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[Coreda]

It's been a couple years since I've looked at mice. The last time I did I bought three (Razer Krait, SteelSeries Kinzu, Gigabyte GM-M8000) after extensive research and ended up selling one and returning the other, while the third I kept in it's box.

I liked the SS Kinzu best and it suited my grip style (fingertip grip) but suffered from prediction/angle-snapping/Drift Control, ie: small movements are adjusted via firmware to align to horizontal and vertical paths. Most brands hid this info, and for my use it ruined it for me.

Of the new mice do they also have this or will I still need to do a lot of googling to find out?

 

[wilflare]

The GPU can scale pretty much anything to 1440p. It's only an issue if you want to use a non-PC input.

man.. should have gotten the Korean monitor instead of my U2412M then...
so can the Korean monitor display a 1080P signal from my 280X? (how will it show up? 1:1 pixel mapping or stretched?) i misunderstood what a lack of ad board meant :/

 

[wilflare]

That would explain this then. I've noticed in 1 or 2 games that playing below 1440P results in a centered, non-stretched image. Other games have no problem natively scaling. I knew that I could override this with GPU software scaling, but it hasn't mattered since 1440p on lower settings is still better than ultra on 1080p. Being able to see the finer details in game textures without the details fading in and out is pretty remarkable. It's like how Dark Souls PC exploded when people found out how gorgeous the assets in that game actually are at high res. Now apply that to PC games that have been around for years with High Res texture packs and such. Sleeping Dogs @ 1440p looks unbelievable.

The most interesting and useful thing I've found is that, on a 27 inch at least, MSAA has almost no noticeable effect on IQ until it's pumped up to 8X. At this res FXAA has actually been the more useful form of AA, and it's pretty much a 0 performance hit on my machine. So all the frames lost at 1080P rendering MSAA basically make up the performance difference minus 10% or so.

hmm. this kinda confuses me further..
if the monitor cannot anything less than a 1440P monitor... any game with a 1080P signal should display either 1:1 or stretched (it should not change regardless of game) unless your GPU is set to scale them...

should have bought the 27inch instead of my U2412M... would have been better use of my 280x

 

[mkenyon]

It's been a couple years since I've looked at mice. The last time I did I bought three (Razer Krait, SteelSeries Kinzu, Gigabyte GM-M8000) after extensive research and ended up selling one and returning the other, while the third I kept in it's box.

I liked the SS Kinzu best and it suited my grip style (fingertip grip) but suffered from prediction/angle-snapping/Drift Control, ie: small movements are adjusted via firmware to align to horizontal and vertical paths. Most brands hid this info, and for my use it ruined it for me.

Of the new mice do they also have this or will I still need to do a lot of googling to find out?

They all do this at varying levels aside from one, the Steelseries Rival. It's optical, not laser. It has zero interpolation (what causes angle snapping) and zero native acceleration.

 

[NoRéN]

New thread title makes me feel inadequate.

 

[mkenyon]

New thread title makes me feel inadequate.

Gotta rile things up a bit. This being NeoGAF and all.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Question- I have a 4770k and 780 setup ATM playing on my pioneer Kuro 10th gen at 1080p. Games look fantastic on it.

Is the leap to 1440p TREMENDOUS? 720p to 1080p to me is absolutely huge. Is this a similar leap?

Also fwiw the leap from 30 to 60fps is also absolutely astronomical, but when I saw a 120fps/60fps comparison the different to me was minimal. What is the 1080p to 1440p jump like?

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Those leaked and rumored prices on Haswell-E are actually ok to me.

600 for the 8c/15t and 400 for the 6c/12t. The DDR4 memory is the kicker. I expect there to be a Sabertooth x99 board for around the 350 range.

 

[mkenyon]

Question- I have a 4770k and 780 setup ATM playing on my pioneer Kuro 10th gen at 1080p. Games look fantastic on it.

Is the leap to 1440p TREMENDOUS? 720p to 1080p to me is absolutely huge. Is this a similar leap?

Also fwiw the leap from 30 to 60fps is also absolutely astronomical, but when I saw a 120fps/60fps comparison the different to me was minimal. What is the 1080p to 1440p jump like?

