# I want to buy a new GPU



## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Hi everyone!
As the title says, I want to buy a new GPU. The reason is mostly because mine is malfunctioning, freezing and BSODing for at least 2 years now. I've had it for 5-6, it's a ATI Radeon HD4870 which I bought for 240 euros back then. 
From the little research I've done I've found that to buy a better card I need to spend at least as much, which is something I'd like you people to confirm.
I also worry that I'll probably need to buy a new motherboard and CPU, which I changed 2 years ago, because my previous motherboard died. I have a MSI MS-7636 and a Intel pentium R dual core @2.80 GHz. 
So, please leave your comments and suggestions :kitteh:


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## snowbell (Apr 2, 2012)

Where are you located? (country is fine). If you can provide some stores you can purchase from that would help. Secondly, (more importantly actually) what's the budget? The 4870 was a high-end card back in its day - are you looking to do the same thing (go high end) or do you just want the same performance for less? Performance has (understandably) grown by leaps and bounds in that time so you should be able to get a real whippersnapper for cheap depending on what you get. Also, do you mind buying a used card, or not, and what do you use the card for? Finally, how long do you intend to keep it, and do you have any preferences (brand, performance bracket, cooler type, etc)?

Feel free to PM if you need additional help :happy:.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

I think the most important question here is what you want to use your computer for. Your computer is notably not particularly powerful by today's standards and chances are that if you want to buy a card of the same quality compared to today, you might need to update your entire computer. Another thing to consider here is the power between GPU and CPU ratio. If you have a strong GPU but not the CPU to support it, then it doesn't matter as the CPU will bottleneck your system and vice versa. 

I would at least consider the value of upgrading to a decent quadcore since that is becoming the benchmark standard unless you mostly use your computer for work i.e. Word, surfing the web, watching videos etc. Even then, you might find that your computer might be quite taxed if watching HD videos at a particularly high quality. 

Regarding power, another thing that is relevant to consider is the PSU, especially if you haven't changed it. Today GPUs require much more power and if the PSU is old, it means it will have reduced capacity to deliver simply because of age. Depending on the W, this may also have potential detrimental effects on your system and cause it to bottleneck.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

snowbell said:


> Where are you located? (country is fine). If you can provide some stores you can purchase from that would help. Secondly, (more importantly actually) what's the budget? The 4870 was a high-end card back in its day - are you looking to do the same thing (go high end) or do you just want the same performance for less? Performance has (understandably) grown by leaps and bounds in that time so you should be able to get a real whippersnapper for cheap depending on what you get. Also, do you mind buying a used card, or not, and what do you use the card for? Finally, how long do you intend to keep it, and do you have any preferences (brand, performance bracket, cooler type, etc)?
> 
> Feel free to PM if you need additional help :happy:.


Thanks for your answer!
I live in Greece. I could provide you with online stores but I don't think you could use them because of the language. They pretty much sell anything though.
My budget? Probably around 250 euros-the most. I mostly need a card for video games, though I would be perfectly happy with what I have if it wasn't malfunctioning. I don't really have much problem with the current video game tech, I don't play most games at the highest settings of course, but I haven't found a game that I couldn't play with decent immersion due to graphics. I'd like to buy a card that will enable me to play current and future games for a least 5-6 years more, preferably at better performance than mine.
I'd prefer a new card, not used. 
I don't have any preferences for brands etc, and aren't really knowledgeable enough to judge about the other characteristics you mention.
My current gpu is at 1gb and I've seen some at 2gb close to the price I want, which is probably better :tongue:


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

ephemereality said:


> I think the most important question here is what you want to use your computer for. Your computer is notably not particularly powerful by today's standards and chances are that if you want to buy a card of the same quality compared to today, you might need to update your entire computer. Another thing to consider here is the power between GPU and CPU ratio. If you have a strong GPU but not the CPU to support it, then it doesn't matter as the CPU will bottleneck your system and vice versa.
> 
> I would at least consider the value of upgrading to a decent quadcore since that is becoming the benchmark standard unless you mostly use your computer for work i.e. Word, surfing the web, watching videos etc. Even then, you might find that your computer might be quite taxed if watching HD videos at a particularly high quality.
> 
> Regarding power, another thing that is relevant to consider is the PSU, especially if you haven't changed it. Today GPUs require much more power and if the PSU is old, it means it will have reduced capacity to deliver simply because of age. Depending on the W, this may also have potential detrimental effects on your system and cause it to bottleneck.


