Video Card RAM

The newer the card the longer it will last before it's called "old".
The more the ram, the better the card, that will translate into the best FPS you can get.
I've had a 2gig card for 2 years, no point in buying a new one, it's good for a while.

Be sure you have a powerful name brand power supply or you won't be getting the full potential of your card.
I would suggest a 1000w top name.

You won't need 3 gigs of vRAM unless you are running multiple monitors at absurd resolutions, so save your money.

As far as power supplies go, you can run a single GTX 580 on a 600 watt PSU assuming it's good quality. There are a lot of terrible power supplies out there, but luckily there are a lot of good power supply reviews out there as well.

Traches wrote:

You won't need 3 gigs of vRAM unless you are running multiple monitors at absurd resolutions, so save your money.

As far as power supplies go, you can run a single GTX 580 on a 600 watt PSU assuming it's good quality. There are a lot of terrible power supplies out there, but luckily there are a lot of good power supply reviews out there as well.

I disagree.

It's called, "future-proofing". And the quicker you get on that train, the better you feel later.

Today, software development is growing at an frightening rate, faster than what the hardware developers can push out. When the Nvida 8800 GTX cards hit the shelves, everyone thought that this card would turn gaming and graphics design on its head. Then software developers introduced software that was DX10-Ready.

First out of the chute was FSX. That knocked hardware development for the end-user back nearly five years. First people started either buying faster processors or overclocking to compensate, or they looked to custom builders such as Falcon Northwest to build their systems.

Now, you can smoke FSX just by buying an Intel Core 2 Quad, 4GBs of RAM, and a GTX 465 or its ATI equivalent. But can that handle Battlefield 3 with its Frostbyte Engine? Or how about Deus Ex: Human Revolution? This is even before I introduce you to Photoshop CS5 or any video editing software.

JOMA72, get the best you can afford.... if it is the 3GB 580, then so be it. I would also recommend that you also pick up a Corsair 1000w power supply. The goal is to make your desktop last far longer than its original intent: I took my 8800GTS video card, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB SDRAM, and 680i motherboard out of my computer like nearly 8 months ago....

I had that setup since 2005.

GundamWZero wrote:

I disagree.

It's called, "future-proofing". And the quicker you get on that train, the better you feel later.

Today, software development is growing at an frightening rate, faster than what the hardware developers can push out. When the Nvida 8800 GTX cards hit the shelves, everyone thought that this card would turn gaming and graphics design on its head. Then software developers introduced software that was DX10-Ready.

First out of the chute was FSX. That knocked hardware development for the end-user back nearly five years. First people started either buying faster processors or overclocking to compensate, or they looked to custom builders such as Falcon Northwest to build their systems.

Now, you can smoke FSX just by buying an Intel Core 2 Quad, 4GBs of RAM, and a GTX 465 or its ATI equivalent. But can that handle Battlefield 3 with its Frostbyte Engine? Or how about Deus Ex: Human Revolution? This is even before I introduce you to Photoshop CS5 or any video editing software.

JOMA72, get the best you can afford.... if it is the 3GB 580, then so be it. I would also recommend that you also pick up a Corsair 1000w power supply. The goal is to make your desktop last far longer than its original intent: I took my 8800GTS video card, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB SDRAM, and 680i motherboard out of my computer like nearly 8 months ago....

I had that setup since 2005.

It's not really future proofing; Yes software is always becoming more demanding but hardware is also always getting cheaper. By getting more than you need now, you're spending more than you have to! The GTX 570 is more powerful than the 480, has more vRam, and costs less!

Ram isn't like horsepower, where the more you have the faster you go period. Think of it like... your vehicle's weight capacity. If it's not enough, you run into all kinds of problems, but once your truck can carry whatever load you need to haul, getting a bigger truck is wasting money. Spending all kinds of money upgrading your truck's suspension to carry 10,000 pounds is downright stupid if all you have is a 3 liter V6...

In order to use 3 gigs of vRam, you'd have to run absurd AA at absurd resolutions (In the ballpark of 3 monitors at 1920x1080), in which case even a 580 would choke and give you crap framerates in modern games. You'd need an SLI setup to use efficiently use that much vRam, so unless you're planning on building one you're wasting your money.

You don't need a 1000W PSU to run a single card!!!! EVER. 600W would be enough, 700W is splurging. You're MUCH better off getting a good name 600W than a crappy 1000W.

