GPU & PSU Help

[squijee]

Hey so I'm looking to upgrade my graphic card this year but idk much about this cuz i never done it before.

If you need more info just let me know.

Here's what i have now,
it's a Dell XPS 8300
CPU - Intel Core i7 2600 @ 3.40GHz
RAM - 16.0 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 662MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard - Dell Inc. 0Y2MRG (CPU 1)
GPU - Radeon HD 6870
HDD - 2TB
Windows 7 Home Premium

the power supply i believe is only 460w and that's where the problem is if i upgrade the graphic card.

My goal is to be able to run everything maxed out and try to future proof myself.

I was looking at power supply and this one seemed like a good one link
is modular power supply a better choice?

and i was hopping for suggesting for graphics card?
I'm not sure about a price range but prob somewhere around $400 for GPU

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by squijee

Hey so I'm looking to upgrade my graphic card this year but idk much about this cuz i never done it before.

If you need more info just let me know.

Here's what i have now,
it's a Dell XPS 8300
CPU - Intel Core i7 2600 @ 3.40GHz
RAM - 16.0 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 662MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard - Dell Inc. 0Y2MRG (CPU 1)
GPU - Radeon HD 6870
HDD - 2TB

the power supply i believe is only 470w and that's where the problem is if i upgrade the graphic card.

My goal is to be able to run everything maxed out and try to future proof myself.

I was looking at power supply and this one seemed like a good one link
is modular power supply a better choice?

and i was hopping for suggesting for graphics card?

I don't know your budget but here I go anyways.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html is a great website for the high end video cards and anything in the top 10 is pretty good depending on your budget.

I have GTX 570 HD in SLI but a single one is more than enough.

I'm not sure about your case so make sure you can even fit that type of card in and make sure you can connect those cards in there as well.

A fully modular Power Supply is awesome because you are able to just connect the cables you want and it's generally much easier to tidy up properly since you can route them exactly where you want. It's a good initiative to go with Corsair (love the brand) and something with at least 80+ rating for quality of power.

[squijee]

Originally Posted by silversnake

I don't know your budget but here I go anyways.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html is a great website for the high end video cards and anything in the top 10 is pretty good depending on your budget.

I have GTX 570 HD in SLI but a single one is more than enough.

I'm not sure about your case so make sure you can even fit that type of card in and make sure you can connect those cards in there as well.

A fully modular Power Supply is awesome because you are able to just connect the cables you want and it's generally much easier to tidy up properly since you can route them exactly where you want. It's a good initiative to go with Corsair (love the brand) and something with at least 80+ rating for quality of power.

thanks for the info, ill def go with a modular power supply then.

i know there's new graphic cards coming out soon. I'm not sure about a price range but prob somewhere around $400

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by squijee

thanks for the info, ill def go with a modular power supply then.

i know there's new graphic cards coming out soon. I'm not sure about a price range but prob somewhere around $400

Well the new ones from ATI already came out a few weeks ago (unless you are talking about other ones ) but if you got that route i'm pretty sure you would have to upgrade your motherboard as well as those are PCI-E 3.0

[squijee]

Originally Posted by silversnake

Well the new ones from ATI already came out a few weeks ago (unless you are talking about other ones ) but if you got that route i'm pretty sure you would have to upgrade your motherboard as well as those are PCI-E 3.0

oh really i didn't know that. would upgrading the motherboard be hard to do?

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by squijee

oh really i didn't know that. would upgrading the motherboard be hard to do?

In most cases, it shouldn't be, even for first timers. It's been a while since I've opened up a DELL PC to tinker with. My only concern with a motherboard swap (using a DELL chassis) is whether the assigned holes on the DELL motherboard (for securing screws to the chassis) have a different layout than third-party manufacturers (such as MSI, Gigabyte, etc.). If DELL uses a proprietary layout that's specific to their motherboards, then you won't be able to secure a third-party mobo to the DELL chassis, and you'll have to purchase a brand new chassis (case).

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by squijee

the power supply i believe is only 470w and that's where the problem is if i upgrade the graphic card.

My goal is to be able to run everything maxed out and try to future proof myself.

