Advice please. GTX 560 Ti vs Ti 448 Cores edition on 575W PSU + Warranty

[Leijonasisu]

Hey guys. You helped me out fantastically in this thread: http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8867

Was hoping you could advise me once again!

I have an Toughpower XT 575W PSU.

I was thinking of getting this card: http://www.jimms.fi/tuote/ENGTX560TI448DC2%2F2DIS

However Nvidia rates the minimum PSU requirement at 550W which is borderline to my PSU. In that other thread that I linked, I read that they take into account every trash PSU on the market, but most people always recommend having a PSU that is about 150W more than the minimum requirement of your card.

So instead of getting the GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores edition.

I opted for this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/MSI-GTX560Ti...8748422&sr=8-2

I have heard, and been recommended by all of my friends that MSI is an amazing brand for Graphics cards.

But I am concerned by the 'warranty'.

Amazon does not really ever give any info on a warranty. Third party sellers on Amazon almost always specify warranty terms. But items sold by Amazon themselves don't.

I've done hours worth of google searches and I cannot find any info on MSI's terms for Graphics Card warranties. Though I am sure they would compete with ASUS which offers a 3 Year warranty for almost all their cards.

On this website: http://www.tietokonekauppa.fi/?koodi=75576

They say that the card comes with a 3 year warranty.
So does this website: http://www.jimms.fi/tuote/N560GTX-TI-TF-II%2FOC

Except that Amazon is quite a bit cheaper. Though I am happy paying the extra to know what kind of warranty I am getting.

I don't plan to be gaming forever. But with my current setup. I really would like to 'seal the deal' on this PC. Once and for all. If I ever buy another PC it will be a long time in the future, and I highly doubt it will be for gaming.

So, what are your experiences with Amazon UK and warranties? I know that they are the concern of the manufacturer, in this case MSI. I looked on their website and they don't really state what the warranty is... Some review sites say that the MSI GTX 560 Ti has a 3 year warranty but inside the US and Canada only.. and outside the US it's only a 1 year warranty :/

I wouldn't mind paying 30 Euros at all for an extra 2 years warranty.

Am I safe buying that card from Amazon and getting the 3 years or is it only a handful of those websites that actually say "3 year warranty" that I should trust, and buying from Amazon UK would put me in a 'grey unknown area'?

I am also happy getting the ASUS GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores edition because it is on special (50 Euros off) and it says on the page that it has a 3 year warranty. But I am not sure with my current setup:

CPU: i7-2600
HDD: 1TB Caviar Green
RAM: 12GB DDR3 1333
PSU: Toughpower XT 575W

If I would be able to run it at 100% load without my PC turning off...

What would you advise and what would you get, if you were in my position.

Thanks as always for any and all advice!

[rafal_iB_PL]

However Nvidia rates the minimum PSU requirement at 550W which is borderline to my PSU.

It is overstated, and Toughpower will handle that card just fine.

[yojo2]

Exactly. You won't hit the limit of this PSU even after overclocking.

[McSteel]

Asus has generally proven to be the better brand, at least judging by the build quality, and user experience (within my circle of friends and acquaintances). MSI isn't bad, it's just that I haven't gotten the same sense of it's superiority that you claim there might be. Plus, the DirectCU II is a bit more quiet than the TwinFrozr II. Tt TPX-575M is more than adequate for your setup, if a bit loud.

[Leijonasisu]

I love the fast replies. Thanks guys. Good to know that my PSU will be enough for that card. I would definitely rather buy that then, and that takes care of the 3 year warranty phobia on Amazon that I have, as well as the fact that I get the slightly better card for the same price basically. I'll also get the card far faster and the website I will buy from has free postage countrywide.

I'll wait for the authorization on my card to clear and then I will go and buy: http://www.jimms.fi/tuote/ENGTX560TI448DC2%2F2DIS

It's a huge card... 3 slots. I think I have the room. I have an ASUS CM6650 PC with 4 slots from the GPU-down of space. Apparently triple-slot cards are very quiet. I can OC with Afterburner, but I doubt I will need to. I only want to play Skyrim and a bit of BF3 and quite a few 'inside games' like Bioshock 1 and 2 and Dead Space 1 and 2 etc.

ASUS boasts that it has up to 35C cooler of operation. My PC is an ASUS and it screams in speed so I'd be happy to add an ASUS card to the family.

The Toughpower XT 575W is actually an extremely quiet PSU. The loudest thing in my PC is by far the disgusting 1TB Caviar Green that I have which has major indigestion issues. Or the stock CPU cooling fan that I have which I wish I could replace.. I'll get a new CPU cooler next definitely. I want this machine to be really quiet. The CPU and loud HDD are the last 2 things holding it back. A nice SSD and new CPU cooler should fix that. The PSU is seriously very silent.

It's really nice to hear that ASUS makes good cards. I'm very happy to hear someone swears by them.

This will basically make the last addition to my PC. Apart from better cooling later on.

