Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: KOOL on August 28, 2013, 03:26:39 PM
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I'm looking for a little help to steer me in the right direction. I'm planning to upgrade the graphics card in my system and add two more monitors. Where can I go to find out which graphics cards are compatible with my system? Is there a website out there where I can research this?
System incudes:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
1 x XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
I just ordered one Asus VE258Q and plan to get two more later this year or early next.
Any help is always appreciated.
Thanks!
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Tomshardware.com and GPU articles is a good place to start.
However your computer is way too old to be able to run any recent game titles at tri-monitor resolutions properly. Slideshow yes, fluid gameplay no way. Even if you upgrade the graphics card your CPU is hopelessly outdated for triple monitor resolutions.
Desktop use however will work great. Perhaps even AH2 is playable, can't say.
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I was afraid that might be the case. Oh we'll, need to come up with a plan B then.
Thanks
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Perhaps even AH2 is playable, can't say.
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
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Hi Kool,
I think you'll like the VE258Q. I know I like mine (see PC Specs (http://kenshelby.us/docs/pc-parts.htm)). I run three screens at 5760 x 1080 off a single AMD 7950 card (@ 925 MHz), and Aces High plays very well. My frame rates are pretty steady at 60 FPS, and will only occasionally drop into the high 40's.
In addition to being very nice for gaming, having all that screen area makes for a very nice desktop experience, too. :aok
There are a few recent online articles about triple monitor rigs and video cards. Here are two:
http://www.techspot.com/review/639-triple-monitor-gaming/
http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/149864-triple-monitor-madness-gtx-titan-gtx-680-and-radeon-7970-go-head-to-head-at-5760x1080
I'm looking for a little help to steer me in the right direction. I'm planning to upgrade the graphics card in my system and add two more monitors. Where can I go to find out which graphics cards are compatible with my system? Is there a website out there where I can research this?
System incudes:
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500
1 x XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066
I just ordered one Asus VE258Q and plan to get two more later this year or early next.
Any help is always appreciated.
Thanks!
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KOOL, is that a name brand computer? I mean a dell, gateway etc or one that you build yourself? reason I ask is if you build it yourself you can upgrade your mobo/ram/cpu and keep everything else. if it is a name brand then most likely the only thing you can reuse is your hd and cd rom and maybe your copy of windows.
If I was you I would order the video card and see how it plays with what you have. I had an e8400 cpu oc like crazy and was able to play the game at full settings with shadows at 2048 using an evga 465 video card. the e8500 is a very good processor and not as low end as they make it sound. just make sure the card will fit in your case.
but to make sure post more info about your system specially who build it :salute.
semp
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I built it. Here's what I bought what seems like yesterday but turns out it was over 3-1/2 years ago. :eek:
http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,279829.0.html
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kool I would try the video card and oc that system as much as I could. then upgrade mono/cpu later if needed.
semp
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What vid card would be best suited for my current setup?
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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
He's going for triple monitor Bizman.
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what gpu would you guys recommend for an upgrade from sli evga 465's? I got a 2500k.
semp
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He's going for triple monitor Bizman.
Shucks! That slipped my eye...
Well, then, let's say it might be playable, because my old HD 3870 could run this 30" monitor quite well with better than default settings. The amount of pixels in 2560x1600 is about 2/3 of a Full-HD triplet. And a 5770 with 1 GB should be a better performer than a 3870 with 512 MB.
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Shucks! That slipped my eye...
Well, then, let's say it might be playable, because my old HD 3870 could run this 30" monitor quite well with better than default settings. The amount of pixels in 2560x1600 is about 2/3 of a Full-HD triplet. And a 5770 with 1 GB should be a better performer than a 3870 with 512 MB.
Yep which is why I said that AH2 may be playable but for any recent AAA titles with advanced graphics his CPU is going to become a bottleneck most likely. When I migrated my 7850 card to my E8500 rig which was also overclocked to 4Ghz I noticed that the Radeon 7850 I installed to the box didn't achieve even close to the same sort of performance I saw earlyer in an i5 3570k box. So clearly the card was CPU limited.
This is why I suspect that the E8500 is going to choke the system if he upgrades the graphics and goes triple screen.
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I use this rig mainly for playing AH, which is about 99% of the time and the remaining 1% on WOT for a quick game. RL currently keeps me busy so at most I'm only gaming on this rig about 5 hours a month, which is a far cry from the 40 hours a month I used to play AH (yes I miss it but my priorities are in order). In about 6 years my kids will be off to college and my free time to play AH on a kickass rig should increase, that is provided I have enough funds to afford it after paying off tuition. :cry Therefore a major MB/CPU/RAM/GPU/TRIP-Monitor upgrade now doesn't make sense to me because my ROI would be very low. Instead I intend to leap frog my upgrades over the next several years. My plan is to first get a new GPU so I move toward a triple monitor rig. In about 3-6 months get two additional VE258Q monitors. In about a year upgrade the MB/CPU/RAM. Then a year or two later rinse and repeat. Knowing a bit more on my train of thought does this make sense? If so what is the best GPU that I can put into my current rig that will really fly next year when I upgrade the MB/CPU/RAM? My budget for the GPU is $300-400.
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1st choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784)
2nd choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632)
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1st choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784)
2nd choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632 (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?
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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.
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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
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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 (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,340863.0.html), but clear sailing now on the Z87 mobo, and mildly overclocked to 925 MHz.
YMMV, as always. ;)
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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 :cry
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1st choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130784)
2nd choice... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632 (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 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008). 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). :)
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Not sure how much savings matters to Kool, but another option to the 7970 would be the Sapphire Dual-X 7970 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008). 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... :D just got a 4870 replaced under warranty after 4 years...
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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.
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Not sure how much savings matters to Kool, but another option to the 7970 would be the Sapphire Dual-X 7970 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008). 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.
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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 (http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/Xcelsior1701/Computer/Internal/IMG_20130828_200553.jpg~original) it is blocking my black PCI-E which is my third PCI slot and it is using 2x 8-pin power connectors.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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There's an XFX & Sapphire review on Overclocker's club, http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_sapphire_hd7770/13.htm (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.
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No worries, im lot a lingual genius either :)
Got your point, thanks for your answer. :salute
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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.
The quick 3DMark test I ran was using my own Sapphire 7970 clocked at the default XFX speeds (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150632) vs default Sapphire speeds (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202008) (before 'Boost clock'); I own no XFX card to compare them at identical clocks. The listed XFX just has a higher default clock speed, though Sapphire comes close on the linked card if 'Boost Clock' kicks in. I never used Boost so I have no idea how well that works (if it's anything like AMD Turbo it sucks) so I just went off stock speeds.
Using the Boost Clock speeds for Sapphire though;
Graphics Score (Points) 3524.0 (+157)
Graphics Test 1 (FPS) 17.8 (+0.8)
Graphics Test 2 (FPS) 13.4 (+1.2)
Combined Test (FPS) 7.46 (+0.36)
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Flipen heck!
Debrody being nice to someone :O