New high-end gaming PC

Okay, I will hope that this will catch someone knowledgeable's eye, even though I didn't start a new topic for it.

A bit of bad luck with the graphics card, with which I was pretty happy. I'm having them assemble the PC, but they don't have this card. The card that I wanted was the Gigabyte GTX 470 SuperOverclocked (GIGABYTE GV-N470SO-13I). Now, they advised a Gigabyte GTX 470 Overclocked, but that card seems very disappointing to me.

The overclock does hardly seem worth it compared to reference models. Besides, I can't really find much about the noise levels of this card. I want the card to perform adequately and also be quiet if at all possible.

I'm even considering a better-performing ATi 5870 now, providing there is a model that doesn't drown out all sound when it's running under load.

I had it all down and now I have to make more decisions. I have decisions.

Get a GTX 580 instead… it is almost the same card except 20% faster and much colder and better.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
Get a GTX 580 instead… it is almost the same card except 20% faster and much colder and better.

Also twice as expensive and perhaps not needed in the next couple of years, I think?

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Also twice as expensive and perhaps not needed in the next couple of years, I think?

I agree, as a rule of thumb, never buy the latest video card. For a 20% speed increase you usually pay like 50% more (or more), unless of course, money is not an issue at all.

Also twice as expensive and perhaps not needed in the next couple of years, I think?

I didn't know the price difference was that big… but from what I heard the GTX470 was not really a good card… especially it got too noisy and hot… not something that is promising for your rig. I thought the price difference would be much more moderate… if it is twice as exspensive… nope not worth it… maybe look at the ATI offerings?

5870 is a fine card in my experience - but I haven't really paid much attention to the noise level of mine, and I don't remember the vendor. My CPU cooler and PSU fan both make more noise - but then, I don't mind noise too much as long as it's not excessive.

Alternatively, I believe my friend who bought two 5750 cards (IIRC) with a crossfire setup says they perform around the level of a 5870 (possibly slightly faster) - and they're quite cheap.

The GTX470 is an excellent card for the price. That's what I have, and I've never had any issues whatsoever. The fan does get semi-loud under heavy load, but I don't notice it while gaming.

Originally Posted by GothicGothicness
but from what I heard the GTX470 was not really a good card… especially it got too noisy and hot… not something that is promising for your rig.

Nope, that's why I wanted that Gigabyte card. It has custom cooling and it pre-overclocked. I think Moriendor advised me to try that card and the reviews do agree that it's silent. Alas, it's a no go.

but then, I don't mind noise too much as long as it's not excessive.

Nope, especially if it's very quiet in idle. This will be a living room PC and I will watch videos on it, so that's important. If it's not *very* excessive under load, I may be able to live with it as well.

Alternatively, I believe my friend who bought two 5750 cards (IIRC) with a crossfire setup says they perform around the level of a 5870 (possibly slightly faster) - and they're quite cheap.

There we go with the SLI again. Earlier in the thread it was decided against SLI. I'll opt for one really good single-GPU card for now. Still considering the 5870 vs. a silent 470. The 5870 is a little faster, but not by very much. I wish I knew a custom-cooler silent 5870 card.

Nope, especially if it's very quiet in idle. This will be a living room PC and I will watch videos on it, so that's important. If it's not *very* excessive under load, I may be able to live with it as well.

I certainly wouldn't call it very excessive under load. I have the box at home, but unfortunately I can't tell you the vendor now as I'm at work. One of the cheaper ones, for sure

There we go with the SLI again. Earlier in the thread it was decided against SLI. I'll opt for one really good single-GPU card for now. Still considering the 5870 vs. a silent 470. The 5870 is a little faster, but not by very much. I wish I knew a custom-cooler silent 5870 card.

Well, I advised against paying for two top-of-the-line cards, as the performance gain isn't worth it.

Paying for two very cheap cards is something else, though I would personally go with just one, because of the added hassle of having two cards - what with the heat and potential incompatibility issues like minor glitches playing certain games with Crossfire. But, AFAIK - the two cards were cheaper than one 5870, at the time my friend bought his new comp.

As much as I loathe the way Nvidia has handled it, I have to admit I'm glad to have hardware PhysX support - as it really does make a difference in a few key games. That's why I have one 5870 and one Nvidia GTX260 just for the PhysX.

