- Nov 27, 2015
- 42
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Hello! I like PC gaming, but my knowledge in building a good rig is quite limited. I've been waiting to buy a powerful gaming rig which supports all the latest games in max settings for many MANY years, but was limited by my gaming budget. Having spent so much time waiting, I decided to buy a mid level card to play my favorite games (Witcher 3, GTA V, etc, all of which are sitting unused in my steam account because I got them at a sale & my current setup won't run them). I decided to buy & build the gaming rig I want in stages, or else end up spending a lot more time waiting to save up. The first step is always the hardest lol.
I initially thought I'd settle for a 1050 Ti (4GB) because I had enough more than enough money saved for that. Then I was suggested to buy a 1060 3GB card instead, as it performed better. I compared the 2 cards online and found out that the 1060 3GB version only marginally improved the performance & was not worth the extra cost for it, and realized that the 1060 6GB version was better & gave more bang for the buck. Now this card costs double my initial budget, and was undecided whether I should pay so much for it. Then I started thinking that if I'm paying so much, I could buy a NVidia 1070, then finally thought of a 1080 instead, provided I bought it in the USA, as the price is way too expensive in my country (I'll be paying $100 more here for a 1080). Obviously I can't afford a 11 GB Ti version, so I'll be buying a non-Ti 1080 with 8GB instead. But I have an ancient system, and don't know whether I can run the card well with my old CPU, RAM & motherboard.
My Current Setup:
MoBo: Intel DH67BL
Processor: Intel i5 2500K @3.30 GHz (4 cores)
GPU: NVidia GTX 460 (1GB)
PSU: Seasonic 750W 80+ Bronze
RAM: 2 x 4GB Corsair XMS 3 1600MHz DDR3
HDD: 2 x 2TB Western Digital WD20EARS
Monitor: Dell 22" TFT
Keyboard: Logitech G510
Mouse: Dragon War Leviathan
You might be wondering why I'm not buying a cheaper card & buying a better MoBo/RAM/CPU. It's because I'm planning on upgrading them later, in staged upgrades, as and when I save money (MoBo 1st, followed by RAM & CPU last). I already bought the PSU last year, hoping to upgrade the other components this year. The motherboard should be much cheaper than the card, and also the RAM. The CPU will be expensive, so I plan to buy that last.
So my questions are:
1. Will the other components affect my gaming experience, if I buy a 1080 8GB card (or a 1070 8GB card, if 1080 proves to bee too costly). How badly will it bottleneck the card? There is a video on youtube with a guy using the 1060 card with an i5 2500K and saying that it performs flawlessly on most games. I won't be playing on a 4K resolution till I upgrade the comp fully. I'll be glad if I get 60fps on a resolution of 1920x1080 with this setup + 1080 card.
2. Please advise me which 1080 & 1070 cards I can buy from the USA, and provide me a link to the same, if possible. Suggest a minimum of 2 alternatives each for the 1070 & 1080. (Please note: my budget is $550, with a max final $600). I saw the choices on newegg, and my head is spinning... Too many choices, and I don't know which is good... I want a durable one, one with superior cooling as I live is a hot climate (summer temperature hits 38 C!)
3. Will I be harming my card by installing it on my old system? Also, I plan to upgrade the MoBo next, meaning I'll shift the old CPU to the new MoBo next. Is it safe to change CPUs from a motherboard? (I'll be buying a new CPU last)
4. Will I be taking a risk importing my card from the US, as the warranty won't be universal, & if there's any problem, I can't return the card to claim warranty. How often does these things happen?
If I get any more questions, I'll post them later.
Please note, I prefer the NVidia cards, as I'm more comfortable with them & like their features & the GeForce experience. So I'm not keen on looking at AMD cards as an alternative. I heard AMD runs hotter than NVidia. I don't want AMD to burn down my gaming rig
Sorry for the long post, and looking forward to advice & suggestions.
I initially thought I'd settle for a 1050 Ti (4GB) because I had enough more than enough money saved for that. Then I was suggested to buy a 1060 3GB card instead, as it performed better. I compared the 2 cards online and found out that the 1060 3GB version only marginally improved the performance & was not worth the extra cost for it, and realized that the 1060 6GB version was better & gave more bang for the buck. Now this card costs double my initial budget, and was undecided whether I should pay so much for it. Then I started thinking that if I'm paying so much, I could buy a NVidia 1070, then finally thought of a 1080 instead, provided I bought it in the USA, as the price is way too expensive in my country (I'll be paying $100 more here for a 1080). Obviously I can't afford a 11 GB Ti version, so I'll be buying a non-Ti 1080 with 8GB instead. But I have an ancient system, and don't know whether I can run the card well with my old CPU, RAM & motherboard.
My Current Setup:
MoBo: Intel DH67BL
Processor: Intel i5 2500K @3.30 GHz (4 cores)
GPU: NVidia GTX 460 (1GB)
PSU: Seasonic 750W 80+ Bronze
RAM: 2 x 4GB Corsair XMS 3 1600MHz DDR3
HDD: 2 x 2TB Western Digital WD20EARS
Monitor: Dell 22" TFT
Keyboard: Logitech G510
Mouse: Dragon War Leviathan
You might be wondering why I'm not buying a cheaper card & buying a better MoBo/RAM/CPU. It's because I'm planning on upgrading them later, in staged upgrades, as and when I save money (MoBo 1st, followed by RAM & CPU last). I already bought the PSU last year, hoping to upgrade the other components this year. The motherboard should be much cheaper than the card, and also the RAM. The CPU will be expensive, so I plan to buy that last.
So my questions are:
1. Will the other components affect my gaming experience, if I buy a 1080 8GB card (or a 1070 8GB card, if 1080 proves to bee too costly). How badly will it bottleneck the card? There is a video on youtube with a guy using the 1060 card with an i5 2500K and saying that it performs flawlessly on most games. I won't be playing on a 4K resolution till I upgrade the comp fully. I'll be glad if I get 60fps on a resolution of 1920x1080 with this setup + 1080 card.
2. Please advise me which 1080 & 1070 cards I can buy from the USA, and provide me a link to the same, if possible. Suggest a minimum of 2 alternatives each for the 1070 & 1080. (Please note: my budget is $550, with a max final $600). I saw the choices on newegg, and my head is spinning... Too many choices, and I don't know which is good... I want a durable one, one with superior cooling as I live is a hot climate (summer temperature hits 38 C!)
3. Will I be harming my card by installing it on my old system? Also, I plan to upgrade the MoBo next, meaning I'll shift the old CPU to the new MoBo next. Is it safe to change CPUs from a motherboard? (I'll be buying a new CPU last)
4. Will I be taking a risk importing my card from the US, as the warranty won't be universal, & if there's any problem, I can't return the card to claim warranty. How often does these things happen?
If I get any more questions, I'll post them later.
Please note, I prefer the NVidia cards, as I'm more comfortable with them & like their features & the GeForce experience. So I'm not keen on looking at AMD cards as an alternative. I heard AMD runs hotter than NVidia. I don't want AMD to burn down my gaming rig
Sorry for the long post, and looking forward to advice & suggestions.