First Time nVidia

[pbcranium202]

This is the first time i will use an nVidia card. I'm going with the gtx470. Pretty easy question...who are some good nVidia card manuacturers. Are they the same as ATi? Right now I'm looking at trying to find an EVGA card, but just wondering if I should look for something else. Thanks!!!

[B-auto]

EVGA is the most widely used and respected brand.

:thup:

[Neuromancer]

The product is only paper launched, there is no availability till I think the 12th?

EVGA is definitely a good brand and their customer service /warranties are top notch. Plus you should have a stepup program if they manage to do a core refresh in 90 days (doubtful)

EVGA forums however is a mess, and I do not recommend that LOL

[Bon3thugz43v3r]

EVGA all the way (warranty is stellar)

[tinymouse2]

EVGA is the way to go. Warranty and customer support is second to none.

Not to derail the topic but are you sure you don't want to go for a 5850 or a 5870? Same price and a MASSIVE performance boost. The only gain with the 4xx series would be if you wanted to get some serious PPD while folding with fermi.

[gear.h34d.2012]

EVGA broham. No questions. I'm sad I had to buy Gigabyte when I got my cards. I can't even figure out how to register these things...

[Bon3thugz43v3r]

Just thought I would throw this out there, but is the system in your sig current?

Because that will be a horrible bottle neck on this videocard.

[lordkosc]

an E8400 will be that bad of a bottleneck? really?

that is sort of crushing my plan for getting a GTX470 with my e8400 build.

might just wait till the fall, and do a whole new system then...

[||Console||]

@ 3ghz it will bottle neck it a bit @ 4ghz not as much .

PPl are always worried about bottlenecks There will ALWAYS be @ least one in every system .

[diaz]

an E8400 will be that bad of a bottleneck? really?

that is sort of crushing my plan for getting a GTX470 with my e8400 build.

might just wait till the fall, and do a whole new system then...

The 470 will give you a definite boost in gaming performance, even with the 8400. You can clock it a bit higher to get teh most out of the card. Check out benchmarks to see if the 470 is worth the upgrade over the GTX260 though.

Don't let the "bottleneck" be a damper to your upgrade. I buy a peice at a time sometimes, and upgrade the bottleneck later..

-D

[killem2]

Rubbish. the e8400 is a maniac.

[ratbuddy]

Not to derail the topic but are you sure you don't want to go for a 5850 or a 5870? Same price and a MASSIVE performance boost. The only gain with the 4xx series would be if you wanted to get some serious PPD while folding with fermi.

Huh? 470 is faster than the 5850, and 480 is faster than the 5870...

[pwnmachine]

EVGA, best product, best warranty, best period.

[tinymouse2]

Huh? 470 is faster than the 5850, and 480 is faster than the 5870...

More about the price than performance.
You could buy a massive tub of butter with the change.

[Bon3thugz43v3r]

an E8400 will be that bad of a bottleneck? really?
that is sort of crushing my plan for getting a GTX470 with my e8400 build.
might just wait till the fall, and do a whole new system then...


Yes really...even at 4.0ghz
With my e8400 at 3.0 ghz my gtx275 is horribly bottle necked which I can see by the GPU usage and CPU usage in EVGA Precision and Task Manager.
At 3.5 ghz my gtx275 is still bottle necked but not as bad.
At 4.0 ghz my gtx275 is finally using above 90%.

So yeah, if you want to couple a new gen card with a e8400 be my guest. But my point is, you might as well get something along the lines of a 285 because as you can see...4.0ghz on a e8400 just about maximizes my 275 out.



Don't let the "bottleneck" be a damper to your upgrade. I buy a peice at a time sometimes, and upgrade the bottleneck later..
-D

Lets be real...a $500 dollar video card that your not even going to utilize?
Or a new board, cpu, mem for $500
And a video card a little later that you will be able to actually utilize fully because you know have a beast system.
Go buy a new motherboard + i7 cpu + new memory.... <---- My point.


an E8400 will be that bad of a bottleneck? really?
that is sort of crushing my plan for getting a GTX470 with my e8400 build.
might just wait till the fall, and do a whole new system then...