Thanks a lot for the information you provided. I do fear that I will have to change the rest if I want a better gpu, but I didn't know this about bottlenecking. My PSU is as old as my GPU, but it's 550Watt, which if I remember correctly, I was told that it was more than enough for my PC back then. But I guess, if I change all the cards it will probably need to change too.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> Thanks a lot for the information you provided. I do fear that I will have to change the rest if I want a better gpu, but I didn't know this about bottlenecking. My PSU is as old as my GPU, but it's 550Watt, which if I remember correctly, I was told that it was more than enough for my PC back then. But I guess, if I change all the cards it will probably need to change too.


More than enough back then yes, correct, though depending on its age it might operate as low as half of its actual potential now. Even a new PSU will not operate at full power unless it comes with a certificate where you are guaranteed a specific percentage of full operational power such as gold or bronze certificate. 

One thing I reacted over when I checked your motherboard is that it has only one PCi-E socket and it's a very small one. Do you know the size of your computer case? Do note that GPUs have also exponentially grown in size and you might also need to buy a new case in order to make it fit, would yours be particularly small, say mini-tower or mid-tower. 

I think you might actually in terms of price, assuming this is within your budget, be better off buying an entirely new computer that suits your needs. It seems you might need to replace several parts either way. While a 550W PSU that is new might work for your computer if you buy a GPU from the medium performance and price range, this assumes it is capable of operating at at least 400-500W during full load. Since you might need to also get a new CPU that is additional W stress right there, though the biggest consumer will always be the GPU. The most recent lines of GPUs assuming no SLI/crossfire will require around 650-700W during full load so depending on what you want to do with your computer, this is also something to consider.


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## William I am (May 20, 2011)

Red Panda said:


> Hi everyone!
> As the title says, I want to buy a new GPU. The reason is mostly because mine is malfunctioning, freezing and BSODing for at least 2 years now. I've had it for 5-6, it's a ATI Radeon HD4870 which I bought for 240 euros back then.
> From the little research I've done I've found that to buy a better card I need to spend at least as much, which is something I'd like you people to confirm.
> I also worry that I'll probably need to buy a new motherboard and CPU, which I changed 2 years ago, because my previous motherboard died. I have a MSI MS-7636 and a Intel pentium R dual core @2.80 GHz.
> So, please leave your comments and suggestions :kitteh:


You should really make sure that it's the GPU and not bad ram or unstable overclocking (on the GPU or CPU), that your power supply isn't failing, that your hard drive isn't failing, that the motherboard doesn't have bloated electrolytic capacitors.


The easiest test I guess would be replacing the card with another one (maybe swap with a friend for a week) and seeing if the fault follows the card.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

William I am said:


> You should really make sure that it's the GPU and not bad ram or unstable overclocking (on the GPU or CPU), that your power supply isn't failing, that your hard drive isn't failing, that the motherboard doesn't have bloated electrolytic capacitors.
> 
> 
> The easiest test I guess would be replacing the card with another one (maybe swap with a friend for a week) and seeing if the fault follows the card.


You are right, but I suspect that it's the GPU because it was problematic even before I changed motherboard (my previous one just stopped working). Also in the BSOD it says something about a file named ati-smth. The ram I also changed along with the motherboard and cpu. If my hard drive was failing shouldn't there be some errors before just freezing? 
Is it possible that my windows and drive need formatting? I haven't formatted in 6 years or so and was thinking of doing it before buying anything. 
Good luck convincing my boyfriend to switch  we're afraid that if the gpu is problematic it will cause other problems in his pc, is this possible?