Playing on the Kuro, you are going to despise the blur on almost all the IPS panels. The QNIX would be your best bet, only because it can clock to 120Hz which reduces the blur significantly. Ideally though, you'd want something that strobes to achieve that same kind of motion resolution you get on Plasma. Maybe think about waiting for a GSync 1440p panel.

Did you see the 60 to 120 fps comparison on a 120Hz panel? Because its the same kind of jump to me, if not even more profound.

 

[kennah]

Guess I'll start saving now.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

Did you see the 60 to 120 fps comparison on a 120Hz panel? Because its the same kind of jump to me, if not even more profound.

Thanks for the reply. And yes I saw the demonstration on a 120hz panel at a gigabyte stand at pax. They had several games running at 60hz next to a 120hz panel. I could see a difference but not a huge one (like the drop from 60 to 30 makes the game seem like it's running in literal slow motion)

 

[mkenyon]

Yeah, I can see how that kind of demonstration would lack emphasis.

In any case, you'd still want the 120Hz QNIX for reduced blur. But I'd really reccomend waiting a few months to see what news comes out on the G-Sync front.

 

[wilflare]

Yeah, I can see how that kind of demonstration would lack emphasis.

In any case, you'd still want the 120Hz QNIX for reduced blur. But I'd really reccomend waiting a few months to see what news comes out on the G-Sync front.

I really should have held off on the U2412M then... and just stuck with my 2209WA

wonder if AMD will have anything to match or make their cards compatible with GSync too

 

[Vice]

Thanks everyone. I got everything working, had to re-install drivers.

Another quick question. I have an Nvidia 2GB 650, non-TI, and on SystemRequirementsLab (Can you run it), it says I only have 16mb of video ram on my card. Everything is hooked up properly, and the other categories on the site, such as Ram and which version of pixel shader, I have are correct so it this just a normal error on the site?

Edit: GPU-Z is showing the correct amount of video ram as well.

 

[AJLma]

Question- I have a 4770k and 780 setup ATM playing on my pioneer Kuro 10th gen at 1080p. Games look fantastic on it.

Is the leap to 1440p TREMENDOUS? 720p to 1080p to me is absolutely huge. Is this a similar leap?

Also fwiw the leap from 30 to 60fps is also absolutely astronomical, but when I saw a 120fps/60fps comparison the different to me was minimal. What is the 1080p to 1440p jump like?

I was flicking forth between 1080p and 1440p in BF3, and 1080p looked blurry in comparison.

I think the numbers should set reasonable expectations:

720p - 921,600 pixels
1080p - 2,073,600 pixels
1440p - 3,686,400 pixels

It's almost twice as many pixels as 1080p, and exactly 4 times as many as 720p.

It's not 4K(8 million pixels), but it's a pretty large leap. Games with really high resolution assets, like Metro: Last Light benefit a ton, while games with lower res assets just present a flawlessly clear image.

Metro: Last Light @ 1440p is the best looking game I've ever seen. Somehow it still runs at 60+ FPS too.

 

[NoRéN]

Gotta rile things up a bit. This being NeoGAF and all.

ahahaha

still,

Guess I'll start saving now.

Likewise.

 

[xJavonta]

Well, I disagree strongly. Some of us need 5 PCIe slots - and that's with 1 GPU

Also, more space is always better for cooling. Honestly, the only advantage of small cases is that they're small, and who really needs that?

Me. I no longer have space for larger towers, not to mention I think they look like ass

 

[George Claw M.D.]

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on building a gaming rig in a rackmount case? I'm planning on doing some entertainment room rearrangements, and considering getting an AV rack for all my components and systems, including building a new gaming rig/media server. I'm looking at something like this or similar http://www.sanus.com/en_US/products/racks/cfr2136/.

It would be nice to have everything in one organized rack like that, but noise is still a concern due to it sitting in the watching room and not behind a wall.

 

[kennah]

Thanks everyone. I got everything working, had to re-install drivers.

Another quick question. I have an Nvidia 2GB 650, non-TI, and on SystemRequirementsLab (Can you run it), it says I only have 16mb of video ram on my card. Everything is hooked up properly, and the other categories on the site, such as Ram and which version of pixel shader, I have are correct so it this just a normal error on the site?

Edit: GPU-Z is showing the correct amount of video ram as well.

