6 replies to this topic

[zixi]

I'm wondering what to do. I have a PC which is about 6 years old. A few years ago it had a component failure which necessitated the replacement of a few components - daisy chain effect. However, I've forgotten what they did... I was post chemo at the time and trust me it's like living on a bottle of vodka a day... So don't ask me what was new. Don't know. At the moment it seems to consist of the following - according to Ubuntu...

Memory - 16 GiB

IntelCore 8350 K CPU @ 4.000GHz x 4

Disk 2.3 TB

GeForce GTX 690

 

It's the GTX 690 which is irritating me. It was a card developed to be superfast about 12 years ago. It puts 2 GPUs on one card. Under Windows these two GPUs got used. Under Linux I don't know if they do both operate. I do know that SLI does *not* operate under Ubuntu and hasn't for a while.  I'm unclear if the GTX 690 actually uses SLI at all because technically it's one card... The bits of the web I've seen are as vague about it as I am. Nvidia support for SLI on Linux ended some time ago... it was a technology that didn't go anywhere...

 

If the PC was just 6 years old I'd probably just replace it but there's the new bits and Linux. It's still quite hard to get a Linux box with the OS readily installed. My husband bought a PC recently which was without an OS but unfortunately they'd tested it with Windows so the residue of the OS existed and trust me, it was a headache to sort. So, I'd like to wait until the world is a bit more Linux friendly and the PC was built with Linux in mind...

 

I'm wondering if swapping the GPU for something else might add a little sparkle. And if so just what???? I had intended to wait until Bethesda released TESVI but that could be so long off that I'm beginning to wonder if I will see it! The other games I play run fine on the current rig because basically they're very very very old and there's no likelihood I'd play anything that wasn't TES... tried them didn't like 'em.

 

So, suggestions please? BTW the Linux part is non-negotiable. I've tried Windows, Mac, Android, iPad various mainframes and their various OS and I just like Linux. It feels right. We're quite capable of replacing a graphics card here. We're not hardware experts but we are ex-computer scientists and we've both replaced bits and pieces though neither of us has built from scratch. We were used to having technicians supporting us so we never bothered over the hardware aspects... the technicians were *much* better at that than we'd ever be... But I say all that to explain we have no fear of the insides and I shan't cry if it all goes pear-shaped. There are far more important things...

 

Thanks for reading this far!!!

[HeyYou]

How much ya wanna spend? Good graphics cards range in price from a few hundred, to over a thousand dollars. Your CPU is pretty stout, so, you can get as weird as you want, just make sure your power supply will support your new vid card.

 

At this point, the Nvidia 30 series cards are top o' the heap, but, it seems almost everyone is out of stock, and those that do have 'em, are asking stupid money for them. You could go with a 20 series card, as they still seem to be out there, or even the 1660TI, or Super.

 

There is a nice ranking chart here. Have a look, and pick one in your budget. (keep in mind the power requirements as well.)

[zixi]

re cost... That's a good question but my answer is: Depends. It kind of feels I ought to upgrade rather than replace just now and it'll put off the dreadful moment when I have to replace. As I say, I'm hoping the world will become Linux friendlier but if it doesn't I'll probably build. We could definitely manage that between us here but I'd rather wait till after my husband builds his Raspberry Pi! Start little...

 

The PSU was definitely replaced. It's the Corsair RM750x. BTW I'm glad I have a reply from you as I already know that you know your hardware!

[HeyYou]

In the famous words of Colonel O'neill, "It's what I do."

 

I am running an i7 9700KF (no onboard video, and no hyper threading, but, still, it's an 8 core......) with a GTX 1060 6gb, and it runs things like Skyrim and Fallout 4 VERY well. Framerate seldom drops below 40 FPS or so. I am happy with it, and will run it until the 30 series cards become available again. (April??) Hopefully the prices won't be as stupid.

 

If you look at the chart, you can gauge expected performance by it's position in the list. Get as much VRAM as you can, as I suspect that is going to be the primary factor for performance for the immediate future. I was considering a 3060 with as much ram as I can get. Should keep me future-proof for the next couple generations of games. I hope.

[zixi]

In the famous words of Colonel O'neill, "It's what I do."

I know. I've seen you in action and I've worked with people like you. They allowed us to go around in blissful ignorance of the  techie parts of the technology because they knew their stuff. It freed us up to know our stuff.

 

I'll take a look at your suggestions. Thanks again for the advice. I really do appreciate it very much indeed.  I wanted advice from a gamer because at least they know where I'm coming from.

[zixi]

I see what you mean by getting your hands on the things. My husband thought that bitcoin was the reason the cards are becoming hard to get hold of but it looks like it's a number of reasons. The link you gave was very useful for the cards and explaining what has happened over prices and availability. I'm going to try very hard to be patient for a few months. In any case, I may be forced to be patient because there simply aren't the supplies. But at least we know it's no new computer just yet - it's do something to update this one.  BTW patience is not my thing... it never was if I'm honest but cancer has made me even more DO IT NOW!!! But you're right - it does *require* some patience... I'll try my best!

[HeyYou]

Patience was never my strong suit either. My wife suggested I go to WalMart, and see if they have any on sale..... but, I just couldn't bring myself to go there.