[SOLVED] Upgrading a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti

[Ashenguar]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: As soon as possible. BUDGET RANGE:$250-$350

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, Civ 6, FF 14, Wow, but I want to look into newer games.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: NVIDIA Geforce GTX 560TI and Apevia ATX-CB700W

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: ASUS P8Z68-V Pro Gen3, Intel Core i7 2600k, 16GB DDR3

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I guess Newegg but I don't really have a preference. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: I was happy with my current card, it is just getting dated but anything that is compatible works for me.

OVERCLOCKING: No SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920 x 1080

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I had a friend build me current computer back in 2012 and it's still working fine I'm just looking to update my GPU. My main concerns are compatibility and it being reliable with my current setup. I've briefly looked at NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060s but I would love to hear opinions of more experienced individuals.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You need to get a MUCH higher quality power supply before you do anything in terms of a new graphics card. Apevia is HORRENDOUS quality, and are known to be dumpster fire bomb quality type units for the most part. Terribly cheap low quality power supplies regardless of any fireworks potential regardless.

Definitely on my list of "what NOT to buy". The fact that you've not had a serious problem with it so far means little, other than the fact that you've been very lucky. Then again, you may not have, because these type of cheap power supplies are well known for bombarding your motherboard and graphics card capacitors with high levels of ripple and out of spec voltage fluctuations so who knows what incremental damage may have been caused by that over the years. You should play the Lotto, since your luck seems to be in high effect. LOL.

Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware

Below you will find MY standard list of recommended power supplies and beyond that this thread is intended as a landing place for questions or discussions regarding specific units, platforms or related PSU tech, all of which are all welcome to be discussed here. If it's related to power supplies...

forums.tomshardware.com

What country are you in, so that recommendations for graphics cards or power supplies that are actually available to you can be offered if you need them?

 

[Ashenguar]

I can definitely upgrade my power supply as well. Thank you for the heads up. I am located in the United States. My budget range ($250-350) can still be just for the card. Whatever the power supply costs needs to happen.

 

[DSzymborski]

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XC ULTRA BLACK GAMING Video Card ($253.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply ($81.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $335.97
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-10-12 15:16 EDT-0400

Something along the lines of this will get you as far as you can on your old platform. Once the 1660 Ti starts to feel its age, it'll definitely be time for a platform upgrade. But those old Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge/Haswell i7s have stayed surprisingly competent and the hyperthreading has started to matter a bit.

Good attitude on the power supply! Too often people want to spend all their money on the fun part and ignore the less exciting safety part. I'll second DB's argument that Apevia's are one of the brands to stay far away from!

 

[Joakim Agren]

Ashenguar if you have the money just retire this system and buy a new system. This system is ready for retirement man! 😁 Not worth putting money into a system that in total is worth maybe $250. I have a very similar system as yours except I have the 2500K instead of 2600K and I was also thinking of upgrading just the GPU but then I felt like nahh it is time to build new since my current system is 8 years old and barely worth anything anymore so time to upgrade for that total feeling of new fresh performance. I am currently in the process of getting parts for a Ryzen 5 3600 system which I consider to be the 2500K system of today. You should really do the same I think especially now when RAM and SSD prices have come down and Black Friday will be up in less then 2 months, so probably some great deals to be had then. I am baffled that your system have managed to run on that garbage PSU for all these years, you must be as lucky as a lottery winner, did you play the lotto? 😂

 

[Darkbreeze]

It does not have to be a CHOICE between getting a new power supply and graphics card, or getting a new platform. Fortunately, these are two components that can be advanced forward into any new system, at ANY point he desires to do so, and since the platform itself is still at least moderately capable, with nearly identical single core performance as the Ryzen 5 2600 that was maybe the most popular budget choice for the last two years, it's probably a really good idea to do the power supply and graphics card first, platform second.

I think, for the price range and probable use case, the suggestion made above by Dszymborski is the best you are likely to get. The graphics card is an excellent choice, probably the best in terms of performance AND service after the sale since EVGA excels in that department, and the PSU is very high quality. Both great choices.

 

[Cioby]

Do not get a new system, you do not have the budget and your CPU is still decent. You will get a huge boost in performance from the card alone. I would only make one modification and go for a EVGA PSU instead. More reliable, more warranty. But also maybe get a 650W just to be sure in the future. They have a 10 year warranty so you may not have to change it for a while.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would only make one modification and go for a EVGA PSU instead.

This is a nonsense statement, for two reasons.

One, EVGA has plenty of garbage models, so just saying "go for a EVGA PSU" is like telling somebody who is about to walk across the Yukon in winter just to "buy some boots". Yeah, there's a bit more to it than that. Don't tell people to just "buy an EVGA PSU" unless you want to get slammed for making lousy recommendations here.

Number two. Aside from an a G2, P2 or T2 EVGA unit, there are arguably NOT any EVGA units that are better than that Seasonic Focus Plus that was recommended earlier, and certainly none that are less expensive, so again, it's a rather boneheaded recommendation.

I don't mean to pick on you, but you really open yourself up to worse than those two sticking points when you make comments like that that are clearly not well thought out.