Upgrading GFX Card/PSU - These OK?

[Twiddle]

Hey guys.

I just want to know if I am going in the right direction. Basically I want to upgrade my graphics card and PSU, well enough so I don't have to for awhile. I would like to be able to run Battlefield and Skyrim on atleast high, and SW:ToR on Maxed settings. I'd rather not have to upgrade for awhile too, so I don't know if I am picking the right devices at the right time (release schedules and all.) I'm really iffy about dropping money without second opinions, so any are welcome.

These are my current specs:

ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX

http://www.asus.com/...MD_AM3/M4N75TD/

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103808

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231275

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822152185

Nvidia GT240 (No Link)

Generic (NZXT) 350W Power Supply (No Link)

What I am looking to upgrade to:

EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1563-AR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130610

CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V v2.2 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139006

I am quite sure the PSU I picked will more than suffice in the long run. But I'm wondering on the graphics card. Will this card last (I know nothing is forever in the tech world but) for a while, or should I be waiting a bit longer for something better that may come along, in this price range.

My budget was $300, but I figure why skimp out, and I liked what I saw.

[neoadorable]

wait until late Feb, it's not much to ask...you will have the new 7870 and 7850 by then. they will cost about as much as that 560 but offer 20-30% more performance plus will carry over nicely to your next build because they're PCI Express 3.0 and DX11.1. if you absolutely can't wait, then go with a 6950, personal recommendation. of course the 560 is also a very good card. the power supply is more than enough, don't worry about it.

[Phouchg]

I concur that now isn't a very good time for a graphics card purchase. In two months time we'll see what both giants will put on the table. It probably won't make prices drop (unless AMD pulls their stunts again, sometimes I wonder how do they even make profit) but performance-wise we'll likely get a major boost.

Well, if you do decide to take one now, 560 Ti is a very nice card. Unless you're opting for EVGA for their reputation, you may still want to look if other brands provide more factory overclocking. Certain Gigabyte and MSI models have 950 Mhz and memory clocks are higher, too. It will give you a few more frames that will be very useful in BF3 when playing online, probably not so much in other games.

[ShiFteDReaLitY]

I agree wait until February for the GPU purchase. Also for the same price i would go with 1 of these PSU's.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817151107 Seasonic M12II

or

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817341052 OCZ ZT

One being semi modular and one fully modular. Also both are bronze certified so a little more efficient then the one you chose. :)

[Twiddle]

wait until late Feb, it's not much to ask...you will have the new 7870 and 7850 by then. they will cost about as much as that 560 but offer 20-30% more performance plus will carry over nicely to your next build because they're PCI Express 3.0 and DX11.1. if you absolutely can't wait, then go with a 6950, personal recommendation. of course the 560 is also a very good card. the power supply is more than enough, don't worry about it.

Would that mean I would have to upgrade my motherboard as well to support PCI-E 3.0?

I concur that now isn't a very good time for a graphics card purchase. In two months time we'll see what both giants will put on the table. It probably won't make prices drop (unless AMD pulls their stunts again, sometimes I wonder how do they even make profit) but performance-wise we'll likely get a major boost.

Well, if you do decide to take one now, 560 Ti is a very nice card. Unless you're opting for EVGA for their reputation, you may still want to look if other brands provide more factory overclocking. Certain Gigabyte and MSI models have 950 Mhz and memory clocks are higher, too. It will give you a few more frames that will be very useful in BF3 when playing online, probably not so much in other games.

Honestly, I'm not to big on overclocking. I used to do it, when I bought cheapo 60-80$ cards, but doing it to a card that costs as much as a console would make me nervous, and I don't have sufficient cooling.

I hate waiting, but if it is for the best, and I really am looking for a "in-the-long-run" card, I suppose I should. But man I hate waiting.

I agree wait until February for the GPU purchase. Also for the same price i would go with 1 of these PSU's.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817151107 Seasonic M12II

or

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817341052 OCZ ZT

One being semi modular and one fully modular. Also both are bronze certified so a little more efficient then the one you chose. :)

Saving money is always good. And I've always heard good things about OCZ. I think I'll go with that, thanks!

