Thread: Computer advice: GPU

Ive nearly finished my gaming build. Got the 8core 3.6ghz amd cpu, hyper 212 cpu cooler, 1tb hdd, lg blu ray drive, 650w psu, 2 21" lcds, 5.1 surround sound speakers, and some other razer hardware. all i need now is a gpu. i have approx. $800 to spend on one. its the final peice to my build.
i was intending to get the http://www.computerlounge.co.nz/comp...p?partid=16274
but if anybody has any views or another option or alternatives to get, it would be greatly appreciated. it is for a pretty heavy gamer. cooling should not be an issue as ive got 4 fans running inside the case.
cheers

Not trying to be deliberately negative here but IMO you've spent some of your monies in some weird places in the above build.

But $800 for a GPU? You're in 7950 territory and close to 7970 prices depending on where you look. Better to wait if you can for the competition to bring its new range out and drop prices. But if you must gets one ASAP they're the cards to buy... for now.

What sort of HDD is it? What memory?

Plus what motherboard did you get? I agree with waiting for Nvidia's Kepler range to come out first before deciding. But if you must get one now then the 7950 is definitely worth getting.

Sell the bluray drive, one monitor, and 5.1 channel set. Get some good headphones, a basic DVD drive, and a solid state drive for your OS and game installations.

I would've gone for more power too, I prefer to over spec in that area as I find a lot of crashes are due to poor power delivery. Have run an 850w silverstone supply in my case for about 4 years now with no lock-ups or random restarts! It always pays to overspec PSU. Particularly if you're a fan of nvidia GPU's, like me. My second build was quite conservative really, quad core i5 second gen, 8gb 1600-ddr3 ram, geforce gtx 550 1 gb ddr5, with a 2tb WD sata 2 hdd. Silverstone PSU and case were the only things I didn't change!

Should of gone with the 8120 instead of the 8150. Both overclock around the same amount.
The hyper 212 will have a bit of trouble keeping the CPU cool at full loads like prime even at stock speeds. Should of at least gone for a water cooler kit like the Antec 620 with a extra fan for push/pull.
You didnt mention your motherboard. This is really important with the FX 8 core chips. Anything less then 8+1 will end up blowing out and also a lot of them suffer from poor bios support.

For GPU go for a 6970 or a 7970. The 7950 is just too expensive for what performance it delivers.
PSU should be fine if its a good brand.
Im only running a 620W on my 8120 overclocked to 5ghz with two 6850s in cross fire overclocked to 1010/1150.

Originally Posted by civiconfire

I would've gone for more power too, I prefer to over spec in that area as I find a lot of crashes are due to poor power delivery. Have run an 850w silverstone supply in my case for about 4 years now with no lock-ups or random restarts! It always pays to overspec PSU. Particularly if you're a fan of nvidia GPU's, like me. My second build was quite conservative really, quad core i5 second gen, 8gb 1600-ddr3 ram, geforce gtx 550 1 gb ddr5, with a 2tb WD sata 2 hdd. Silverstone PSU and case were the only things I didn't change!

I agree on this. There's not a lot of juices in a 650W PSU. If you are going to spend some good money on the GPU then you will need to replace it for a more powerful unit anyway.

Originally Posted by Mech

Not sure what case you're running, but make sure you check the length of the GPU. I just got burned by Computer Lounge because I didn't check the card length before I purchased...

how did you get burned by them? dont you mean you burnt yourself?

I already had the surround sound setup and got it cheap. and i want the blu ray drive for movies as i dont have a tv. i been reading up and the 7950 (oc) is not far behind the 7970, so i think i might just go with the 7950 model and save a couple hundred bucks.
my mobo is the GIGABYTE GA-990FXA
my hdd is the WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX.
i only got a 650w psu because it was really really cheap, but if i a more powerful one i dont mind buying it. it is a seasonic gold standard, but il just see the power consumption when its all together.

Seasonic 650W should be enough. Depending which model one it is it should really be a 700W but only rated at 650W to meet gold standards.
Also which GIGABYTE GA-990FXA. There is the UD3 which has problems with the 8120-8150 on all the current bioses the UD5 which has voltage problems with the 8120-8150 if its revision 1.0 on every bios (revision 1.1 and 1.2 fix those problems) and there is the UD7 which has no problems with the latest bios.

Originally Posted by bmgjet

Seasonic 650W should be enough. Depending which model one it is it should really be a 700W but only rated at 650W to meet gold standards.
Also which GIGABYTE GA-990FXA. There is the UD3 which has problems with the 8120-8150 on all the current bioses the UD5 which has voltage problems with the 8120-8150 if its revision 1.0 on every bios (revision 1.1 and 1.2 fix those problems) and there is the UD7 which has no problems with the latest bios.

better keep it in mind to upgrade bios asap then

still how is that burned by them? its in their conditions on their website, YOU failed to check if the card would fit YOUR case. they had nothing to do with any of it. its not like they supplied you with the wrong card is it.

other sites have the same policy's

You must've been an ass or something?

These are the same guys who replaced two of my dead HDD.. and I didn't even buy those from them..they were just being nice.

Originally Posted by Horny_Devil

still how is that burned by them? its in their conditions on their website, YOU failed to check if the card would fit YOUR case. they had nothing to do with any of it. its not like they supplied you with the wrong card is it.

other sites have the same policy's

Geez, ease up. I think you might be misinterpreting the phrase "burned".

Look, if you get burned by a candle, it's not the candles fault. But you still end up "burned". Similarly, if I bought the wrong card and had to pay to exchange it, I get "burned".

Make sense? It's not the same as being ripped off...

Originally Posted by zerone

You must've been an ass or something?

Didn't have a chance. Basically said "Damn, this card doesn't fit, can I exchange it for a better card and pay the difference?". They said, "Sure, you'll need to pay a 15% restocking fee though". End of story.

Perhaps you were lucky or talking to someone friendly?

i get it now that you have explained it, but you worded it poorly in the first few posts

finished the build. got the 7950. just waiting for my oem win7 to be delivered
thanks for the opinions and help

Great choice, don't forget to overclock it and post up what you end up with!

Originally Posted by MMJA

Great choice, don't forget to overclock it and post up what you end up with!

will do, just gonna run it in for a week or two just make sure i have no coolings issues.

Originally Posted by dorianbell23

will do, just gonna run it in for a week or two just make sure i have no coolings issues.

While it's stock it'll be a good idea to run a few loops of Heaven 2.5 Benchmark or 3DMark 11 graphics test 4. I would run it for 30mins-1 hour and just keep an eye on temperatures and artifacts. If you're all clear then you can start overclocking and it'll give you a baseline to see what to look for.