GTX 560 vs ? Looking to upgrade

[Waffe]

Need some expert help and insight on a possible upgrade from my current card. I want a significant increase in fps not just a minor one. I want to feel like the purchase I meant mattered, and wasn't simply to increase my e-peen size.
All of the above considered, I need it in a buy-able range for me. My current price range is anything below or near 200$
Currently considering:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130910

It is cheap and looks like a powerful card. My concern is, will this last or is it just a small increase from what I am running. Keep in mind size shouldn't matter too much for I am running my components in a corsair 200r case, it is pretty room =).

 

[GhostRyder]

Ok to give you a good example, here is your card vs a 650 ti boost on passmark.

Your Current Card

650 ti Boost

Doing that wont be a significant upgrade honestly, at a 200 dollar price point, your upgrade options will be limited when you start with something like a 560 already.

Here is a couple of suggestions to try.

AMD R9 270X

This is basically an overclocked HD 7870 with some of the new support from AMD software and such. Looking at an HD 7870 on passmark scores, you are looking at a significant increase over your previous gen card.

Honestly, that's going to be the best you can get for 200 dollars, there is not much else in terms of options for cards at a 200 buck price point that would be a step up from a GTX 560.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Ok to give you a good example, here is your card vs a 650 ti boost on passmark.

Your Current Card

650 ti Boost

Doing that wont be a significant upgrade honestly, at a 200 dollar price point, your upgrade options will be limited when you start with something like a 560 already.

Here is a couple of suggestions to try.

AMD R9 270X

This is basically an overclocked HD 7870 with some of the new support from AMD software and such. Looking at an HD 7870 on passmark scores, you are looking at a significant increase over your previous gen card.

Honestly, that's going to be the best you can get for 200 dollars, there is not much else in terms of options for cards at a 200 buck price point that would be a step up from a GTX 560.

We have went over this. Passmark sucks xD.

 

[GhostRyder]

We have went over this. Passmark sucks xD.

We did...I guess we mentioned it, its kinda biased towards NVidia and does not do well on multi-GPU, but its good when comparing gen to gen of the same brands at least for a reference point. I was just pointing out a 650 ti boost is not really that much of a step up from a 560 which is already a decent card. At a 200 buck price point, the options can be limited and the R9 270X is the most powerful for that price point.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Use this then.

Need R9 270X or higher.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[cliffordcooley]

Upgrading from a 560, I wouldn't do anything less than a 760. Seriously the 650 Ti is down a level of the very next generation, which would practically equate to the same performance.

 

[Waffe]

It was my thoughts exactly, I suppose I can save up more for a bigger beast. I just wanted something that can really handle what I need at HD 1080p resolutions. As soon as I upgraded from my standard 16:9 res monitor to this, my performance took quite the hit. Newer gen games only being able to be put around high-med to give me my ocd like fps I require.

The AMD R9 270X actually looks nice, and is easily overclock-able apparently. I've been an NVIDIA man so far so I don't know what to expect if I go with that. If I widen the gap of my price range by 50 how much more punch can I get out of a card?

 

[GhostRyder]

It was my thoughts exactly, I suppose I can save up more for a bigger beast. I just wanted something that can really handle what I need at HD 1080p resolutions. As soon as I upgraded from my standard 16:9 res monitor to this, my performance took quite the hit. Newer gen games only being able to be put around high-med to give me my ocd like fps I require.

The AMD R9 270X actually looks nice, and is easily overclock-able apparently. I've been an NVIDIA man so far so I don't know what to expect if I go with that. If I widen the gap of my price range by 50 how much more punch can I get out of a card?

Well, if you add an extra 50, that does open up a few doors on cards, here is a few cards you can get for that money range (up to 250)

MSI HD 7950 $209 Forgot about this card, its a good deal for the price. Your not really going to get a better deal even at 250 buck price point (Except maybe some aftermarket cooler editions of the 7950)

GTX 660 ti 3gb $259 with $30 rebate (So $229 This is going to be the best 660 ti you can get for the money, now this is a 3gb edition by Asus that is priced pretty well and comes factory overclocked nicely. Its going to be a real good card, though normally I would post a 2gb card, this 3gb card is on sale making it a good deal, though the 3gb is wasted I feel on this card unless you SLI.

MSI R9 270X $199 Nice new generation card that will be highly overclockable with this cooler attached. Its a good card, I mentioned it above but I wanted to give you a fair range of cards at your price point to give you some ideas.

