Computer

[Aindayen]

So my computer had been crashing for some time. It seemed random but the frequency started to be pretty annoying.

I swapped out the RAM, and one of the HD's for something a bit bigger. All seems fine now thankfully.

When I picked up those parts I snagged a GTX 550 Ti thinking before MoP I'd upgrade my GTX 295. I can't tell a difference and in some cases I feel like the new video card isn't as strong. Now I've had the 295 for 2 years now so how the hell can that be? Should I take this one back and if so what should I be picking up?

I'd appreciate the guru's to weigh in.

[Aindayen]

I wanted to add. I'm using 12 Gig of ram. I can upgrade to a max 24 gig. Is this worth doing as I'm only using this rig for gaming/surfing the net.

[Lonskils]

Updated drivers right?

[Andaas]

Video cards are always priced in performance tiers; the tiers that end with *80 / *90 / *95 are the higher performance cards, while the cards ending in *50 (and *60, in my opinion..) are intended as mid-range performing cards and definitely do not hold up to the level of the high-end cards.

Your 295 GTX card is a multi-core card, which is providing you two GeForce 290 GTX GPU's on a single card (you don't get double the performance of a single 290 GTX, but you certainly are gaining close to that). This is basically two of the top performing GPU's in the GeForce 200 series.

Your 550 GTX card is a single-core card, and it is also one of the mid-range mass-market priced cards. While the technology of the GeForce 500 series (released in 2010) has made a performance jump since the GeForce 200 series (released in 2008/2009) - the 295 GTX will still likely outperform most cards in the mid-range tiers until we get to the 800 or 900 series (probably 3-4 more years).

Though it's possible that running 2 of the 550 GTX cards in SLI *might* top the 295 GTX -- I'm not really an SLI guru, and there aren't any real performance charts that I can compare the 2 cards against one another (Tom's charts don't use the same tests on these cards over the varying years of release). The best comparison I found is here - which shows a huge theoretical performance decrease for the 550 GTX (so theoretically, even 2 550 GTX's in SLI wouldn't be able to touch the 295).

[Andaas]

I'd like to add, in my opinion, get your money back on the 550.

[Aindayen]

Sounds good. Thanks Andaas.

[Stosh]

Sounds good. Thanks Andaas.

What Andaas said. Return it. That card was panned in reviews when it came out 18 months ago as being overpriced at $150, as it was not even as good as the HD5770 or GTS 450 for the same price point. Nvidia and AMD have done a good job intentionally makign their card names confusing and misleading to the point where you can't always assume that a higher number means a better card, especially across different chip models.

[Aindayen]

What Andaas said. Return it. That card was panned in reviews when it came out 18 months ago as being overpriced at $150, as it was not even as good as the HD5770 or GTS 450 for the same price point. Nvidia and AMD have done a good job intentionally makign their card names confusing and misleading to the point where you can't always assume that a higher number means a better card, especially across different chip models.

Good to know.

Does anyone have a card out that will beat/destroy the GTX 295? I guess if I don't need to upgrade (and i don't have issues with any gaming) thats fine, but as fast as technology goes I would've thought a few years this video card would be as fast as a 386.

Does anyone use SLI and if so is it worth it for gaming?

[Tenelen]

Good to know.

Does anyone have a card out that will beat/destroy the GTX 295? I guess if I don't need to upgrade (and i don't have issues with any gaming) thats fine, but as fast as technology goes I would've thought a few years this video card would be as fast as a 386.

Does anyone use SLI and if so is it worth it for gaming?

I have a 560 Ti Which imo is a pretty bad ass card
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038823732

SLI is pretty much useless unless you have a top tier pair of cards and a top tier mobo.

[Trem]

Try this web page http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU12/372 to compare GPU in benchmarks

Find a price range first then find a GPU that fits with in your budget. That is the most important part in picking any new computer part you can always upgrade to the next
thing for just 40$ more almost indefinitely going from 150 to 400 in a flash. I picked up an HD 7850 and love it, less power, less noise, less heat but still kicks butt and price from 200-250
its a really nice deal but might be overkill for just WoW. Nvida's new line its really powerful but the price point its rather high 300-500. 660ti 670 680 690. AMD's stuff is priced lower and in most cases for about the same performance. Its more about that brand you like best and what price you want to pay. I just build a new computer myself and did all this research for weeks before buying.

TLDR; Think Price then find performance that fits your needs.

[Lonskils]

That's not Trem!!!!

[Ktul]

That's not Trem!!!!

No way!

[Trem]

Well then who is it then! Let's eat em! ( I forgot to misspell something huh)

[Aindayen]

Stosh, trem, and tool coming out in the same thread.

Is the world ending O.o

[Lonskils]

Well then who is it then! Let's eat em! ( I forgot to misspell something huh)

Yup!

[Trem]

I had no idea I was one of the 4 horsemen, totally sweet! You never suspect its you, but I totally get it. Make your time, the end is nigh! or something.