Jump to content

Upgrade Advice

scoobnut

By scoobnut
in Skyrim LE

 Share

Recommended Posts

marat569 Collaborator

marat569

Posted
Posted

 

Have no idea why you quote me tho, lol.

 

 

Just confirming your point GPU horsepower is king the memory controllers are not that critical. The cards R9 290X and the GTX 970 are both using the same TMSC TW 28 nm silicon they are different only in the photo-lithography process.

 

 

A gpu has two parts, the processor (GPU) and the Memory (GDDR5 atm)

R9 290X is the processor, many brands (asus, evga, etc) sell this chip architecture and well build around it differently (think of a graphics card as a computer but in a small rectangle that is focused on CPU + RAM)

> Some builds have better cooling than others

> some builds have different outputs on the back of the card (not performance, the actual plugs on the back)

> this is the most important -- they'll all have different amounts of ram, the higher the cost.

>> The way skyrim modding works, GDDR (Ram on your graphics card) is extremely important; the more memory the better!

 

- You can go down a chip and get more gRam and probably get more performance out of it than a higher tier chip and less gRam.

> I'll use nvidia since it's easier to talk about chipsets.

>> Say you can either get a GTX 780 and GTX 770 are the chipsets; ofcourse the 780 is better chip wise, but numbers are numbers

>> Say you can get for the same price (This is an analogy) a GTX 770 with 6gb ram OR GTX 780 2gb ram

 

With skyrim the GTX 770 with 6gb ram will give you more performance than the GTX 780 with 2gb ram

> This is strictly for skyrim and many other others, but I'm talking about skyrim.

 

- Ohh and make sure to have a good SSD, or suffer.

 

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Amyr Enthusiast

Amyr

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't get that version of GTX 970 tho...

Honestly most people don't use this cards at stock speed because they got great overclocking potential and it really makes a noticeable difference on FPS. I would suggest you to either get the one with highest boost clock or buy a decent one and overclock it yourself. As far as I know, EVGA FTW 970 or GALAX 970 HOF are the fastest ones by default.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
marat569 Collaborator

marat569

Posted
Posted

 

Well the one with the most amount of ram and if you can afford it.

 

The Samsung Pro SSD is probably a must. The Pro series of cards are meant for high speeds and have a huge life-span - The evo drives are cheaper, and have a different build to make them have less, much less writes.

840 Pro 512 GB is perfect, there is an 850 pro now but that's a bit too expensive and I don't see the need for it. Check out the difference between an SSD and my secondary HDD (A standard HDD, nothing special)

http://i.imgur.com/LNp1fPb.png

The left is the HDD, the Right is the SSD

> This test is an example of how skyrim interacts with your drive, always pulling many small or large files from allover the place

> The HDD took some time to complete the test, while the SSD completed it instantly

> Also just look at the numbers

 

>> As for GFX Cards, read my reply below :)

I wouldn't get that version of GTX 970 tho...

Honestly most people don't use this cards at stock speed because they got great overclocking potential and it really makes a noticeable difference on FPS. I would suggest you to either get the one with highest boost clock or buy a decent one and overclock it yourself. As far as I know, EVGA FTW 970 or GALAX 970 HOF are the fastest ones by default.

It's very easy to overclock an nvidia card yourself by flashing the firmware (very easy and safe, I can help).

Again, in all the gtx 970's, The chip is exactly the same. They just charge more for changing the clock speeds, which you can do yourself!

 

A GTX 970 will be the same no matter what brand, EVGA, Gigabyte, etc -- the difference is the amount of memory, cooling[not such a big deal since your rig will be cooled], and design, but the actual GPU that determines the clock speeds. Buy a 970 with the most ammount of possible memory that you can afford. It's better to have a 4gb card than a 2gb card and etc. If a 4gb or higher 970 is too expensive for you, a high memory 960 will probably give you better performance skyrim modding wise

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Amyr Enthusiast

Amyr

Posted
Posted

First, there is no difference between OCing an AMD card or a NVIDIA card. It's just the same.

 

Second, you don't flash GPU Bios for OCing. That is only necessary if you need a custom BIOS that can go high voltage values. And that is not something average Joe can do or need to do.

 

Third, getting a blower type of cooler card with a reference design is the worst thing you can do if you plan on using that card for long time.

 

Fourth, no they don't just charge more for only high clock speeds. Board manufacturers like EVGA, Gigabyte or ASUS just gets the blueprint from NVIDIA and builds the whole PCB by themselves, in that process all of the components used are different brands, although it may not make much of a difference they don't just buy the whole card from NVIDIA and overclock and sell it. That's not how it works. They can even use different brands for RAM like Hynix, Samsung or Elpida on VRAM blocks which is almost something that not everyone cares. And when you buy EVGA or ASUS instead of Powercolor or Leadtek, you know that they used higher quality components(which reduces the chance of failure) and have much better customer service. So it's not just about higher clocks as you think.