Gigabyte GTX 760 $249 Probably the best NVidia card your going to get in the range of 250, its a good card with some decent power behind it. With the Windforce attached from gigabyte, your going to get some nice cooling and good overclocking headroom.

Now that's about it with going into the price range and not going to close to your previous card. In order, the cards are going to run in terms of overall power like this:
MSI HD 7950 < Gigabyte GTX 760 < MSI R9 270X < GTX 660 ti 3gb

My recommendation is the HD 7950 I posted because the price is just so sweet for the amount of power your getting from it. Personally that is what I would do if I had 250 bucks to spend because you cant go higher than that at the price point.

 

[Waffe]

Well, if you add an extra 50, that does open up a few doors on cards, here is a few cards you can get for that money range (up to 250)

MSI HD 7950 $209 Forgot about this card, its a good deal for the price. Your not really going to get a better deal even at 250 buck price point (Except maybe some aftermarket cooler editions of the 7950)

GTX 660 ti 3gb $259 with $30 rebate (So $229 This is going to be the best NVidia card you can get for the money honestly, now this is a 3gb edition by Asus that is priced pretty well and comes factory overclocked nicely. Its going to be a real good card, though normally I would post a 2gb card, this 3gb card is on sale making it a good deal, though the 3gb is wasted I feel on this card unless you SLI.

MSI R9 270X $199 Nice new generation card that will be highly overclockable with this cooler attached. Its a good card, I mentioned it above but I wanted to give you a fair range of cards at your price point to give you some ideas.

Gigabyte GTX 760 $249 Probably the best NVidia card your going to get in the range of 250, its a good card with some decent power behind it. With the Windforce attached from gigabyte, your going to get some nice cooling and good overclocking headroom.

Now that's about it with going into the price range and not going to close to your previous card. In order, the cards are going to run in terms of overall power like this:
MSI HD 7950 < Gigabyte GTX 760 < MSI R9 270X < GTX 660 ti 3gb

My recommendation is the HD 7950 I posted because the price is just so sweet for the amount of power your getting from it. Personally that is what I would do if I had 250 bucks to spend because you cant go higher than that at the price point.

Excellent list man, a lot of details. You gave me some great options, that I will consider(you guys never mentioned bad hardware when assembling my own comp).
These all should pair nicely with an i5-2570k correct?
On a side not, what are the major differences between NVidia and Amd?
IMO its probably r9 270x or the HD 7959. Never had an Amd card so this should be interesting.

 

[GhostRyder]

Excellent list man, a lot of details. You gave me some great options, that I will consider(you guys never mentioned bad hardware when assembling my own comp).
These all should pair nicely with an i5-2570k correct?
On a side not, what are the major differences between NVidia and Amd?
IMO its probably r9 270x or the HD 7959. Never had an Amd card so this should be interesting.

Thanks, also I think you mean an 3570k right, ivy bridge i5.
That will be fine, heck you can put a 4 way cfx/sli setup on it without to much worry on bottleneck if thats what your refferring to (Though I would overclock the life out of it to make sure )

If your asking strictly on differences between the companies, well that can be defined in many ways. In terms of straight up performance, drivers, and such, not much. The current cards I own are HD 6990's from AMD and before that I had 5 different generations of NVidia cards and the change wasnt something I really noticed. The only real major difference you might actually run into is Advanced Physx not being on AMD cards, it will instead default physx to the processor. You get instead TressFX from AMD, however its really only used in one game I can think of off the top of my head (Tomb Raider). Thats about the major differences that would be noticed, other than that if you have more questions im happy to post pictures of my desktop or laptop showing some differences.

I dont personally own an HD 7950, however I have a few friends one of which runs 3 of them and they are great GPU's especially considering the money your spending.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Upgrading from a 560, I wouldn't do anything less than a 760. Seriously the 650 Ti is down a level of the very next generation, which would practically equate to the same performance.

Well, the new drivers are better optimized for the 600 series than the 500 series.

