upgrading new computer

[pakopako]

My friend works on a campus computer lab; one room is filled with new-age DELL XPS machines configured with 2 BD-ROMs each.

While a cursory look at the specs indicate quad-core processing power, an abundance of RAM, and running the latest up-to-date version of Windows, the speed of the machine is so bogged down, my single-core laptop can out-pace it on the basics (logging in, opening up a spreadsheet). The weirdest thing is, why even other with 2 BD-ROMs; I'm not even sure they're combo BluRay/burner.

[ATARI800XLfan]

another question, might seem stupid but with the motherboard I have I noticed that the PCIE is right next to a PCI, will the height diffrence between the PCI and the PCIE cause any clearance problems with GPU's that are two slots wide?

[Cronozilla]

In terms of using the slots: it's either or. You generally can't use the PCI-E slot with a big GPU AND the PCI slots next to it. Nor would you really want to, especially if you want air flowing right into the intake on the GPU.

I'm actually not sure what you mean by height difference. If you're asking if the slot on the back of the case will be a different height where the PCI slot is vs the PCI-E slot ... no, it's a standard height, all end brackets on the cards will sit at the same height, if they're normal height cards (there's half height brackets for small cases, things like HTPCs)

The board is fine, don't worry about it. But you should understand, if you're still asking questions about your case ... honestly, I don't think any one here can really tell you how anything will fit on it or in it. No one has this case besides you and there aren't any comprehensive specs online.

Now if you want to know stuff that goes around it ... we have the measurements for that

[ATARI800XLfan]

In terms of using the slots: it's either or. You generally can't use the PCI-E slot with a big GPU AND the PCI slots next to it. Nor would you really want to, especially if you want air flowing right into the intake on the GPU.

I'm actually not sure what you mean by height difference. If you're asking if the slot on the back of the case will be a different height where the PCI slot is vs the PCI-E slot ... no, it's a standard height, all end brackets on the cards will sit at the same height, if they're normal height cards (there's half height brackets for small cases, things like HTPCs)

The board is fine, don't worry about it. But you should understand, if you're still asking questions about your case ... honestly, I don't think any one here can really tell you how anything will fit on it or in it. No one has this case besides you and there aren't any comprehensive specs online.

Now if you want to know stuff that goes around it ... we have the measurements for that

I meant is there a height difference on the motherboard between the height of the top of the PCI bus/slot and a PCIE bus/slot. Have no plans of using the PCI slot. Also ATI HD 5770 VS 6770

[Cronozilla]

No, if they were different heights the slots wouldn't work in any ATX compliant case.

6870, however is the best bang for you buck at the moment in AMD land.

[ATARI800XLfan]

No, if they were different heights the slots wouldn't work in any ATX compliant case.

6870, however is the best bang for you buck at the moment in AMD land.

Okay, I know you guys mentioned XFX being a good brand but what do you guys think about MSI twin Freezer or Sapphire vapor-X? I have had good luck with sapphire before, not so much with XFX and have never used MSI. While I know XFX has a better warranty I would rather get a card that does not break.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102937

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814127490

[Cronozilla]

MSI is junk now. Sapphire is also a budget brand. It's not built to last.

Don't buy the 5770. The GTX 460 SC has better benchmarks. (And I own one from EVGA, it's the nicest video card I've owned)

In terms of the 6770 1GB, it's about half as fast (based on fill rates, not clock speeds) as the 6870.

The, apparent, downside to the 6870 is that it's large and only made by XFX, pretty much. (They're being phased out ... but the 7870 cards are almost $400, and not that much faster)

Now if you look at the best rated cards, they're XFX and Sapphire, but the XFX card has less people rating it lower

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102948

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150521

If you go with Sapphire, I would strongly urge you to pay for the third year warranty.

If you go with XFX ... most people have issues with them because they don't register the card within 30 days ... but all lifetime warranties are like that.

In terms of reliable use ... it seems like the XFX card is more reliable. More people are complaining about DOA cards with XFX, NOT the card running for a couple months then artifacts and crap showing up everywhere like in the Sapphire card.

