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Should I Upgrade?

Digital Controller

Digital Controller

The Real Bass Creator
So i have been scouring sites to see what i should do but i thought i should ask you guys here too...


Right now i have 2 x 5770's in Xfire...recently i had to bump down my O.C. just because they kept overheating, i am assuming it has something to do with them being cramped, even though i am running in a NZXT Phantom....but still one of the cards has a custom cooler that takes up 3 slots haha...

Anyhow that is the card giving me trouble, it keeps overheating and crashing my system, not to mention games are finally starting to catch up to me and cause me to lag behind...

So i was wondering if i should upgrade...and to what?

I was looking at the MSI GTX 660Ti, but didn't really know, i would be open to suggestions...I really wouldn't like to spend more than 300$ :(

Thanks :)
 
This time of the year usually considers as an overclocking season amongst pc geeks.
How did you run your system during summer? Maybe you should vacuum your case fans/intakes, VGA and CPU fans, reapply thermal paste..

Yeah 660ti seems like a good choice $279.99 after rebate. If i were to spend $300 i would go for 660ti but then of course i would have to buy a faster CPU.. I'm not really into computers hardware anymore but from what i remember you have to have an equivalent cpu speed to avoid bottleneck.
 
Skyroket said:
This time of the year usually considers as an overclocking season amongst pc geeks.
How did you run your system during summer? Maybe you should vacuum your case fans/intakes, VGA and CPU fans, reapply thermal paste..

Yeah 660ti seems like a good choice $279.99 after rebate. If i were to spend $300 i would go for 660ti but then of course i would have to buy a faster CPU.. I'm not really into computers hardware anymore but from what i remember you have to have an equivalent cpu speed to avoid bottleneck.
Click to expand...

Right now i have a 2500K O.C.'d at 4.0GHz, i think im fine?

Otherwise yeah i was looking at that for 280$ and it seemed really good for me, and just a week or so ago i cleaned it out and still am suffering from overheating...

It's only the one card too, it was a reference 5770 from back when XFX only put a 40mm fan on it and said it would cool fine....

I ended up putting a 80mm after market cooler on it, but the second card gets up to 80C while the first tops out around 70C...the second then crashes...

I just feel like i want 1 card again because these two are causing my computer to be a little unstable...
 
Why do you think its overheating? That chip is rated up to 100C; 80C is fine and is to be expected under heavy load.

Ensure the GPU heatsink/fans are clean (blow air through them but hold the fan still so it doesn't spin) and ensure you have positive airflow in the case (intake/exhaust fans).

What motherboard are these plugged into and what PSU? Does the motherboard have an external PCIE power connector and is it being used?

Do the cards work fine when not overclocked?
 
Digital Controller said:
Right now i have a 2500K O.C.'d at 4.0GHz, i think im fine?

Otherwise yeah i was looking at that for 280$ and it seemed really good for me, and just a week or so ago i cleaned it out and still am suffering from overheating...

It's only the one card too, it was a reference 5770 from back when XFX only put a 40mm fan on it and said it would cool fine....

I ended up putting a 80mm after market cooler on it, but the second card gets up to 80C while the first tops out around 70C...the second then crashes...

I just feel like i want 1 card again because these two are causing my computer to be a little unstable...
Click to expand...


2500k should ok! Go ahead and buy 660ti and sell those 5770 for $30 each...
 
Proper OC doesn't mean death or shortened longevity. I have CPUs from 2005, RAM from 2007, GTX260s from 2008 (these are all folding at max load) and I OC everything and have since my first 386.

I would keep the clocks between the two GPUs the same--they'll perform at the lowest performer anyway. Don't increase clocks without stress-testing them for a few hours before use.

Based on what you say, they aren't running hot as they are 20 degrees C below maximum. (My 580 stays 78-83C ~20 hrs/day from folding.)

I still don't understand what the actual issue is (are they locking up, BSOD, artifacting..?)
 