I was looking at power supply and this one seemed like a good one link

Corsair makes solid, dependable PSUs (I'm using one at the moment, and plan to pick up another for a third build). The one you selected should be fine, but in my opinion, overkill if you're planning to run just a single video card. I would recommend beefier PSUs if you were planning on running a Crossfire or SLI configuration, but for a single HD 6870, you can actually run everything on your system with a reputable 430W (as a minimum), though I'm more inclined to suggest either a 500W or 550W PSU. You could buy an 850W, but that would unnecessary, not to mention a waste of money.

Some builders have lost sight of the fact that today's components are far more efficient than its predecessors, even as their performance increases. In your case, you don't need an over-the-top PSU; just one that is (at least) 80-PLUS certified (Bronze or Silver would be better) with a high ampere rating on the 12V line.

is modular power supply a better choice?

Rather than reiterate what silversnake said in his reply, I'll just say that it's a matter of personal preference. I happen to like them because it allows for neater cabling inside, which should help with airflow inside. Keep in mind that this flexibility does come with a price, i.e. they do cost a bit more than their standard (non-modular) counterparts.

and i was hopping for suggesting for graphics card?

Give us a budget figure and we'll be happy to give you our personal recommendations.

[PrivatePixel]

I forgot: if you want to know how much power you need, I would suggest using a PSU calculator like this one:

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Lite

[squijee]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Corsair makes solid, dependable PSUs (I'm using one at the moment, and plan to pick up another for a third build). The one you selected should be fine, but in my opinion, overkill if you're planning to run just a single video card. I would recommend beefier PSUs if you were planning on running a Crossfire or SLI configuration, but for a single HD 6870, you can actually run everything on your system with a reputable 430W (as a minimum), though I'm more inclined to suggest either a 500W or 550W PSU. You could buy an 850W, but that would unnecessary, not to mention a waste of money.

Some builders have lost sight of the fact that today's components are far more efficient than its predecessors, even as their performance increases. In your case, you don't need an over-the-top PSU; just one that is (at least) 80-PLUS certified (Bronze or Silver would be better) with a high ampere rating on the 12V line.


Give us a budget figure and we'll be happy to give you our personal recommendations.

I found that power supply within 5 minutes if looking. If you have a better recommendation please do!
I'm just trying to learn more about this stuff before i buy
I was looking to do the power supply first then later this year do the graphic card. I'm not sure about a price range but prob somewhere around $400
idk anything about Crossfire or SLI configuration tho..
I'm not sure if this will help but here's some games i play
Saints Row the third
Skyrim
The Witcher 2
Dirt 3
Darkness 2
Sonic Generations
Crysis

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by squijee

I found that power supply within 5 minutes if looking. If you have a better recommendation please do!
I'm just trying to learn more about this stuff before i buy
I was looking to do the power supply first then later this year do the graphic card. I'm not sure about a price range but prob somewhere around $400
idk anything about Crossfire or SLI configuration tho..

If you don't think you'll be running multiple video cards in the future, we can omit potential Crossfire or SLI configuration scenarios for this discussion; it would also simplify your projected energy needs.

There's no way to predict what your power needs will be for video cards released later this year, but for now, we'll work with estimates based on video cards that are available today in the $400 range from both AMD and Nvidia. From AMD, you have two different GPUs to choose from: either the HD 6970 (1GB) or the HD 6870 (2GB); from Nvidia, it's the GeForce GTX 570 (with either 1280MB or 2560MB of memory, depending on manufacturer).

Here are estimates of minimum PSU requirements for all of these cards (assuming 4x DDR3 memory sticks, 2x hard drives, 2 optical drives, 4x USB connected devices and 2x PCIe cards in your current PC):

AMD Radeon HD 6970 (1GB): 538W
AMD Radeon HD 6870 (2GB): 435W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 (1280/2560MB): 525W

While it's possible that you can get by with a 550W, it may be safer to go with a 600W or 650W PSU. If your PC doesn't have that many components installed on the motherboard, then your power needs will be even lower. Personally, I would go with either a 600 or 650W for all of your computing needs, but I'll let you decide on that. I will post my picks in this power range in another post.

