best cheap GPU upgrade?

[spillstudios]

Hi

Im new to octane but loving it so far although i'd like to increase hardware performance without breaking the bank so i'd like opinions of people a little more in the know on where to go from here.

my spec -
Dell U2711 27inch monitor 2560 x 1440
watercooled 17 3930 six overclocked to 4.4ghz
16gb ram
2x500gb hard drives
Corsair Enthusiast Series TX 650w psu
Palit 1.28gb Nvidia Geforce Gtx 570

my case isn't huge so im a little concerned about heat, would it be advisable to have any new addition external? Is the 1.28gb ram going to limit me - should i get something with some bigger ram? I put the monitor down as its quite high resolution i use so it cant be run off onboard graphics and needs to be taken into consideration. Will my 650 watt psu handle another card - i really dont want to have to start changing cases or psu if possible- anyone have any advice - budget £250- £300

Thanks

Marc

[spillstudios]

i do have this graphics card free at home 9800GT 1020MB, but is it worth installing it as its not cuda enabled is it? So would only handle the screen - does this really make much of a difference - how much speed is to be gained by freeing up screen only?

[spillstudios]

i guess im a bit of a idiot 9800gt is cuda enabled, i can certainly slot that card in - do i need to install drivers for it too does that affect the 570s driver i have? Should i have the 570 as my main card or the 9800gt? how do i select which card is used for display and which isnt?

[Tugpsx]

Both cards should work well together, use the 9800gt as your display card and the 570 as the render card (disconnect the monitor) set them under the preference in Octane to both be enabled.

You will not get more video ram but you will get more cuda core to render with. Since the 9800 has only 1G ram your video ram will be limited to that amount so weigh the trade off.

Remember you can always disable the 9800 in octane if you need to load a larger scene and only render with the 570

[hadouken]

I think the GTX470 is the best bang to buck ratio.

[Magog]

Both cards should work well together, use the 9800gt as your display card and the 570 as the render card (disconnect the monitor) set them under the preference in Octane to both be enabled.
You will not get more video ram but you will get more cuda core to render with. Since the 9800 has only 1G ram your video ram will be limited to that amount so weigh the trade off.
Remember you can always disable the 9800 in octane if you need to load a larger scene and only render with the 570

Hi Spills, I agree with Tugpsx, the 9800 card is pefect for the monitor and XSI.
Also, if you do not hurry to buy, will be released in a few months the new nvidia cards kepler, so the current gtx 580 and 590 will drop as much money ..

EDIT:
Ah, I realized just now.
If you want to put more cards controls the power supply is suitable.

[spillstudios]

thanks for the advice everyone, so 650w psu wont have a problem powering everything? I guess its time to plug in the old 9800gt!

[Magog]

It 'simple. Each manufacturer has a section PSU calculator. Some examples:

http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

http://www.journeysystems.com/power_supply/

Obviously I was talking about if you wanted to put more than one graphics card.

[petergazo]

Iam running 9800GT for dual display and gtx460 for rendering. Having both responsive viewports and fast preview on second monitor is great. 650w is more than enough.