I really don't suggest you get a 5770 at all. The 6770 seems like it's a little too expensive for what it does. (The Sapphire card you linked, with shipping no rebate, and an extended warranty ends up being $142! That's only a $30 difference)

To be honest, all these cards below 6970 are in the GTX 460 range on the nvidia side (Even the 6870 is under-performing it, actually) and that card is only $150. Something to consider. The 6870 is just easier to find

[isiolia]

To be honest, all these cards below 6970 are in the GTX 460 range on the nvidia side (Even the 6870 is under-performing it, actually) and that card is only $150. Something to consider. The 6870 is just easier to find

Eh, 6870 tends to outperform a stock GTX 460 (at least), and a 6970 is better than that. For example, look at the benchmarks from the 7870 release roundup article here (just the first thing I pulled up really).

While not proportionate to the cost increase, a 7870 is a fair bit faster than a 6870 as well.

Maybe you're thinking about a 560? That does tend to compare better to a 6870, trading leads with it depending on the game.


I've had zero issues with my Sapphire 6870 (other than it not overclocking for shit, but that's common for launch 6870s). It is a reference design though, which isn't what they offer now.

I'd second XFX as having the better rep between the two companies though.

[Cronozilla]

Ah, no I wasn't confusing them, I was speaking about the 1GB SC cards (Sorry for not clarifying). Between the GTX 460 1 GB SC and the 6870, they're pretty neck in neck in most scenarios, 460 comes out on top in some games, 6870 in others. And the largest gaps are like, 6-7 fps difference depending on resolution, in most benchmarks I saw.

From what I've seen in benchmarks the 7870 is pretty good, but they're quite a bit more. If you were going to go into that price range, I'd argue the 560 Ti's, but I just figured he didn't want to spend $250 on a GPU.

Obviously, every manufacturer has some merit, I mean if the hardware didn't work at all, they wouldn't exist. You just generally want to invest in something that you can actually rely on and have some confidence that it'll still be working in a year or so.

Not to say any brand is infallible, of course.

Obviously, the 6970 is much faster in clock speeds. (Never said the 460 outperformed 6970, I said that below a 6970 the 460 is comparable to everything AMD has to offer right now)

It's just the way games use it. Yeah, the 6870 is a faster card than the GTX 460, even the super clocked version ... but it still doesn't perform as well because of differences in cores utilized and bus speeds. The 7770 is actually faster than the 6870, but it performs much worse because of memory bandwidth and things like that. It just can't operate on as much data at the same time.

Honestly, the GPU game is about how much it can do all at once. Serialization is not a GPU's strong suit, parallelism is. So that's where you're going to see the "real-world" advantages in cases. Then you balance that against how much you'd want to pay.

Sadly, the 460s are too old now the models like the one I have are no longer offered. Which is a shame. It would be an amazing lower budget card right now.

Apparently, if you want speed, the 6850s overclock like a champ.

Personally, I think the 5770 is not where you want to go. If you really were dead set AGAINST a 6870 (which would be strange ) then something like this might be a better choice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150540

[ATARI800XLfan]

MSI is junk now. Sapphire is also a budget brand. It's not built to last.

Don't buy the 5770. The GTX 460 SC has better benchmarks. (And I own one from EVGA, it's the nicest video card I've owned)

In terms of the 6770 1GB, it's about half as fast (based on fill rates, not clock speeds) as the 6870.

The, apparent, downside to the 6870 is that it's large and only made by XFX, pretty much. (They're being phased out ... but the 7870 cards are almost $400, and not that much faster)

Now if you look at the best rated cards, they're XFX and Sapphire, but the XFX card has less people rating it lower

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102948

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150521

If you go with Sapphire, I would strongly urge you to pay for the third year warranty.

If you go with XFX ... most people have issues with them because they don't register the card within 30 days ... but all lifetime warranties are like that.

In terms of reliable use ... it seems like the XFX card is more reliable. More people are complaining about DOA cards with XFX, NOT the card running for a couple months then artifacts and crap showing up everywhere like in the Sapphire card.

I really don't suggest you get a 5770 at all. The 6770 seems like it's a little too expensive for what it does. (The Sapphire card you linked, with shipping no rebate, and an extended warranty ends up being $142! That's only a $30 difference)

To be honest, all these cards below 6970 are in the GTX 460 range on the nvidia side (Even the 6870 is under-performing it, actually) and that card is only $150. Something to consider. The 6870 is just easier to find

seeing as you mentioned Nvidia how would a Geforce GTX 550 Ti compare to the AMD 6770/6790? Have never used Nvidia on a desktop before. Had one in a laptop, 8800GTX but it fried after 3 years.