94 replies to this topic

[Burned_Follower]

Behold, my wall of text! lol

As you well know i'm building a gaming PC just for MWO. So far, i've already got my CPU, Motherboard, OS, RAM sticks, and my power supply picked out. But while searching for a good video card i realized that i don't know what to "look for" in a video card other than "is it compatable" and the memory.

For example, i'm currently using a 512MB video card. The video card i'm looking for, i don't want it to have anything less than 2GB. I know that i'll probably only need a 1GB video card for MWO but i want 2GB because i'm greedy, lol. No, seriously that's why! haha

Anyways, other than looking for "compatability" and "making sure it is at least a 2GB video card, what other features should i be looking for in a video card and why? Any suggestions? Note that i am not going to be playing MWO in 3D. I preferr 2D and i'm planning on playing MWO on only one screen.

Any help on how to properly shop for a video card will be helpful.

This is the current hardware i got picked out so far:
CPU: AMD FX 8-Core Black Edition FX-8150
Motherboard: Asus- Sabertooth 990FX
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate, 64 bit
RAM sticks(i'll be getting 4 of them): Well this is the model number: CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10
Power Supply: Corsair- Gaming Series 800-Watt ATX


Ok, before you ask what i think you might ask, just look at my FAQs that i get when creating a thread like this.

1. What is my budget? Answer: I know there's a billion ways to cut corners and save money but i'll obviously be paying a little extra for this rig i'm building. I'm doing this cuz i'm just putting a lil'extra love into it, that's all.

2. What monitor will I be using? Answer: a 42'' HD LCD Monitor, using a 1080p rezolution

3. Water or air cooling? Answer: Air cooling

4. Do i plan to overclock? Answer: NO. I do plan on exploring that in the future but just not right now

5. What will i be using this for? Answer: Playing MWO on maxed out graphics, using DX11 on a 1080p rez while at the same time recording my gameplay using Fraps in the background and possibly teamspeak in the background and/or itunes in the background as well. I'll have a separate laptop that i'll use for anything other than MWO. The ONLY TIME i'll be using this gaming pc is for MWO(this is because i'll be building a home made tesla pod and the gaming PC will be a part of the pod. I won't be cranking up my tesla pod just to check my facebook status...i already got a cheaper PC for that that i'll be replacing with a cheap walmart laptop some day)

6. What kind of 42 inch TV are you getting? Answer: don't know. I'll cross that bridge when i come to it. Right now i'm just focused on the PC itself for the moment.

[Oderint dum Metuant]

I hear good things about this, http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150589
Will be getting one for my build later this month.

[Harrow]

I'm using 2 Powercolor 6970s which have the heat piping and dual fans on them. they run very cool. And since i have a h100 liquid cooler on my fx-8150 the whole system barely goes over 5 or so degrees higher than idle temps. The cards do of course but they run very very cool. I can't recommend Powercolor enough for ati cards. Also stay away from plastic case cards, even if they are dual fan. Make sure they use heat piping, dual fans at least, and are fairly open to allow for extra cooling from the case fans as well. The cards with the enclosed plastic casings run very hot.

[Harrow]

good example here: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814131458

[Ironheart]

lol, a little extra. That's probably as much extra as you can go.

Anyway, since money is of no concern to you, Radeon 7950 / 7970. Best sinve GPU card avaiable at the moment. Basically the previous links. Can't go wrong with that.

[Vulpesveritas]

By all accounts, given your 3k budget, I highly recommend getting a single Radeon hd 7970, and preferably a factory OC'd custom heatsink/pcb model. Currently there aren't too many out, however there are a few good ones out right now. Mainly waiting on the Sapphire Atomic 1.3-1.4ghz model. lol.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814125413
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814121499 - what I would recommend as it cools as well as the others, but you have more connection tips and it is quieter. Downside is that it is triple-slot.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150586
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127652

Also, for you're cheap laptop in the future- how cheap? And I recommend staying away from Walmart- you can get a better deal on a better laptop on sales at Office Depot, even on their website. They tend to have outlandish sales on one or two different laptops a week. Office Max isn't quite as regular on said sales, although they're pretty good on it. Early summer they tend to have more or less clearance-level sales. I mean, I picked up this laptop last year around that time- Phenom II X4, Integrated Radeon HD 4250 graphics, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD. for $315.

So yeah.

[Vincent Vascaul]

My vote is for the Direct II Asus if I weren't planning on water cooling I would go for that, as is it looks liek I am getting a MSI,GIG, ASUS or Sapphire Reference 7970 or 2 then WC'in em later this summer.

[Catamount]

Having just had the pleasure of benchmarking two 7970s (a friend in Australia doesn't want to pay AUS prices, so they're paying me to buy/test/ship them from the US), I definitely can recommend the card.

It's the first single GPU I've seen that can run 3dmark11 smoothly, to say nothing for it being very cool and quiet. Asus cards come with a 3-year warrant, but unless they've changed, the XFX warranty is more tolerant (when I had my 8800gts, you could overclock under warranty ). Beyond warranty, there's not much difference from one card to the next for the most part. The stock cooler is already insanely good, so I don't see the need to get a -questionably- better cooler for more money, and you can overclock a card yourself without needing a manufacturer's help. About the only advantage to a factory overclocked unit is that some might be high-binned cards (XFX Black Edition cards seem to be).


