Evga GTX 780 FTW

[worminfested]

I'm interested in upgrading my 2 GTX 580's superclocked (1.5GB), and get 2 GTX 780's FTW wit ACX cooler. I was wondering if anybody know's if my rig can handle those cards. My rig is an Alienware Area 51 purchased in 2010. It has a 1.2 kilowatt power supply, Intel I7 930(2.8GHz, 8MB cache), 12GB of ram at 1600MHz, motherboard is original(X58 I believe, if that sounds right) and running triple monitors. Not much of a computer wiz just know enough to get by. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Alienwulf]

Yes it will handle two GTX 780's they pull down less watts than my two cards. If you have a 1.2 Kw you will need to use cable connector P16 and P19 for card one and P20 and P24 to spread the power across the rails. This article will show you which cards CF or SLI that Dell sells install. I just used it to go with the wattage of my cards and used those connectors. The PSU has more than enough to run smoothly. Hope this helps.
http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/kcs/kcsarticles/articleview?docid=573968

 

[worminfested]

It does help a lot in my decision of getting new cards. And thank you for the quick response.

 

[worminfested]

O.K. just got my video cards in the other day. Looks awesome. Now my next question is should I upgrade my cpu or is it not worth it?

 

[Alienwulf]

By up grade do you mean a I7 960 975 or 980? that's you choice unless you change to a different mother board. You could get a used I7 975 extreme for 200.00 or so used on ebay. There are some new floating around but are over 600.00 they are still top tier CPUs after all these years. I would say if your not looking for the extra and new features of the new mother boards, no stay with your I7 630. If you want to make your system better than the day it was new. You could do it for 400.00 or so it's a personal choice to make. I'am glade I did mine it's a hole new machine from what it was and since my extended warranty was up next month that decided it for me. Keep us up to date on what you decide as there are not to many of us Area 51 owners around. And if you need any help post here or just pm me. I know there are a few others here who are very helpful.

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O.K. just got my video cards in the other day. Looks awesome. Now my next question is should I upgrade my cpu or is it not worth it?

So how are they running? how is the heat and sound..

 

[worminfested]

They are running good, gets hot running extreme gaming especially the 2nd one cause it's right on top of the other(no space in between the two cards). So with that being said I just might start looking around for motherboards. What do you recommend in motherboards and cpu's?

 

[sway]

They are running good, gets hot running extreme gaming especially the 2nd one cause it's right on top of the other(no space in between the two cards). So with that being said I just might start looking around for motherboards. What do you recommend in motherboards and cpu's?

I've got a really good i5 3570k, runs 4.7ghz @1.25v, $150 shipped. I upgraded recently and it's just sitting there waiting. Runs real cool too. It's easily capable of 5ghz at a decent voltage. Got me some real good scores while benching. All you'd need is a z77 mobo.

tappin from the neXus 5

 

[worminfested]

And what do I need to install motherboard, like software and drivers? For example do I need to get a new OS with a new board? And thanks for the quick reply. Also just to let you know I'm not a computer wizard, i know enough to get by.

 

[sway]

Mobo is easy, you just literally swap new for old, connections would be pretty much the same. Most drivers should install during new os install, the ones that don't are easy to find on the manufacturers site. You'll notice a huge jump coming from what chip you have now. Windows 8.1 is cheap, I found a brand new full version on eBay for $75 shipped.

Games run so much better on 8.1, I have a spare ssd with w7 on it and compared bf4, bf3, far cry 3 and a few others and consistently got better fps with 8.1.

tappin from the neXus 5

 

[Alienwulf]

It's all pretty much what you like. To get you by drop your second 780 to the bottom PCIe slot yes it's 8 not 16 but your cards will run much cooler and in real world you will not see a difference. I had to run my 5970's that way too much heat. Boards and CPU's wel as Sway said it's pretty easy plug for plug. Depends if you want Sandy bridge or Haswell or. Get the best you can afford this will last you years so MSI or Asus I like Asus my self. If you want the best of best go 2011 most money or 1150 what I did. Keep your PSU if you want to keep your FX and you can keep your OS you just do a call in and put some new numbers in Microsoft will give you I have done it several times. You can check out my new build thread or my other one on updating the Area 51.

 

[worminfested]

Ok so I was looking at the asus sabertooth x79 on tiger direct. How is that and will that work?

 

[sway]

That's a 2011 socket, you'll be spending 500+ on just a chip. If your interested in my chip you'll need a z77, asus makes that mobo in a z77.

Sandy and Ivy bridge are both 1155 socket, haswell is 1150.

tappin from the neXus 5

 

[Alienwulf]

I would go with a 1155 or 1150 and an Asus mobo there is not a lot of difference between as sway says the z77 would work just fine or if you want Haswell the Hero is a good choice too. His chip is plenty fast so is the I7 4670k and you keep the price down with out bottle necking those 780's. Go with what looks good to you and your wallet.

 

[jayhernandez7]

It will definitely handle those beasts
Just make sure you have the right connectors and you'll be good. Post some before and after photos!!

 

[worminfested]

Is the z77 discontinued? That is my first choice of mobo to get. I can at least get the hero new from tiger direct.

 

[sway]

Here's one from a really good seller, brand new. Z77 is harder to find with haswell out, I had a hard time finding the mobo I wanted for my 3770k, I didn't want to go to haswell.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/181339908905?nav=SEARCH

tappin from the neXus 5