[Phouchg]

Honestly, I'm not to big on overclocking. I used to do it, when I bought cheapo 60-80$ cards, but doing it to a card that costs as much as a console would make me nervous, and I don't have sufficient cooling.

Don't worry about overclocking, in those cases you won't need to do anything yourself as for those models it's all done and guaranteed stable by factory already. And they come with a custom heatsinks and fan designs. It has become a sort of a fashion thing :)

You see, you've already picked a Superclocked model, the only thing I'm saying - you can have it go higher than that with a factory warranty.

Would that mean I would have to upgrade my motherboard as well to support PCI-E 3.0?

All PCI-E standards are backwards-compatible. So your current motherboard won't be able to use only the new features (like, I've read, enhanced data integrity for GPU-computing and such). Currently even the very high-end don't hit the bandwidth wall of PCI-E 2.0, so PCI-E 3.0 itself will bring little merit for gaming.

[UseLess]

PCI-E 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.0. The bandwidth requirement of the new 7970 is within the 2.0 spec, so you shouldn't suffer any real performance hit there.

If you really wanted a card NOW, i would get the 6850, however if you wanted to spend a little more, to get a better card, I would wait for the new 7000 series. People have said that the 78XX cards are arriving in late feb? I haven't been able to find anything to confirm that, but if that is the case I would wait. Even still, for a bit of a price hike, the 7950 will make for a lovely card, hopefully at a reasonable price.

[ARchamps]

It's a good card. What games do you plan to play? If you could chip in a few more bucks, get the 448 cores edition. It has more cores and slightly higher VRAM. I had the card you selected and I upgraded to this one. It runs demanding games (like BF3) much better. For all other games, the 560 Ti SC is just fine. Like the others have said, I would wait a bit and see what's coming out in the next month or so.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130739

[Twiddle]

PCI-E 3.0 is backwards compatible with 2.0. The bandwidth requirement of the new 7970 is within the 2.0 spec, so you shouldn't suffer any real performance hit there.

If you really wanted a card NOW, i would get the 6850, however if you wanted to spend a little more, to get a better card, I would wait for the new 7000 series. People have said that the 78XX cards are arriving in late feb? I haven't been able to find anything to confirm that, but if that is the case I would wait. Even still, for a bit of a price hike, the 7950 will make for a lovely card, hopefully at a reasonable price.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814161372

How about that card?

I've been afraid of ATI ever since I spent around $400 about 6-7 years ago it feels like, on an X400 and I had a horrible experience. The ATI drivers of then, made for a horrible, horrible experience. I used Nvidia before that, and Nvidia ever since then as well. I could easily say that was my worst purchase ever. Have things changed since then? I mean I assume they have, but ever since then ATI (AMD) cards have left a bad taste in my mouth, and I don't even look at them when considering an upgrade.

It's a good card. What games do you plan to play? If you could chip in a few more bucks, get the 448 cores edition. It has more cores and slightly higher VRAM. I had the card you selected and I upgraded to this one. It runs demanding games (like BF3) much better. For all other games, the 560 Ti SC is just fine. Like the others have said, I would wait a bit and see what's coming out in the next month or so.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130739

Honestly, just Star Wars: The Old Republic, for the most part.. But I would like to be able to load up BF3 and Skyrim without any issue as well. And be ready for future titles, and game updates.

[Twiddle]

Just an update.

I went with:

MSI N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814127608

OCZ ZT Series 750W Fully-Modular 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817341052

Thanks, ShiftedReality for the suggestion on the power supply.

I know I probably should have waited, but I am impatient :p, and I cannot stand my GT240 anymore. Running games on low is really starting to bother me. I think I'll be happy overall in the long run, and maybe later if the price on the GFX card comes down, I can grab another one and SLI it, for even better performance. Who knows?

But once again, I appreciate the help from everyone. :D