Wasted a high end graphics card

[stahlhart]

Moved to Off Topic.
-- stahlhart

 

[Markbnj]

I don't even game anymore. Just venting

You wasted some high-end forum space, too.

 

[Subyman]

I live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the fun for 20% of the cost. I will always be the dude rocking last year's gear and lovin' it.

Haha, so true. I started doing this with video games in college. Now I never buy on launch day. I wait a couple of month and catch a $60 game for $15-20, but usually even cheaper on a steam sale. As for PC hardware, I enjoy the deal hunt and research as much as I do using it.

 

[NTMBK]

nef

 

[Tristor]

I kind of feel the same way you guys do, but on the other hand I knew what I was getting myself in to. Total War: Rome 2, release 3rd September 2013. nVidia 337.50 Beta released April 9th, 2014. That's more than 6 months, but bam, now the game is playable at maxed settings with my 780 SLI rig. I bought the game on launch day, but I waited until February to start getting ready for it and more or less just now finalized my rig.

Honestly I'm not that upset, Creative Assembly usually takes about a year after release to make a game playable. They're very much worth the wait though. The Total War series is by far the best turn-based strategy games out there. It's about the only game I play that really gets the benefit, but I have to say there's two things I enjoy, whether SLI is being used or not:

1) Play whatever I want on max without having to think about it.
2) Select a unit of Equites, take them to a ridgeline above the enemy flanks. Start a charge, switch to the flying wedge formation and just hit the "insert" key on your keyboard and watch. It'll make the $$$ worth it for GPUs.

The real disappointment is the fact that the software and hardware aren't there yet for 4k. I really wanted to pick up a few of those new Dell 4k monitors, but it's going to be another year if not 2 before it'll be worthwhile, unfortunately, if for nothing else than the connectors.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

have three 680 here and are all idling too. thinking of replacing them with three 290x or three 780ti. chances are they will be idling too.

the only game I need this much gpu grunt for is not working. stupid BF4.

add insult to injury. all the other games I plays could get by with a single 560ti.

I upgraded my 5870, which ran pretty much everything I threw at it still, to a GTX 770 and now I use it to watch Netflix more than I game.

 

[Red Squirrel]

They don't really seem to do mid/low end video cards these days so if your motherboard does not have onboard video you don't really have much choice. I hate how they take up like 3 slots now too. Technically 2, but you can't realistically use the next slot or it will just block the fan.

 

[HeXen]

They don't really seem to do mid/low end video cards these days so if your motherboard does not have onboard video you don't really have much choice. I hate how they take up like 3 slots now too. Technically 2, but you can't realistically use the next slot or it will just block the fan.

My 680 takes up 3 slots. It has a huge heatsink.

The low end cards are a complete waste. I purchased a Geforce 210 for my Arcade which uses an ITX with AMD CPU and holy crap that thing chugs. Even with very old games it chugs, can't even play Doom3 and I doubt it would even play much older games too well either. Granted of course it's a cheap ITX and the CPU is piss poor as well but still. Pretty sad. I'll never buy a low end card even for basic needs as simple as running emulators ever again.

 

[toyota]

My 680 takes up 3 slots. It has a huge heatsink.
http://www.jmt.bg/images/products/20848_42755.jpeg

The low end cards are a complete waste. I purchased a Geforce 210 for my Arcade which uses an ITX with AMD CPU and holy crap that thing chugs. Even with very old games it chugs, can't even play Doom3 and I doubt it would even play much older games too well either. Granted of course it's a cheap ITX and the CPU is piss poor as well but still. Pretty sad. I'll never buy a low end card even for basic needs as simple as running emulators ever again.

lol yeah G210 is pure garbage as even the old 8600gt is 3 times faster than that pos. it should still play Doom 3 though.

 

[Markbnj]

They don't really seem to do mid/low end video cards these days so if your motherboard does not have onboard video you don't really have much choice. I hate how they take up like 3 slots now too. Technically 2, but you can't realistically use the next slot or it will just block the fan.

I'll tell you what, my GTX-660 rocks. It's a double slot format, but it runs very quiet and handles any game I throw at it on at least high settings. The Asus model I have is under $200 now.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

I was considering building a new rig recently, but then I realized all I would get to play are crappy console ports and 3dMark, which I can already run good enough anyways.

 

[HeXen]

I was considering building a new rig recently, but then I realized all I would get to play are crappy console ports and 3dMark, which I can already run good enough anyways.

Speaking of wastes, I thin 3Dmark is. It spits out numbers and compares, I never found numbers on anything to have any real meaning. Witcher 3 performance is a meaning. 328842023438000000 score is not.
Just my opinion though ()

 

[Markbnj]

I was considering building a new rig recently, but then I realized all I would get to play are crappy console ports and 3dMark, which I can already run good enough anyways.