You need a full tower case for the 7970 to not be a pain, but on that budget that's not a problem.

Edited by Catamount, 04 February 2012 - 01:19 PM.

[spicy cho]

RPS has a great article on GPU's right now, here's the link: http://www.rockpaper...graphics-cards/

[Burned_Follower]

spicy cho, on 07 February 2012 - 11:30 AM, said:

RPS has a great article on GPU's right now, here's the link: http://www.rockpaper...graphics-cards/

coolness! just flipped through this article. I'll be reading it as soon as i get off work. thx for the link.

[Vincent Vascaul]

Honestly the guy has some basics right but the assumption about 1080p and the knock on Crossfire put me off a bit, I ran a Crossfire system for a long time with little to no issues yet my SLI setup was nothing but a pain in my *** every time I tried to update it it would crash I was so happy to get rid of that PC setup.

Edited by Vincent Vascaul, 08 February 2012 - 08:06 AM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Not to mention the statement that the pricing of the 7970 is out of place. it gets between 30-50% more performance than the GTX580 and only costs 10% more and consumes nearly 50 watts less. AMD is a business, don't you think they'd price higher? We should just be glad they didn't set pricing to like $650 instead of $550.

[Catamount]

Vulpesveritas, on 08 February 2012 - 08:59 AM, said:

Not to mention the statement that the pricing of the 7970 is out of place. it gets between 30-50% more performance than the GTX580 and only costs 10% more and consumes nearly 50 watts less. AMD is a business, don't you think they'd price higher? We should just be glad they didn't set pricing to like $650 instead of $550.

Exactly.

This articles criticism of AMD's supposed "abandonment" of the $200 model is absurd, because AMD has done no such thing.

They STILL try as hard as they can to give the best lower priced GPUs out there, and they do an absolutely stellar job. 6770? 6790? 6850? 6870? They're all absolutely fantastic cards.


AMD has not forsaken the $200 price-point, they just make higher end more expensive cards now, in addition to $100-$250 cards.

[HeroicTofu]

Although for the purposes and intents of this particular thread it has no bearing... The 7970 also sports AMD's new Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture that will undoubtedly be useful for any programs that can take advantage of GPU Acceleration. I'm hoping that when Adobe's Creative Suite 6 rolls out, Adobe Premier Pro will be able to take advantage of the 7000 series like it currently takes advantage of nVidia's Fermi graphics cards and massively improves the time it takes to edit movies. Just some food for thought.

[Logan Solo Sinclair]

Catamount, on 08 February 2012 - 09:50 AM, said:

Exactly.

This articles criticism of AMD's supposed "abandonment" of the $200 model is absurd, because AMD has done no such thing.

They STILL try as hard as they can to give the best lower priced GPUs out there, and they do an absolutely stellar job. 6770? 6790? 6850? 6870? They're all absolutely fantastic cards.


AMD has not forsaken the $200 price-point, they just make higher end more expensive cards now, in addition to $100-$250 cards.

+1Agee. Two 6970's keep my mojo flowin'

[Will Hung]

I'll go with either an nVidia or AMD GPU for as long as it's the best bang for my budget, and it doesn't make me do goat sacrifices just to get the thing to work right in the games I would like to play (like MWO).

My bias is currently towards AMD's Eyefinity-capable cards because I really don't want to buy two video cards to try doing one of those awesome-looking three-monitor setups. If nVidia gets its own Eyefinity-like technology for single cards, why not?

If you got the cash, go for that sweet HD 7950 or if you can spare s'more, an HD 7970! I would, if I could afford it.

Edited by Will Hung, 09 February 2012 - 08:58 AM.

[Catamount]

I'm guessing Nvidia will have something like Eyefinity with Kepler; will AMD ever reciprocate and heavily adopt 3D tech?

I sure hope not...

[Vulpesveritas]

Catamount, on 09 February 2012 - 03:58 PM, said:

I'm guessing Nvidia will have something like Eyefinity with Kepler; will AMD ever reciprocate and heavily adopt 3D tech?

I sure hope not...

AMD already has 3d tech with eyefinity HD3D they introduced with GCN.
And kepler will only have 3 monitor support.

[Will Hung]

Vulpesveritas, on 09 February 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

AMD already has 3d tech with eyefinity HD3D they introduced with GCN.
And kepler will only have 3 monitor support.

Well, we'll see about nVidia coming out with its own version of Eyefinity when their cards physically arrive in stores. I have learned not to believe in pre-release marketing hoohah and fan-generated rumors. Also, I'd like to see it being tested and compared to Eyefinity. Review sites and early adopters, you guys make our purchases so much smarter.

It's ideal that AMD and nVidia will be taking turns in taking the performance lead; that way, we customers can always get a good deal because they'll be pressured to offer something better than the competition. Somehow related, this is why I want AMD to stage a miraculous comeback in the form of a processor architecture that'll finally kick Core's ***, forcing Intel to innovate and drive prices down faster.

The timing of my new DX11 card purchase will also depend heavily on MWO's actual release date. It's really the only DX11-enabled title that I want to play in DX11, so far. XD

Edited by Will Hung, 09 February 2012 - 07:43 PM.

[FACEman Peck]

The more video card you can afford, the better. Plus, throw all your money behind Nvidia. I have an AMD Radeon HD 6450, and it turns the mountains in Battlefield 3 shades of green every once in a while.