GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Aha, fair enough, we had two HD 7850s listed so we got a bit mixed up 😉

The R7 260 x is pretty close to the HD 7850—it's a little weaker, I guess, but it should still be a solid upgrade.

crimsonstag84 said:Oh, right, my bad—we had two of those HD 7850s listed, so we totally missed the mark there. 😉

The R7 260 x is pretty close to the HD 7850; it’s a little weaker, sure, but honestly, it'll still be a solid upgrade.

Thanks a ton, man. I'm gonna spend a few days playing around with everything to see how it actually performs, and then I'll definitely hit you up to let you know if I pulled the trigger or if I'm just gonna keep saving up for that other suggestion you gave me earlier. I already told my wife, "Look, smoother FIFA gameplay means a happy marriage," so fingers crossed!😉))

Yo,
ATI Radeon or Nvidia? What’s the move and which model should I grab? Needs to be under $333 and definitely needs an HDMI out. Anyone got recommendations or some actual experience to share?
One more thing;
My graphics are acting up. My laptop has integrated graphics (ATI Mobility Radeon hd 5145, 512MB memory)... and after using this thing for 5 years, it's clearly starting to die on me.
I keep the OS fresh with new Windows installs and there's zero physical damage. But basically, I get this gray screen out of nowhere, and then I have to kill the power, pull the battery, and reboot.
Why is this happening? Should I just start looking for a new laptop?

Raymond Martinez5 said:Hey,
ATI Radeon or Nvidia? Which one should I go with and which model? Needs to be under $333 and have an HDMI port. Any recommendations or experiences?
One more thing;
I'm having trouble with my graphics. My laptop uses integrated graphics (ATI Mobility Radeon hd 5145, 512MB memory)... and after five years of use, it's clearly starting to fail.
I keep up with Windows updates and there’s no physical damage. Usually, I just get a gray screen and then I have to shut it down, pull the battery, and restart.
Why is this happening? Should I start looking for a new laptop?

AMD
http://www.newegg.com/p/product...id=14073
Nvidia
http://www.newegg.com/p/product...id=15122

As for the laptop, yeah, you might want to start shopping for a new one.😳

Quick question—heading to the HG spot with a buddy today. He finally pulled the trigger on the R7 260 x 2GB. We're looking at three different brands: Sapphire, XFX, or MSI. I’m leaning toward MSI because of that 3-year warranty (I definitely mentioned that to him), but he seems pretty set on XFX. Since I can't find any decent reviews online, does anyone have a lead on which one I should push for?

Chris Robinson25 said:So I'm heading to HG spot with a buddy today. He finally pulled the trigger on the R7 260 x 2GB. We're looking at three options: Sapphire, XFX, or MSI. Personally, I’m leaning toward MSI because of that 3-year warranty—I already told him that—but he's eyeing the XFX. Since there aren't any decent reviews online, does anyone have a lead on which one is actually worth grabbing?

Go MSI. Three years of coverage is three years of coverage. Just a heads up... you can find better shops than HG spot. I've had nothing but bad experiences there, so I stay far away.

Micro Center or Best Buy will be way better, and their prices should be about the same.

Alright guys, I spend most of my time in 3ds Max and mess around with Unreal Engine 4 occasionally. I play some games here and there too.
I don't have a dedicated GPU right now—just running on integrated graphics. I'm looking to pick up a card soon so I can actually get some work done without the struggle, and obviously, so I can at least run Grand Theft Auto V on low settings. 😁

I need a PCI-E card.

My current build:
Asrock h81m-dgs
i3 4160
Got an ASUS 22-inch Full HD monitor. Simple enough.
Kingston 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz.
That Linkworld lpk12-30e 500 is trash. Total garbage.

The PSU is the biggest headache right now. I'm swapping it out before the year's over.

Just play at whatever resolution keeps things smooth. No rules here. 😁

I've got maybe $400 max for a used rig.$167New CCA. $200.

Any shop that can ship to this planet works for me.

No specific demands here. The rig just acts up—sometimes it runs for 20 minutes before dying, sometimes an hour and a half, occasionally longer on the weekends.
All I care about is whether this thing can run Grand Theft Auto V. Everything else is irrelevant.

Right now, I've got about... $200 Here's what I've got on the table:

Asus GT730-1GD5-BRK. Nvidia GeForce GT730. It’s on PCIe 2.0 with 1024 MB of GDDR5. 64-bit bus. GPU clocks in at 901 MHz, memory at 1252 MHz. Ports include DVI-D, one D-sub, and HDMI. Supports up to 2560x1600. That's it.

Palit GT730 1GB DDR5. It’s an Nvidia GeForce card, PCIe 2.0 x16, packing 1024 MB of DDR5 on a 64-bit bus. GPU clocks in at 902 MHz with memory hitting 5000 MHz. Ports are standard: DVI-D, one D-sub, and HDMI. Supports up to 2560x1600. That's it.

Might as well throw this new stuff in too. $200 It's used.
I mean, I'm pretty sure it was used before. $167 I could definitely grab something better than this, but I've got no clue what. If you guys know anyone selling anything decent, let me know. I'm honestly drowning in this sea of GPU specs and it's a mess.

Thanks.

