A upgrade for Radeon HD 7770

[Dragonsbane11]

I am looking to upgrade my GC and wanted to get an opinion on what I can get away with. Its tax time so not a big budget concern, but I really dont want to upgrade my PSU if I dont have to. Below is what I am currently running.

AMD FX-8150 3.6GHZ
2TB SATA III 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB CACHE 3.5" HD
4GB CORSAIR VENGEANCE 1600MHZ DDR3
ASETEK 510LC 120MM WATERCOOLER
LG 24X DVDRW
ASUS M5A97 LE AMD970A AM3+ USB3 SATA 3 MB
CORSAIR 500 WATTS CX500 V2 80 PLUS POWER SUPPLY
AMD RADEON 7770 1GB DDR5 PCI-E 3.0

Any recommendations?

 

[twelve25]

500W corsair is enough to run a pretty high end graphics card. You could go 7970 no problem.

 

[Azn Cracker]

Yea I'd go for a 7950. Your psu is fine for it.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Ok I was just concerned that my cpu and the rest would be too power hungry, I also have about 3 case fans ......

 

[twelve25]

You might want a PSU upgrade if you went with a 7900 series and did a monster overclock on the 8150, but at stock speeds. A 7900 is going to take about 200W under full load and your CPU about 125W. So that's still only 2/3 your PSU output.

Fans, HDD, etc probably total another 50-75W. You'll be fine.

 

[lhbuild]

If you're not on a big budget take a look at the hd 7870, best price/performance. Also if you have the money buy another 4gb ram.

 

[blazorthon]

Alright, stop right there. That PSU has enough power delivery for a 7970, BUT, its caps are crap, so running it at the load that a 7970 would need can cause serious reliability issues. This is the issue with the V1 and V2 CX series PSUs. I recommend replacing it with either one of the V3 CX series models with sufficient power delivery (500W to 600W) or a different model such as an Antec Neo Eco 520W or an XFX 550W or some other such model with better reliability under heavy load, so there are good options around $45-65.

If you don't want to upgrade the PSU, then I suggest not going for something more power hungry than a Radeon 7870. Even that might be pushing your luck over a few months.

 

[lhbuild]

Alright, stop right there. That PSU has enough power delivery for a 7970, BUT, its caps are crap, so running it at the load that a 7970 would need can cause serious reliability issues. This is the issue with the V1 and V2 CX series PSUs. I recommend replacing it with either one of the V3 CX series models with sufficient power delivery (500W to 600W) or a different model such as an Antec Neo Eco 520W or an XFX 550W or some other such model with better reliability under heavy load, so there are good options around $45-65.

If you don't want to upgrade the PSU, then I suggest not going for something more power hungry than a Radeon 7870. Even that might be pushing your luck over a few months.

totally agree

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Alright, stop right there. That PSU has enough power delivery for a 7970, BUT, its caps are crap, so running it at the load that a 7970 would need can cause serious reliability issues. This is the issue with the V1 and V2 CX series PSUs. I recommend replacing it with either one of the V3 CX series models with sufficient power delivery (500W to 600W) or a different model such as an Antec Neo Eco 520W or an XFX 550W or some other such model with better reliability under heavy load, so there are good options around $45-65.

If you don't want to upgrade the PSU, then I suggest not going for something more power hungry than a Radeon 7870. Even that might be pushing your luck over a few months.

Bah that is was I was afraid of....I hate replacing PSUs...... I was hoping to go up with out needing to put a new PSU in.

 

[blazorthon]

Bah that is was I was afraid of....I hate replacing PSUs...... I was hoping to go up with out needing to put a new PSU in.

Well, a Radeon 7850 shouldn't be an issue and it's still a big upgrade fro ma Radeon 7770

If you want more than it, then a PSU upgrade would be a good idea.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Well, a Radeon 7850 shouldn't be an issue and it's still a big upgrade fro ma Radeon 7770

If you want more than it, then a PSU upgrade would be a good idea.

Ah ok, thanks....Sorry to ask but any specific one I should pick? Not sure what the best one would be.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Best answer selected by Dragonsbane11.

 

[blazorthon]

Ah ok, thanks....Sorry to ask but any specific one I should pick? Not sure what the best one would be.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-785DTV2&c=CJ

This is the best 7850 AFAIK. It has the highest GPU frequency overclock and a considerable memory overclock (and the full 2GB of RAM capacity unlike some of those 1GB models) along with what is supposedly the best cooler for manual overclocking on the 7850s. It's also not much more expensive than the cheapest 7850 2GB.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-785DTV2&c=CJ

This is the best 7850 AFAIK. It has the highest GPU frequency overclock and a considerable memory overclock (and the full 2GB of RAM capacity unlike some of those 1GB models) along with what is supposedly the best cooler for manual overclocking on the 7850s. It's also not much more expensive than the cheapest 7850 2GB.

Awesome! Any reason why it is OOS most places though? (Newegg, Amazon)

 

[blazorthon]

Maybe because people know how awesome it is Still, if you want a different recommendation, then I can find something. There are other nearly as good options.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Maybe because people know how awesome it is Still, if you want a different recommendation, then I can find something. There are other nearly as good options.

Oh I can wait, lol. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't out of production or anything, Ill grab it when its in stock again, im just not that familiar with Superbiiz. If its the best one Im sure it will be worth the wait.

Although it does show Discontinued on Neweggs site....

 

[blazorthon]

Maybe it is out of production if Newegg says it is discontinued. Superbiiz might be the only place to still get one except maybe Ebay. Would you like me to make a different recommendation?

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Maybe it is out of production if Newegg says it is discontinued. Superbiiz might be the only place to still get one except maybe Ebay. Would you like me to make a different recommendation?

If thats the best one then I shall bite on it, I see some good reviews about the site around here. Unless you think there is a better card for my situation.......

 

[blazorthon]

I don't think that there is. I could be wrong, although not often that does happen, but I don't think that I am here and either way, it's still among the best even if not the best.

 

[Dragonsbane11]

I don't think that there is. I could be wrong, although not often that does happen, but I don't think that I am here and either way, it's still among the best even if not the best.

I bit, I shall let you know how it works for me, Thanks for all the help!

 

[blazorthon]

Glad to help and good luck with your system

 

[Dragonsbane11]

Glad to help and good luck with your system

One last question for you though, when I eventually do replace the PSU (probably in the next 6-12 months), any suggestions?