Graphics Card Upgrade

[KOOL]

1st choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784
2nd choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632

My Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P MB is only PCI 2.0.  Are these PCI 3.0 gpu's backward compatble?

[Bino]

PCI-E 3.0 cards are indeed backward-compatible with a 2.0 slot.  I ran my AMD 7950 card on an old X58 mobo for a while before I upgraded to a Z87.

I would buy a GTX 770.  The GTX 770 is, according to Tom's Hardware, "basically a GeForce GTX 680 with higher clock rates, improved cooling, and a lower price tag."  A GTX 770 card with 4 GB VRAM costs about $60 more than the 670 card that Gyrene linked to.

[KOOL]

PCI-E 3.0 cards are indeed backward-compatible with a 2.0 slot.  I ran my AMD 7950 card on an old X58 mobo for a while before I upgraded to a Z87.

I would buy a GTX 770.  The GTX 770 is, according to Tom's Hardware, "basically a GeForce GTX 680 with higher clock rates, improved cooling, and a lower price tag."  A GTX 770 card with 4 GB VRAM costs about $60 more than the 670 card that Gyrene linked to.

Thanks for answering my PCI question.  I read that some people with 7950's saw their letting out smoke after a few months but who know's if they were OC'ing them or not?  Reading that makes me bit hesitant on the 7950's.  I'll consider the GTX 770 but will read up on it first.  The price is near my budget.  Anything over 5 bills and Hammer (code name for wife) will launch a 5x ack attack.  Which every direction I go on this I believe my PSU will handle it.  I'll paste my system specs below.

Thanks

MB: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor BX80570E8500
CPU COOLER: ZALMAN CNPS9900 NT 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise CPU Cooler
RAM: OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
GPU: 1 - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support
PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750HX 750-Watt HX Professional Series 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with Core i7 and Core i5
CASE: NZXT TEMPEST EVO Crafted Series TEVO-001BK Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
MONITOR: 1 - Asus VE258Q 25-Inch Full-HD LED-Lit LCD Monitor with Integrated Speakers

[Bino]

Thanks for answering my PCI question.  I read that some people with 7950's saw their letting out smoke after a few months but who know's if they were OC'ing them or not?  Reading that makes me bit hesitant on the 7950's...

No smoke problems here with my "Double-D Black Edition" from XFX.  Been running it since last December. <shrug>

I did have an issue with my old X58 mobo not seeing all the VRAM, but clear sailing now on the Z87 mobo, and mildly overclocked to 925 MHz.

YMMV, as always.   

[zack1234]

I can say: Highly playable. My rig is a lot like yours, the motherboard a tad older but videocard newer. I was planning to get a HD5770 but found the current one almost for steal.

Gigabyte GA-EP35-ds3,
Intel core2duo E8599,
Radeon HD3870 worked well @1920x1200, current HD6970 even better@2560x1600,
GSkill DDR2 1066 2x2 GB

I gave him that HD6970, he kept staring through my bedroom window until I gave it him

[1701E]

1st choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784
2nd choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632

Not sure how much savings matters to Kool, but another option to the 7970 would be the Sapphire Dual-X 7970. It's the one I use and love it, and for ~$70 less it may be worthwhile to consider. Slightly lower clocks at stock, but I can reach the XFX speeds with no issues in terms of stability or heat (obviously that'll vary). 

[gyrene81]

Not sure how much savings matters to Kool, but another option to the 7970 would be the Sapphire Dual-X 7970. It's the one I use and love it, and for ~$70 less it may be worthwhile to consider. Slightly lower clocks at stock, but I can reach the XFX speeds with no issues in terms of stability or heat (obviously that'll vary). 

i like the xfx for the lifetime warranty...    just got a 4870 replaced under warranty after 4 years...

[KOOL]

Not sure how much savings matters to Kool........

Yes, savings matters to KOOL and has a hell of a impact on Hammer.  Squeaking a new GPU in my rig for under 3 bills can make a difference between sleeping in the dog house or not.  I hate sleeping in the dog house.  It's too small, stinks, and the closest one is a click away.  We don't have a dog. 

[Bizman]

Not sure how much savings matters to Kool, but another option to the 7970 would be the Sapphire Dual-X 7970. It's the one I use and love it, and for ~$70 less it may be worthwhile to consider. Slightly lower clocks at stock, but I can reach the XFX speeds with no issues in terms of stability or heat (obviously that'll vary). 

To simplify (or stir up even more) things, scientific studies have been made about how people notice differences in clock rates. The one I read of was made about CPU's and work applications, but I suppose they'd apply to GPU's and games equally. Most people couldn't tell the difference at 10%, one of five could see some slight improvement at 20% higher clock rates. A couple of frames more or less in a furball situation doesn't matter if the FPS is above 30 or more.