 

[Waffe]

Thanks, also I think you mean an 3570k right, ivy bridge i5.
That will be fine, heck you can put a 4 way cfx/sli setup on it without to much worry on bottleneck if thats what your refferring to (Though I would overclock the life out of it to make sure )

If your asking strictly on differences between the companies, well that can be defined in many ways. In terms of straight up performance, drivers, and such, not much. The current cards I own are HD 6990's from AMD and before that I had 5 different generations of NVidia cards and the change wasnt something I really noticed. The only real major difference you might actually run into is Advanced Physx not being on AMD cards, it will instead default physx to the processor. You get instead TressFX from AMD, however its really only used in one game I can think of off the top of my head (Tomb Raider). Thats about the major differences that would be noticed, other than that if you have more questions im happy to post pictures of my desktop or laptop showing some differences.

I dont personally own an HD 7950, however I have a few friends one of which runs 3 of them and they are great GPU's especially considering the money your spending.

Yesss I meant 3570k, that was hastily typed and overlooked it.
Physx is nice I agree, I'd take it over tresFX because I'm not really seeing it utilized. But then again they are both "novelty" graphical options. I guess my other concerns are heating issues. Some of the review I read on amd's is that they are loud or run hot. I'm very OCD on temps. Wasn't aware intel cpu's ran hot compared to amd and I worried on my stock cooler for nothing.

 

[Waffe]

Apparently that version of the 7950 runs extremely hot and loud, I might opt that one out of my decision for now.

 

[GhostRyder]

Apparently that version of the 7950 runs extremely hot and loud, I might opt that one out of my decision for now.

That's a reference overclocked model (err boost model), yea I noticed that as well on some of the reviews that it was said to run a little warm because of that factory overclock on the reference cooler. Try this one instead

PowerColor HD 7950 $209

Same Price, Dual Fan Edition, and clocked higher with good reviews to back it up. I have had powercolor and have not had any complaints yet from them, I have had more complaints from companies like sapphire than I have powercolor or even EVGA. Temps and fan noise on this one are good so this should help with your OCD on noise and temps .

Plus, also you get 3 free games of your choice from buying one of these.

 

[Waffe]

That's a reference overclocked model (err boost model), yea I noticed that as well on some of the reviews that it was said to run a little warm because of that factory overclock on the reference cooler. Try this one instead

PowerColor HD 7950 $209

Same Price, Dual Fan Edition, and clocked higher with good reviews to back it up. I have had powercolor and have not had any complaints yet from them, I have had more complaints from companies like sapphire than I have powercolor or even EVGA. Temps and fan noise on this one are good so this should help with your OCD on noise and temps .

Plus, also you get 3 free games of your choice from buying one of these.

That is more my speed( thx for taking my OCD into consideration btw), this does seem like a more stable version with less negative comments. Some slight comments about heat but nothing unreasonable. I'm not too keen on gpu voltage output or anything but I do know if it is too high it gets risky!
I may have to just get more fans implemented, due to the fact I'm missing a possible exhaust
(the psu is sucking air from bottom now). It seems illogical that the gpu is just pushing heat down and it inst really pushing it out the top like my old setup. Something odd I was wondering why my gpu heat-sink faces down now instead of top-wise on my old rig. I'm rambling now about non gpu related issues excuse me.

I will be benchmarking this with a bunch of stuff you already posted.
P.S. I cant seem to find these kind of gpu's you post on my own time, I guess my searching skills are lackluster =P.

Edit: Now that is what I call a boost!
http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/inde...950-powercolor-pcs-edition-vs-geforce-gtx-560

 

[GhostRyder]

That is more my speed( thx for taking my OCD into consideration btw), this does seem like a more stable version with less negative comments. Some slight comments about heat but nothing unreasonable. I'm not too keen on gpu voltage output or anything but I do know if it is too high it gets risky!
I may have to just get more fans implemented, due to the fact I'm missing a possible exhaust
(the psu is sucking air from bottom now). It seems illogical that the gpu is just pushing heat down and it inst really pushing it out the top like my old setup. Something odd I was wondering why my gpu heat-sink faces down now instead of top-wise on my old rig. I'm rambling now about non gpu related issues excuse me.

I will be benchmarking this with a bunch of stuff you already posted.
P.S. I cant seem to find these kind of gpu's you post on my own time, I guess my searching skills are lackluster =P.

Edit: Now that is what I call a boost!
http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/inde...950-powercolor-pcs-edition-vs-geforce-gtx-560

Eh, its something I do for fun at times pricing out different things I see, its just a little fun sometimes at slow times at work or just in general because im always eyeing new computer parts.