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

ephemereality said:


> More than enough back then yes, correct, though depending on its age it might operate as low as half of its actual potential now. Even a new PSU will not operate at full power unless it comes with a certificate where you are guaranteed a specific percentage of full operational power such as gold or bronze certificate.
> 
> One thing I reacted over when I checked your motherboard is that it has only one PCi-E socket and it's a very small one. Do you know the size of your computer case? Do note that GPUs have also exponentially grown in size and you might also need to buy a new case in order to make it fit, would yours be particularly small, say mini-tower or mid-tower.
> 
> I think you might actually in terms of price, assuming this is within your budget, be better off buying an entirely new computer that suits your needs. It seems you might need to replace several parts either way. While a 550W PSU that is new might work for your computer if you buy a GPU from the medium performance and price range, this assumes it is capable of operating at at least 400-500W during full load. Since you might need to also get a new CPU that is additional W stress right there, though the biggest consumer will always be the GPU. The most recent lines of GPUs assuming no SLI/crossfire will require around 650-700W during full load so depending on what you want to do with your computer, this is also something to consider.


I think it's medium size. Definitely not as small as others I've seen. My GPU barely fits though, I had to put my hard drive in the lowest position to fit them, cause they didn't fit in the same level. 
I guess I'll wait a couple of years to buy a whole new PC, with new case and better cooling, cause it gets hot in summer. 
Can you recommend me some lower-but-close-to-mine performance GPUs that I could buy in case mine gets totaled?


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## snowbell (Apr 2, 2012)

Well the 280X is the "4870" of today but that's ~250 euros and as ephemereality suggested, you probably want to upgrade the rest of the PC to really make use of it. You could try an R9 270 (non-X) which should be cheaper, and not have very high power requirements (it only needs 1 6-pin PCI-E power cable). It's a lot faster than what you have, but bear in mind it's a "if my 4870 gets totalled" solution - it won't last you very long if you want to turn on loads of AA and such. I think I'd second the suggestion of getting a better computer as a whole.

Not sure on pricing for the 270 but here are a few reviews. 

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...r9-270-graphics-card-review-introduction.html

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5915/his-radeon-r9-270-iceq-x2-2gb-video-card-review/index.html

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_270_review,1.html

http://www.legitreviews.com/msi-rad...ire-dual-x-r9-270-oc-video-card-review_128803


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> I think it's medium size. Definitely not as small as others I've seen. My GPU barely fits though, I had to put my hard drive in the lowest position to fit them, cause they didn't fit in the same level.
> I guess I'll wait a couple of years to buy a whole new PC, with new case and better cooling, cause it gets hot in summer.
> Can you recommend me some lower-but-close-to-mine performance GPUs that I could buy in case mine gets totaled?


If you are planning to save off money to buy a new computer (and out of interest, are laptops and such entirely out of the question?) then I cannot answer that question as the market is going to look significantly different then as high end cards will be considered medium range depending on how long you wait. 

But yes, if you have issues placing your GPU into the case now, if you buy a new GPU of the current low-medium range, then it might actually not fit the case. Of course, the smaller the case is and the less air flow there is because it's also stuffed on the inside, the warmer it gets as well. What I could advise would be to try and see if you can bargain a second hand card as a cheap solution until you can afford to buy a new computer. You might be concerned to make sure it fits your case so ask the size of it. 

The problem when upgrading computers is of course that parts eventually start to falling behind each other as is the case here. You have a decent motherboard in terms of what it can support, but the CPU is quite bad, the PSU likely seems needed to be replaced as well in addition with the GPU. As it looks like, you might need to also replace the case since your new GPU will likely have issues fitting into it if you buy a new one that is of decent quality. In that case, the only thing you can keep is the HD, possible CD/DVD reader (though make sure that if you upgrade to a new motherboard that the cables fit because if you bought your CD/DVD 6 years ago, they might still be connected via PATA that is defunct today, happened to me as well), motherboard and RAM that are the cheapest parts to replace. Depending on how the market looks like when you decide to buy your new computer, you might need to replace these too simply because it has developed so much. 

But what I would recommend is try to get a second hand card for now to avoid additional costs or see if you can find something for sale. The Geforce 6000 series might be something to look into in terms of performance and price though I think you will find that your CPU will bottleneck a lot but depending on what you want to do, it might not matter much. Also remember that different applications require different types of system power. Modern games rely heavily on GPU, less so CPU, but older games such as World of Warcraft rely a lot on CPU etc. I assume you are interested to play some computer games since you seek a new GPU.


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## Empty (Sep 28, 2011)

GTX 760 might fit your needs.


