18 replies to this topic

[hogcia]

I am building a mini pinball machine on a budget. Playfield 23" (1080p), backglass 17". Can anyone tell me if ONE "GTX 550 Ti" has plenty of power to run it all? Active backglass as well? thanks

 

[Ethermaster]

Hi welcome to boards, Have a read of these board as there is alot of information regarding graphics cards and quite abit of in information from myself. 

 

The GTX 550 and the GTX 550Ti where never really greatly received by the gaming world, if I were you I would be looking at getting my hands on a used GTX 460 1Gb or a GTX 560 or GTX 560Ti if you want new look at a GTX 660.

[hogcia]

I can get both the gtx 460 ti & 550 ti for the same price. Should I still buy the 460? And do you think the 460 can run it all maxed? Thanks for reply & advice.

[Ethermaster]

The GTX 460 is the better card

 

http://www.anandtech...duct/541?vs=542

[hogcia]

Ok. I'm gonna buy the 460 & hope it does the job with the two monitor setup. Thanks 4 your help.

[Ethermaster]

Remember that the GTX 460 comes in 2 different versions, the one you what is the 1Gb version you can then use MSI afterburner to overclock the card if need be. I have a GTX 460 1GB and a Intel Core i3 3220 @ stock  running 3 angels across 2 monitors at 1920x1080 getting 111 FPS completely maxed out.

[hogcia]

Yes, that's the one I'm getting, the 1GB version. I'm happy to hear that the gtx 460 runs good for you. Do you have a pic of your cab? Would love to see it. Thanks again.

[Ethermaster]

The cab is my friends with the GTX 460 and core i3, I just picked him the hardware take a look at bluebook's gallery. I personally use a desktop with a Intel Core i7 3770K, Gigabyte Z77-UD5, 16Gb Corsair Plat, 2x ASUS GTX 480's in SLI, 4x 120GB SSD's in raid 0, 2x 3Tb HDD's in Raid 1 powered by a Corsair AX850 PSU.

VP/FP machine 3rd.

[hogcia]

Cool. I will look at it. Thanks.

Note: & u have a monster machine there!

[Ethermaster]

Thank you I'm currenty saving to upgrade my graphic's cards to some GTX 680 ultra's which will be released shortly and based on failed GK110 GPU's.

 

I also have quite a few other parts laying around

Edited by Ethermaster, 11 February 2013 - 07:24 PM.

[yagesz]

I realize you made your choice. But...

I run a 550ti. I got it for $99. I can run everything.  Just a couple tables I have to turn down from unlimited whatever in the settings. I actually run Monopoly with not to much trouble.
 

But everyone is different.

[hogcia]

Yes I made up my mind on the 460. Looking at some of the benchmarks the GTX 460 Ti 1GB version actually performs better than the 550. Are you running a 2 monitor setup? What are your specs? Thanks.

Edited by hogcia, 11 February 2013 - 10:05 PM.

[htamas]

The GTX 460 will probably have better performance than the 550 Ti, with the exception of power consumption, where the 550 Ti is a lot better.

 

With that said, I'm running a small cab with a 24" playfield and 17" backglass monitor off a GTX 550 Ti and have no performance issues.

[hogcia]

Well, is more power consumption a bad thing? Will it produce more heat? I honestly don't mind if it consumes more energy as long as it's more powerful. Do you have a pic of your cab?

[htamas]

I suppose it will produce more heat, since it's an older and less power-efficient architecture. But if you don't mind energy consumption, then this may not matter much.

 

I do have a build thread about my cabinet (link is in my profile) but the computer hardware has changed considerably since. I'm running a better processor, video card and motherboard compared to the old description.

The rest is pretty much the same though.

[hogcia]

Very nice build. This is something close to what Im looking 2 build. My main objective is to make a table top cabinet that is very slim, so heat can be an issue but I will gamble it.

[Ethermaster]

Actually the gtx 460 runs cooler, this is because it has a slightly bigger fan then the GTX 550Ti 75mm compared to 70mm but the fan is also rated for higer RPM's to allow better cooler of the GPU. The Anandtech results for the reference design cooler confirm this.

Edited by Ethermaster, 12 February 2013 - 08:42 AM.

[hogcia]

Good thanks for the info. The cooler the better since its going into a tight cabinet. Thanks for your help guys.

[htamas]

Actually the gtx 460 runs cooler, this is because it has a slightly bigger fan then the GTX 550Ti 75mm compared to 70mm but the fan is also rated for higer RPM's to allow better cooler of the GPU. The Anandtech results for the reference design cooler confirm this.

 

Well, the 460 can have a better heat sink + fan and it may run cooler, but the fact is that it is a less power-efficient, older architecture and as such, it will likely produce more heat -  which is then dissipated by the cooler.

But as long as you have good airflow in the cabinet, this shouldn't cause issues.