GPU advice for an ex gamer/builder

T

Treppiede

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2003
Messages
184
Gentlemen,
I used to be big into gaming/PC building, but have fallen out of the loop.

I'll go straight to the point. Machine specs:

ASUS P6T Deluxe
Intel Xeon X5675 (six core)
24GB RAM
Two SSDs in RAID-0

What's the best video card I can get for this system? If they are still costly (even though it's outdated), what's the best "bang for the buck" video card, then?

I'd like to start playing FPS' again. Nothing particularly recent, but it would be nice to max out the Video Card since I need a new one anyways (old one died).

Thanks in advance!
 
Treppiede said:
Gentlemen,
I used to be big into gaming/PC building, but have fallen out of the loop.

I'll go straight to the point. Machine specs:

ASUS P6T Deluxe
Intel Xeon X5675 (six core)
24GB RAM
Two SSDs in RAID-0

What's the best video card I can get for this system? If they are still costly (even though it's outdated), what's the best "bang for the buck" video card, then?

I'd like to start playing FPS' again. Nothing particularly recent, but it would be nice to max out the Video Card since I need a new one anyways (old one died).

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Best video card right now is the GTX 980, best "bang for the buck" would be either a GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290x. The 290x's can be had pretty cheap right now (go for one with non-reference cooling).

The GF 970 / 980 use a lot less power, but are really hard to find for the 970, and the 980 is $200 more than the 290x, so bang for the buck goes to the 290x.
 
Is there any reason that you're going for the workstation cpus? They don't seem to be very cost effective for a gaming rig imo. Especially if you're going with a single gpu.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Is there any reason that you're going for the workstation cpus? They don't seem to be very cost effective for a gaming rig imo. Especially if you're going with a single gpu.
Click to expand...

I think that he already owns that much gear and needs a video card to complement it.
 
6-core X58 systems are still plenty powerful. I recently went from a 4.2GHz i7 930 to a 4.2GHz i7-4770K, and while I did notice an overall FPS improvement in some games, it wasn't a dramatic difference. Bear in mind I also have CrossFire so I would see a larger improvement than a single GPU user.

If you are going for a single GPU option in the mid/high price range, I would suggest you look at the GTX 970 or 290X with non-reference cooling. If money is no object, the GTX 980 is currently the best single GPU solution. Any of those will work fine with your system.
 
Too many unanswered questions to answer.

Best Videocard to get is vague.

Most Powerful R295x2 (dual GPU)
Most Powerful Single GPU GTX 980
Best Bang for Buck GTX 970 (permitting it overclocks well it's faster than R290X)
Best Bang for Buck Stock Clocks (no overclocking) R290X

What resolution and refresh rate are you going to be gaming at?
What is the make/model of your Power Supply?

Some of the answers to these questions will change a recommendation especially if your gaming at 4k or would need to upgrade your power supply. That can change the bang for buck very quickly.
 
Gentlemen,
Sorry for the delay in replaying.

Digital Viper-X- said:
Best video card right now is the GTX 980, best "bang for the buck" would be either a GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290x. The 290x's can be had pretty cheap right now (go for one with non-reference cooling).

The GF 970 / 980 use a lot less power, but are really hard to find for the 970, and the 980 is $200 more than the 290x, so bang for the buck goes to the 290x.
Click to expand...
You mention the current top video card, wouldn't it be wasted on my aging system?

BababooeyHTJ said:
Is there any reason that you're going for the workstation cpus? They don't seem to be very cost effective for a gaming rig imo. Especially if you're going with a single gpu.
Click to expand...
Well, I picked a gently used one up from eBay after starting this thread. I figured... why not? It's one hell of a CPU and I figured I'd have fun maxing out (or close) this system.

cageymaru said:
I think that he already owns that much gear and needs a video card to complement it.
Click to expand...
Indeed. The current video card might need to be replaced. I'll confirm once I exclude the GPU fan from causing the no-POST issues. A spare, crappy video card I have laying around seems to make the system POST just fine.

kindasmart said:
Monitor resolution?
Click to expand...
Here's the monitor I own. Nothing fancy.