If you are worried about frame rates than consider that most games being released in 2010 support quad core cpu's.
So your precious e8400 (and mine for that matter) will not hold up much longer in games...
My friend's sytem with an i7 at 3.0ghz RAPES my e8400 at 4.0ghz (both with gtx275) in Bad Company 2....(only game we both play and we both have tested accurately)
I am talking a difference in 25 fps average. (this is strictly CPU related....)


I don't know what games your going to be playing...some people just want the latest hardware and don't even game...if that is the case then go for it.

Otherwise, spend your money in a better manner and get more for your money performance wise...

[EarthDog]

The launch hasnt happened yet (so no paper launch). The 3/26 date was the NDA expiring. Launch date is 4/12 last I heard.

+1 for EVGA.

[ratbuddy]

Same price and a MASSIVE performance boost. The only gain with the 4xx series would be if you wanted to get some serious PPD while folding with fermi.

I was responding to that bit. The GTX 4-series is definitely faster.

More about the price than performance.
You could buy a massive tub of butter with the change.

More expensive, yes.

[tinymouse2]

I was responding to that bit. The GTX 4-series is definitely faster.

Performance boost was more power to price. It's just to much to make it worthwhile.

[EarthDog]

LOL, I hate that arguement power to price... Like I mentioned in another thread, if you cant afford the meager, what $5 difference at most, per month between the 5870 and GTX480, you shouldnt be buying a $450+ card in the first place.

[I.M.O.G.]

Off topic posts deleted, please refer to the thread starting post.

[mrgettmann]

Not sure if this is still the case, but its a habit i usually keep. Buy from the same manufaturer as your mobo. Things made from the same people usually have less compatability issues. Its been 6-7 years sence I have build a rig so not sure if that "rule of thumb" still applies.

[wingman99]

That us to be the case way back, it's not so important with video cards now.

[mrgettmann]

That us to be the case way back, it's not so important with video cards now.

Eh, guess I just dated my self a little bit there. Well thats good news. Without getting into the discussion of ATI vs nVidia, who are the best video card producing sub-contracters?(ie ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, etc.)

Edit: by best I mean reliability, not looking at price. IMO if you have to pay 100 more to buy it once its better than paying less and buying twice.

[wingman99]

Eh, guess I just dated my self a little bit there. Well thats good news. Without getting into the discussion of ATI vs nVidia, who are the best video card producing sub-contracters?(ie ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, etc.)

Edit: by best I mean reliability, not looking at price. IMO if you have to pay 100 more to buy it once its better than paying less and buying twice.Dated your self look at my avatar LOL, just kidding around. I was there when pc's first started and then the lovely voodoo2 accelerator and SLI

Since your on the nvidia post I will talk about nvida. EVGA has lifetime warranty however they are strict you have to have a invoice or receipt and you need to register the product within 30 days and it cost I think it's $10 to RMA now.

Times have changed you can no longer pick up a secondhand video card and send it in for RMA BFG was doing second owner, I don't know if there still doing that.

EVGA is what I have and they are recommend by most, however I always look at the warranty before I buy.

As far as the best sub-contractors I have not seen one company do poorly, they mostly make nvida reference pcb capacitors IC's chipsets VRM design some companies make non reference heat sinks and fans like Asus. There much more stricter now days, then they were a long time ago, because of heat power and durability to make warranty period.

[mrgettmann]

Ah voodoo, I remember back to the days when that was top of the line.

[ScottinIndy]

When buying Nvidia I will usually look for the best deal from either Evga or BFG, I think both are top notch in regard to taking care of their customers.

[Leonardo]

pbcranium, the short answer is that it does not matter what brand you purchase now with respect to quality.

Explanation:

All the initial load of cards, probably for several months, are made at the same factory to the same specifications, contracted by Nvidia. ALL of them - no difference. The only difference to you the consumer will be the labels and box printing....

Warranty is another matter. EVGA has a sterling reputation for warranty longevity and service to the consumer.

[wingman99]

pbcranium, the short answer is that it does not matter what brand you purchase now with respect to quality.

Explanation:

All the initial load of cards, probably for several months, are made at the same factory to the same specifications, contracted by Nvidia. ALL of them - no difference. The only difference to you the consumer will be the labels and box printing....