Trust GPU-Z.

Anyone have any experience/thoughts on building a gaming rig in a rackmount case? I'm planning on doing some entertainment room rearrangements, and considering getting an AV rack for all my components and systems, including building a new gaming rig/media server. I'm looking at something like this or similar http://www.sanus.com/en_US/products/racks/cfr2136/.

It would be nice to have everything in one organized rack like that, but noise is still a concern due to it sitting in the watching room and not behind a wall.

Nothing wrong with it. There are some nice rack mount cases. None that I've seen designed for silent running though, so you'd have to be super careful in your fan and component choices.

 

[teh_pwn]

I haven't, but I have put together desktops in 4U cases. That's the bare minimum size I'd use blindly if you're going to put large GPUs in there. You may need bigger cases.

It's difficult to select cases because they aren't reviewed much. Biggest thing to look out for is:
1. Space
2. Air flow
3. Industrial Design (Is it accurate? cheap cases can cause you to lose space on your cabinet because they go over a fraction of a U. Can it easily be racked/railed?)

 

[revolverjgw]

Should I uninstall the drivers for my 6850 before I put in my new 780? Or does that even matter?

 

[kennah]

I haven't, but I have put together desktops in 4U cases. That's the bare minimum size I'd use blindly if you're going to put large GPUs in there. You may need bigger cases.

It's difficult to select cases because they aren't reviewed much. Biggest thing to look out for is:
1. Space
2. Air flow
3. Industrial Design (Is it accurate? cheap cases can cause you to lose space on your cabinet because they go over a fraction of a U. Can it easily be racked/railed?)

All good points. I wish Fractal had Ears for their Node 605.

Actually - you should get a Fractal Node 605 and put it on a shelf in your rack. Best of both worlds.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Should I uninstall the drivers for my 6850 before I put in my new 780? Or does that even matter?

It's just me but I would rid of all traces of any GPU drivers then grab the latest beta or WHQL drivers.

To be safe do it in safe mode with Driver Sweeper.

 

[Nastrodamous]

Should I uninstall the drivers for my 6850 before I put in my new 780? Or does that even matter?

Yeah you should uninstall.

 

[George Claw M.D.]

Nothing wrong with it. There are some nice rack mount cases. None that I've seen designed for silent running though, so you'd have to be super careful in your fan and component choices.

I haven't, but I have put together desktops in 4U cases. That's the bare minimum size I'd use blindly if you're going to put large GPUs in there. You may need bigger cases.

It's difficult to select cases because they aren't reviewed much. Biggest thing to look out for is:
1. Space
2. Air flow
3. Industrial Design (Is it accurate? cheap cases can cause you to lose space on your cabinet because they go over a fraction of a U. Can it easily be racked/railed?)

All good points. I wish Fractal had Ears for their Node 605.

Actually - you should get a Fractal Node 605 and put it on a shelf in your rack. Best of both worlds.

Thanks for the quick weigh-in, guys. Appreciate it. Yeah, I was also thinking of a good spacious horizontal case on one of the rack shelves, if there are no good rackmount options for low noise. Space isn't really an issue, since I'll be making sure to buy a big enough rack for future expandability/flexibility. That Node 605 looks sleek. I'll be doing a little more research, but seeing if I could get any quick recommendations from anyone who was already familiar with such setups. Thanks again.

 

[NoRéN]

What program exactly would you all recommend to remove old drivers?

Googled "driver sweeper" and got lots of responses so i don't want to accidentaly download something bad.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

What program exactly would you all recommend to remove old drivers?

Googled "driver sweeper" and got lots of responses so i don't want to accidentaly download something bad.

Display Driver Uninstaller

 

[Smokey]

Care to make a gentleman's wager?

:x

What's your offer?!

If i break i'll be honest too because it might be tough with with g-sync, haswell-e, ddr4 etc

 

[redlegs87]

Then get W8.1 for $25 http://www.reddit.com/r/softwareswa...etail_windows_81_pro_keys_w_paypal_225_sales/

This seems kind of fishy and unsavory. Is this a legit way to get it?

 

[NoRéN]

Display Driver Uninstaller

Thank you very much!