Gundam, nothing personal but you give a lot of bad computer advice... The most expensive option isn't always better, sometimes it really is a complete waste of money. I'm not trying to insult you, please just spend some time learning about how computers work, maybe build one or two, before you start telling people what to buy.

Traches wrote:

GundamWZero wrote:

I disagree.

It's called, "future-proofing". And the quicker you get on that train, the better you feel later.

Today, software development is growing at an frightening rate, faster than what the hardware developers can push out. When the Nvida 8800 GTX cards hit the shelves, everyone thought that this card would turn gaming and graphics design on its head. Then software developers introduced software that was DX10-Ready.

First out of the chute was FSX. That knocked hardware development for the end-user back nearly five years. First people started either buying faster processors or overclocking to compensate, or they looked to custom builders such as Falcon Northwest to build their systems.

Now, you can smoke FSX just by buying an Intel Core 2 Quad, 4GBs of RAM, and a GTX 465 or its ATI equivalent. But can that handle Battlefield 3 with its Frostbyte Engine? Or how about Deus Ex: Human Revolution? This is even before I introduce you to Photoshop CS5 or any video editing software.

JOMA72, get the best you can afford.... if it is the 3GB 580, then so be it. I would also recommend that you also pick up a Corsair 1000w power supply. The goal is to make your desktop last far longer than its original intent: I took my 8800GTS video card, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB SDRAM, and 680i motherboard out of my computer like nearly 8 months ago....

I had that setup since 2005.

It's not really future proofing; Yes software is always becoming more demanding but hardware is also always getting cheaper. By getting more than you need now, you're spending more than you have to! The GTX 570 is more powerful than the 480, has more vRam, and costs less!

Ram isn't like horsepower, where the more you have the faster you go period. Think of it like... your vehicle's weight capacity. If it's not enough, you run into all kinds of problems, but once your truck can carry whatever load you need to haul, getting a bigger truck is wasting money. Spending all kinds of money upgrading your truck's suspension to carry 10,000 pounds is downright stupid if all you have is a 3 liter V6...

In order to use 3 gigs of vRam, you'd have to run absurd AA at absurd resolutions (In the ballpark of 3 monitors at 1920x1080), in which case even a 580 would choke and give you crap framerates in modern games. You'd need an SLI setup to use efficiently use that much vRam, so unless you're planning on building one you're wasting your money.

You don't need a 1000W PSU to run a single card!!!! EVER. 600W would be enough, 700W is splurging. You're MUCH better off getting a good name 600W than a crappy 1000W.

Gundam, nothing personal but you give a lot of bad computer advice... The most expensive option isn't always better, sometimes it really is a complete waste of money. I'm not trying to insult you, please just spend some time learning about how computers work, maybe build one or two, before you start telling people what to buy.

No harm in expressing you views Traches... we all are entitled to them. 😀

However, I have built 6 home computers within the last two years, with two of them in less than a year; this current desktop, and my Home Theater PC. So I have a good idea of what people want and expect out of their PCs - So far I haven't had a single complaint with the rigs I built.

You are correct about using a 1000w power supply to power one video card; but you haven't thought about the other components that demands power; take for instance the 480 you just mentioned - that card alone EVGA minimum requirements is 600 watts:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6075295&CatId=3669

What about the power to the CPU, RAM, Motherboard, Optical Drives, and Hard Drive?

But in the end it is all about what the consumer wants. You want to do a hardware upgrade to compensate to the changing demands every year to save a few dollars? Go right ahead.... but I believe in building it once to last out past at least 4 to 5 years its service life.

Buy it once and get it right the first time. That will save you money in the long run.

Oh wow, foot in my mouth... I had you confused with "building your own system is the cheap way out of having a bad ass gaming rig" truckernick and his $3000 alienware. Sorry for the lecture!

Anyway I think we've just built different computers; budget has always been a big concern with the builds people have asked for. Price/Performance ratio is usually the biggest factor I look at. I definitely agree that buying cheap anything (tools, cars, appliances, etc) usually ends up more expensive in the long run, but computer components don't always fall in that category.

With the 480's PSU, nvidia is taking all that into account when they recommend 600W. The TDP of the 480 is about 250W, add another 50 for overclocking, figure a 125W CPU with another 50W for overclocking and you've still got 125 watts to run your drives, fans, and mobo. It's a little on the tight side, but that's also figuring in some pretty generous overclocks. 700 watts would give you plenty of headroom.