Upgrading Rig Video cards 390x or nvidia 980 GTX dilema/s

[Kamba90]

Hi i curently have a almost 3 year old rig it sounds like this :

AMD FX 8350 CPU
16 GB DDR3
AMD 7950 HD Saphire GPU 3GB on 386 Bits
256 GB SSD Kingston V300
1 TB HDD Storage Blue Caviar
ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 Motherboard
4x Colling Fans / Few leds on the hood (explain down)

I have read a thousand replies , but still i don't know why i don't feel the answer coming to me ....

The main issue for me is that i have a 550W power source (90%) , wich till now has worked perfectly with everything a average calculator gives me around 300 W consumption.

Now it's clear for me that if i would buy the 390x i would have to change this , another 150bucks for a good one (converted in my country).
But if i would buy the 980 GTX , the power source should handle it with no problems.

However my dilema gets more deep here.

1. Would my curent FX-8350 handle the 980 GTX ? I mean i know it will bottleneck it , but ... significantly?
From what i know AMD newer CPU have a huge power consuption and you need a 100 USD cooler to keep them under control and AIR is the best i found for my friend NOCTUA NH D15 i used for my friends AMD 9590 , it's strong but it's a monster.

2. My motherboard obviously doesen't support the 980 GTX , so i would need one , any tips?

3. The price of the new motherboard would basicly be close to the new power source price , but this would be a upgrade i guess because i can buy one that supports DDR4 (for future upgrades) .... so again recomendations? Could someone explain DDR4 over DDR3? , honestly i never got this thng figured , how many times faster are they?

I'm trying to save as much money as i can and i want to upgrade it for the future also , so i would apreciate any help , any issues that i haven't tought of ...

Thanks

 

[Kamba90]

I would also apreciate if you guys know any sites that accept Paypal and send worldwide , at good prices aswell. The VAT in my country sucks 🙁 .

 

[Martell1977]

You are comparing the 390X to the 980, is the price the reason you are not looking at the Fury(non-X), as that is the card that goes toe-to-toe with the 980.

1) You will probably get a little bottlenecking, but a fair OC might solve that. The AMD 9XXX series isn't worth it, they are just heavily OC'd 8350s.

2) Your motherboard is compatible with any GPU on the market, it's just that, if you want to run 2 or more GPU's in crossfire or SLI...SLI isn't supported.

3) No need for a new motherboard unless you want to run 2 nVidia GPU's. DDR4 is the latest and greatest in RAM tech, your CPU is not compatible with it. Only Intel has CPU's compatible right now. AMD's next CPU lineup will be on the AM4 socket and will support DDR4. DDR4 clocks higher than DDR3 and will become the new standard, just as DDR3 replaced DDR2.

Also, try Newegg or Amazon, they both ship to several countries worldwide, just check their site to see if your's is on the list.

 

[migronesien]

1. A 980 won't be bottlenecket by your 8350 so don't worry.

2. You motherboard does support ANY GPU on the planet, since you got a PCI slot. 😛

So i'd just pick up a 980, put it in and have fun.

 

[Kamba90]

Wow , you explained almost everything to me 😀

I didn't compare the 980 with fury because i know that is a beast in power consumption so it would be pointless.

The M Series of 980 (notebooks) have a 8GB version , can i find that for normal cards aswell?

Could you recommend me a specific model (980 GTX)? This is very tricky for me ... i don't understand the diference of price between them , just brand / commercial or is there any diference ?

No newegg and amazon , bloody romania 🙁( , this still remains a question

PS , i would have a great price on 980TI , but ... huge power consuption also ...

 

[Martell1977]

I know you can't use Newegg, but here is an example of one that should work for you:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487079&cm_re=980_gtx-_-14-487-079-_-Product

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with retailers in Romania, maybe having the model from the listing above will help.

Amazon ships to Romania via this site:
http://www.amazon.com/International-Shipping/b?ie=UTF8&node=230659011&tag=yah-glob-20
Hope they have what you are looking for.

 

[Kamba90]

With the risk of being declared annoying , i have a very good price on a GTX 980 TI , is the diference between 980 and 980 TI huge? and the 980 TI would definetly require a bettwer power source right?

I am actually playing like 4 dollars more on the 980 rather on the 980 TI , but i'd hate to buy it and look it , and not be able to use it for a month till i buy the propper power source )

 

[Martell1977]

With the risk of being declared annoying , i have a very good price on a GTX 980 TI , is the diference between 980 and 980 TI huge? and the 980 TI would definetly require a bettwer power source right?

I am actually playing like 4 dollars more on the 980 rather on the 980 TI , but i'd hate to buy it and look it , and not be able to use it for a month till i buy the propper power source )

The 980ti is a good amount faster, I don't remember the exact amount, but it is the top end. I believe the minimum PSU for the 980ti's is a 650w, but different models recommend different supplies. I recommend sticking with EVGA or ASUS for nVidia GPUs (they tend to have the best quality), so I would check the model you are looking at for what is recommended. You can get away with the recommendation being close, but the odds are you would be pushing your current PSU hard when the GPU hits full load.

 

[Kamba90]

this is what i found http://www.fanplace.ro/placi-video/evga/85721-vga-evga-gtx980ti-6gb-ftw-acx-2-0/?ref=pricero&utm_source=price-ro&utm_medium=pricegrabbers&utm_campaign=Placi+video&utm_content=EVGA&utm_term=GeForce+GTX+980+Ti+FTW+Gaming+ACX+2.0%2B%2C+6GB+GDDR5%2C+384-bit , sorry for the crappy language but you will understand by the name.

