My graphics is broken and I need a new one

[Gunner11]

Hey everyone at LTT community,

 

The reason why I'm here is that 7 days ago, I had a terrible BSOD (code "driver power state failure") which crashed my system to the point where it would not load up the OS, the only thing that worked was taking out my graphics card and every time i plug it back in, the OS fails to boot. An examination of the card revealed a small trace of what looks like burn damage but I haven't confirmed this.  

 

So I'm in the market for a new graphics card, the the question I wanted to ask is, Can you advise me on a suitable replacement graphics card?

 

The graphics card that broke was a Nvidia GTX 780 3GB (Palit). it has served me well over the last 5 years and 10 months. My budget is around £250.

 

The replacement card (I hope) will be a marginal to significant improvement in key performance areas (basically gaming)

 

As well, the replacement graphics card will also be compatible with my CPU as to not cause any significant bottle-necking. PC specs posted below 

 

Any and all advice is welcome. Thank You in advance.

 

 

PC Specification

 

MB: Asus Z87-K

CPU: Intel Core I5 4670k (Not OverClocked)

CPU Cooler: Stock Intel Cooler

HDD: Seagate 1TB (no SSD installed)

PC Case: Cyclone 2 (yeah I know)

 

Quick edit:

Power Supply: Corsair CX 600

Edited October 10, 2019 by Gunner11

[Princess Luna]

Seems likely the GTX 1660 it is.

[Tristerin]

Burn damage on the fingers of the PCIe male end on the GPU?  If so I would check to see if the slot itself is okay as well. 

[Gunner11]

3 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

Burn damage on the fingers of the PCIe male end on the GPU?  If so I would check to see if the slot itself is okay as well. 

I have tried the card in a different PCIe slot but it didn't produce any different results, As of right now I don't have a spare card to test if the slots are okay. I suppose when I get a new card, that will be the test.

 

Thanks for posting

[Gunner11]

14 minutes ago, Princess Luna said:

Seems likely the GTX 1660 it is.

i'll take a look into it.

 

Thank You.

[ukiyos]

I believe the MSI 1660 Ti is £232 on outletpc. If you can wait a bit for shipping (I believe they ship internationally) if you're thinking of the 1660^^

[Gunner11]

7 minutes ago, ukiyos said:

I believe the MSI 1660 Ti is £232 on outletpc. If you can wait a bit for shipping (I believe they ship internationally) if you're thinking of the 1660^^

Preliminary research suggests the Ti will be better if you're willing to pay that bit extra, If the 1660 Ti isn't too modern (CPU is nearly 6 years old), I can wait for the shipping. 

 

Thanks

[YoFavRussian]

16 minutes ago, Gunner11 said:

Preliminary research suggests the Ti will be better if you're willing to pay that bit extra, If the 1660 Ti isn't too modern (CPU is nearly 6 years old), I can wait for the shipping. 

 

Thanks

The 1660Ti is considered recently released, however I would recommend this card, even if it does get bottle necked, it'll still be a performer.

[Zando_]

30 minutes ago, Gunner11 said:

Preliminary research suggests the Ti will be better if you're willing to pay that bit extra, If the 1660 Ti isn't too modern (CPU is nearly 6 years old), I can wait for the shipping. 

 

Thanks

CPU age doesn't matter lol, so long as you get the performance you want. I ran a 1080 Ti with an X5670 for a bit, that's a CPU from 2011 (so 8 years old now). That was defo a CPU bottleneck, but then I was running one of the most powerful gaming GPUs out there. Your i5 should be fine with the 1660 Ti, and if you don't get the performance you want you can OC the CPU, or upgrade to a better one later on. 

If you buy a lower performing card now to avoid a CPU bottleneck, when you eventually upgrade your CPU you'll need to buy another GPU to get the performance you want, it's cheaper in the long run to just get a solid GPU now. The 1660 Ti is a champ at 1080p, IIRC it even handles 1440p with tweaked settings quite well. Barely eats any power and they run cool af as well (Mine - an EVGA XC Ultra - currently sits under F@H load at 58C max, if I slap the fans to 100% I can keep it under 50C). 

[ukiyos]

Just now, YoFavRussian said:

The 1660Ti is considered recently released, however I would recommend this card, even if it does get bottle necked, it'll still be a performer.

Even if it does get bottle necked (it most likely will), out of the box it should perform slightly better than the 1660, but both are great cards. There's not *too* much difference between the models of 1660 Ti as far as I know, as long as your case has decent airflow. If I remember correctly, MSI has the best price to performance, but runs slightly hotter (around +2°c compared to Asus)

[Gunner11]

14 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

CPU age doesn't matter lol, so long as you get the performance you want. I ran a 1080 Ti with an X5670 for a bit, that's a CPU from 2011 (so 8 years old now). That was defo a CPU bottleneck, but then I was running one of the most powerful gaming GPUs out there. Your i5 should be fine with the 1660 Ti, and if you don't get the performance you want you can OC the CPU, or upgrade to a better one later on. 

If you buy a lower performing card now to avoid a CPU bottleneck, when you eventually upgrade your CPU you'll need to buy another GPU to get the performance you want, it's cheaper in the long run to just get a solid GPU now. The 1660 Ti is a champ at 1080p, IIRC it even handles 1440p with tweaked settings quite well. Barely eats any power and they run cool af as well (Mine - an EVGA XC Ultra - currently sits under F@H load at 58C max, if I slap the fans to 100% I can keep it under 50C). 

That's a good point, in that case it would be better to get the Ti now and get a new MB & CPU next time. I was actually debating on waiting until a few months and just get a brand new system all together, but I don't think i can wait that long lol.

[Gunner11]

15 minutes ago, ukiyos said:

Even if it does get bottle necked (it most likely will), out of the box it should perform slightly better than the 1660, but both are great cards. There's not *too* much difference between the models of 1660 Ti as far as I know, as long as your case has decent airflow. If I remember correctly, MSI has the best price to performance, but runs slightly hotter (around +2°c compared to Asus)

I think the airflow is decent in my system but I don't have a reference so I can't say for certain, though I have been concerned about the case fans, they are to put it mildly, pathetic. I also have decent Cable management so there are as little obstructions as possible. Listening to everyone's advice has made me think the 1660 Ti might be worth getting now and upgrade my MB & CPU next time. 

 

Thanks for all the advice.

[Gunner11]

36 minutes ago, YoFavRussian said:

The 1660Ti is considered recently released, however I would recommend this card, even if it does get bottle necked, it'll still be a performer.

I think the 1660 Ti is what I'll be going for, Afterwards I'll look into upgrading the MB & CPU.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. 

[ukiyos]

59 minutes ago, Gunner11 said:

I think the airflow is decent in my system but I don't have a reference so I can't say for certain, though I have been concerned about the case fans, they are to put it mildly, pathetic. I also have decent Cable management so there are as little obstructions as possible. Listening to everyone's advice has made me think the 1660 Ti might be worth getting now and upgrade my MB & CPU next time. 

 

Thanks for all the advice.

anytime. I believe some websites have a rebate, so you get some of the money back, but not sure how that'll work, or if it'll be worth the postage if you have to mail it internationally.

[MadAnt250]

3 hours ago, Gunner11 said:

I think the 1660 Ti is what I'll be going for, Afterwards I'll look into upgrading the MB & CPU.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. 

I think you should be fine for awhile.