It’s true—for that kind of money, you aren't going to find anything brand new that outperforms a GT 740 DDR5 or an R7 240 DDR5. You can definitely get much more bang for your buck on the used market, but like you mentioned, your power supply is a bit of a disaster waiting to happen (only 20A on the +12V rail) and just isn't high quality. Max is my recommendation here. I usually try to avoid suggesting Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace deals, but given your budget, this is honestly your smartest move. Sure, you might find cards slightly cheaper elsewhere, but the seller I linked is reliable (they have about 10 positive transactions on a forum, zero negatives, shipping included, and it's a full bundle with a little extra warranty left over). As for the power supply, you can find something significantly better than what you have for just 50-$$33. If you decide to stick with your current unit, I think you'll need this kind of cable, assuming the PSU supports it (I don't think it does), and if it doesn't come with the card, then

Regarding Grand Theft Auto V—supposedly, you'd see around 70 FPS on "Normal" settings, while on "High," you're looking at an average of 31 FPS according to this source (assuming an R7 250X, which is basically an HD7770)

Thanks, man. At least someone's helping out.

Can my current PSU handle this right now?

I'll probably swap it for something beefier in a few months, but what about today.

I don't care if I have to run everything on low settings, as long as I know the GPU is solid enough to hold its own for the next year.

Look, if you go with something like a GT730, you're asking for trouble. Based on the official specs, those cards aren't even hitting the bare minimum for Grand Theft Auto V; they actually underperform compared to an old HD4870. You'd basically be throwing money away without any guarantee it'll even run—and if it does, expect a slideshow. In my opinion, if you actually want to play games, you need to be looking at the used market.

Regarding the power supply, the dream scenario would be picking a GPU that draws all its power directly from the PCI-E slot. That said, an HD7770 isn't exactly a power hog either, especially since your CPU doesn't pull much juice. My advice? Upgrade that PSU first. Grab a used Chieftec or an FSP for about 50-$33 bucks on Craigslist or something similar.

Already reached out to the guy, so this should definitely work with my CPU and everything else, right?

Sorry to be a pain, just don't want to get ahead of myself and screw this up...

Don't sweat it—everything should work just fine 😉

HD 7730 1gb ddr5?

Asking because some guy hit me up, but I'm in no rush to buy anything.

It's weaker than the 7770, but we're talking pocket change here.

I see Grand Theft Auto V runs just fine on the 1gb ddr3 version at low settings, so this shouldn't be an issue.

You can run Grand Theft Auto V on minimum settings; the card's performance is comparable to an HD 4870.

quietpilot23 said:An HD 7730 with 1GB DDR5?

I'm asking because some guy reached out to me, but I'm in no rush to pull the trigger on a purchase.

It's weaker than the 7770, but we're talking pocket change here.

I see it runs Grand Theft Auto V just fine—even the 1GB DDR3 version handles it on low settings—so it shouldn't be an issue.

Did that guy end up selling?

Regarding that 7xxx series, the 7750 DDR5 sits right around the level of a 4870 (which is part of the recommended minimum specs). Honestly, I wouldn't touch a card with DDR3 memory in this day and age.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/535?vs=513

Probably so, I don't see any listings...

this 7730 isn't DDR3, it's GDDR5,

DDR5 should work just fine. With that, you shouldn't even need to swap out your power supply since the 7750 pulls very little power. Honestly, the only reason to change it would be if you wanted an upgrade for peace of mind with something higher quality, but as far as raw wattage goes, you're totally good.

EDIT

It looks like he hasn't moved that item on the marketplace yet (though he did drop the price once $17)
Here is his latest listing

steelfox36 said:Hey everyone. While I'm busy scraping together enough cash for a decent GPU upgrade, I've got this offer on my hands...
http://www.nabava.net/graficke-karti...-pcie__5466741
for $267 and it even comes with a warranty. Do you think it's worth jumping on this? It’s not some random Craigslist ad;
it's from people I actually know. Right now, I'm running this setup...
AMD Athlon x4 760 k
6.00GB dual-channel DDR3 @ 665MHz
ASRock FM2A78M-HD+ (CPUSocket)
AMD Radeon hd 5700 Series ( Sapphire / PCPartner
Power Supply: Hexa + 500

If it's going to make playing FIFA a whole lot smoother, I'm definitely pulling the trigger.

Alright guys, so here's the deal: I've got an AMD Radeon R7 260 x with 2GB of DDR5 sitting in my rig now. I basically traded in my old card plus a little bit of extra cash, and after one small favor, we made the deal happen. Honestly, I am so hyped to finally jump into FIFA 15. I wanted to pick your brains for a second though. If I crank the settings down to low, drop the resolution, and kill off that MSAA stuff—I can't quite remember the exact setting name—what should I set the FPS target to? Should I go with 30, 60, or whatever that third option is? For me, it's all about that sweet, smooth movement, I really don't care about the graphics looking pretty. Thanks a ton for any advice!😉)

I guess you should always aim for over 60 FPS if you want things to actually feel fluid.

So, I figured I’d jump back in here and give you guys my two cents on how things are running. Honestly? FIFA feels way smoother now, the colors seem more vibrant, and there's just way less noise—it's actually a really pleasant experience. I'm having a blast playing lately.🙂It makes me wonder what kind of crazy performance I'd get if I stepped up to an even beefier rig.😁Long story short, this card was a total home run for me! 👏