 

Fifth, please just stop saying "buy the one with more memory" like there are different 970s out there with different amount of memory, they don't just put random amounts of memory on to the cards. It is the same for every GTX 970, you can't find a single 970 out there with more or less than 4GB VRAM until NVIDIA decides to release an 8GB version of it.

 

Sixth, there is no high memory 960. There is not even a 960 yet. And all those leaked information tells us that 960 will have 4GB VRAM too, just like 970 and 980.

 

Please stop misleading people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
marat569 Collaborator

marat569

Posted
Posted

First, there is no difference between OCing an AMD card or a NVIDIA card. It's just the same.

 

Second, you don't flash GPU Bios for OCing. That is only necessary if you need a custom BIOS that can go high voltage values. And that is not something average Joe can do or need to do.

 

Third, getting a blower type of cooler card with a reference design is the worst thing you can do if you plan on using that card for long time.

 

Fourth, no they don't just charge more for only high clock speeds. Board manufacturers like EVGA, Gigabyte or ASUS just gets the blueprint from NVIDIA and builds the whole PCB by themselves, in that process all of the components used are different brands, although it may not make much of a difference they don't just buy the whole card from NVIDIA and overclock and sell it. That's not how it works. They can even use different brands for RAM like Hynix, Samsung or Elpida on VRAM blocks which is almost something that not everyone cares. And when you buy EVGA or ASUS instead of Powercolor or Leadtek, you know that they used higher quality components(which reduces the chance of failure) and have much better customer service. So it's not just about higher clocks as you think.

 

Fifth, please just stop saying "buy the one with more memory" like there are different 970s out there with different amount of memory, they don't just put random amounts of memory on to the cards. It is the same for every GTX 970, you can't find a single 970 out there with more or less than 4GB VRAM until NVIDIA decides to release an 8GB version of it.

 

Sixth, there is no high memory 960. There is not even a 960 yet. And all those leaked information tells us that 960 will have 4GB VRAM too, just like 970 and 980.

 

Please stop misleading people.

 

Actually go watch some youtube videos from credible sources, the chip (nvidia 980) will be the same exact thing in every single 980 card. And no you don't OC AMD and Nvidia cards the same.

 

AMD cards you can OC them via in a program

 

Nvidia cards you need to make a custom .rom and flash it in msdos via nvram , maybe the newer cards changed -- but that's how you do it for my 660.

 

Actually go on newegg and type in that card, there are a dozen price ranges and a few memory options.

 

Just go youtube before arguing, I share what I learn.

 

Next thing you know, you're going to say soundcards are mandatory and increase fps ^_^ (Never buy a soundcard, ever -- biggest waste of money)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
scoobnut Contributor

scoobnut

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Now I'm totally lost.

 

My understanding of computers is limited and mostly based on building computers with duel core and older graphics card so I thought I'd done my homework when it came to upgrading this pc (obviously not)

 

So here's the question...

 

If you were going to replace your graphics card and add an ssd, and had around £400 hundred to spend what would you get to handle a texture modded skyrim.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
marat569 Collaborator

marat569

Posted
Posted

Now I'm totally lost.

 

My understanding of computers is limited and mostly based on building computers with duel core and older graphics card so I thought I'd done my homework when it came to upgrading this pc (obviously not)

 

So here's the question...

 

If you were going to replace your graphics card and add an ssd, and had around £400 hundred to spend what would you get to handle a texture modded skyrim.

 

400 pounds is around 600$ usd

 

Well the SSD is around ~250$ USD

 

 

That leaves you with around ~350$ for a graphics card; won't be the best one out, but you don't need the "best card" -- just go for an nvidia card

 

Lets make it simple:

Must: 840 pro 512gb

 

Graphics card: 670+ with 4gb+ of GDDR (memory)

 

With those you'll be set. If you need, go on newegg -- they got great sales right now.

 

I'm an nvidia fan (I've used amd last when 6850 was one of the top tier cards), and would suggest them any-day.

 

Random:

Also amd will soon make all their proprietary "functions" in their cards open source so nvidia will have everything that used to be exclusive to amd)

 

 

Textures take up a lot of video ram and drive usage, while playing and monitoring my hard drive, my texture files are being read like crazy (But that doesn't matter because I have an awesome SSD :p)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Amyr Enthusiast

Amyr

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm not even gonna answer someone that says "go watch on YouTube" that is the exact translation of "I don't know a thing, I just saw it on a video". Please just ignore marat569.

 

I already reported him for false information and trolling.

 

_______________________

 

Anyway, if you can buy it now, buy it asap before the deal goes off;

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-250GB-Basic-Solid-State/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416185267&sr=8-1&keywords=250gb+evo

And this

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-259-EA

 

Both cost you around £400, maybe less if you can find a cheaper version of the GPU. I don't really know any British websites.

Edited by Amyr
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...