What do you think about this card?

[Hans Power]

I recently had to send in my Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti for the third (!!) time because of a defective cooler (rattled pretty loud at high fan speeds). Now I finally got my money back and I'm thinking about alternatives. The one that comes to mind first is the ZOTAC GTX 760 AMP! Edition:

http://www.zotacusa.com/geforce-gtx-760-zt-70402-10p.html

It has an extended warranty of 5 years here in germany which is the most you can get out of any graphics card manufacturer. Also they are the only one with direct RMA service after two years (up till then the merchant is responsible for warranty). The only other one is ASUS with a 3 year warranty but without a direct RMA Service.

What I heard about it is that it can't hold the clock speeds at the predefined fan speed temperature target but that isn't a big issue for me.

So, what do you guys think about it? Any glaring, dealbreaking issues I should be aware about because that's it - I'm stressed out enough with that shitty gigabyte card and this time I wanna make sure to buy the right one. I'd be interested in alternatives as well. For example how about an AMD 270x - that's in a comparable price range (about 30€ cheaper). Does it hold up (directx) performance wise? Or should I wait for the first mantle benchmarks come out before I make a decision? GO!

[Thunderjolt]

Here you go
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-270X-vs-GeForce-GTX-760

[Hans Power]

Okay, the 270x doesn't look that compelling to me If I believe those charts.

[miyabwah]

I guess it's a good card.. Not really sure how well it performs...

[Hans Power]

So I went with the Zotac but I'm not quite happy with it. It has quite a bit of coil whine in normal windows operations and the cooler isn't the quietest while keeping the card at 84°C which is not much headroom. I gonna send it back tomorrow and try something else. I think despite the only 2 year warranty I'll try the MSI card next. My PC stands on my desk so quiet operation is kinda important and I get annoyed easily by distracting noises coming out of it.

Edit: Or should I rather go for ASUS in terms of noise levels? It doesn't really pull ahead in most reviews I read while the MSI is almost always on 1st place when compared to other cards.

[lachyman]

So I went with the Zotac but I'm not quite happy with it. It has quite a bit of coil whine in normal windows operations and the cooler isn't the quietest while keeping the card at 84°C which is not much headroom. I gonna send it back tomorrow and try something else. I think despite the only 2 year warranty I'll try the MSI card next. My PC stands on my desk so quiet operation is kinda important and I get annoyed easily by distracting noises coming out of it.

Edit: Or should I rather go for ASUS in terms of noise levels? It doesn't really pull ahead in most reviews I read while the MSI is almost always on 1st place when compared to other cards.

Both DCU II and TwinFrozr IV will be superior to Zotac in terms of quiet operation.

[xAcid9]

How much can you get for a HD7950? Do shop still selling them there?   :lol:

[Hans Power]

How much can you get for a HD7950? Do shop still sell them there?   :lol:

 

Yeah, you still get them but they aren't much of a bargain. The GTX 760 is around 230€ (the MSI at 236€ right now) while the HD 7950 starts at 285€ and that's a bit too expensive for my taste. Also I don't think that my system would benefit from that performance plus. I run an AM2+ System with a Phenom II X4 965 oced to 4,00GHZ and 6GB of DDR2 1066. Also we haven't got a reliable online merchant except for amazon in terms of service. I even pass on the game bundle to buy directly at amazon which doesn't have it because if you're really having problems during warranty time you're in for a fight with any other big merchant except amazon. And there it's an uncomplicated breeze without any hassle. I really wish we had an NCIX or NewEGG around here with some people working there that are passionate about hardware instead of just trying to squeeze every little bit of money out of ya.

 

 

Both DCU II and TwinFrozr IV will be superior to Zotac in terms of quiet operation.

 

I see you have an MSI card with a TwinFrozr, too. You satisfied with it so far?

[xAcid9]

Ouch, then the 760 TwinFrozr is your best bet.

[Hans Power]

Ouch, then the 760 TwinFrozr is your best bet.

 

Yup. Still thinking about the R9 270x, though. I could get one for 190€ from amazon but I'd have to wait because they're not in stock right now. Would that propably even be a better match for my system (Phenom II X4 @ 4Ghz, 6GB RAM) than the GTX 760? It would definately save me some money. Not sure how my CPU bottlenecks that GPU.

 

Edit: On the other hand I always upgrade if I can afford it and than it's not always bad if the part I buy is a bit ahead of the rest performance wise. That way it kinda evens out when the next upgrade comes (which would be the complete Mobo/CPU/RAM package in propably a year or two).

 

So, what would be you peoples take on that?

 

Update: I'll stick with the 760. I've read some reviews, played some Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs. Reviews say it's generally faster and the games felt a bit smoother than before. Also I already saved 40 bugs since the 660 Ti was at 277€.

[lachyman]

Yeah, you still get them but they aren't much of a bargain. The GTX 760 is around 230€ (the MSI at 236€ right now) while the HD 7950 starts at 285€ and that's a bit too expensive for my taste. Also I don't think that my system would benefit from that performance plus. I run an AM2+ System with a Phenom II X4 965 oced to 4,00GHZ and 6GB of DDR2 1066. Also we haven't got a reliable online merchant except for amazon in terms of service. I even pass on the game bundle to buy directly at amazon which doesn't have it because if you're really having problems during warranty time you're in for a fight with any other big merchant except amazon. And there it's an uncomplicated breeze without any hassle. I really wish we had an NCIX or NewEGG around here with some people working there that are passionate about hardware instead of just trying to squeeze every little bit of money out of ya.

I see you have an MSI card with a TwinFrozr, too. You satisfied with it so far?

It is whisper quiet, never had any problem with it. It also stays below 60 degrees all the time. Most of the time my CPU fan is a lot louder, however in some situations CPU is in idle and GPU is working, even then it's quiet. I will most likely stay with TF in my next GPU purchase.

[Hans Power]

It is whisper quiet, never had any problem with it. It also stays below 60 degrees all the time. Most of the time my CPU fan is a lot louder, however in some situations CPU is in idle and GPU is working, even then it's quiet. I will most likely stay with TF in my next GPU purchase.

 

I'm looking forward to it, then. My case (a disgrace of every hardware enthusiast - an old and ugly thermaltake matrix) isn't expecially well ventilated - not really bad (2x 120mm case fans) but definately not good, either. So good gpu cooling is important. If everything goes well I might upgrade to a xigmatek aquila. But that depends if I actually get that mATX board from a friend of mine.