It's the same model you gave me only Ti . It's actually like 90 USD more expensive from the 980 version you have me ... wich is acceptable ... , is it worth it for the quality / longer life of it?

Yet i do have a question , i don't think EVGA has RMA for Romania , ASUS does , should that be obstacle? or this is not my problem but the retailer's ?



EDIT : Here is the real version if SC = Supercloacked http://www.cel.ro/placi-video/placa-video-evga-geforce-gtx-980-ti-scplus-acx-2.0plus-6gb-ddr5-384bit-l/?utm_source=price-ro

 

[Martell1977]

this is what i found http://www.fanplace.ro/placi-video/evga/85721-vga-evga-gtx980ti-6gb-ftw-acx-2-0/?ref=pricero&utm_source=price-ro&utm_medium=pricegrabbers&utm_campaign=Placi+video&utm_content=EVGA&utm_term=GeForce+GTX+980+Ti+FTW+Gaming+ACX+2.0%2B%2C+6GB+GDDR5%2C+384-bit , sorry for the crappy language but you will understand by the name.

It's the same model you gave me only Ti . It's actually like 90 USD more expensive from the 980 version you have me ... wich is acceptable ... , is it worth it for the quality / longer life of it?

Yet i do have a question , i don't think EVGA has RMA for Romania , ASUS does , should that be obstacle? or this is not my problem but the retailer's ?

That card has a max power draw of 275w, so when pushed hard, you might be running into trouble with your PSU. If you don't push it too hard until you can get a 650w or better PSU, then it should work. You should get more longevity from it as it has more VRAM and a more powerful GPU. As for "is it worth it", that's your decision to make, when you get to the high end, price/performance sucks. If you want to have it for a good amount of time without having performance issues, they yeah, it's probably worth it.

As for RMA, that might be an issue. The retailers usually allow RMA to them for a certain amount of time, Newegg, for example, has 90 days. (have to check the policy of your retailer). After that, you are on the manufacturers warranty. If EVGA doesn't offer an RMA, that would be a problem for me, it should be for the length of the warranty. I'd double check that, if EVGA doesn't allow RMA's for the term of the warranty, then get an ASUS.

 

[Kamba90]

this is what i found http://www.fanplace.ro/placi-video/evga/85721-vga-evga-gtx980ti-6gb-ftw-acx-2-0/?ref=pricero&utm_source=price-ro&utm_medium=pricegrabbers&utm_campaign=Placi+video&utm_content=EVGA&utm_term=GeForce+GTX+980+Ti+FTW+Gaming+ACX+2.0%2B%2C+6GB+GDDR5%2C+384-bit , sorry for the crappy language but you will understand by the name.

It's the same model you gave me only Ti . It's actually like 90 USD more expensive from the 980 version you have me ... wich is acceptable ... , is it worth it for the quality / longer life of it?

Yet i do have a question , i don't think EVGA has RMA for Romania , ASUS does , should that be obstacle? or this is not my problem but the retailer's ?

That card has a max power draw of 275w, so when pushed hard, you might be running into trouble with your PSU. If you don't push it too hard until you can get a 650w or better PSU, then it should work. You should get more longevity from it as it has more VRAM and a more powerful GPU. As for "is it worth it", that's your decision to make, when you get to the high end, price/performance sucks. If you want to have it for a good amount of time without having performance issues, they yeah, it's probably worth it.

As for RMA, that might be an issue. The retailers usually allow RMA to them for a certain amount of time, Newegg, for example, has 90 days. (have to check the policy of your retailer). After that, you are on the manufacturers warranty. If EVGA doesn't offer an RMA, that would be a problem for me, it should be for the length of the warranty. I'd double check that, if EVGA doesn't allow RMA's for the term of the warranty, then get an ASUS.

Here in romania , the retailer is obliged to give waranty 24 months for every electronic piece costing more than the equivalent of 10 EUR (11USD). They say waranty 24 months on the site there ... so it should be ok ...

Just called a friend he can lend me his old PSU 700W corsair (he bought a 850 one for his AMD rig ... ) ) until i buy one for myself , so i am guessing this is my card .

So i found my perfect card , now the only question remains : how much do i have to OC my CPU for it not to bottleneck ? does the no bottleneck still apply to this GPU the 980 ti also? I have to mention the CPU has never been touched in any OC way ...

 

[Martell1977]

So i found my perfect card , now the only question remains : how much do i have to OC my CPU for it not to bottleneck ? does the no bottleneck still apply to this GPU the 980 ti also? I have to mention the CPU has never been touched in any OC way ...

I'd say to put everything together and see where you are at. If you notice an issue, then check your CPU usage during the times you have a problem. At that point you can explore overclocking, no need to mess with the thing if you don't have any issue.

Note: When you change GPU's, you will want to follow these steps to avoid driver issues:
Download the latest driver from nVidia and DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller)
Uninstall the Catalyst/Crimson package and driver
Run DDU and reboot as necessary
Next power down the computer and swap out the GPU
Boot into Windows and install the new driver

Running DDU is especially important when changing from AMD to nVidia or vice-versa as the standard uninstall could leave parts of the driver behind and cause performance or stability issues.