[Original Sin]

Well, MSI made the best cards of the GTX 5xx/HD 6xxx generation(the Lightnings, if you count out the 580 Classified which came very late and was priced too high), Asus offered the second and third best 580(the Matrix and the DCII) and the second best 6970(the DCII)... the 570 DCII was also an excellent card, among the top GTX 570 offerings along side the Classy and and the SuperOverclock from Gigabyte.
With the 7970s Asus didn't do such a great job, the DCII board is excellent but the cooling solution is poor(horrid HDT base, very poor heat transfer), MSI again made the best card of the 7xxx generation(the Lightning), Gigabyte came back in force this generation and brought out some excellent WF3 solutions, priced well below the competition(in Europe at least), XFX also did an excellent job this generation.

ot: I'm with the gents above, the XT 575 is comfortably sufficient for that card(at any clocks).

[McSteel]

Maybe so, but we're talking about the TwinFrozrII here
DCII beats it by a small, but sufficient enough to matter, margin. This comes after the fact that 448-core 560Ti is significantly faster than the original one, and MSI's 448-core version costs 40€ more... Asus uses a better power monitoring IC (uPI up6208 vs MSI's up1981), and a bit better power delivery system overall. It is a bit louder than MSI when switched over to the "silent BIOS". Then again, editing a fan profile is no rocket science, so this isn't a huge plus for MSI.

On the other hand, Asus' solution is triple-slot, so that's something to consider as well.

Originally Posted by Leijonasisu

The PSU is seriously very silent.

You must have a pretty good case, then. TPX's have a flat fan profile, leaving the fan at a constant 1000-1100 rpm (varies by individual specimen). Great that you can't hear it, consider yourself lucky. This also means that you currently have the worst-case scenario (concerning your PSU), so you know what to count on regardless of load levels, so this could be a good thing, in a way.

[Original Sin]

Originally Posted by McSteel

Maybe so, but we're talking about the TwinFrozrII here
DCII beats it by a small, but sufficient enough to matter, margin. This comes after the fact that 448-core 560Ti is significantly faster than the original one, and MSI's 448-core version costs 40€ more... Asus uses a better power monitoring IC (uPI up6208 vs MSI's up1981), and a bit better power delivery system overall. It is a bit louder than MSI when switched over to the "silent BIOS". Then again, editing a fan profile is no rocket science, so this isn't a huge plus for MSI.

On the other hand, Asus' solution is triple-slot, so that's something to consider as well.

I completely agree, there's no contest, I think the DCII is the best 448C implementation, it's essentially a GTX 570 DCII card with different GPU.

AFAIK all TFII cards are reference designs with different coolers... so I wouldn't call any TFII card a top choice.

[Leijonasisu]

Well like I said, it's great to hear of people who are happy with ASUS products. I for one have never bought anything from MSI because I originally lived in Australia and we've never really had the 'option' of doing so. In fact, in Aust most cards that you can buy are almost always reference cards. So what you 'see in the ad' is what you get in the box. If you want to buy a third-party built card you have to pay a fortune.

Noise is a pretty big issue for me.. when I bought the XT 575W it was advertised that it was pretty quiet, but yes some reviewers did complain about the PSU being marginally louder than the competition. However I had a massive stress over what PSU to get originally and eventually opted with this one because of its very long warranty and array of protections etc. Surge, overpower etc. When I powered it up with nothing connected I couldn't hear it at all, as far as I know it hasn't changed or upped the fan speed at all. I've used 2 different noise meters to test the sound of my case and I get about 32dB outside the case. If I could drop that even 2dB I'd be happier. It's almost just a 'breeze' really but the old 8800GT I had was very, very loud and on very very rare occasions when the CPU load gets to around 100% the fan spins up like a jumbo jet but that doesn't happen very often.

Now I just wish my bank would release the authorization on my card because I've already been confirmed that my last order was cancelled. I suppose I'll just have to sit tight, which means I might have to wait the long weekend until I get my card. No biggie.

On a different note has anyone had any experience with MSI or ASUS in returning devices under warranty or such? I spoke to an ASUS tech on the phone regarding opening my case to make upgrades and that was a very smooth process. There was a very intimidating seal on the back case. As previously stated, I've never had to contact MSI though I have read that, (at least they used to) be horrible with warranties even though they offered long ones. It's all really speculative stuff online, so it's hard to tell what's what.

[Stefan Payne]

Originally Posted by Leijonasisu

I have an Toughpower XT 575W PSU.

However Nvidia rates the minimum PSU requirement at 550W which is borderline to my PSU. In that other thread that I linked, I read that they take into account every trash PSU on the market, but most people always recommend having a PSU that is about 150W more than the minimum requirement of your card.

Nvidia can't know if you have an old PSU like a Topower P4 built (wich has only 336W on the +12V Rail) or a modern 550W PSU, wich has up to 550W on the +12V rail. So they have tu guess and expect the worst. As no one would understand if they say 'you need at leest XXX Watts on the +12V rail, they have to make a compromise where everyone could live with. And make some sacrifices...

Originally Posted by Leijonasisu

I wouldn't mind paying 30 Euros at all for an extra 2 years warranty.

Why do you want to order at amazon.com when you're paying in Euros?
Wouldn't it be better to use amazon.de (or maybe amazon.co.uk ) for you, if you live in Europe?


Besides that: I'd take a real GTX 560 TI, not the GTX 570 SE (for slow edition), wich the 448 'Core' Version is...