With the cooling, well the cards cooler is a push down cooler that pushes air on the GPU and out around it, its a good cooler, I don't think you would have to worry honestly.

 

[Waffe]

Hon

Eh, its something I do for fun at times pricing out different things I see, its just a little fun sometimes at slow times at work or just in general because im always eyeing new computer parts.

With the cooling, well the cards cooler is a push down cooler that pushes air on the GPU and out around it, its a good cooler, I don't think you would have to worry honestly.

Honestly I am the same way, I obsess over new tech and parts. I'm am always seeking an upgrade. Thus the reason I choose a whole new moba and such. Currently getting fed up with NVidia drivers atm. MY browser is crashing so I am forced to post on internet explorer O_O.

 

[GhostRyder]

? NVidia Drivers are crashing? What Version you using, I just updated to the latest drivers and have not had any issues, have you tried a clean install of drivers?

Also, yea I just spent a few hours doing some recent work even today to my machine. I just saw the review of the R90X GPU, and started drooling...Now I am dying inside because I want 4 of them.

 

[Waffe]

Hehehehe sounds nice. This past week everytime I have been browsing or something on mozilla(probably the culprit) I get freezes and my mouse bugs out, it even stretched out and turned green! From that sign I first presumed to be crappy drivers, 4 clean installs later here I am at the latest whql driver. So far so good(knocks wood). Some forum a way back said it was adblocker clashing with ads causing an error visually. Maybe it is just funky on older cards man, idk tbh. I'm trying to upgrade asap so I can lend my poor old brother my tired beast of a gpu.
On a side not, what kinda work do you do? I'm trying to get into the tech department and I dont know where to start. Gotta get some schooling done first of course =P.

 

[GhostRyder]

Hehehehe sounds nice. This past week everytime I have been browsing or something on mozilla(probably the culprit) I get freezes and my mouse bugs out, it even stretched out and turned green! From that sign I first presumed to be crappy drivers, 4 clean installs later here I am at the latest whql driver. So far so good(knocks wood). Some forum a way back said it was adblocker clashing with ads causing an error visually. Maybe it is just funky on older cards man, idk tbh. I'm trying to upgrade asap so I can lend my poor old brother my tired beast of a gpu.
On a side not, what kinda work do you do? I'm trying to get into the tech department and I dont know where to start. Gotta get some schooling done first of course =P.

Yea, I suppose, well at least your running now, I don't use Mozilla often so I would not know if it is buggy, but then again even I use IE most of the time because its just simpler at times. I like Chrome honestly, but IE I just end up using because some software that we have at the place I work only will work with IE.

What do I do? I am a level 1 system admin for the Texas State Data Center, I mostly work on windows servers physically and remotely.

 

[Waffe]

Yea, I suppose, well at least your running now, I don't use Mozilla often so I would not know if it is buggy, but then again even I use IE most of the time because its just simpler at times. I like Chrome honestly, but IE I just end up using because some software that we have at the place I work only will work with IE.

What do I do? I am a level 1 system admin for the Texas State Data Center, I mostly work on windows servers physically and remotely.

Sounds interesting. Yes I am once again back on chrome(had to remove avg and conduit) did some sweeping with some software and am back to this. IE is'nt THAT bad, my friend uses it over both. Honestly every time I use Mozilla its nice for one day then the rest of the week is crap.

 

[Waffe]

So back to the topic, I guess 3g of ram on the gpu might be perfect for future proofing for the new console ports.
P.S. I never got to post my computer internals upon completion.

Yes I know It is kinda messy but it isn't half bad for a first timer!

 

[cliffordcooley]

Yes I know It is kinda messy but it isn't half bad for a first timer!

Looks good to me. As long as it works, I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[GhostRyder]

So back to the topic, I guess 3g of ram on the gpu might be perfect for future proofing for the new console ports.
P.S. I never got to post my computer internals upon completion.
View attachment 77278
Yes I know It is kinda messy but it isn't half bad for a first timer!

If that's supposed to be messy, then ill ask you to come help some of my friends clean up their computers That's pretty good dude, tits a nice machine, lots of room for air to move around.

 

[Waffe]

It's probably just my ocd telling me it looks messy, perhaps if I tightened a cord or two. I don't like how the fan wires dangle around. Thanks for the compliment, feels nice to finally make your own machine. It wasn't as hard as I made it out to be, and you don't have to be all that tender with the parts(except the cpu that was like holding a baby).