[1701E]

To simplify (or stir up even more) things, scientific studies have been made about how people notice differences in clock rates. The one I read of was made about CPU's and work applications, but I suppose they'd apply to GPU's and games equally. Most people couldn't tell the difference at 10%, one of five could see some slight improvement at 20% higher clock rates. A couple of frames more or less in a furball situation doesn't matter if the FPS is above 30 or more.

To add to that, a quick 3DMark test comparing the two speeds;

Test @ XFX Speeds | @ Sapphire Speeds (w/o Boost)
3DMark Score (Points) 3563.0 | 3268.0
Graphics Score (Points) 3688.0 | 3367.0
Physics Score (Points) 8527.0 | 8497.0
Combined Score (Points) 1677.0 | 1526.0
Graphics Test 1 (FPS) 18.7 | 17.0
Graphics Test 2 (FPS) 14.0 | 12.8
Physics Test (FPS) 27.1 | 27.0
Combined Test (FPS) 7.8 | 7.1
Obviously the actual results depends on more; the application, settings, rest of the system, etc.

For the price and Sapphire being a good company it's a very nice card. Likely won't go wrong with either XFX (Life-time warranty is certainly nice!) or Sapphire.

The only downside to this card, and it should be very highly noted, the card takes 3 PCI slots & 2x 8-pins (NE info is slightly off).
The heatsink ever so slightly overhangs a third PCI slot thus blocking it despite not being a true tri-slot card; As seen here it is blocking my black PCI-E which is my third PCI slot and it is using 2x 8-pin power connectors.

[Bizman]

For the price and Sapphire being a good company it's a very nice card. Likely won't go wrong with either XFX (Life-time warranty is certainly nice!) or Sapphire.

The only downside to this card, and it should be very highly noted, the card takes 3 PCI slots & 2x 8-pins (NE info is slightly off).
The heatsink ever so slightly overhangs a third PCI slot thus blocking it despite not being a true tri-slot card

I've been told about Sapphire being a reliable brand for years.

About the downside i.e. the size, how many of you really have a pci card in your machine? I do, because at one con I had problems with my built-in Lan, which was cured by installing a pci nic. Size really matters only in a situation where two video cards are connected together, or in a microtower where the video card's air intake might be covered. Most decent gaming oriented power supplies have double 8-pin plugs, at least if they're modular.

[1701E]

About the downside i.e. the size, how many of you really have a pci card in your machine? I do, because at one con I had problems with my built-in Lan, which was cured by installing a pci nic. Size really matters only in a situation where two video cards are connected together, or in a microtower where the video card's air intake might be covered. Most decent gaming oriented power supplies have double 8-pin plugs, at least if they're modular.

Personally, I use no extra PCI cards anymore (ever changing needs) though I did have a sound-card before the new mobo which in combo with the 7970 blocked all my PCI slots. I've seen plenty of complaints from people about the card being 'oversized' though and that warrants the warning about it. The tri-slot will never be an issue for me anymore, but for someone it could be.
As for the 2x 8-pin, that's just the same warning as the oversized HS. People have complained about it despite it not being an issue, but it's wrongly advertised which seemingly causes issues for some people.

[Debrody]

To add to that, a quick 3DMark test comparing the two speeds;

Test @ XFX Speeds | @ Sapphire Speeds (w/o Boost)
3DMark Score (Points) 3563.0 | 3268.0
Graphics Score (Points) 3688.0 | 3367.0
Physics Score (Points) 8527.0 | 8497.0
Combined Score (Points) 1677.0 | 1526.0
Graphics Test 1 (FPS) 18.7 | 17.0
Graphics Test 2 (FPS) 14.0 | 12.8
Physics Test (FPS) 27.1 | 27.0
Combined Test (FPS) 7.8 | 7.1
Obviously the actual results depends on more; the application, settings, rest of the system, etc.

Is that a clock-to-clock comprasion? Or its just the XFX setting their cards to a higher clock as default?
Only because i cant guess, what can make this much of a difference (sometimes even 10%) between theoretically identical cards.

[Bizman]

There's an XFX & Sapphire review on Overclocker's club, http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_sapphire_hd7770/13.htm telling that the standard clocked XFX outperformed the Sapphire in 3Dmark11. Both seem to have a couple of overclocked/overclockable varieties in their 7770 models, but their clock rates don't differ much. As you said, they're theoretically identical cards - even when overclocked. Could the tolerance within manufacturing limits explain the differences? I mean, different brand of capacitors, FET's, circuit boards, whatever there is. A marginally thicker layer of fiber on the circuit board combined with just slightly narrower stripes could cause part of the gaming power turning into plain heat. Sorry, my vocabulary about tech components is very poor even in my mother tongue, but I hope you get what I mean.

[Debrody]

No worries, im lot a lingual genius either 
Got your point, thanks for your answer.