Upgrade Advice Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P

[knoober]

that 270x has the best clocks out of the box and is a middle ground for price range.

Edit: and I don't know of any reason not to just go with the highest rated clocks for the lowest price aside from if one of them will fit better in your case or conflict with other hardware (and I don't think you have any of those problems)

 

[Zoue]

sorry to labour this point, but I'm a bit confused. The reviews I've read generally say that the R9 280 is better than the 270x, particularly when the latter is only 2GB. But I also don't understand the power equation. According to pcpartpicker, the 280x is compatible with a 650W PSU, but according to the specs a minimum 750W is required. As the price is so good (only £10 more than the 280 and I've read that the Vapor-X version is a good OC candidate more even more future-proofing) I'm quite tempted but I don't want to end up with an expensive paperweight. Can't afford to do that and a new psu, especially since that money, when I get it, is earmarked for the 6300 cpu.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Yes, the 280 will always be faster than the 270X.
Go look at the TDP for your components and add it up, that's how much power you need.

 

[knoober]

Yes, the 280 will always be faster than the 270X.
Go look at the TDP for your components and add it up, that's how much power you need.

I double checked to be sure, but of the links he gave the 270x is sporting the highest advertised clock speeds (with comparable vram) so what's making the difference here? If it's something like Cuda cores or shaders or something.... Those are beyond my understanding

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I double checked to be sure, but of the links he gave the 270x is sporting the highest advertised clock speeds (with comparable vram) so what's making the difference here? If it's something like Cuda cores or shaders or something.... Those are beyond my understanding

AMD doesn't use CUDA cores, that's Nvidia technology.
There are more cores and more vRAM, it's simply a faster GPU. That's why it's a higher model number.

 

[Tyerker]

The reason that GPU says 750W PSU required is because they don't assume you are going to have a high-quality unit. They assume you will have the PSU included with your case, or a $40 750W PSU with crap 12V Rail Amperage. If they said 450W Required, just because the TDP is below that, then people with the 500W Raidmax that came with the case would go blowing themselves up from time to time.

Just a big over-estimation so they can cover their own butts.

 

[knoober]

AMD doesn't use CUDA cores, that's Nvidia technology.
There are more cores and more vRAM, it's simply a faster GPU. That's why it's a higher model number.

What's with the higher clock speed then? Is clock speed not comparable between revisions? I'll admit to misreading the vram but otherwise that 270x is sporting the highest clock and "boost" speeds. I take it the boost is the amount of built in OC you can get?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

What's with the higher clock speed then? Is clock speed not comparable between revisions? I'll admit to misreading the vram but otherwise that 270x is sporting the highest clock and "boost" speeds. I take it the boost is the amount of built in OC you can get?

A higher clock speed of 270X will be faster than a stock 270X.
Just because the clock speed of a 270X is higher than that of a 280 doesn't make it faster.........

 

[EarthDog]

What's with the higher clock speed then? Is clock speed not comparable between revisions? I'll admit to misreading the vram but otherwise that 270x is sporting the highest clock and "boost" speeds. I take it the boost is the amount of built in OC you can get?

Yeah, clockspeeds are not the end all for GPU performance. The amount of shaders, the ROPs, TMU's, etc ALL play a role in how fast a GPU will be overall. So a card with more shaders/ROPs/TMUs, can be as fast or faster than a card with faster clockspeeds.

While you can/may be able to overclock a 270x to 280 performance, you can also overclock a 280. Be fair to both sides.

 

[Zoue]

ah. Mine's a Winpower APS 650W PSU, more commonly known as bargain basement. Never had any problems with it but there again it's never been stretched. I'm guessing this would be inadvisable to combine with a Sapphire R9 280x?

@ATMINSIDE: I'm using less than 200W without the Graphics card, so in theory the Sapphire should be OK with 250W added. I know my PSU is not exactly quality, but there should be room, shouldn't there?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Please take a picture of the sticker on the PSU.
Also, how old is it?

 

[EarthDog]

ah. Mine's a Winpower APS 650W PSU, more commonly known as bargain basement. Never had any problems with it but there again it's never been stretched. I'm guessing this would be inadvisable to combine with a Sapphire R9 280x?

@Atminside: I'm using less than 200W without the Graphics card, so in theory the Sapphire should be OK with 250W added. I know my PSU is not exactly quality, but there should be room, shouldn't there?

"room" isn't really the main concern. The fact that it is a $25 650W PSU is. As ATM requested, post up a picture of the sticker so we can see the wattage/amperage on the 12v rail. If it is an older PSU, the overwhelming majority of the wattage wont be on the 12v. I also want to see the UL number so we can reference its OEM. BUt again, since its like a $25 PSU and its a couple years old, I would certainly scrap it for something known good. Hell even the Corsair CX500 would likely be better.

 

[Zoue]

Here's the offending article. I'm under no illusions it's a quality PSU but was hoping it wasn't complete dog dirt...

as to age, the system was bought at the end of 2012

 

[Tyerker]

Ya, 23A/20A isn't much on the 12V Rails. But why on earth would it need 62A total on the 3.3V and 5V?!?!

But since it's two 12V Rails, maybe the Amperage is fine? I'll let one of the experts tell you to be sure.

 

[EarthDog]

The heavy amperage on the 3.3/5v rails are an old spec (for old PCs where they didnt draw as much for the 12v - see my previous post).

516W/43A total on a QUALITY PSU would be fine for his system, particularly at stock. But what we don't know is if that is a TRUE dual rail (so there is OCP on the rails) or if there isn't any OCP and it can be combined.

Either way, I would get rid of that thing ASAP.

 

[Zoue]

Bang goes my budget then

It's not 750W, but would the following cut the mustard, with an eye on getting the FX6300 (eventually) and the Sapphire R9 280x Graphics card?

http://www.box.co.uk/XFX_TS_Series_650w_Black_Edition_Power_S_1552397.html

It's about the cheapest quality brand I could find for 650W and Gold certified. The 750W version is another 15% in price but I'm breaking the bank as it is

 

[EarthDog]

Perfect.

http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story6&reid=426

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Wow, no 80+, no UL listing, no mention of OVP/OCP... You're lucky it hasn't caused a fire, IMO.

That XFX is a very good option for you, go for it.

 

[Zoue]

well, to be fair it hasn't exactly been pushed yet! What I have at the moment isn't exactly power hungry. But the plan is to change this

Thanks for the advice

edit: and now that you mention it I did have to replace my motherboard recently and I'm starting to wonder if the PSU may have contributed to its demise...

It's been an education. I hang my head in shame but before this thread I'd viewed the PSU as a mere means to get, well, power to the PC. Little did I know how important all the variables were!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

edit: and now that you mention it I did have to replace my motherboard recently and I'm starting to wonder if the PSU may have contributed to its demise...

Most likely yes, I've seen it happen multiple times.