1329 replies to this topic

[cipher]

Catamount, on 31 May 2012 - 06:18 AM, said:

maybe Vulpes should put "GPGPU" in italics and/or bold to make the distinction clear?

Agreed.

And all of the charts are for gaming, yet the top of the post talks about general purpose performance. Some rendering and folding benchmarks would be better suited to the rest of the post.

Then a final comparison of how well the cards did in gaming and general purpose would be worthwhile.

[Tronchaser]

Vulpesveritas, on 30 May 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

Really? The GPU-Z GPU monitoring program was made and updated by their GPU reviewer aka wiz. If you're familliar with that at all.

I've used it before.. but I didn't know it came from there. Just never noticed it I guess.

[Vulpesveritas]

cipher, on 31 May 2012 - 06:47 AM, said:

Agreed.

And all of the charts are for gaming, yet the top of the post talks about general purpose performance. Some rendering and folding benchmarks would be better suited to the rest of the post.

Then a final comparison of how well the cards did in gaming and general purpose would be worthwhile.

This thread is meant to be a general video card guide, not just GPGPU. It ended up the first topic out of mere chance when i decided to type this. The charts are gaming as that is what most individuals will likely be looking at this guide for. At the same time,, i wanted to point out that gpgpu is becoming more prevalant and may be of interest for some users.

[cipher]

Vulpesveritas, on 31 May 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

This thread is meant to be a general video card guide, not just GPGPU. It ended up the first topic out of mere chance when i decided to type this. The charts are gaming as that is what most individuals will likely be looking at this guide for. At the same time,, i wanted to point out that gpgpu is becoming more prevalant and may be of interest for some users.

So if the thread is not about GPUs for "general purpose", why did you make such a big deal out of that in the thread? As you said, most of the people on a forum for a specific game would care more about GPUs for that game or other gaming.

[Vulpesveritas]

cipher, on 31 May 2012 - 08:08 AM, said:

So if the thread is not about GPUs for "general purpose", why did you make such a big deal out of that in the thread? As you said, most of the people on a forum for a specific game would care more about GPUs for that game or other gaming.

I did not intend to make it a 'big deal.' Merely to point it out as a consideration as it is growing in use for average consumers.

[Catamount]

In fairness, GPGPU was given nothing but a single, small mention without any real ellaboration, sources, or images. That's hardly any kind of significant focus; it looks to be little more than a footnote (except near the top ). I think the treatment was appropriate. It was mentioned very briefly and then the guide moved on to mostly discuss gaming. A balanced review would give equal time to both, so really, this was a very game-centric review where GPGPU hardly got any treatment of any kind (which is fine and appropriate given the forum).

Edited by Catamount, 31 May 2012 - 10:25 AM.

[Nasty9]

Could you add a space between the intro and #1? Also, bold number headings will make the post a little more clear too.

[Vulpesveritas]

Thank you everyone for your input. I've updated the post, and I do hope it looks quite a bit better.

[Makaveli]

Whats with all the critics? Oh well, haters gonna hate... Thanks for the post, I was just looking for something likes this today.

[Skrapheap]

cipher, on 29 May 2012 - 05:12 AM, said:

A towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Off Topic: Epic reference +1

On Topic: +1 on the article, and if this hasn't been stickied yet it should be. That said I have had luck with Arctic Silver Ceramique 2. While I agree on the assessment that in a single card setup (sans overclocking) will never need more than 650 watts, I recommend grabbing a 750 watt PSU, as that is about the sweet spot for price/performance. It also leaves quite a bit of overhead for later upgrades/overclocking (I.E. Moving to a SLI/Crossfire setup or swapping to a Dual GPU card). Also a saying I have used for AMD/intel for years is "AMD and intel are like a Mustang and a Ferrari. Either has more power than you need and one is a great deal more expensive."

Edited by Wulffemein, 31 May 2012 - 08:18 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Wulffemein, on 31 May 2012 - 08:17 PM, said:

Off Topic: Epic reference +1

On Topic: +1 on the article, and if this hasn't been stickied yet it should be. That said I have had luck with Arctic Silver Ceramique 2. While I agree on the assessment that in a single card setup (sans overclocking), I also recommend grabbing a 750 watt PSU, as that is about the sweet spot for price/performance. It also leaves a bit of overhead for later upgrades/overclocking (I.E. Moving to a SLI/Crossfire setup or swapping to a Dual GPU card). Also a saying I have used for AMD/intel for years is "AMD and intel are like a Mustang and a Ferrari. Either has more power than you need and one is a great deal more expensive."

