System upgrades

[khareefa]

I am looking to upgrade my system a little, so heres my current specs

Case : thermaltake versa v3

CPU: OC Phenom ll X4 965 3.7GHz

Motherboard: MSI 760GM-P34 FX

OC Sapphire 7770

Memory: Crucial BallistiX 8GB

OS: Windows 7 64bit

PSU : Corsair CX430

First off i want to upgrade my motherboard so i can have crossfire support because i want to add another 7770

then im pretty sure i will need a better psu but i am not sure what would be best, sorry if this is the wrong section i didnt know where to post

 

[maxinexus]

Why don't you sell your 7770 and get 7870-7950 problem solved.

 

[bigshootr8]

Your question works for the graphics and displays section.

I would say that where you could upgrade to two 7770's are better off purchasing a single card like a 7850/70.

I would suggest a 990FX chipset motherboard for multi graphic cards however.

boards like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130620
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514

And depending on what you do graphically maybe a xfx 550 watt would be a happy medium for two low/mid range cards

 

[khareefa]

i might sell the 7770, i still would like to upgrade to a crossfire ready board though

 

[khareefa]

Ok after looking at some cards, i found a GTX 660 for 210 and a 7870 for 230, which is the better card?

i play Call of duty, dirt, far cry, crysis etc

 

[Dappman]

What's your budget? I'm pretty sure the 660 is the better card but is limited in memory. I would get the 7870 and xfire down the road.

 

[swifty_morgan]

the toughest game listed is Crysis. The gtx660 will play it fine even with physx enabled.

 

[bigshootr8]

Does Crysis 3 use Physx I was unaware. I'm looking on nvidia's page and they don't list it as one of the games that uses it. The 7870 is the stronger card over the non ti 660. And you may want to look towards the Tahiti 7870 XT,LE, MYST cards.

 

[swifty_morgan]

this site has been wonky lately............. I thought it did support physx...???

 

[bigshootr8]

No it does not. It does not have Physx within the game. It may have Physx meaning things within the game reacting to being shot but not the gpu driven Physx no.

 

[maxinexus]

What's your budget? I'm pretty sure the 660 is the better card but is limited in memory. I would get the 7870 and xfire down the road.

What is this? You are "pretty sure" 660 is better card than 7870, I don't think so, but then miracle happens and you actually recommend the better card 7870.

 

[bigshootr8]

Was that really necessary though to go out there and insult his intelligence. Why not constructively disagree with the guy.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

What is this? You are "pretty sure" 660 is better card than 7870, I don't think so, but then miracle happens and you actually recommend the better card 7870.

the 660 and 7870 trade blows depending on game. If "the better card" gets slightly higher average fps over a wide range of titles then the 7870 does take a slim lead, for example bf3 the 66 is better

where as skyrim favors the 7870

i provided a couple samples from 2 sites as the results also depend on the site testing, where in the game they tested etc. So i would say read more than one review, and look at the games you play most, but if you went the 660 or the 7850 you would not be disappointed over your 7770. and i would not recommend crossfiring 2 low end cards like the 7770, for reasons such as stuttering, fps drops, poor crossfire support in some games, you will get a much more smooth gaming experience with a single better card. trust me, i came from 2 x crossfire 6850's and swapped them for a gtx 660 and the single 660 offers a much smoother playing experience. the 6850's perform similarly to your 7770.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

What is this? You are "pretty sure" 660 is better card than 7870, I don't think so, but then miracle happens and you actually recommend the better card 7870.

the 660 and 7870 trade blows depending on game. If "the better card" gets slightly higher average fps over a wide range of titles then the 7870 does take a slim lead, for example bf3 the 66 is better

where as skyrim favors the 7870

i provided a couple samples from 2 sites as the results also depend on the site testing, where in the game they tested etc. So i would say read more than one review, and look at the games you play most, but if you went the 660 or the 7850 you would not be disappointed over your 7770. and i would not recommend crossfiring 2 low end cards like the 7770, for reasons such as stuttering, fps drops, poor crossfire support in some games, you will get a much more smooth gaming experience with a single better card. trust me, i came from 2 x crossfire 6850's and swapped them for a gtx 660 and the single 660 offers a much smoother playing experience. the 6850's perform similarly to your 7770.