Ra_V_en :
dbrook007 :
Ra_V_en :
Are you able to tell us the brand and model of the PSU you have already?
With £150 GBP you can get GTX750 /TI, GTX 960, R9 270/X, R9 280, R9 285, R7 370... so if its quality PSU you can get any of those.
Why do you really care about Aero score... its meaningless? Are you actually playing any games which are not running well, if so which titles?
This is the current PSU -
http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/power-supplies/discontinued-products/tesla-650w-80-plus
No it's to do with a problem I'm having with Steinberg Cubase 8 Pro. They use Aero for the GUI, and the GPU to offload processing in version 8.
In that case i must partially agree with above answer, i wouldn't go for anything more than GTX 750 and in fact that probably would be an overkill only for your needs. If you are not gaming thats really waste of cash, you could probably invest in something else.
https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cubase/specs_downloads.html
Those requirements are nothing special even that Radeon or HD 4600 should be enough, I'm surprised you have any issues with those. Maybe its not the card itself, maybe its some drivers incompatibilities or something else?
Can you describe the behavior of this software that is considered a flaw for you?
It's an issue that a lot of Cubase users are having. The engine in Cubase changed between v7.5 and v8. v7.5 performs much better on the same PC. However, v8 runs into problems after just a handful of VSTi instances, VST effects, inserts, sends and FX channels.
The engine in v8 uses Aero though. Cubase 8 will not run without Windows Aero enabled. C8 uses this for the GUI and also offloads processing via its AsioGuard technology to the GPU.
When I had the ATI 6450, the performance in C8 was even worse. I noticed that the Windows Aero score in Windows 7 was very low with that card, around 4.3.
I know it's not a good meter or a reliable measure, but as C8 uses Aero, what else outside C8 can I use as a guide?
When I switched back to the onboard Intel 4600 HD, the performance in C8 was a bit better and the Windows Aero score had notably risen to 6.2.
However, the problem with the onboard Intel 4600HD is that it has no dedicated physical RAM and is making use of the CPU and system RAM. So, if C8 is trying to offload processing from the CPU to the GPU, it's not going to be doing that as effectively as it would on a dedicated card.
Some Cubase users have seen improvements from moving to a better graphics card... it might not make any difference, but I am at the point now where I am willing to just try it!
Other Cubase users have seen improvements by simply migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 8.1 with no hardware changes to their PCs
It's like a minefield and I've been bogged down by this rather than being able to get on with the work and music