Rizen said:
6-core X58 systems are still plenty powerful. I recently went from a 4.2GHz i7 930 to a 4.2GHz i7-4770K, and while I did notice an overall FPS improvement in some games, it wasn't a dramatic difference. Bear in mind I also have CrossFire so I would see a larger improvement than a single GPU user.

If you are going for a single GPU option in the mid/high price range, I would suggest you look at the GTX 970 or 290X with non-reference cooling. If money is no object, the GTX 980 is currently the best single GPU solution. Any of those will work fine with your system.
Click to expand...
Thanks man. So, like I mentioned above... assuming I could afford the GTX 980 (I don't), wouldn't there be wasted GPU on this system, even though it's a platform that's been aging well?

Lord_Exodia said:
Too many unanswered questions to answer.

Best Videocard to get is vague.

Most Powerful R295x2 (dual GPU)
Most Powerful Single GPU GTX 980
Best Bang for Buck GTX 970 (permitting it overclocks well it's faster than R290X)
Best Bang for Buck Stock Clocks (no overclocking) R290X

What resolution and refresh rate are you going to be gaming at?
What is the make/model of your Power Supply?

Some of the answers to these questions will change a recommendation especially if your gaming at 4k or would need to upgrade your power supply. That can change the bang for buck very quickly.
Click to expand...
Good point. Here's my PSU and here's the monitor. Like I said above to user kindasmart, nothing fancy.

Thanks for all the replies thus far. Once I confirm that it's indeed a dead GPU, I will likely lean towards the best bang for the buck recommendations.
 
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At 1080p on your system you would probably be CPU bound a bit, but not terribly so. However there is no reason to get a 980 on a 1080p system. I'd say that you'd do fine with a GTX 970 if that is in your budget, or a 290X depending on your preference.
 
GTX970, R9 290X, R9 290 are the logical choices at this time. Since your power supply is 750w, and I suspect that you're going to OC the CPU, then I'd go with the GTX970.
 
750w is a lot of juice. What's that system going to draw without a video card? 150w? Even with an overclock on that cpu?
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
750w is a lot of juice. What's that system going to draw without a video card? 150w? Even with an overclock on that cpu?
Click to expand...
That's an old 32nm 6-core Intel CPU. With an overclock on that CPU it would draw quite a bit more system wattage than 150w. But, a 750w should be able to handle that + a single 290X.
 
it has a 95W TDP, though I'm sure that think can pull a fair bit more power than 95W.

to give you a comparison...


1 i7 920 @ 3.6Ghz(or 3.8, I forget) 1.3v IIRC.
1 x 6990
1 x 6970
6 x 120mm fans ( 5 case + 1 cpu)
1 x 250mm fan (top of the case)

I was pulling 760W from the wall playing BF3, i think a single 290x is probably around the same as a 6990.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011...6970_crossfirex_trifire_review/8#.VFP4hPnF98F

hardocp review for comparison. pretty close to my numbers :). though I was using an Enermax 825w
 
Thank you, like you said its a 95w tdp cpu...

I ran 6950 crossfire with a mild overclock on an i7 860 with a 650w psu....

After you factor in efficiency the system is still probably drawing less than 700w. A good 750w psu is by no means small.
 
I'll echo the previous sentiments, a gtx 970 or an r9 290 / 290x would be your best bet. Have you overclocked that hex at all? evidently most do 4.0-4.4Ghz depending on luck / motherboard.

Either way, still a great CPU, still a great system. Pick up something and have fun!

For the record, I just picked up an r9 290 for my i7 2700k system, should be fun! (coming from a 7970).
 
Awesome guys, thanks for the feedback and brainstorming, it's much appreciated.

geforce_man: I have yet to OC the 6-core. I just got it a couple of weeks ago, I'll try to figure out the GPU issue once and for all and then look into overclocking.

Thanks again.
 
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