Help with Graphics Card choice?

[BrandonC19]

Hi all, I'm finally getting to build my $600 budget gaming PC, I've got all the parts picked out and ready to order. (Just waitin' on that paycheck, lol :D)

Here's a list of the parts I've picked for my dual boot rig (Win7 and -of course- Ubuntu)



Zalman Z11 HF1 Case
Biostar TA970 Mainboard
AMD FX 4170 FX Quad core @ 4.2 GHz
Lite-on DVD+-RW
Toshiba 1TB 7200 Rpm HDD
G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB @ 1866 MHz
Rosewill Stallion 600W PSU
NZXT Sentry 5 5.25" 5 Fan Controller


The purpose of this post was not to brag (although I'm pretty excited and willing to share my enthusiasm!;)) but to ask a question of the Ubuntu community.

As you can probably tell, I left out one major component in my parts list, the Graphics Card. This is where I need help. As I live on a strict budget, chances for luxuries such as this modest gaming rig are few and far between, so I try to make sure I get as much bang for my buck as possible. The issue is, in my budget for the GFX card, I have two options:
Either nVidia GeForce GTX 650ti or the AMD Radeon 7770.
I'm well aware the 650ti outperforms the 7770 by ~10% in games. My dilemma, however, is whether to get one 650ti for the long term (about a year before I can upgrade to a more powerful card, as the 650ti doesn't have SLi capability) or buy 1 7770 now, and put up with the slight decrease in performance for a couple of months until I can budget another 7770 and put them in a Cross Fire configuration and "future proof" the system for a couple of years.

Epic people of the Ubuntu Community, what do you think I should do?

[BrandonC19]

Bump:)

[BrandonC19]

Shameless bump! :popcorn:

[papibe]

Hi BrandonC19.

Please allow at least 24hrs. to bump your thread.

Regards.

[Yellow Pasque]

Either nVidia GeForce GTX 650ti or the AMD Radeon 7770.
Neither. You'll get far more bang/buck if you can move up to a GTX660.

You can trim some $$ off the RAM and not lose much (unless you're running VM's or GIMP'ing large images). Plus, it's easier and more cost effective to add RAM later on than buying a new video card and having to sell the old one. I would go for this 4GB kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231193
It's reasonably priced and it's also on the TA970's official RAM module list in case you end up in the unfortunate position of having to obtain an RMA on the mobo.

If you need to trim more for the GTX660, then you can save a little by dropping to an FX-4100. That's a good tradeoff IMO, and you may even be able to make up at least some of the CPU speed difference with OC'ing if you wish.

[BrandonC19]

Thanks so much, Temüjin.
I had contemplated that card, but didn't know if it was powerful enough to justify the 229.99 price tag. But with the extra in my budget for s&h + taxes, I was able to get it without sacrificing anything on the ram (I run alot of VM's so 8gb 1866 is a must) or the cpu.
If you could help me out one more time I would greatly appreciate it. Will the 600 watts be enough? Even for SLi? (may or may not grab another when future budget allows, but I never know! :D) Out of the plethora of pc's ive built over the years, I've never been to one to order the power supply, so I'm rather concerned about not having enough. Thanks again, you rock.

[Yellow Pasque]

Note: I'm looking at TR's excellent review and some TDP figures for these calculations: http://techreport.com/review/23527/review-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-graphics-card//10

600W is plenty (and then some) for a single GPU system. As for SLI'ing two of these things, you're looking at 400-450W (on paper, probably less in reality) of actual power needed, so a quality 550W PSU should work.

[BrandonC19]

Great! Thanks again, Temüjin!