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## Akuma (Dec 1, 2013)

Emptiness said:


> GTX 760 might fit your needs.


That, or GTX780 Titan, since she said it should last her 5-6 years of future games, and she wants everything on highest settings. But that'd blow her budget boundary. So I guess she'll have to upgrade in ~3 years again to keep up with games.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

I think my motherboard died again... it's now not even booting or anything. And it also beeped 1 and then beeped 5+ times, but that happened only one time, now it's not even beeping once and not sending any power to the keyboard or mouse. Should I have hope that if I clean it thoroughly with air it will work again?


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## Psychophant (Nov 29, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> I think my motherboard died again... it's now not even booting or anything. And it also beeped 1 and then beeped 5+ times, but that happened only one time, now it's not even beeping once and not sending any power to the keyboard or mouse. Should I have hope that if I clean it thoroughly with air it will work again?


I really doubt that's going to fix it. A quick google search of "five motherboard beeps" got me this 
"5 Short Beeps. 
Your motherboard is complaining. Try reseating the memory and rebooting. If that doesn't help, you should consider another motherboard. You could probably get away with just replacing the CPU, but that's not too cost-effective. Its just time to upgrade!"

Maybe it's time to buy or build a new computer.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

@Red Panda

*o.o I sincerely recommend buying a PS4............for gaming. The entire console costs as much as the videocard in a PC, buy a decent ultrabook instead of a desktop. If you haven't built a PC before or are not into this sort of thing then getting the console and the ultrabook is a better idea. Scrap your old pc.*

[HR][/HR]

*You will need to consider the following:* 

*the PSU*. I need you to check the brand, wattage and type of power supply you currently have. If you buy a new card and it consumes more power then your PSU can supply...then you'll break the PC and the card.

Your *processor* is old and it will bottleneck newer model videocards. High end model ones you can get for that ammount of money but :S idk if they will fit the PC case you have.

The motherboard is also in need of swapping, its old and basic too.

[HR][/HR]

If you are playing 1080p at most, then a *AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB* or the *Nvidia GeForce GTX 760* will run just about anything on ultra at this point. Keep in mind that these will require a quality bronze to silver rated 600 to 750W PSU. These videocards cost less then 300 euros. Brands you should consider: Saphire for amd or MSI, Gigabyte.

You will require a new motherboard either FM2+, AM3 or LGA 1155, LGA 1150 socket. Make sure its decent and read some revews. Gigabyte and Asus tend to make good quality boards. The board socket needs to be compatible with your processor. I recommend buying the AMD 8320 or 8350 8 core for AM3. For the 8350 CPU you will need a board with 8+2 (at least) voltage regulator modules or VRM. FM2+ is straighforward, but the socket suppoerts APUs (decent on CPU videocard). These are relatively inexpensive. For the intel boards I recommend the compatible i5 CPU. Its priced about the same as the 8350 from AMD and the performance is about the same as well, but it consumes less power. The 8350 has certain multithreadding advantages over the i5. In some games it kills the i5 (Battlefield and anything running the Frostbite 3 engine, which is optimized for 8 CPU cores).

Just slap in some 1600 mhz DDR3 4 to 8 Gb and you are done. Dual channel vs single channel DDR? Dual channel has a 2% performance gain over single channel...its not worth buying 2 sticks of 4 GB over 1 of 8 if you plan on adding more later on.

*EXAMPLE:*

*Corsair CS Series Modular CS750M *- 112 EURO more or less (if you have a good PSU then you don't need to buy one)
*AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz box* - 175 EURO more or less (XD I bought mine for 112 EURO)
*MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming Twin Frozr OC 2GB DDR5 256-bit *- 250 EURO more or less
*Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5* - 110 EURO more or less

*o.o the MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming Twin Frozr OC 2GB DDR5 will run ANYTHING at 1080p if you have a PSU that can suport it. With the UD5 motherboard you can SLI 2 of these later on and the machine will fly for 7 years (thou a bigger PSU would be nice in such a case).*


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'll definitely consider it when I'll plan to buy my next pc (hopefully soon)!!

