GTX560Ti Upgrade

[glenwilson]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of upgrading from, say, a GTX560i to for example a GTX66ti or GTX670?

Monitor is only 1080p and I'm unlikely to go to three screens. I can get about 60-80fps currently but sometimes feel BF3 doesn't run as it should. For example, in TDM where you get someone shooting close to you it can get a bit blurry and I lose where they are (and die). It isn't the same look as suppressive fire but just feels as though something is not quite right. Running an i7 and checks on that seem to indicate that isn't the bottleneck.

Having to upgrade the cooling as it is starting to run hot - as in core temps of in the 90s.

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[lakaelo]

AW: GTX560Ti Upgrade

also i "upgrade" my pc some month back from a gtx550ti to a gtx660. not so much difference at all.

but i know the little "stumble" what you mean. what settings you play? i take the little FPS sign on screen from fraps. so i can setup my card and switch some settings to not going under 60 FPS even under a big mess on screen. but thats only possible if you dont run in high or ultra at all points. you have to find a balance specially with the AA settings.

 

[chip247]

I'm running a 670 & altho fps are improved on what your getting currently, theyre not much better & if i'm honest i dont see any big improvements from the 460 that i upgraded from

 

[lakaelo]

I'm running a 670 & altho fps are improved on what your getting currently, theyre not much better & if i'm honest i dont see any big improvements from the 460 that i upgraded from

jepp, thats what i mean too. eather you got a stunning new card like 680,690 or titan and run all setting on max or you cant see any advantage you would like to see lol

so i would say wait what bf4 brings us for hardware issues lol and than you can see what card you need. also the prices will be lower than.

 

[genozide]

Agree with previous. BF3 is graphicwise a complicated game when it comes to fps. It's to play with some of the settings to get it properly tweaked, then the lag compensation option to have the indivicual setting at a good level.

I'm thinking of upgrading my 5870 to something better like the 7970 or 7870. The 5000 series ati is a bit old atm. You might get some improvement in general with the new card but then it will need more power which also adds to the heat issue. As long as all components have proper cooling and enough power they stay coolish.

I'd try to solve the cooling before upgrading. I noticed on upgrading the core components like cpu, mobo and graphic card they needed a lot more attention on airflow, space and setup. I had to upgrade my tower to a better one to get the airflow efficiency, had to dump the stock cooling for the cpu fast because when bf3 ran it created the worst heat which was like a hairdryer at the back of the tower air outlet. I recommend a good watercooling option for the cpu.. like the corsair hydro or similar. The new graphic card can be suprisingly big and not necessarily fit properly in the slot as it needs more space in the front.

 

[Rebirth]

for the blurry part I'd say it could be that specialization 'suppression' or 'squad suppression'. But tbh, you shouldn't have any problems with a 560ti on an i7.

For you bottlenecking fears, I've never actually heard that an i7 caused a bottleneck (except when there is something horribly wrong with it).

Also, 90 degrees while it's working at peak isn't that bad. Most modern GPU's are built to handle that amount of heat.

If you still decide to upgrade to lets say a 670, do indeed manage your airflow well and water cooling won't actually hurt(since they are cheap as fuck nowadays).
(p.s. you can try to slightly overclock your gpu with the addition of water cooling)

 

[glenwilson]

Cheers. Your experiences seem to relate to some of the comparisons I've seen too so I think I will wait, as suggested for BF4 before hitting the buy button.

With regard to cooling... the chassis is a Shuttle XPC which works fine for everything except BF3. The main issue with it is the cooling. It was made to use an i7 so there are no issues there and under normal conditions. I've replaced the single 92mm fan with a 120mm which did help and I've also done everything to get the airflow as clean as possible. Also tried additional fans on the sides to help airflow which made little difference. With the weather changing the house feels warmer and I think that has made the temp more noticeable. If you don't know, Shuttle use a non-standard cooler for the CPU because of the limited space and the cooler mounting holes are in an X shape but not a standard square but in a rectangle. The disc and optical drive sit directly above it leaving little room to mount a even a low profile conventional cooler.

So, I have ordered a Corsair 120mm Hydro Series H80i and will adapt or make a suitable mount for it. Fitting the radiator isn't an issue as it fit to the back of the case but CPU block may be a little more tricky. There is always duct tape... Even though the cooler arrives today I am going to resist the temptation (which will be hard) to fit it as I need a working PC for work tomorrow!

Thanks again and I'll let you know how the custom mount (aka bodge) goes.

Should have said the settings I was using were high with a few tweaks and was getting about 80FPS using FRAPS. Was using Ultra for a while which was OK but then found a few times I was getting lag which wasn't there when I dropped them down a bit. Been using the GeForce Experience settings for the last week and that seems to be reasonable set-up. I'll try tweaking them a bit to see if that makes any difference.

 

[genozide]

Good decision glen. I hope you find some way to fit the block well to the cpu. Maybe there is some adapters for the socket. When i changed from the heatsink to hydro the airflow at the back started feeling cool and before you could feel the warm air clearly.

The hydro hoses are pretty short imo so i hope they will be long enough so you get the radiator to the back. Another alternative is put it topside to blow straight up. Good luck with it and hope all goes well.