I'm not sure if this will help but here's some games i play
Saints Row the third
Skyrim
The Witcher 2
Dirt 3
Darkness 2
Sonic Generations
Crysis

Darkness 2 was just released, so I'm not sure if there are any benchmarks available. Skyrim is surprisingly forgiving when it comes to video card requirements, even with it running in High Detail and FXAA (Fast Approximate Anti-Aliasing) enabled, i.e. the framerate exceeds 70FPS on mid-range cards such as the HD 6850 and GTX 460, so it will be buttery smooth and ridiculously fast on a $400 video card.

For benchmarks, I went with Crysis 2 (rather than the original) because there is an Ultra Quality (UQ) mode that will truly test the limits of any system build. Assuming that you're running Windows 7 on a monitor with 1920x1080 resolution, the following should give you an idea as to what you can expect in UQ mode:



Here's a video demo of Crysis 2 running in Ultra mode (DX11):

Guru3D Crysis 2 Timedemo - HQ Textures ULTRA mode with DirectX

[Mudfrog]

Your not going to find a PSU / GPU combo for $400 that will max everything. However you can come pretty close.

The first thing you need to do (didn't see it suggested when skimming) is to measure your case to determine the largest card you can fit. I believe EVGA makes a shorter 570 in case you don't have much room to work with.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by Mudfrog

Your not going to find a PSU / GPU combo for $400 that will max everything. However you can come pretty close.

If I interpreted squijee's reply correctly, I think he wanted a PSU now, but was looking to spend ~$400 for a video card later this year.

[squijee]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

If I interpreted squijee's reply correctly, I think he wanted a PSU now, but was looking to spend ~$400 for a video card later this year.

yes this is my plan. Ill get a psu soon then later this year ill get a gpu

[BLindsay]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139035

is another good option for the power supply. I have the AX850 and its been great. As others have mention 850W would be overkill for a single card. 850W is really enough for any dual gpu setup even.

As far as the video card, i would wait for the kepler cards at this point if you were not already planning on doing so

edit: oh and 1 more thing, a PCIE 3.0 card will work in a 2.0 slot

[squijee]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139035

is another good option for the power supply. I have the AX850 and its been great. As others have mention 850W would be overkill for a single card. 850W is really enough for any dual gpu setup even.

As far as the video card, i would wait for the kepler cards at this point if you were not already planning on doing so

edit: oh and 1 more thing, a PCIE 3.0 card will work in a 2.0 slot

How would nvidia kepler cards compare with whats out now? for my price range

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by squijee

How would nvidia kepler cards compare with whats out now? for my price range

despite what many may try to tell we dont know right now how fast they will be but its a pretty safe bet they will be faster then last gen

So either there will be a new bang for the buck card, or at the very least it should help drive prices down on olders cards

[squijee]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

despite what many may try to tell we dont know right now how fast they will be but its a pretty safe bet they will be faster then last gen

So either there will be a new bang for the buck card, or at the very least it should help drive prices down on olders cards

so true lol oh so about PCIE 3.0, would it benefit me in upgrading my motherboard to support PCIE 3.0? i read that it doesn't benefit gaming to much, but i do wanna avoid upgrading in the future. so if it would be better to do then get a better graphic card i would consider it

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by BLindsay

As others have mention 850W would be overkill for a single card. 850W is really enough for any dual gpu setup even.

Guess my 5570 didn't get the memo as its being supported by a 1.1kw psu

(to be fair I was going to upgrade )

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by squijee

so true lol oh so about PCIE 3.0, would it benefit me in upgrading my motherboard to support PCIE 3.0? i read that it doesn't benefit gaming to much, but i do wanna avoid upgrading in the future. so if it would be better to do then get a better graphic card i would consider it

I wouldnt worry about upgrading to PCIE 3.0 right now. I plan on upgrading my cards and my board is only 2.0

[BLindsay]

Originally Posted by supersix4

Guess my 5570 didn't get the memo as its being supported by a 1.1kw psu

(to be fair I was going to upgrade )

Its not a bad thing, just if you are on a budget that money can be spent on other things thats all.

My last system had an Intel Hex core, 12GB, 6 hard drives, 2x 6970s. The cpu and gpus were both heavily overclocked and overvolted and i could just barely come close to the max of my 850