Warranty is another matter. EVGA has a sterling reputation for warranty longevity and service to the consumer.How can that be EVGA gets higher binned GPUs for factory overclocking and some cards like Asus don't have a reference PCB or heat sink's on some of there products. Pleas post links to your contracted factory link. I know for sure Nvidia contracts there GPU's at one factory.

[Leonardo]

ATI or Nvidia, it's the norm that the first few weeks or months of cards are all reference cards, all produced on the same lines. They do that so that all their loyal resellers/builders will start on a level playing field. After the new video card models are established, then Nvidia and ATI will usually give the card makers permission to modify, such as adding memory and "factory" overclocking.

To reiterate, it's weeks or months after initial introduction that individual brands will start differentiating their card models. Until that stage, the only differences are services, marketing, and price.

I've got 8 9800GX2 cards, 3 different brands; and I've had two additional brands before (ECS and PNY). With the exception of two cards that were factory overclocked and a whole bunch of stupid, boy-wonder casing stickers, the cards are/were identical.

[wingman99]

ATI or Nvidia, it's the norm that the first few weeks or months of cards are all reference cards, all produced on the same lines. They do that so that all their loyal resellers/builders will start on a level playing field. After the new video card models are established, then Nvidia and ATI will usually give the card makers permission to modify, such as adding memory and "factory" overclocking.

To reiterate, it's weeks or months after initial introduction that individual brands will start differentiating their card models. Until that stage, the only differences are services, marketing, and price.

I've got 8 9800GX2 cards, 3 different brands; and I've had two additional brands before (ECS and PNY). With the exception of two cards that were factory overclocked and a whole bunch of stupid, boy-wonder casing stickers, the cards are/were identical.I'm not question about nvidia and ATI's reference design being identical. I just thought they were assembled by the smaller companies like evga as kits.

[xilix]

GPU's are a 2-3 year investment for a lot of people, and the best option for anyone in that category is to get the absolute best they can. If you are in this category, and can afford to buy a 4xx series card, then BUY IT, bottleneck or no bottleneck; it will last you. When that CPU gets a replacement, the bottleneck is released and your investment just paid off.

I stopped nickel and dime upgrades a long time ago. It's just not cost effective.

[wingman99]

Yes really...even at 4.0ghz
With my e8400 at 3.0 ghz my gtx275 is horribly bottle necked which I can see by the GPU usage and CPU usage in EVGA Precision and Task Manager.
At 3.5 ghz my gtx275 is still bottle necked but not as bad.
At 4.0 ghz my gtx275 is finally using above 90%.

So yeah, if you want to couple a new gen card with a e8400 be my guest. But my point is, you might as well get something along the lines of a 285 because as you can see...4.0ghz on a e8400 just about maximizes my 275 out.




Lets be real...a $500 dollar video card that your not even going to utilize?
Or a new board, cpu, mem for $500
And a video card a little later that you will be able to actually utilize fully because you know have a beast system.
Go buy a new motherboard + i7 cpu + new memory.... <---- My point.




If you are worried about frame rates than consider that most games being released in 2010 support quad core cpu's.
So your precious e8400 (and mine for that matter) will not hold up much longer in games...
My friend's sytem with an i7 at 3.0ghz RAPES my e8400 at 4.0ghz (both with gtx275) in Bad Company 2....(only game we both play and we both have tested accurately)
I am talking a difference in 25 fps average. (this is strictly CPU related....)


I don't know what games your going to be playing...some people just want the latest hardware and don't even game...if that is the case then go for it.

Otherwise, spend your money in a better manner and get more for your money performance wise...

I just tried a Using the E8400 and a HD5870 in Bad Company 2 on high settings at 1920x1200 res, sound setting War Tapes, I was getting 40-85fps.

Using the e8400 and a overclocked 8800GT I was getting 15-35fps in Bad Company 2 on a full 32 man server at medium settings 1920x1200 res,sound setting War Tapes. That test was done on stock clocked E8400

To the OP GET GTX 470 or 480 you won't be sorry with the E8400 on most games it's not a bad bottleneck also overclock it to get more out of it till you upgrade.

Also there are not that many quad core recommended games out there. I count about 4 supreme commander, BFBC2, GTA4, and FSX there are other games out there that will run on a quad however you don't need one for great game play. If you want every detail option turned on ultra high then you need a quad core.