GeForce GTX 950, 960 or 970?

mattolney

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Nov 29, 2015
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I have quite an old computer now (3 years at least) and I was wondering whether or not my motherboard would be able to even run the graphics cards?

How do I view which motherboard I have?

Also, I was reading a bit and do I even need to get a whole new graphics card? Can I just add the 950 to my GeForce GTX 650?

Sorry, I'm pretty uneducated about computers.

Thanks! Matt

 
Motherboard
Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Model H61MA-D2V (Intel Core i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10GHz)
Version To be filled by O.E.M.
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model Ivy Bridge
Chipset Revision 09
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model H61
Southbridge Revision B3
System Temperature 28 °C
BIOS
Brand American Megatrends Inc.
Version F5c
Date 02/05/2012
Voltage
CPU CORE 1.068 V
MEMORY CONTROLLER 2.220 V
+3.3V 2.940 V
+5V 4.939 V
+12V 8.880 V
-12V (4.224) V
-5V (6.000) V
+5V HIGH THRESHOLD 2.822 V
CMOS BATTERY 1.632 V
PCI Data
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation J6B2
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 0
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J6B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 1
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x8
Slot Designation J6D1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 2
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x16
Slot Designation J7B1
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 3
Slot PCI-E
Slot Type PCI-E
Slot Usage In Use
Data lanes x1
Slot Designation J8B4
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 4
Slot PCI
Slot Type PCI
Slot Usage In Use
Bus Width 32 bit
Slot Designation J8B3
Characteristics 3.3V, Shared, PME
Slot Number 5
 


Cheers man!

Also, after looking at prices what gives for the massive price difference between brands? £225 for the Zotac GTX GeForce 970 and £250 for the Gigabyte? Is there really a difference?
 
That motherboard should work fine. Since you only have one PCI-e slot, you'll have to take the old card out first, then put the new card in the same slot. If you've been using a GTX 650, any of those cards should work. But just to be sure, you might want to list your power supply, just to make sure you have enough power connections and enough power to drive the card. Also, if you are still satisfied with your performance, you might consider waiting to see how Pascal and Arctic Islands turn out.
 


How do I check my power supply?

Also what is Pascal and Arctic Islands? (Sorry!)
 
Pull your side panel off & tell us the PSU model - or take a pic & post it.

Regarding 970 models , in all honesty there isn't a bad one.
The prices are based on manufacturer, factory oc, & the cooling system.
Some cards will run cooler/quieter - performance wise you won't see much of a difference between models really.
The zotac twin fan is decent enough for the money.
 


Thank you for this. My psu is a corsair gs600 model: 75001181
 
Certain companies charge a price premium, often based on reputation or features. Gigabyte has been around for awhile and developed a following. Zotac is something of the new kid on the block trying to make a name. I haven't seen any complaints about build quality with Zotac, indeed their AMP series has been widely praised. Asus and Gigabyte cards are often more aesthetically pleasing and sometimes include proprietary software, but you often pay more for that. Those cards with unusual cooling often cost more, and they can keep your card cooler, quieter, or allow greater overclocking.

Check the clockspeeds for each card and make sure the card you choose fits in your case and power supply. If overclocking matters to you, check out some of the special editions. But for many people, a cheaper card near reference specs is fine.

Pascal and Arctic Islands are respectively, nVidia's and AMD's 2016 new graphics card lines. This generation will see a die shrink to 16nm from 28nm which should allow more efficient and stronger cards. HBM, a new 3D memory standard, should be available on higher tier cards.
 
That looks okay, but I can't see how many pins there are on the PCI-e cable. Most 970s require one 8 pin plug and one 6 pin plug. The 650 usually only needs one 6 pin plug.

Edit: I just found a review stating that the GS 600 has 2 PCI-e cables, both with 6+2 connectors. That should work, but you may have to dig the other cable out from where it's hiding.