 

[glenwilson]

Well the H80i was delivered just after I added my last comments. Despite what I said earlier the PC was apart just to see what the amount of work required was. The Shuttle's cooling mounts are also smaller (diagonal distance) than standard cooler mounts. Looks as though fitting the H80i will be a significant job requiring a mount to hold the block and also making chassis "adjustments" to fit the radiator either to the roof or the back of the box. As Geno says the tubes aren't that long...

As an aside, as everything was out of the box I took out the CPU and cleaned it and the Shuttle cooler and replaced them and the thermal paste. Result was a 25 degree drop in temp whilst playing a quick round of TDM. Max temp was 76 (previously managed about 98) and I am happy with that. Thought it would make a difference but not that much.

So I now have an H80i which I don't really need. So my plan is to build another small PC just for gaming over the next few months. Quite like the Fractal Design Core 1000 case though the Fractal Design Node 304 could be an option.

Thanks again.

 

[genozide]

It's always important to keep the heatsinks free from dust. Some of them are like dusttraps. The hydro might come in handy in the warm summer. But if you do a new build it can be less of a hassle of course and no offline time.

I always like to plan the hardware builds. It's just the software that is a drag to install imo.

 

[chip247]

just one thing further on the 670 model i'm running, it is exceptionally quiet & runs very cool, so good in terms of performance that way just not so much difference grafix wise. i only have a traditional cooler & at full gaming load never gets above mid 50's

 

[genozide]

If you have a lot of new games the overall difference can be noticable but for bf3 no big difference. Still newer cards need more power so might get hot if the psu is small like 550W.. Amps on 12V are important. 30amps or more per line is good.

 

[Sweney]

If you need to get rid of that 560ti ill take it off yet hands I got one but two wouldn't hurt

 

[glenwilson]

Whilst the changing the paste has made a difference since I started this thread I am going to carry on and build a new machine. Researching cases, power supplies, mobos, and CPUs (as the SSD/HDD and 560ti should be OK for now anyway) and once I've got the bits get them assembled. Also, has a better WAF (wife acceptance factor) doing it that way as £1000 doesn't disappear out of the bank account!

Agree about the dust accumulating but I do check that frequently and act if required. Building PC's is much easier than a few years ago as the kit is just generally better and things like cable runs are designed in. I find software OK to install. I have a clean OS image which I install and includes Office, Photoshop, Lightroom etc and all the other settings. Worst bit is getting all the data across.

I'll be back with a hardware shopping list for comments soon!

 

[genozide]

cool.. nice to hear. looking forward to skimming thru and commenting on the new hardware..

with the high costs on good parts i sometimes take months to get them bought one by one before putting them together. better for wallet, better for result and better for impatience.. lol.

 

[glenwilson]

So after more thought I've decided on the following:

Keep my I7 1156 chip, memory, SSDs, HDDs, and GTX560ti for them moment.

Shuttle chassis and motherboard is the limiting factor because of the proprietary mounts and cooling so that is going to go.

I found an ITX 1156 motherboard on eBay for a few ££s (new 1156 boards seem to be around the £180+ mark) so that could go in the Shuttle chassis but moving to a Fractal Design Node 304 case, and a new power supply (quiet if not silent). I can use the water cooling unit and all existing other bits and bobs. No SATA 3 or USB 3 but shouldn't be too much of an issue for the short term.

Not expecting this to b silent but should be a lot quieter than the current set-up and will also enable me to move to a different cpu/mobo in the future without too much hassle.

Seen a few systems that use this case and it seems to be a good compromise in terms of size and function.

 

[genozide]

silent and stable PSU? i recommend Nexus 850W

 

[Sweney]

I'm running the cooler master silent pro 850 it got good reviews when I was researching then. The cables are modular do you use what you need without cluttering the case with unused cables

 

[chip247]

well i mentioned it b4 but the antec psu i have is freaking amazingingly quiet the 1000w hcp platinum is also the highest rated for efficiency (94%) & because its modular it is very flexible & future proof

 

[glenwilson]

Was going to post a list of possible bits but impulse got the better of me.

I got a mobo off ebay with a 1156 socket.

Went for the Fractal design Arc mini case as it had more room for future upgrades and flexibility. Power supply was a Zalman as it was supposed to be pretty quiet and had enough power for my needs.

Got the hardware and built the machine. Powered up and it powered off. Checked everything and tried again. got into the BIOS this time only for it to power off. Repeat and include sweary words. Disassemble and reassemble. Stayed on this time. Windows mumbles about the Mobo change and then sudden power off. Repeat. Investigation revealed that the issue was the Zalman's power lead (or lack of it). If the lead was just right it worked, if it wasn't it wouldn't power up or was on/off/on/off. Tried five different leads.

Gave up and went and got a Corsair 750M to enable me to check things. So after installing the new CPU everything works OK except, the mobo won't retain the BIOS settings. New battery, check reset pins and so on and all the combinations I can think off. Not sure where the problem is. As long as it is plugged in to the mains it is OK but soon as the plug is out it loses the settings.

So... I've ordered a MSI Z77MA-G45 Motherboard and i5-3570K which should arrive tomorrow (Monday). Thought about an i7 but the difference doesn't seem worth the extra and the new motherboard gives me USB 3 and SATA3 6GB.

Typing this in the machine is now nearly silent - just a feint noise from the fans. Playing BF3 it does start to get a little noisy and mostly from the GTX560Ti. Temps at idle are about 36 and in game about 50.

Pretty happy with temps and lack of noise. Heard that the Titan is quite quiet....