Basically, this.

 

[walkur]

I bought a gtx 770 with 3 huge cooling fans for my lastest rig.
I reduced the voltage and clock an d mem speeds and tweaked the fanspeed/temp curve so that with most games I don't hear anything.

If I want performance I pick a different profile and enjoy the graphics.

 

[PliotronX]

Usually it's for hobby, folding stuff like that. Nvidia markets it for gaming though.
SLI always reminds me of the Voodoo 2 days, I may be wrong but seemed like it worked with more games than it does today. Maybe NV should go back to 3dfx's Scan Line Interleaving, maybe it would work better or not need native support?

I agree, it was worth investing in because it literally doubled performance and had nearly 100% compatibility. Quite the opposite of today's SLI.. it would suck to pour hundreds into another or more cards and the power supply and juice to support them only to see like 40-60% improvement.

 

[UaVaj]

if you starting counting beans. multi gpu is clearly not for you.

you have to look at the big picture. the goal is to get the job done. job as 60fps absolute minimum dip. who cares if the 4th gpu is only scaling 40%.

wasteful? yes
got the job done? all day, any day, twice on weekends.

 

[fleshconsumed]

No, I ment rotate not like swap out for new. like umm.. Guild Wars 2 for example Id have 1 card at 90% for 12 hours a day and the other card would only be going at like 20% so Id feel the need to rotate my cards to keep my fans from going bad and making that horrible grinding noise. Usually when my fans start to go bad is when I signal that my video cards need to be swapped for something newer.

Happens all the time when cards run hot. The lube dries out and fans start making noise. If you let it go long enough you'll ruin the fan bearings and will have to replace the fan. However, as long as you didn't ruin the bearings you can easily fix it with some machine oil - just lubricate the fan and you're good to go. Unfortunately, by the time you notice the grinding sound it might be too late. So better stay proactive and if you game a lot, take out your card and add some lube to the fan every 3-6 months.

 

[SlitheryDee]

It seems like every upgrade I go a little higher up on the scale in terms of where the card I buy stands in the current lineup. I started in the lower-middle end, then middle-end, then upper middle, then lower high-end, and so on. Thinking about it, it actually perfectly mirrors my increasingly better buying power as I got older.

Now I have an R9-290X, which is still at the top of AMD's lineup, though nvidia has recently come out with faster cards. I think I'm going to stay at the top of the single card lineup rather than progressing on to multi-gpu next upgrade though. As much as I like performance, the compatibility issues sour the deal for me.

 

[adairusmc]

I'll tell you what, my GTX-660 rocks. It's a double slot format, but it runs very quiet and handles any game I throw at it on at least high settings. The Asus model I have is under $200 now.

Same here. I run a GTX660 SC edition in my living room gaming HTPC, and it handles everything I throw at it. Great card for the money.

I do enjoy the multi-GPU setup on my main gaming machine though (780Ti SC SLI), even if I only use it for BF4 right now. I tried going to a single GPU when I sold my 7970Ghz cards and got the first 780Ti, but the performance at 1600p at ultra dipped low enough I quickly ordered a second one.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I'm still rocking my GTX480 :thumbsup: There are a few times it's starting to show its age, but for the most part, no issues. I'm just over the whole chasing the latest tech stuff. (Existing wellknown)Companies have almost went away from true innovation to just the mandatory yearly pumping out of slightly better crap for 2x the cost to appease their stockholders. When PC's aren't ruling where technology goes, there is little incentive to keep them top of the line.

 

[who?]

Only one month is four weeks long, if you multiply by 52 weeks a year the figures are a little higher.

 

[bradly1101]

With two 5850's I'm waiting for DX12 IF I can find any games I like. The last one was Mass Effect 2. I hate wasting money on games with eye candy but are otherwise just repetitive shoot-em-ups. I get enough of that on the news.

 

[HeXen]

if you starting counting beans. multi gpu is clearly not for you.

you have to look at the big picture. the goal is to get the job done. job as 60fps absolute minimum dip. who cares if the 4th gpu is only scaling 40%.

wasteful? yes
got the job done? all day, any day, twice on weekends.

Except when it's not supported or causes issues right?

 

[UaVaj]

Except when it's not supported or causes issues right?

if you are referring to my BF4 performance with 680 x3.

yep.. even if I add a fourth 680. still broken.

the system is only as good as its weakest component.

not sitting and waiting (hoping) for NVidia for a fix. who knows when that will ever happen. switching to 290x x3 or x4.

 

[Sonikku]

I have 780 Lightning SLI and there are no games which are even using one 780.

Most games have no SLI support.

Dayz
Titanfall
Elderscrolls online
Rust

It SUCKS!

Im so bored right now. Waste of money tbh

Sounds like you only need one. I'll buy the other for tree fitty.