 

[nbraun80]

Hey quick question for you guys:
I'm looking for a good, mid-range video card, here are two I'm looking at:
Geforce GTX650 2GB 128-bit GDDR5
and
Geforuce GTX650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5

Basically I'm wondering which one would be better? I'm not sure If an extra GB of vRAM is better than extra CUDA Cores. Any input would be appreciated. Or if anyone knows of a better card in the $100-130 range, I'd be happy to hear about it too.

My systems current specs for reference:
HP Pavillion Elite HPE-120f
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 / 2.5 GHz/ 8GB RAM/1TB HDD/ATI Radeon HD 4350/

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Subbed, as usual.

New PC w/ Maxwell and Haswell is in the works this year, as soon as Nvidia releases it.

Also, welcome to all new/future PC gaffers, you're entering the Mecca of gaming.

 

[GHG]

Hey quick question for you guys:
I'm looking for a good, mid-range video card, here are two I'm looking at:
Geforce GTX650 2GB 128-bit GDDR5
and
Geforuce GTX650 Ti 1GB 128-bit GDDR5

Basically I'm wondering which one would be better? I'm not sure If an extra GB of vRAM is better than extra CUDA Cores. Any input would be appreciated. Or if anyone knows of a better card in the $100-130 range, I'd be happy to hear about it too.

My systems current specs for reference:
HP Pavillion Elite HPE-120f
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 / 2.5 GHz/ 8GB RAM/1TB HDD/ATI Radeon HD 4350/

What resolution are you playing at and what is your PSU? If its 1080p you'll be crippled in various ways with either of the 2 cards above (RAM in one case and raw power in the other).

Stretch your budget a bit and go for this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125492

TBH, I wouldn't reccomend investing anymore into that PC other than a cheap GPU below the $150 mark, you need to start saving for a whole new budget build.

 

[haZethew0rld]

Quick question, I'm just gonna game @ 1080p, not thinking about 1440p or anything like that soon, so buying a 770 is alright? I would buy a 290 but until they get new coolers can't lol.

 

[nbraun80]

What resolution are you playing at and what is your PSU? If its 1080p you'll be crippled in various ways with either of the 2 cards above (RAM in one case and raw power in the other).

Stretch your budget a bit and go for this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125492

TBH, I wouldn't reccomend investing anymore into that PC other than a cheap GPU below the $150 mark, you need to start saving for a whole new budget build.

Thanks for the response, I usually run at 900p currently, have a 400W psu. And yeah I could use a whole new system, but I'd like to get another year or so out of this until I can do so. The one you linked to would definitely be in my price range if you think it will run better. thanks

 

[mkenyon]

Quick question, I'm just gonna game @ 1080p, not thinking about 1440p or anything like that soon, so buying a 770 is alright? I would buy a 290 but until they get new coolers can't lol.

770s are very powerful cards. Should be able to run most games at 120 fps, depending on your CPU.

 

[haZethew0rld]

Anyone built their rigs on a Bitfenix Phenom M?

 

[Billium]

Anyone built their rigs on a Bitfenix Phenom M?

Not a Phenom M but I am currently building a friends PC using the mini-ITX version of the Phenom.

 

[Horse Armour]

Are there any downsides to using a multi rail PSU over a single rail. Found this BeQuiet! which I'm planning on using with a 770 and an overclocked 4670K: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/530w-be-quiet!-pure-power-l8-bn181-modular-80plus-bronze-87-eff-120mm-silentwings-fan-eps-12v-atx-v2?ProductId=48464. Would this be suitable as I'm worried about the dual rail 12V line, I'm assuming the rails are split over both PCI-E cables?

 

[wilflare]

This seems kind of fishy and unsavory. Is this a legit way to get it?

it's legit! haha I have some from the Windows Upgrade offer previously if you prefer to buy it from a GAFfer instead.

 

[nicjac]

Hey guys,

posted this on page 2 but it was quickly drown under the sea of posts celebrating the new thread!

fter doing a bit of research, I decided against the idea of using Scan to build my computer and instead decided to go ahead and build it myself. This gives me more choices for the parts selection.