I prefer PC gaming, consoles don't have as much variety as I like, especially when they are new like PS4.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Can you recommend me a good case not insanely expensive- around 50-60 euros?
INNOVATOR PC DESKTOP CONFIGURATOR - E-SHOP.GR
this is the best site for building PCs here as it has the most variety
the cases are the 1st


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

@FreeBeer , and anyone else
what do you think of this setting?

Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Snow edition 
CPU: intel core i5 4440 3.30GHz (LGA1150)
cpu cooling: coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo (does it even fit?)
motherboard: gigabyte GA B8 HD3 (1150)
RAM: corsair DDR3 1600MHz 8GB PC3 12800 ( i might buy a 4gb if my current RAM is working fine)
GPu: Gigabyte GTX760 2GB
PSU: Corsair cx750 80+ bronze (I don't think my 550 watt PSU of 6 years will do, but I wonder if I should go for 600-700 if possible)


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## Psychophant (Nov 29, 2013)

The case looks nice to me (certainly compared to the gaudy light-shows that a lot of case designers are selling). Also, it seems the general consensus among tech forums is that you want 600ish watts for a GTX 760 (or at least a decently new 550 watt PSU), so I'd definitely upgrade that. Overall, looks like a good build.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

Red Panda said:


> @FreeBeer , and anyone else
> what do you think of this setting?
> 
> Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Snow edition
> ...


*Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Snow edition * <== very good choice in case design. The wire management on this will be clean if done right and that will keep your components nice and cool. The top vents I really like. Overall awesome .

*CPU: intel core i5 4440 3.30GHz (LGA1150)* <== best price / performance for gaming in my opinion and in most people's opinion. Its also very energy efficient which gives you more power to spend on the GPU (a more important component).  love it!

*cpu cooling: coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo (does it even fit?)* <== the cooler is 158.5 mm and the case is 202 mm. it should fit and cool the I5 no problem. (double check to make sure thou)

*motherboard: gigabyte GA B8 HD3 (1150)* <=== seems like a solid motherboard and so far the weakest component in the build. It has only one PCI express slot for the video card. This means you will not be able to crossfire / sli 2 760 videocards unless you swap motherboards later on as well. The mobo should handle the CPU and the rest of the components no problem. As I said this piece is the weak spot in the build.

*RAM: corsair DDR3 1600MHz 8GB PC3 12800 ( i might buy a 4gb if my current RAM is working fine)* <== if you already have 4 gb DDR3 then by all means buy anothe 4 GB stick of THE SAME ram. o.o make sure its the same ram so it works in dual channel with your old ram. 1600 mhz ram is all the ram an i5 needs. Looks good.

*GPu: Gigabyte GTX760 2GB* Solid choice for GPU. The 760 will run anything on ultra . Also the triple fan gigabyte model is silent and very efficient at cooling. The dimensions of the card if I guessed the model correctly are:* L=295mm W=129mm H=43mm . Make sure the acrd fits into the case length wise.*

*PSU: Corsair cx750 80+ bronze (I don't think my 550 watt PSU of 6 years will do, but I wonder if I should go for 600-700 if possible)* <== since the motherboard only handles one GTX 760 I don't think you'll need more then a 650 W power supply, maybe a 700 W. This one looks good and there is plenty of power to spare for other components. *The GTX 760 consumes about 170 Watts at full load in a game, your CPU about 110 Watts (depends on overclock? If its not then less.).*.* Imo you could manage with a 650 W PSU (bronze rated)*. If the current one is within budget limits then take it...its a very good PSU.

*Awesome build, the only weak point is the motherboard.*


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

I don't have any plans for adding a 2nd GPU anyway, so I guess the motherboard is fine then?


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> I don't have any plans for adding a 2nd GPU anyway, so I guess the motherboard is fine then?


You might want to reconsider and reconsider this again if you haven't already. The most expensive item for any PC build today is the GPU if one wants to game. Making room for future SLI is going to, as was pointed out, make your computer last maybe up to 10 years. Can't promise anything, but if you wait for prices to fall on the GTX 760 which it will seeing it's already considered medium high range, you will find that you will be rewarded more as SLI will be more and more integrated and supported as well. You will save more money in the long run doing this than being forced to rebuild your system in 5 years. Anyway, that's my long-term suggestion. 

