SSD or GTX 580

[hoofhearted4]

no, no im not building my PC just yet, i figure i will be able to build it around February when tax returns come around. that said, im still always thinking about it, and thinking about how i wanna go about it and this new difficult decision has popped up.

 

should i get an SSD or a higher end GPU?

 

for a while ive been planning on getting a 560ti GPU with a 128gb SSD (on top of my 500gb hybrid drive)....but i just kind of realized that if im willing to pay $200 on an SSD, maybe i could put it into a better GPU instead (a 580) i figured that it would make more sense to buy the GPU, because once i buy the 560, it would be a waste to go and buy a 580 down the road, however if i buy the 580 when i build my PC, then i could still go and buy a SSD down the road.

 

then again i could just get neither. lol. (not really considering it, just saying lol)...buying one or the other, either way the total build cost comes up to ~$1600, though im using overpriced items to estimate (such as the H80 even though ill prolly get the H60, or a $100 keyboard even though ill prolly get a $50 one)

 

 

 

the only reason i wanted to get an SSD with my starting build, was so i wouldnt have to go through the hassle of reinstalling the OS on the SSD at a later date, as idk what i have to do in order to not screw myself, and my solution was to just get the SSD from the beginning (however im not against reinstalling the OS later, as its a good learning experience)

 

as i type this and think to myself, the more i think i wanna buy a 580 and save the SSD for later.

 

doing it this way, at least i think

 

PROS:

a really good GPU from the get go

a possible learning experience learning to put the OS on a new drive without screwing myself

can still cget the SSD at a later date, getting the good GPU and the SSD in the end, eventually.

this option is the same cost wise as getting the 560 and the SSD at the same time

possibility for SSDs to become cheaper by the time i buy it? lol

 

CONS:

i dont get an SSD right off the bat

i have to reinstall the OS once i get the SSD and there is a possibility i mess something up bad

more expensive in the end (~$1800+)

 

 

and it really all depends on the time gap between building the PC and getting the SSD. could only be a month or two, could by several months or more....this also doesnt take into account that by the time i build my PC, the 600 series might be out...but for sake of discussion lets just forget about the 600 series (unless you know something good about it!)

 

so if you made it to the end of my babbling, what are your opinions? does this sound like a good plan of action? am i over exaggerating on how much of a pain moving/reinstalling the OS is? did i miss any Pros or Cons? if you guys have any questions about my build or anything at all, please ask! i know ive posted tons and tons of threads about my PC, but im always up for more info, discussions and learning!!! :D

 

thanks all!

Edited October 20, 2011 by hoofhearted4

[Thor.]

So how are you liking your Momentus hd, lately I've been getting some insane start times, to the point its nearly impossible to get into the bios with out some quick fingers lol.

 

benched it around 5 seconds.:geek:

Edited October 20, 2011 by Thor.

[Commander19]

Honestly, I would go for the GeForce GTX 580 (I prefer EVGA, but there are other good manufacturers as well) mainly due to the fact (like you already stated) you could always buy the SSD later on down the road and just because you are re-installing your OS does not mean you have to necessarily install all your programs and/or games, there is a good article on Tomshardware of how you can do this. On top of that, the GeForce 600 series is not expected to come out until the around the end of the 1st quarter of the 2012 fiscal year (which is usually a little too optimistic for a brand new series of graphics card) and also the time between building your system and actually buying the SSD will give it a chance for the price to decrease, since SSDs are still quite expensive even for something like 250GB.

 

I, myself just built my new system earlier this year in March, and personally have a EVGA GeForce GTX580 and so far it has failed to disappoint me in way, I can run just about anything at max settings with 50-60+ FPS no problem, the only thing that you may want to take into special consideration is your cooling options, the GTX580 can reach very high temperatures when under extreme loads at times.

 

Anyways, I hope this helps you. If you need to know anything else just let me know, I'll be happy to help. :)

[Thor.]

I agree go with the gtx580, the ssd can wait, you really dont need with the Hybrid drive. Unless you are planning on using it as a gaming HD like i do. :thumbsup: the ssd i mean, i have a 128gb OCZ. Edited October 20, 2011 by Thor.

[Commander19]

I agree go with the gtx580, the ssd can wait, you really dont need with the Hybrid drive. Unless you are planning on using it as a gaming HD like i do. :thumbsup: the ssd i mean, i have a 128gb OCZ.

 

Yup, SSDs are a nice thing to have, but are not necessary, I want to get a 250GB SSD with SATA III, but it is still way too costly to buy right now, I hope soon the price will be lowered to about $350-$400. I have a 2TB Hitachi Deskstar and honestly, it's one of the fastest HDDs I've used in a long time and it is quite silent as well.

[Thor.]

The HDD I have is the Momentus HDD, its a ssd hybrid drive. Its one of a kind, atleast for now.:thumbsup:

 

http://www.newegg.ca...mentus%20hybrid

 

Faster then raptor drives 10% slower then ssd.

Edited October 20, 2011 by Thor.

[hoofhearted4]

i still havent built my PC yet Thor, so no idea on how much i like the Hybrid Drive! lol.

 

and yea, i planned on getting a 128gb SSD, but by the time i buy it maybe i can get a bigger one. but the one i planned on getting was a Crucial M4 128gb SATA III for $200.

 

 

also what puts the GPU under extreme load?

 

EDIT: forgot to mention, then in either case, whether i get the 560 or 580, that i was always going to go with an EVGA

Edited October 20, 2011 by hoofhearted4

[Commander19]

Crucial is a decent brand when it comes to SSDs so you should have no problems with it.

 

Things that put a GPU under extreme load:

1. Tesselations (add layers of depth where they otherwise wouldn't normally be)
   
2. Large worlds with a lot of striking visuals (i.e. Skyrim's world when viewed from the top of a mountain, although that depends on Skyrim's LOD system)
   
3. Long Game sessions that are about 6+ Hours tends to wear on the GPU especially GPU intensive games
   

 

As long as you take care of your system you shouldn't have to really worry to much as far as actually burning out your graphics card, sometimes my GTX580 gets very loud and when it does usually I shut off my computer to let it cool down. One cool feature that NVIDIA added, by the way kudos to them for adding this, is that if the card gets too hot in temperature and/or consumes to much power, the card will throttle itself (which basically means that it will do a forced shutdown) to prolong the lifespan.

 

If you need more help just let me know.

Edited October 20, 2011 by Commander19

[Paxan_1]

Hi,

i would try to have both. Well, to be honest, i dont think you need a gtx 580, what do you want to play? For Skyrim i think a 560 ti will do it, if you have enough money go for the 570, that will save you the money for a ssd. If you ask me you dont need a "big" one, a 60 or maybe 120GB one will do it. I use a 70GB raptor (10000rpm hdd) for my windows, this is an amazing speedboost in comparison to "normal" harddrives. If you use an ssd instead you will be surprised by the speed. My personal plan is to upgrade my radeon4870 to a 6950 and, if i think it is necessary, i will upgrade my raptor to a ssd drive. So, my conclusion, if it is for gaming, go for the gpu, that will give you frames, the ssd will make you feel your windows is faster ;)

 

Sarah

[Thor.]

I would get the gtx580 and get another one and stick it in sli, of course then you really wouldn't need that ssd anyways lol.