To briefly recapitulate my needs:
- Gaming machine first and foremost
- Has to be CUDA-compatible for GPU-accelerated work in MATLAB. So I am pretty much stuck with nVidia, not that it's necessarily a bad thing.
- I would like a long-lasting system without the need to upgrade for a while

Some random comments/questions:
- I opted for a GTX 780 Ti for now. Still undecided. Would the 780 be able to run most (all) games at 1080/60 and higher resolutions? It appears that the Ti has vastly superior CUDA performance though.
- I am not sure about the power supply. Seems ok but it doesn't appear in the OP? The Cool Master PSUs are much more expensive.
- I went for the corsair watercooling solution. Any disadvantage compared to more conventional fan-based cooling? Difficulty of assembly?
- Any must have tool to get to facilitate the build?

Here is the build:

[url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2vpGB]PCPartPicker part list[/url] / [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2vpGB/by_merchant/]Price breakdown by merchant[/url] / [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/2vpGB/benchmarks/]Benchmarks[/url]

[b]CPU:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i74770k]Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor[/url]  (£250.43 @ Ebuyer) 
[b]CPU Cooler:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-cpu-cooler-h60cw9060007ww]Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler[/url]  (£52.73 @ Ebuyer) 
[b]Motherboard:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-maximusvihero]Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard[/url]  (£149.81 @ Ebuyer) 
[b]Memory:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml16gx3m2a1600c10]Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory[/url]  (£120.19 @ Scan.co.uk) 
[b]Storage:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te250bw]Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk[/url]  (£118.79 @ Amazon UK) 
[b]Storage:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/seagate-internal-hard-drive-st2000dm001]Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive[/url]  (£60.00 @ Aria PC) 
[b]Video Card:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-03gp42884kr]EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB Video Card[/url]  (£571.75 @ Amazon UK) 
[b]Case:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/fractal-design-case-fdcadefr4bl]Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case[/url]  (£77.70 @ Aria PC) 
[b]Power Supply:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-power-supply-rm750]Corsair RM 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply[/url]  (£93.98 @ Dabs) 
[b]Optical Drive:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-optical-drive-sh224dbbebe]Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer[/url]  (£11.98 @ Ebuyer) 
[b]Operating System:[/b]  [url=http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615]Microsoft Windows 8.1 - OEM (64-bit)[/url]  (£79.08 @ Amazon UK) 
[b]Total:[/b] £1586.44
[i](Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)[/i]
[i](Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-04 11:26 GMT+0000)[/i]

 

[Bboy AJ]

Well, if you want "rock solid 1080P 60FPS on highest settings" then GTX770 won't be enough in most modern, demanding titles. Don't downgrade.

770 is definitely not overkill if you want 1080p/60fps. Hell, it might not even be sufficient for upcoming games if you want 60 fps, but who knows? And with that mobo in the second build, Bluetooth 4.0 is integrated, so you should be able to use the DS4 with it. The Biostar doesn't have Bluetooth, so you'd have to pick up a USB adapter of some kind.

i'm running BF4 on ultra with a 770 @ 1080/60. No telling where things will go in the future. But i'm happy so far with it. That being said, mine was an open box. Don't know if the extra $ over the 760 is really work it at retail.

Money - 800-900 might be a bit of a stretch. You could probably shave 50-100 off, but I'm not sure what there will be for sales in the next month or so.

770 is kinda overkill, ish, or maybe not. Hard to recommend it since it's not much of an increase over the 760. Maybe make your cut there and save $100 now and upgrade sooner to a different card. Pretty much any video card will fit in the node. Get a reference exhaust style instead of a multi fan one if you can?

Thanks for the input. I'm thinking maybe I'll go with the 760 and upgrade my card in the future. That's $150 saved and if the difference isn't monstrous, I'm OK with it. It looks like the 760 is a better value for the money, even if it's not as good as the 770. AnandTech 760 review.

What's the benefit of a reference exhaust style GPU instead of a multi fan? Any specific recommendations? Also, is my PSU good for both the USA and the EU?

My post for reference

 

[kennah]

Reference = hot air goes out back
Multi fan = hot air stays in case.

Little case - use reference
Big case - use anything.

PSUs are either autosensing/auto switching or have a little toggle on the back where you specify the input voltage. All you'll have to do is buy a new power cable.