This however means spending a bit more on the motherboard with the potential to upgrade the CPU in the future. That's the way the technology market works today though. Spend more to gain more in terms of future compability. 

If you want a system comparison, this is my system and what I spent in Swedish kr:
https://www.inet.se/kundvagn/visa/3960447/2013-10-02

The final price ended up being a bit higher around 13k because it turned out my old DVD was not compatible with my motherboard being PATA instead of SATA and I had to buy a new version of Windows as I realized I only had an OEM version but it might be good to check for comparison.

I intend to SLI two GTX 780 in the future.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

Red Panda said:


> I don't have any plans for adding a 2nd GPU anyway, so I guess the motherboard is fine then?


o.o hmm, you can, but hear me out first. Have a look at this motherboard, if the price difference isn't too big (shouldn't be) then getting this *ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer* would make the build solid and you can just get a cheap 760 around 4 to 6 years down the line to upgrade the system in stead of buying a whole new computer. Considering that CPU speed increases have hit a brick wall it seems you won't have to change your CPU any time soon either.

*This is a solid gaming motherboard at an acessible price.*






I recommend not buying the 8 GB ram, getting a compatible 4 GB stick with your old one, getting the PSU you posted and buying this Fatality or a similar board that can do 2 way SLI at 8x - 8x. You can always add more ram later up to 16 GB (which is insane for gaming at the moment).

The motherboard is the glue that holds the components together. If you can, try and get a good one. The above mentioned should be sufficient for your build.

*You will save money in the long run by just adding another 760 a few years down the line and putting that SLI bridge on which comes with the motherboard.*


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

FreeBeer said:


> o.o hmm, you can, but hear me out first. Have a look at this motherboard, if the price difference isn't too big (shouldn't be) then getting this *ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer* would make the build solid and you can just get a cheap 760 around 4 to 6 years down the line to upgrade the system in stead of buying a whole new computer. Considering that CPU speed increases have hit a brick wall it seems you won't have to change your CPU any time soon either.
> 
> *This is a solid gaming motherboard at an acessible price.*
> 
> ...


They don't have this in the store  
they have Z87 extreme3


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

I asked a friend of mine and he told me that he doesn't recommend adding a 2nd GPU 5 - 6 years from now because a) i won't be able to find the same GPU, or a similar enough b) it will eat too much power (=money) for their performance so it won't be cost effective.


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> I asked a friend of mine and he told me that he doesn't recommend adding a 2nd GPU 5 - 6 years from now because a) i won't be able to find the same GPU, or a similar enough b) it will eat too much power (=money) for their performance so it won't be cost effective.


I don't agree with your friend. 

a) You will find that GPU 5 years at least from now, likely. We still have GTX 600 models floating around on the market and many who built their computer system around 2010-2011 when the 6000 model was the best one could find on the market run SLI today because Intel hasn't really improved their tech much in that time. That's a 3-year frame. If we were to look at their computers, we'd see that in terms of current tech it's behind as is to be expected. It's still a high end system, but more around the high-medium range to the medium range. If we compare the prices today of the 600 model, they go for about half of the current 700 model prices. Considering how much SLI would do for your system 3 years from now, you would still be able to play games at high performance without having to invest in an entirely new GPU or a new system to keep up. 

b) You mean in terms of the electricity bill? That highly depends on how much you will play. SLI would increase the power consumption by about 150-200%, but consider how much more power a new system would consume and you would likely end up with a similar result. If you are going to change GPU in 3 years, you likely want to upgrade almost your entire system for it to ensure you have no bottlenecks and then you will likely still end up with about the same energy consumption. Also consider that the market under the most development currently when it comes to hardware _is_ the GPU, a GPU 3 years from now is going to consume a ridiculous amount of power in order to keep up with current graphics development. We might see GPUs requiring a minimum of 800-900W PSU assuming similar development pattern as we have currently.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

ephemereality said:


