GPU - What next?

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Panzer1509

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About 4 months ago my old computer's motherboard and GPU (graphics card) burned out (GTX 295), and forced me to get a new PC.

Currently I have a GTX 460 and I wonder how/if I should upgrade it to a newer card. Have had really bad experiences with my GPU overheating and randomly shutting down my PC :crying:

Having never tried other cards than the nvidia and GTX stuff, I wonder if I should look in another direction, GPU wise :P

Im willing to drop between $900 and $1000 into getting a new GPU for my PC

Any suggestions, please? :)

(Running Win 7 and i7 processor)
 
hmm... I guess

makes me wonder: what would you put into your monster pc??? (no budget)
 
Your wasting money on quad 6970's just get 2 6990's at that point (6990 uses 2 6970 gpus just lower clocked by 50mhz, OC it and 6990 matches the 6970 crossfire) , i have tri-fire and i'll never look back.

A quadro card is not for games it's a professional card it will run most games on low to med settings. It's for CAD, 3d editing, etc etc
 
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What CPU and mobo do you have? An older chip likely won't be able to push 4x6970s. If you're running on SB it doesn't have enough lanes on the mobo for four cards. Keep in mind that a single 6990 is ridiculously loud, running two will be louder. The card is screaming like a spoiled brat because it wants a watercooling setup. You will also need to make sure that your power supply is strong enough for that much horsepower. If you bought a PSU for just a single 295, it might not be enough for 3+ cards as you will need about 1000W for that.

If you can support it, and you're ready to deal with the noise, 6990+6970 or 3x6970s is the best performance at that price point. The GTX580 is a great card, but is way too overpriced in comparison.
 
I would not drop this much dough on this generation of cards when the next generation is just around the corner. Maybe buy a 6950 or 6970 now to hold you over if you cannot wait and then you can RMA your 460 and then sell it. Just some thoughts.

But as a pet rock said, more info is needed on your system to make sure you could even handle what is being recommended by others.
 
What monitor do you use?

I would seriously consider spending 2/3 of that budget on a nice quality IPS monitor (or 3). People overlook monitor quality. They last a lot longer than your GPU and it's what you are always looking at.

If you shop around and find good deals:
2x 2GB 6950's for ~$450
3x Dell U2311H's or other 23-24in IPS panels for ~$600-800

Eyefinity glory.

If you aren't interested in a multi-monitor config: Get one large IPS panel and a nice SSD for your OS and applications.
 
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LOL, not to question your money choices but dropping that much on a gpu?? lol is everything else on your computer even able to handle that much?

But I agree with what Sn1per said, invest a chunk of your funds into a badass 120Hz or greater monitor (is there anything better than that? havent looked in a while) and then a good card to match it, if you have a 60Hz monitor, you can only go so far with gpu's b/c of the bottle neck of the 60Hz.

if you have enough after the monitor then get what you can on the card you want, crossfire or whatever.

just my 2cents haha good luck with it
 
Sn1PeR said:
I would seriously consider spending 2/3 of that budget on a nice quality IPS monitor (or 3). People overlook monitor quality. They last a lot longer than your GPU and it's what you are always looking at.
Click to expand...

What monitor do you recommend? (without going above 1500$)

Would I need to buy more cables as well?

I cant think of the monitor I currently have but its an oldie, gray 22" Acer something, from 2006-9 ish

PS: Whats the easiest way to find out what Mobo im running?
 
I haven't used a 120Hz monitor, but I will recommend IPS panels (that don't come in 120Hz) due to viewing angles, colors, portrait mode, etc. I will admit they are slower, but the colors don't distort when you lean back in your chair like a TN panel. TN color distortion is fairly apparent in eyefinity setups due to the viewing angles on the side monitors (I know, I have TN panels - they also suck in portrait).

I would probably get 3x Dell U2412M right now ($350 ea.). 1920x1200 16:10 IPS with DisplayPorts. I would look into running an Asus 2GB 6950/70 DirectCU II due to the 4x DisplayPorts (so you don't get tearing or need an adapter). They are 3x slot cards -- I was able to fit 2x on my P8Z68-V Pro motherboard, but YMMV. Those cards are also very quiet compared to the reference design.

The U2312HM's are new and apparently really fast for IPS panels -- might be worth considering. They are 16:9 though.

For a single monitor you could look into a 2560x1600 30in beast.
 
I don't think that motherboard can do 8x/8x on it's PCIe slots, which you probably want for a CF/SLI setup (it doesn't say that it supports either from what I can tell). It's kind of a weird choice given the 2600k (overclockable) on a H67 board (non-multiplier based OCable). I would consider going with a single GPU/monitor config (assuming you don't want to swap motherboards). Grab a nice 1920x1200/1080 monitor and a 6950/6970/570/580 and you will be happy. You could run a 6990 or 590, but those are overpriced in my opinion and very hard to find. If you end up going with a 2560x1600 monitor and don't want to swap motherboards, you really need one of the dual GPU cards. Either of those dual GPU cards on your current monitor would be overkill.
 
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You could still do crossfire but with a x16/x4 setup theres a 5-10% performance loss if you get some nice cards it doesn't really matter that much.

You really should look into at least investing into a higher resolution monitor though.
 
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