No it's not.

The 650Ti Boost is a solid card, good performer, and much faster than the 5850 - it's a good match for the 7850 actually.

All depends on the price you're paying for it though. As pointed out you can get a faster 7870 for 160 posted from Pixmania, which to be honest is probably the same price you'd be paying for the Boost as well I'd imagine, so unless you need an Nvidia card, it's the best option!

Your PC is old but still entirely competent for new games and with a new card you'll see a whole new lease of life.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

No it's not.

The 650Ti Boost is a solid card, good performer, and much faster than the 5850 - it's a good match for the 7850 actually.

All depends on the price you're paying for it though. As pointed out you can get a faster 7870 for 160 posted from Pixmania, which to be honest is probably the same price you'd be paying for the Boost as well I'd imagine, so unless you need an Nvidia card, it's the best option!

Your PC is old but still entirely competent for new games and with a new card you'll see a whole new lease of life.

That's more or less in line with the reviews I've been reading, it's better than the 5850 & punches somewhat above its weight.

Yeah this works out about €160 delivered - http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-02G-P4-3658-KR-Superclocked-Graphics-PCI-Express/dp/B00C1K66GY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376903891&sr=8-1&keywords=geforce+650ti+boost

So this here - http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/13339890/art/sapphire-technology/radeon-hd-7870-ghz-editio.html#tech-specs is a better bet? Looks really good value actually, what are Pixmania like to deal with, I've never used them before?

TerrorFirmer

Yes it's a much better card. Pixmania aren't the greatest company to deal with in the event of a fault though, I've had very mixed experiences with them ranging from decent to horrific. But a 7870 for 149.99 is just ridiculous value.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yes it's a much better card. Pixmania aren't the greatest company to deal with in the event of a fault though, I've had very mixed experiences with them ranging from decent to horrific. But a 7870 for 149.99 is just ridiculous value.

Hmm, what to do. I've heard some nightmare stories about Pixmania, but that's a deal & a half. Argh!

Myrddin

The other thing is, the PSU I have in the pc is a Corsair HX520w, would that be ok for the likes of a 7870?

TerrorFirmer

Absolutely.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Absolutely.

Cheers

I'm just doing some browsing before deciding, & looking at other retailers for 7870 prices. Some list it as the Ghz Edition, others don't, but the sku is always - 1119-16-20g

If it's this sku listed, is it safe to assume it's the Ghz edition even if the retailer doesn't specify?

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

But a 7870 for 149.99 is just ridiculous value.

Sorry to blister you

It'd be €160 from Pixmania with the delivery charge, wheras the same card {I think its the same, doesn't mention GH edition but the sku is the same} would be €180 delivered - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-11199-16-20G-Graphics-Display-Express/dp/B00A1572TQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376910277&sr=8-1&keywords=sapphire+radeon+hd7870+ghz+edition#productDetails

So €20 in the difference, makes Pixmania's price not such a huge saving. I think I'd shop from Amazon rather than Pixmania from what I've heard anyway. The only thing is, as I mention above, there's no mention of the GHz Edition but the sku's are the same...

norrie rugger

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yes it's a much better card. Pixmania aren't the greatest company to deal with in the event of a fault though, I've had very mixed experiences with them ranging from decent to horrific. But a 7870 for 149.99 is just ridiculous value.

worth going from 6870 to 7870 at all?

Gumbi

norrie rugger wrote: »

worth going from 6870 to 7870 at all?

It depends on what you play etc. Have you overclocked your 6870? What does the rest of your rig look like? It may well be worth it.

TerrorFirmer

Up to yourself really, sort of negates the excellent value of the Pix offer, but ultimately, it's a great buy as a card regardless. Of my experiences with Pixmania, they have been much better in later years than they used to be, so it's pretty possible they've made a huge effort in customer service. The last return I had, I sent it back to them, and within a few days I had a refund, hassle free and efficiently. The time before that though, they flat out refused to deal with the warranty, and insisted I had to send the motherboard back to Taiwan direct to the manufacturer.

And yes a 7870 is a lot faster than a 6870, considering you should be able to get 70 or 80 euro for a 6870, it's a great upgrade for about 70-80 euro.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Up to yourself really...

What do you think of there being no mention of the Ghz edition on the Amazon link, but the sku is the same as all the other Ghz editions I've seen online? Maybe they're just using the same box image for all cards in the Saphire 7870 range or something?

Gumbi

Ghz edition just means it comes clocked at 1000mhz. It's not the cutdown 7950 version.

It's the DualX though, so it would be one of the 7870s to go for even if it weren't so cheap. It really is a great deal.

Myrddin

Cheers, I pulled the trigger on the Amazon one. I know it's a fraction dearer, but to be spared a potential disaster saga with Pixmania I think it's worth it. So should have it in a few days, thanks a mill to everyone for the help & advice

Now to find more questions to wreck your heads

I'm going to completely disassemble, clean & rebuild the pc from top to bottom. Is IPA ok to clean the processor surface with? Will upgrading from 4GB DDR2800 to 8GBDDR2800 be worthwhile? Do I need a special adapter for the Gfx card, if I want sound over HDMI, or can it pull sound from the pcie bus?

TerrorFirmer

Yes that's fine, lint free cloths are handy to have around as well. 8Gb Ram doesn't hurt, even if its not strictly essential now, with the new card adding more ram will bring it to the final plateau before the whole core of the computer needs overhauling down the line. The HDMI will carry sound.

Gumbi

Don't get more RAM. Not only is 4GB enough for now, but you're on DDR2, which is slower (older) and more expensive than DDR3.

I would grab a cheap CPU cooler from somewhere and overclock that CPU to 3.2 plus ghz.

Myrddin

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yes that's fine, lint free cloths are handy to have around as well. 8Gb Ram doesn't hurt, even if its not strictly essential now, with the new card adding more ram will bring it to the final plateau before the whole core of the computer needs overhauling down the line. The HDMI will carry sound.

Yeah that's about as far as I can take this particular rig, sure the mobo maxes out at 8GB, it's DDR2 based, the cpu architecture is now obsolete, pcie 2.0, etc etc. It'll do the job I think, as I really don't have the bread to build a new rig from scratch at the mo.

Gumbi wrote: »

Don't get more RAM. Not only is 4GB enough for now, but you're on DDR2, which is slower (older) and more expensive than DDR3.

I would grab a cheap CPU cooler from somewhere and overclock that CPU to 3.2 plus ghz.

Yeah I was banking on getting some DDR2800 cheap, I wouldn't be spending big dollars on it or anything. Would it be ok to use two different brands etc, ie x2 4GB Corsair that I have now already, & x2 new sticks of 4GB {they'll both be the same bus speed}

I know zilch about overclocking

Jacovs

If id seen this before I would have said I didnt have any problems when I ordered the 7870 off Pixmania. Ordered and paid by credit card last saturday, got it delivered by UPS on thursday.

Gumbi

Seriously, don't bother. There will be no performance gain and it will be sitting idles on your system. Grab a Hyper 212 on Amazon for ~€30 instead an you'll get real gains with overclocking that CPU (it's pretty easy to do, we can help you, and it'll also be a bit queiter ).