> I don't agree with your friend.
> 
> a) You will find that GPU 5 years at least from now, likely. We still have GTX 600 models floating around on the market and many who built their computer system around 2010-2011 when the 6000 model was the best one could find on the market run SLI today because Intel hasn't really improved their tech much in that time. That's a 3-year frame. If we were to look at their computers, we'd see that in terms of current tech it's behind as is to be expected. It's still a high end system, but more around the high-medium range to the medium range. If we compare the prices today of the 600 model, they go for about half of the current 700 model prices. Considering how much SLI would do for your system 3 years from now, you would still be able to play games at high performance without having to invest in an entirely new GPU or a new system to keep up.
> 
> b) You mean in terms of the electricity bill? That highly depends on how much you will play. SLI would increase the power consumption by about 150-200%, but consider how much more power a new system would consume and you would likely end up with a similar result. If you are going to change GPU in 3 years, you likely want to upgrade almost your entire system for it to ensure you have no bottlenecks and then you will likely still end up with about the same energy consumption. Also consider that the market under the most development currently when it comes to hardware _is_ the GPU, a GPU 3 years from now is going to consume a ridiculous amount of power in order to keep up with current graphics development. We might see GPUs requiring a minimum of 800-900W PSU assuming similar development pattern as we have currently.


Maybe in your country, but I seriously doubt it in mine. I did a search for my HD 4870, there was only 1 store that sold it, 512MB and at 350 euros which of course is insanely expensive and no one sane would buy it (mine is 1gb and bought it 230 euros back then). And if I search for the GTX 600 I only find the 650 Ti.

I plan to keep my soon to be computer as much as possible, mostly because money is tight, so buying a new one has to be a necessity more than a luxury (tailored to my needs as much as possible). So, it's not like I will want to buy a new GPU in 3 years unless it's the only choice I have. I mean, my HD 4870 was quite decent in every game, not in ultra settings but still high enough for good immersion and smooth enough fps. 

I understand your arguments and I would probably do what you say if I had the budget and made my own money.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

Red Panda said:


> I asked a friend of mine and he told me that he doesn't recommend adding a 2nd GPU 5 - 6 years from now because a) i won't be able to find the same GPU, or a similar enough b) it will eat too much power (=money) for their performance so it won't be cost effective.


Hmm, in that case the mobo is good imo. Also you can get a lower wattage PSU, like Corsair 620-650 W and only the 4 GB identical ram to add to your existing ram (you won't need more then 8 GB anyway).

These things will cut the cost of your system .

One can't really future-proof a system anyway, eventually a new PC is the endresult. IT hardware changes drastically especially if the APUS get better, there is the memory cube too.

._. I'm going to SLI another GTX 660 next year (with my current one and get 16 gigs of ram)

*_* but I'm spending my $ on old USSR m42 screwmount Helios lenses for the DSLR atm so fuck it...


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> Maybe in your country, but I seriously doubt it in mine. I did a search for my HD 4870, there was only 1 store that sold it, 512MB and at 350 euros which of course is insanely expensive and no one sane would buy it (mine is 1gb and bought it 230 euros back then). And if I search for the GTX 600 I only find the 650 Ti.
> 
> I plan to keep my soon to be computer as much as possible, mostly because money is tight, so buying a new one has to be a necessity more than a luxury (tailored to my needs as much as possible). So, it's not like I will want to buy a new GPU in 3 years unless it's the only choice I have. I mean, my HD 4870 was quite decent in every game, not in ultra settings but still high enough for good immersion and smooth enough fps.
> 
> I understand your arguments and I would probably do what you say if I had the budget and made my own money.


I understand, but can't you order online? The prices shouldn't differ much and you'd still need to pay for shipping or whatever.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

ephemereality said:


> I understand, but can't you order online? The prices shouldn't differ much and you'd still need to pay for shipping or whatever.


Perhaps I could, but I don't think I'd go through that hassle for a 2nd GPU. I'd rather just keep one as long as possible like I've always done. Maybe some time in the future I'll change that habit, but that depends on my income


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## Entropic (Jun 15, 2012)

Red Panda said:


> Perhaps I could, but I don't think I'd go through that hassle for a 2nd GPU. I'd rather just keep one as long as possible like I've always done. Maybe some time in the future I'll change that habit, but that depends on my income


Obviously the choice is up to you, but from a financial perspective it seems like the better option personally. As FreeBeer mentioned, a better motherboard wouldn't differ much in terms of price. Anyway, I am not trying to prove you wrong or convince you, but just to think about the future consequences.


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