Will a GTX750ti work with an H55 mobo/cpu?

[brainstorn]

Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster etc etc. Very cool site - has helped me on many an occasion, but I finally have a couple of specific Q's that will just be easier to discuss, rather than (re)search...

I have an Asus P7H55-M/USB3, with an i5 750 2.67Ghz and some budget 2x 2GB 1600 ram. I chucked an ol' 5770 in there for graphics and have been using this machine for HTPC duties, but recently I've been craving to get into a few more recent games on the side. Nothing in particular, just whatever's the hotness right now. I missed the BF4 bandwagon, so maybe I'll give that a go...

At first I was thinking about upgrading the whole thing, because I assumed any new GPU wouldn't be compatible with this set up. But something I read seemed to suggest the card I'm looking at (GTX750ti) will work just as well on PCIE 2.0. A full upgrade would definitely be a financial strain and I have started wondering if its really worth it to just get another i5 with a few more megahertz.

So, if I put a GTX750ti in my existing setup will it work?

And if it will, what are my potential bottlenecks and how serious are they?

Thanks!

 

[BPTMatthew]

A 750ti should work well in your setup. The difference in performance between PCIE 2.0 and 3.0 at the moment is very negligable.

Your i5 should be fine for quite some time too, and it certainly isnt a bottleneck for the 750ti.

 

[rounakr94]

Yes they will work

 

[rhysiam]

That CPU is actually still pretty capable. Check out the latest Tom's CPU hierarchy here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

It's still listed in the third tier, which is perfectly respectable. If you've got yourself a 120/144Hz screen and want to push serious frame rates, it'll come up short, but for anything else it's still a capable CPU. You'd be throwing a lot of money at a new MB, CPU and OS for mediocre gains.

A GTX750Ti would certainly work. If you have the full 16 PCIe lanes, you can run any video card just fine. It only really matters if you want to run multiple GPUs. My issue with the 750ti is that you're paying for power efficiency rather than performance. There are better priced cards which perform better. If you have some dodgy OEM PSU, then the 750ti is probably your best choice. If you have a decent PSU though, or you're prepared to invest in a good one (which could then be re-used in a new rig should you decide you need one down the track), there are other cards which perform better.

 

[rhysiam]

I should say as well that the i5 750 has a reputation as a pretty decent overclocker. You'd need an aftermarket cooler (which could also (probably) be re-used if you upgraded in the not-so-distant future) and possibly better RAM. That'd give you a significant performance boost, and a very capable machine.

 

[brainstorn]

Wow guys, thanks for the rapid replies and positive feedback! I'm feeling much more at ease about going this direction.

Not much mention of ram - is 4gb of cheap ram not an issue here? Would there be noticeable benefit to either replacing the ram or adding another 2x 2gb?

@rhysiam This machine will still largely be my living room HTPC, so the efficiency will probably suit me quite well. Plus, I can't recall, but I'm pretty sure my PSU is an Antec 380W with 'Bronze' efficiency, so probably further reason to stick with the lower power GPU, so as to not fork out for marginal gains.

This whole idea grew out of seeing an HTPC using Steams new 10 foot interface with an xbox controller. So needless to say I won't be playing competitively, but I'd like to get the whole immersive experience and have access to the latest games.

 

[rhysiam]

Sure thing, if you want cool and quiet, and maximising FPS for your $$ is NOT your top priority, then the 750ti is perfect choice.

RE RAM, 4GB is fine IMHO as long as you're not trying to run multiple memory-hungry programs simultaneously. If you open 10 browser tabs and then try to start a game you might run into a bit of paging while memory is freed up, but given you're running to a TV, I'm guessing you'll mostly by running one things at a time. For that use-case, 4GB is fine.