Recommended graphics card for build

iLikeWaffles

Hey guys, recently built my first pc and am now looking for a graphics card to complement the build.

Specs:

Intel Core i7 4790K 4x 4.00GHz
2x8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 DIMM 240
ASRock H97 Anniversary Mobo
120GB Samsung 750 Evo SSD (OS and Software)
500 Watt Corsair CX Series Modular 80+ Bronze
Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Fractal Design Core 2500 Case + Extra 120mm fan

Used an optical drive, 2x500GB HDD and 2TB external from old pc.

Not going to OC just yet maybe down the line I will so just stuck with the stock heat sink and fan so loud compared to the Fractal fans though! I wanted to hold off and try to get a graphics card after I built it just to see if the Intel 4600 graphics would cut it. They do okay for low graphic intensive games but I would like to stream (currently stream music) to twitch and would require decent graphics that could handle games on medium/high settings and capture a monitor. Again the Intel graphics seem to handle the stream and production software but I'm getting 50/50 frames when I tested the stream and a game. (Intel graphics were giving 70fps game and 30 fps OBS both tested independently).


My budget for the build was €850 and I managed to hit it on the nose for the basic parts I could do €150 max for a graphics card but maybe stretch a little. What could you guys recommend and would the 500 watts be enough to add a graphics card and the option for the OC and water cooler later on.

irishmover

If you can I'd recommend trying to find a bit more cash and get a GTX970 (I like MSI personally). It'll compliment that build quite well.

Having a decent CPU with a really cheap graphics card is a waste.

iLikeWaffles

oh dunno man could go €175-200 just don't game on PC enough to make paying €300+ worth it!

irishmover

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

oh dunno man could go €175-200 just don't game on PC enough to make paying €300+ worth it!

Thats fine. What are you building the PC for? What will it be used for?

iLikeWaffles

Music production and light gaming have it built.

irishmover

R9 380 should do the trick then. I think you can get it for around that price.

Digital Solitude

Depends on what games you want to play, a weaker card might cut it but a 4gb 380 is a great card for €200

iLikeWaffles

What about NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti GPU was looking at a 4gb one on amazon. Within budget. Would there be a difference with the 4gb and 2gb they both have the same clock speeds. Also the 750Ti says it requires 400watts is that just a min recommendation for the system or does it eat 400watts I know stupid question but just have to be sure!!

I have no clue what games I'm going to be playing. But if you mean what are my graphics requirements what will the 750Ti give me?


I was going to try get a new fan for the cpu heatsink the stock fan on it is too noisy. The fractal fans on full blast are not even as loud and there's 3 of them. I have read that Noctua fans are pretty quiet would it just be a question of taking off the Intel fan and putting new fan on? The heatsink has those clips on it connecting to mobo though. I haven't decided to OC so there won't be much point of getting a closed loop water cooler just yet.

TerrorFirmer

GTX750Ti is a good budget card and will run most new games at about 1080p medium-ish settings at pretty OK framerates. To put it into perspective, it would be still an improvement on XB1/PS4 graphics in most titles. No need for the 4GB version, 2GB is fine for a card of that type. It's a 65w card so no, it doesn't need a 400w psu, I've run them on 200w supplies just fine.

You can replace the stock cooler but it shouldn't really be very noisy, it's decent enough especially at idle or low usage. It may not be installed correctly and is getting too hot and ramping up to cool itself down. Or you may just have the hearing of a bat

iLikeWaffles

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

GTX750Ti is a good budget card and will run most new games at about 1080p medium-ish settings at pretty OK framerates. To put it into perspective, it would be still an improvement on XB1/PS4 graphics in most titles. No need for the 4GB version, 2GB is fine for a card of that type. It's a 65w card so no, it doesn't need a 400w psu, I've run them on 200w supplies just fine.

You can replace the stock cooler but it shouldn't really be very noisy, it's decent enough especially at idle or low usage. It may not be installed correctly and is getting too hot and ramping up to cool itself down. Or you may just have the hearing of a bat

CPU temp is a steady 43° most its gotten to was 46°. Its about as loud as a xbox 360. Was just thinking of getting the fan part of the heatsink and slapping it on there.

Digital Solitude

46 is pretty low, the fan shouldn't be that loud at that temp. Have you checked to see the fans not being clipped or anything?

iLikeWaffles

What do you mean. Like the wire hitting off it or it being restricted somehow? When it boots its louder and then goes down to a quieter Hum.

Digital Solitude

Yeah by the fan wire or a different one. Pop the side open and have a look

irishmover

iLikeWaffles wrote: »

What do you mean. Like the wire hitting off it or it being restricted somehow? When it boots its louder and then goes down to a quieter Hum.

Have a look in BIOS at fan speed settings. It might be defaulted to run at max speed initially for some random reason.

Also my 4970k runs at 31 degrees on idle OC'd to 4.6ghz. I'm using an aftermarket Noctua DH-15 cooler though. But personally I think anything over 40 at idle should be sorted.

iLikeWaffles

irishmover wrote: »

Have a look in BIOS at fan speed settings. It might be defaulted to run at max speed initially for some random reason.

Also my 4970k runs at 31 degrees on idle OC'd to 4.6ghz. I'm using an aftermarket Noctua DH-15 cooler though. But personally I think anything over 40 at idle should be sorted.

Question. In the bios screen the CPU temp is saying 52° CPUID says 43°. There is a 5 stage customisable setting for fan speed%/temp. What reading would the bios use because I don't hear any difference in dB if the customised setting is working have it set to 50°/50% minimum setting that should reduce the noise level by half. But seeing no difference.

I didn't apply thermal paste to the heatsink as it was already on there from factory.

Eoinmc97

Well, cutting the fan speed to 50% won't make it twice as quiet, as the fan might be loud at 50%, or you have never heard it at 100% (good lord they are loud then)
Either way, setting a gradual fan curve might be best, so the change in noise is less, and therefore you might get more accustomed to it.

iLikeWaffles

ah yes will have to tweak it a little better just brushing it aside for now. I am using HWMonitor for the readings on ° and rpm are there any better programs available?