 

[IllumiNate]

Is this Monitor G-Sync compatible? On sale for $449! Good deal? What's the consensus on this monitor? http://m.ncix.com/products/sku/91330

Can it be OCd to 120hz?

Guess my dream monitor would be 1440p IPS 120hz capable G-Sync compatible with built in speakers. Guessing there's nothing like that haha?

 

[Chinbo37]

When should I think about upgrading my geforce gtx 680 2 gig ram card?

Currently I am playing older games as I didn't play PC games for about 10 years (bioshock1, lords of shadow, skyrim) and it runs great, but I want to upgrade at a good time so I get good resale value. Also what about getting a second 680 and sli-ing them?

 

[Coreda]

A bit of a random tidbit, but if accurate has kind of blown my mind.

If I'm understanding correctly what a reviewer of PureOverclock.com wrote in the forums aftermarket fans on GPUs (such as dual ACX style fans) by default apparently don't reach lower temps than reference fans, and in fact they all will reach the same 'target' temp set for the card (adjustable via software).

From what they've said the reason the benchmarks for reference fans of say the 780 hit 80C while those of say the MSI hit 60C is that the manufacturer has shipped with 60C as the 'target' temperature of the card. Unless the user changes this target temp all cards will max out at the target temp as set when shipped, whether to 80C or 60C, etc, and adjust the fan speed accordingly.

The real difference, he says, comes from how the card handles lower temperatures, power consumption, as well as noise levels.

As I was tossing up a reference card fan vs an ACX variety this is eye-opening. Clearly I must be missing something here, right? Because if correct all new Kepler cards can reach whatever temp the user sets.

 

[Avtomat]

A bit of a random tidbit, but if accurate has kind of blown my mind.

If I'm understanding correctly what a reviewer of PureOverclock.com wrote in the forums aftermarket fans on GPUs (such as dual ACX style fans) by default apparently don't reach lower temps than reference fans, and in fact they all will reach the same 'target' temp set for the card (adjustable via software).

From what they've said the reason the benchmarks for reference fans of say the 780 hit 80C while those of say the MSI hit 60C is that the manufacturer has shipped with 60C as the 'target' temperature of the card. Unless the user changes this target temp all cards will max out at the target temp as set when shipped, whether to 80C or 60C, etc, and adjust the fan speed accordingly.

The real difference, he says, comes from how the card handles lower temperatures, power consumption, as well as noise levels.

As I was tossing up a reference card fan vs an ACX variety this is eye-opening. Clearly I must be missing something here, right? Because if correct all new Kepler cards can reach whatever temp the user sets.

That is my understanding also, but remember there is a temp target and a power target so even if you go immerse your card in liquid nitrogen the fact is you will still hit the power target upper limit of the card before any extreme overclocks happen.

The advantages of a none reference cooler are reduced noise and hopefully better overcloking / boost speed as the temp target is hit less often.

 

[Evo X]

When should I think about upgrading my geforce gtx 680 2 gig ram card?

Currently I am playing older games as I didn't play PC games for about 10 years (bioshock1, lords of shadow, skyrim) and it runs great, but I want to upgrade at a good time so I get good resale value. Also what about getting a second 680 and sli-ing them?

A single 680 can easily play the games you mentioned in that post.Upgrade when you aren't happy with the performance of your current card. No one else can tell you exactly when that point is. Some people are fine turning down a few settings as more demanding games come out. Others are crazy like me and have to max absolutely everything.

A second 680 would be the most cost efficient upgrade when you decide to do it.

 

[0xCA2]

Just got burned on shipping (package is seemingly lost and post office(s) can't/won't do anything about it) and I'm a little worried about buying the parts for my build online. What precautions, if any, do you all take when having stuff shipped to you?

 

[Chinbo37]

A single 680 can easily play the games you mentioned in that post.Upgrade when you aren't happy with the performance of your current card. No one else can tell you exactly when that point is. Some people are fine turning down a few settings as more demanding games come out. Others are crazy like me and have to max absolutely everything.

A second 680 would be the most cost efficient upgrade when you decide to do it.

Ya sorry if I wasn't clear I know the games I am playing now look great, just when I saw that mg revengance recommended a 660 I thought that I may need to upgrade at some point, I only care about 60 fps at 1080p max settings since I game on a tv, maybe I can hold out until 2015