Rolo42 said:
Proper OC doesn't mean death or shortened longevity. I have CPUs from 2005, RAM from 2007, GTX260s from 2008 (these are all folding at max load) and I OC everything and have since my first 386.

I would keep the clocks between the two GPUs the same--they'll perform at the lowest performer anyway. Don't increase clocks without stress-testing them for a few hours before use.

Based on what you say, they aren't running hot as they are 20 degrees C below maximum. (My 580 stays 78-83C ~20 hrs/day from folding.)

I still don't understand what the actual issue is (are they locking up, BSOD, artifacting..?)
Click to expand...

Well to be honest it's all really random crashes...like only for certain games, i am assuming games that have the best graphics, but i really am not sure...considering i have Skyrim maxed out with some graphics improving mods and it runs at about 30 fps, the cards get hot but the game doesn't crash....now on the other hand i played the free weekend of Counter Strike: Global Offensive this weekend and that game isn't very demanding, at least from what i can tell, on the graphics scale, yet at certain times, when there was a lot of fire being laid down my screen would just freeze then crash and i was lucky to save it and not have to do an entire computer restart...i would get the message that my video card has stopped responding...
 
That's a driver reset when the driver hasn't responded to Windows for 2 seconds (the alternative is a BSOD).

First, ensure proper power is being delivered: check your PSU rating against the GPUs requirements** and check your motherboard for PCIe power connections (I have ones that require an additional power connection when using SLI for PCIe stability).

Next, I would uninstall/clean all video driver remnants using whatever method works for ATI and do a fresh driver install (latest WHQL) to be certain drivers aren't an issue.

Finally, run a torture test (I use Unigine Heaven; it does a good job finding hardware issues as it fully stresses your GPU and tests all functions.). If it fails, lower all your GPU clocks. If it runs for a few hours without fail, you should be good.

**Not total wattage but how much current the cards need (Watts / 12 = Amps) against what the rail(s) they are connected to can deliver. The PSU should have 10-20% headroom (i.e. if the GPU can pull 20A, then the rail should be capable of at least 22-24A).
 
Rolo42 said:
That's a driver reset when the driver hasn't responded to Windows for 2 seconds (the alternative is a BSOD).

First, ensure proper power is being delivered: check your PSU rating against the GPUs requirements** and check your motherboard for PCIe power connections (I have ones that require an additional power connection when using SLI for PCIe stability).

Next, I would uninstall/clean all video driver remnants using whatever method works for ATI and do a fresh driver install (latest WHQL) to be certain drivers aren't an issue.

Finally, run a torture test (I use Unigine Heaven; it does a good job finding hardware issues as it fully stresses your GPU and tests all functions.). If it fails, lower all your GPU clocks. If it runs for a few hours without fail, you should be good.

**Not total wattage but how much current the cards need (Watts / 12 = Amps) against what the rail(s) they are connected to can deliver. The PSU should have 10-20% headroom (i.e. if the GPU can pull 20A, then the rail should be capable of at least 22-24A).
Click to expand...

See like i have done this before, i just reformatted a couple weeks back and it reset all of my drivers...i downloaded the latest one, ran Unigine for an hour and it was fine....

However, when i run (only certain games) it will randomly crash like that...I have tried reinstalling said games to see if it will fix it, but alas no luck.

UPDATE: I ran a single 5770, O.C'd of course my performance wasn't as good but it didn't crash, when i ran with the other card it did, i am assuming the issue is with the second card then, the older one.
 
Digital Controller said:
See like i have done this before, i just reformatted a couple weeks back and it reset all of my drivers...i downloaded the latest one, ran Unigine for an hour and it was fine....

However, when i run (only certain games) it will randomly crash like that...I have tried reinstalling said games to see if it will fix it, but alas no luck.

UPDATE: I ran a single 5770, O.C'd of course my performance wasn't as good but it didn't crash, when i ran with the other card it did, i am assuming the issue is with the second card then, the older one.
Click to expand...


RMA it! Maybe they will send you 6770 or something else.. :p
 
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