While I have to agree in price / watt 750w PSUs generally are the best value, in some systems it's just overkill an an extra $25-50 you don't need to spend on the PSU. AS C2 is good, however the four TIMs I have listed benchmark better in what reviews I have read, and are the same price as AS5 in most cases.

And yeah it's been stickied.

[NightbladeXX]

Iron Harlequin, on 17 May 2012 - 11:28 AM, said:

gaming on a laptop? thats laughable.

yes i know that sounds elitist, it was meant to.

I dunno my ASUS G73jw begs to differ

[Skrapheap]

Vulpesveritas, on 31 May 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

While I have to agree in price / watt 750w PSUs generally are the best value, in some systems it's just overkill an an extra $25-50 you don't need to spend on the PSU.

While this little tool does not give you amperage totals, it will give you a good estimate on how much PSU to buy for a given system: http://extreme.outer...culatorlite.jsp

Speaking of useful tools I just realized no one has done a maintenance checklist yet. Yes I iknow I know every gamer SHOULD know how to maintain their PC, but how many actually do?

Edited by Wulffemein, 31 May 2012 - 08:29 PM.

[Vulpesveritas]

Wulffemein, on 31 May 2012 - 08:27 PM, said:

Spend an extra 25 now or spend an extra 75-80 later when you realize the PSU you grabbed just doesn't have the juice. Also while this little tool does not give you amperage totals, it will give you a good estimate on how much PSU to buy for a given system: http://extreme.outer...culatorlite.jsp

Well, if you're building a system for someone who doesn't and won't overclock, and isn't going to need/want SLI/Xfire, then 550w is plenty in the majority of cases. Not every system build is for hardcore gamers.
So eh. Really depends on the situation.
Me personally, I'm grabbing a PC Power&Cooling Silencer MK II 750 watt PSU. Seasonic internals, 80+ silver, good price on newegg.

[Skrapheap]

Vulpesveritas, on 31 May 2012 - 08:31 PM, said:

Well, if you're building a system for someone who doesn't and won't overclock, and isn't going to need/want SLI/Xfire, then 550w is plenty in the majority of cases. Not every system build is for hardcore gamers.
So eh. Really depends on the situation.
Me personally, I'm grabbing a PC Power&Cooling Silencer MK II 750 watt PSU. Seasonic internals, 80+ silver, good price on newegg.

I'm running a Corsair HX750, and have been running it for almost 2 years now. Rock solid, though I will probably be swapping it for a new one when I start the upgrade process in a few months.

[Vulpesveritas]

Anyone have any other ideas as to how I might be able to improve this thread?

[Chiyeko Kuramochi]

I would give a top 3 selection for the cards at each price range, not all cards might be available and having a backup option is nice.

also perhaps some advice on the many many companies who supply modified versions, because I sure got lost in the woods of those when you look at them all wondering what you should get. So just give some figures on warranty perhaps and reputation?

[Deathz Jester]

NightbladeXX, on 31 May 2012 - 08:25 PM, said:

I dunno my ASUS G73jw begs to differ

Congratulations you spent more money on a prebuilt cutting-board than you could have building a real computer.

[Lakevren]

Really wish TPU would post a GTX 560 in their charts instead of just the GTX 560 Ti variant.

May or may not be the better choice for the $200. Of course it's trading blows with the 6870, which is also a known price-performance king for a good while.

[Vulpesveritas]

Lakevren, on 02 June 2012 - 12:31 PM, said:

Really wish TPU would post a GTX 560 in their charts instead of just the GTX 560 Ti variant.

May or may not be the better choice for the $200. Of course it's trading blows with the 6870, which is also a known price-performance king for a good while.

They actually did; http://www.techpower...560_2_GB/1.html
In the majority of games, the 560 non-ti performs about the same as a Radeon HD 6850, and only pulls ahead in heavily tessellated titles, i.e. Crysis 2, HAWX, etc. And even when it does, it barely (see less than 5fps) outperforms. At the same time the 6870 has more aftermarket options, and as such you can get higher overclockers or quieter cards for lower prices. Also, price wise the 6870 is slightly cheaper as well.
6870; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102948
560; http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814162084