First Computer build need Graphics card advice...

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Tin88

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Im working on a custom build that will be setup for overclocking and I need advice on a graphics card/s. Im working with about a $300 budget, $400 max for graphics cards. I will be using it for movies, gaming and HDMI out etc. The HDMI out will also be used to display on my 42" Panasonic Plasma tv. I've been considering Nvidia because I would like to upgrade to 3D later down the road when prices drop. Either a higher end Nvidia GPU or midrange SLI setup. The setup i wanna go with so far is:

Intel Core i5 2500k
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO LGA 1155 Z68 Mobo.
8 Gb DDR3 1600 Ram
23" 1080p Monitor 1920x1080 reso.
Power Supply Recommendations? 750w? or more?

Win 7 and Hackintosh

Any advice for my build please lemme know thanks...
 
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Onus

Onus

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Check benchmarks of the [types of] games you will be playing. Since you'd like to use 3D, I doubt you'll want anything less than a GTX560Ti, but a single one may be sufficient, and fits within your budget. You could add a second one for SLI later. They will require a quality 650W PSU. If you get a GTX580 and might add a second in SLI, you'll want 850W.
 
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pacioli

pacioli

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The only thing in your budget is the GTX 570 which run between $320 and $350. I recommend the EVGA brand because of the lifetime warranties on cards with the -AR suffix. SLI options in your budget are limited to a pair of GTX 460s. This will be faster than even the GTX 580. You can also get the EVGA GTX 460 2win for $350 or pay $20 more for the lifetime warranty version. This way you get SLI speed and only need 1 slot.
 
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Twoboxer

Twoboxer

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Assuming you are gaming at 1920, anything 560-580 would be fine. For reference, see this article:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-4.html

As for power, 560-580 and 560SLI require no more than 550W from the wall, or less than 500W from the psu. A 750W psu is fine incl OCing, 650W is probably also OK but closer to fully utilized under max loads. As always, a quality PSU (eg Corsair, Seasonic, most Antecs, etc)

This chart from Anand's Bench compares a single 560ti to a 580 in a variety of situations at 1920 resolution - power and noise levels are also shown:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=305

You could go with a 560ti and add a second one if/when gaming fps is insufficient.
 
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Onus

Onus

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One reason I'd recommend the 650W PSU for SLI (even if only 500W-550W is "needed") is because you probably won't find four PCIE power connectors until you get up into that range. Yes, adapters can be used, but they aren't always a good idea, if only for the difficulty they add to neat cable management. More seriously, they are another point of failure, and you may still need to be careful about overloading a +12V rail.
 
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ilysaml

ilysaml

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well, we can say now AMD adopt HD3D features and we can see that achieved in the Dues EX HR to be the first game supporting HD3D this means most of the upcoming games will have both profiles for AMD and nVidia to support 3D.
if you will be gaming @ 1080P so you need to play any DX11 game with avg fps of 60 so i suggest HD 6970 / GTX 570/580 and if you're considering SLI i can say AMD has beter scaling for Crossfire setups and this would improve the performance than nVidia SLI
 
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pacioli

pacioli

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Overclocked cards sometimes go through a binning process where the chips that can handle higher OCs are put into OCed cards. Sometimes the manufacturers don't bin their chips at all... It is sort of luck of the draw. However if the OC comes from the factory it is guarnteed to run at that speed.
 
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pacioli

pacioli

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AMD hasn't figured out how to make each card create an image at equal intervals. Even though the crossfire setups have higher frames per second they look only slightly better than a single card due to microstuttering. Nvidia SLI setups also microstutter but not at a level that can be detected by the human eye.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-stutter-crossfire,2995-3.html
 
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Tin88

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Its the next big game im gonna be playing that and Modern Warefare 3...and based on what the benchmarks show the SLI isnt a huge improvement over the TI, would I be better of getting the 570 vs 560ti SLI?
 
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ilysaml

ilysaml

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two are always better than one!, the scaling of nvidia's 560ti will give you more FPS better than a single GPU but be noted that AMD scaling in HD 6K series are better than nVidia's SLI scaling. And be noted that drivers sometimes are an issue of Crossfire / SLI setups and sometimes lead to drop in FPS that's why i prefer a single dual GPU for the optimum performance
 
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Twoboxer

Twoboxer

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It's unlikely anyone can tell you what the bind point will be for any unreleased game. That's why stuff is benchmarked. Below is a comparison of the 560TI and the 570.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/330?vs=306

Look at the 1920x1200 benchmarks and remember that you are running at a lower resolution (1080). Look also at the heat and noise comparisons, and the price differences. Then decide if the 570 is worth it.

If you decide to go with the 560TI, it will be cheaper to add a second 560 (vs a second 570) 2 years from now when there may be a NUMBER of games that force you to lower the eye candy to get playable frame rates. Or there may not.
 
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Tin88

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Im stuck between GTX 560 ti and GTX 570... little help please....

i have a link for a comparison of a few different 560 ti's...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20560%20ti&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-127-594^14-127-594-TS%2C14-125-363^14-125-363-TS%2C14-130-651^14-130-651-TS%2C14-127-565^14-127-565-TS%2C14-130-610^14-130-610-TS

Also the Comparsion for different 570's...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000048&IsNodeId=1&Description=gtx%20570&bop=And&CompareItemList=48|14-127-582^14-127-582-TS%2C14-125-382^14-125-382-TS%2C14-130-620^14-130-620-TS%2C14-130-595^14-130-595-TS

What do i want to look for when comparing the cards? Besides memory clock, also core clock or shader clock? Thanks again
 
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pacioli

pacioli

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The 560 ti is a great card. I run most games with maxed settings and get 60 FPS or better. The 570 is faster than the 560 ti and quite a bit more expensive.

I usually get EVGA cards that are factory overclocked. EVGA cards with the -AR suffix have a lifetime warranty and EVGA is easy to deal with if you have a problem.
 
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ilysaml

ilysaml

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sometimes factory overclocked cards have a little issue with some specific games like Crysis 2, you need to downclock the core and memory clocks in order to play fine, 560ti is on par with the HD 6950 but they are not the same the HD 6950 is a little bit more efficient, 570 is faster and better and cheaper than HD 6970
 
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tweek877

tweek877

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Ah ha!
I have been in a similar situation to you and have only just finished my build.
I would personally recommend a HD5770 card if you are looking for a good budget card (£110) I can run 90% of games at maximum with no fps lag
 
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Tin88

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Id go for like $450 max which would get me two 560 ti's after rebates....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pNOxynC1Dc&feature=relmfu

After watching that im starting to second guess my decision...

Would i b better off with the 570 or SLI 560 ti based on the BF3 videos...?
 
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