So, keep that in mind if you go the ATI route.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Paying for two very cheap cards is something else, though I would personally go with just one, because of the added hassle of having two cards

Yeah, this. I don't feel right with XFire/SLI after reading here about compatibility issues, etc. I'll take just one card, thanks very much. I can always add another one card.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The GTX470 is an excellent card for the price. That's what I have, and I've never had any issues whatsoever. The fan does get semi-loud under heavy load, but I don't notice it while gaming.

I think I'll get a cheap, silent GTX470. I saw it perform better than a 5870 in benchmarks, even. I've had enough brain pain for one day.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
I think I'll get a cheap, silent GTX470.

Well I don't think you'll find a silent GX470 for very cheap, but I guess that depends on your definition of cheap.

I paid around $300 for mine, about 4 months ago. A quick check shows they haven't dropped in price much since then.

*Edit* Actually, it was about 6 months ago.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Well I don't think you'll find a silent GX470 for very cheap, but I guess that depends on your definition of cheap.

I paid around $300 for mine, about 4 months ago. A quick check shows they haven't dropped in price much since then.

Well, mine's 240 euro == 320 US dollar… cheap! Considering I paid 450,- for my GeForce 6800 GT six years ago. The guy selling it and a review on their site said it is quiet even under load, so as long as that's true I'm happy.

The 470 is good stuff. The 570 just came out, which should push the 470 price down for ya. Plus you are set up for 3D Vision whenever you get a new monitor.

Originally Posted by Zloth
The 470 is good stuff. The 570 just came out, which should push the 470 price down for ya. Plus you are set up for 3D Vision whenever you get a new monitor.

I don't think that the 470 is going to drop in price even more (contrary to what JDR said about US prices of the 470, the 470 has dropped from ~EUR 300+ to ~EUR 200 over here which means it's taken quite a plunge). At ~EUR 200 where is it supposed to go? Some of the overclocked 460 models are selling around ~EUR 180 so there is no room for further price drops for the 470.
Nope. What nVidia is going to do is they are going to replace the 470 with the 560 early next year. Should end up something like this (prices depending very much on what AMD chooses to do with Cayman (= 6970/6950) when it launches on December 15 but this shouldn't be too far off):

- GTX 580: New flagship product @ ~EUR 400 - 450+
- GTX 570: Replaces the GTX 480 @ ~EUR 300 - 350
- GTX 560: Replaces the GTX 470 @ ~EUR 200 - 250

It is unsure what will happen from GTX 560 on downward. Given the success of the GTX 460 I think that nVidia will keep it around for a little while longer and then relabel the card to GTX 550 once the demand for the 460 starts dwindling.

i haven't so far had trouble running games on max settings with my 260 i got about a year and a half ago, and i haven't really seen any uptick in hardware requirements that would lead me to replace it. in fact i think this card will far oullast the average replacement schedule of 1-2 years i've had for the past decade. In my view pc hardware has hit a relative plateau that hasn't been seen for a long while and as such i think pc gaming is only benifiting from it and far from a "dying platform"

Originally Posted by Moriendor
I don't think that the 470 is going to drop in price even more (contrary to what JDR said about US prices of the 470, the 470 has dropped from ~EUR 300+ to ~EUR 200 over here which means it's taken quite a plunge). At ~EUR 200 where is it supposed to go? Some of the overclocked 460 models are selling around ~EUR 180 so there is no room for further price drops for the 470.

I probably should have mentioned that I got mine at a bit of a discount. The average price iirc was actually around $350-$360 when I purchased mine.

Originally Posted by Zloth
The 470 is good stuff. The 570 just came out, which should push the 470 price down for ya. Plus you are set up for 3D Vision whenever you get a new monitor.

Aw, yeah, I figured my 3-year-old 36" LCD TV probably can't do 3D Vision, but I kind of told myself that I'd buy a new (bigger, Full HD) TV soon after the PC. I suppose there are LCD TV's, too, that support it?

P.S. Too many new things coming out now. I can't keep up, but I agree that the 470 probably won't really drop in price any more. The 570 is attractive, but too expensive. Intel's and AMD's next moves are exciting, but I'm sick of waiting. This configuration is beyond adequate and can justly be called "awesome."

My new PC is ready!! Stupid work.

UPDATE: I'm on my new PC! And it's faaaast!! And extremely silent, much more so than my last PC. Happy!

Silent? Who wants that!? I want a feeling of POWER when I turn a PC on. I want it to sound like I'm starting up a fighter jet! And give me a klaxon horn when it's shutting down, too.

Ooops, I left your question hanging back there a couple of weeks ago, didn't I? Yeah, 3D Vision is starting to support 3D TVs but it's just barely out. Give your bank account time to recover then take a look-see.