Hey guys, got a quick question for you guys.
I'll be building a PC soon (not very soon, so yes, I know that other 7xx cards are coming out and I know the 9xxx series is coming out along with the Haswell refresh, Haswell i3s and Pentium's, and of course Steamroller) and I want to get a general idea (thats the point of this thread. A general idea of the performance needed) of what kind of grade GPU I'd need to run most games at 3x resolution.
The reason I want 3x and not 4x is simply due to the fact that I'll be using a 1920x1080p monitor and TV (monitor for most things, TV for games) so 4x wont be of any benefit to me. Now, heres what I had in mind for a build:
CPU: i5-4670K
Cooler: Corsair H100i
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 128GB
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z87 WiFi Mini-ITX
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy Black
RAM: 8 GB (4GBx2) 1600 MHz CAS 9 RAM
PSU: SeaSonic 620W
So I was thinking of using a GTX 760 as the GPU. This was originally because I wanted to play quite a few games, but then I realized... I'm not a big gamer. The hardest game I'd play would be BF4, and then it'd drop down to LoL and CSS, so GPU power isnt really that high up on the list.
I know there is a GPU hiearchy, but it's not very specific.
I dont have a set budget per se for the build, but I obviously dont wanna spend more than I need, plus the lesser the components the better so that I can fit the. Omponents into smaller form factors with less power consumption and less heat.
So what kinda GPU am I lookin for? Maybe a GTX 650 Ti Boost? Or do I really need that 760?
GTX 650 TI Boost and GTX 660 can handle 4xIR , no AA , 16xAF any game
GTX 650 or AMD 7750 GDDR5 can handle 3xIR , no AA , 16xAF any game
GTX 760 performance is somewhere between GTX 660ti and GTX 670
If you use AA (especially SSAA) , the GPU requirement will be higher
SSAA (direct3D9) is more demanding than MSAA (Direct3D11)
Best AA for performance : FXAA (use FXAA injector with Dolphin)
What kinda GPU would I be looking at to max out AA? (not that I use AA in anything else anyways, but just curious...)
Nothing less than a GTX Titan or a GTX 780 (barely)
(08-13-2013, 12:28 AM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]Nothing less than a GTX Titan or a GTX 780 (barely)
Well in that case, I guess I dont need AA.
Thanks very much for you help! I think I'll be looking at a 650 Ti Boost or a 650 Ti; even if they're good for 4x, I dont like stressing my hardware too much if I can help it. Plus "you can never be too safe"!
Edit: Oh also, does anyone happen to know if PCSX2 is harder or easier to run in the same respect? (1080p res)
GTX 650 TI and GTX 650 have almost the same amount of memory bandwidth -> 3xIR . GTX 650 TI can handle AA better than GTX 650
GTX 650 Ti Boost vs GTX 650 Ti : GTX 650 TI Boost has more than 65% higher memory bandwidth .
Overall , you should not buy GTX 650 Ti
Quote: Oh also, does anyone happen to know if PCSX2 is harder or easier to run in the same respect? (1080p res)
PCSX2 GPU requirement should be the same (I tried)
(08-13-2013, 12:45 AM)admin89 Wrote: [ -> ]GTX 650 TI and GTX 650 have almost the same amount of memory bandwidth -> 3xIR . GTX 650 TI can handle AA better than GTX 650
GTX 650 Ti Boost vs GTX 650 Ti : GTX 650 TI Boost has more than 65% higher memory bandwidth .
Overall , you should not buy GTX 650 Ti
Quote:Oh also, does anyone happen to know if PCSX2 is harder or easier to run in the same respect? (1080p res)
PCSX2 GPU requirement should be the same (I tried)
Thanks again!
So when it comes to Dolphin and PCSX2, the 650 Ti Boost is the GPU for me it seems.
At the minimum. The GTX 660 is a safer option in my opinion.
elemein Wrote:I know there is a GPU hiearchy, but it's not very specific.
It lists the exact model you need at the minimum. You literally can't get any more specific than that.
(08-13-2013, 06:39 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]At the minimum. The GTX 660 is a safer option in my opinion.
elemein Wrote:I know there is a GPU hiearchy, but it's not very specific.
It lists the exact model you need at the minimum. You literally can't get any more specific than that.
It doesnt list all the settings; just the IR... Or maybe it does and I'm just blind. Could be either really, wouldnt be the first time.
I dont really want to get a 660 as it starts to approach the cost area where a 760 just makes more sense.
Plus why would you say a 660 is safer? I can understand the 650 Ti Boost being "a bit on the safe side", but in your hiearchy you say a 550 Ti is good for 3x IR. A 660 seems like itd be spending money where it need not be spent. Or is that with some settings turned off? Again, might be my blindness talking.
elemein Wrote:It doesnt list all the settings; just the IR... Or maybe it does and I'm just blind. Could be either really, wouldnt be the first time.
Settings? Like which? The setting that determines if your GPU can handle 3x IR or not is the Internal Resolution dropdown box in the Enhancements tab under Graphics. 3x IR plus, for example, 9xSSAA or 16xMSAA is something completely different than just 3x IR (which is what you've asked for so far). You can't reasonably expect a thread to have information relating to IR
and AA, since that would be a complete time-sink for anybody to research and finish.
At any rate, IR and AA are the two settings that account for most of the demand you can add onto a GPU. If you want to know if you can play at 3x IR plus some AA, you have to ask about that explicitly.
elemein Wrote:Plus why would you say a 660 is safer? I can understand the 650 Ti Boost being "a bit on the safe side", but in your hiearchy you say a 550 Ti is good for 3x IR. A 660 seems like itd be spending money where it need not be spent. Or is that with some settings turned off? Again, might be my blindness talking.
The GTX 550 Ti can handle 3x IR in
most games. Some games are pretty heavy on the GPU in Dolphin. Mario Kart Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles, parts of Metroid Prime, and Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 come to mind. I can get away with 3x IR in MKWii and XBC, but adding anything above 4xMSAA slows it down, so it's apparent that the GTX 550 Ti is cutting it close when talking about a 3x IR threshold. SMG2 slows down at 3x IR even without any AA (I used HLE audio to make sure my CPU wasn't bottlenecking me). I haven't checked with using Fast Depth Calculation, so it might be able to run fullspeed at 3x IR now, but that would still be cutting it close.
The GTX 660, in contrast wouldn't have these issues. While the GTX 550 Ti is in the "3x IR for most games" grouping, the GTX 660 is in that same camp, but for it "most games" means "most games, and a few more games than the GTX 550 Ti".