Posts by Larry Ortiz5

rowdytrucker5 said:So, how much could I realistically get for mine? Just looking for some info so I can cover part of what I'll be spending on a new one...

Honestly, I haven't a clue—I see an XFX ATI 5550 listed on eBay for about $100..

crimsonstag84 said:Look, the Radeon HD 7750 is about $100—and honestly, it pulls almost a third less power than older cards while being slightly more powerful than an old HD 5770 too. 😛

Oh, and if that one works too, 👍

rowdytrucker5 said:I've got one more question... if I come across something like a 1GB DDR3 card, but it's only 64-bit instead of 128-bit... would that actually be worth picking up over my current DDR2 card which has 128-bit?

Always try to aim for a card with DDR5—that’s why I mentioned earlier $67 adding a bit more for a 5770 might be the better move. Honestly, though, I'm surprised anyone would pay that much for an old card anyway; I had mine for $133 and sold it within ten minutes, because let's face it, it's an older model and you can't really expect a windfall. If I were in your shoes, I'd at least try to haggle for $33. Or, you could just save up a little more and grab a so you don't have to worry about it later...

I honestly don't think you'll find a better card for $167 than this one. Since it isn't exactly a power hog, your current power supply should be able to handle it just fine. http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=11910

EDIT: If you happen to have an extra $67 lying around, I’d actually recommend checking out this one on Craigslist instead... http://www.craigslist.org/search/electronics?query=5770. It's about $233 for either of them. Or, hey, maybe try asking the seller if they'll drop the price a bit and just ship it via FedEx
.

rowdytrucker5 said:Maybe you could suggest something else—nothing too crazy expensive, maybe around $75-$80—that would run a bit smoother with my current setup?

Could you let me know which power supply model you're using? Also, does the card need to come from a big retailer like Best Buy, or would something from a local Craigslist ad work?

The 5550 is definitely the better graphics card here.

Gary Anderson38 said:Hey everyone.

I was hoping to get some advice here—not entirely sure myself, so I figured I’d ask. A friend of mine is running an old setup with a Q6600 (which used to be my processor back in the day), and his Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 just bit the dust.
He's looking to pick up something new and is actually willing to drop some cash on an AMD Radeon HD 7870, but he doesn't want to rebuild the whole PC since everything else is still working fine...

So, I'm wondering, how is that going to perform on a build with a Q6600, 4 gigs of DDR2 RAM, and an XFX Power Supply? The motherboard is an Asus with a P45 chipset.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/...neck-7850-7870

$33 It’s a bit more, but maybe try talking the guy down to $33? Of course, unless you happen to live in Springfield, he’d probably just ship it via FedEx. It’s an older card, sure, but honestly—it’ll absolutely demolish your current setup by a landslide 😁. My only real worry is that since you're running such a cheap power supply, I'm not sure if it can handle the load—this card pulls about 160W at full tilt. Maybe the guys here have a better suggestion?

dustyskipper77 said:Just another proud TwinFrozr owner here...😁

Are you talking to me? Or did you pick one up for yourself too? 😁

Just wanted to check in and give you all a quick update—I'll be putting my new graphics card through its paces with some gaming tests over the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few shots of the setup 🙂

Just wanted to give you guys an update—I ended up selling my old graphics card, so I headed over to Best Buy to pick up a GTX 660 TF. Turns out they sold their very last one this past Saturday. A new shipment should be arriving tomorrow with a price tag of $633. Once I grab it tomorrow, I'll let you know how everything performs 🙂 and maybe even post a few photos...

Alexander Moore67 said:Check out this Far Cry 3 benchmark
http://benchmark3d.com/far-cry-3-benchmark
this game just doesn't really push your GPU to its limits

That's actually what Benjamin King2 mentioned to me—that whenever I turn on AAA, instead of seeing an improvement, my frame rate just tanks? It ends up crawling along at barely 20fps. But looking at it, even a dual-core setup should be plenty for this one. Those older systems still struggle quite a bit. Thanks, User123 🙂

dustyskipper77 said:The MSI GTX 660 TwinFrozr has great cooling, solid overclocking potential, and low power draw—plus you get three years of warranty. With a little OC, it can easily keep up with a GTX 580... honestly, it’s a much smarter move than gambling on some card with no warranty.

Ah, my mistake—I thought you were talking about the Ti version when you said Tf. Looking at it now, I see the (Tf) model is actually available for $604 over at Best Buy. That's basically what I could put toward it, though I really need to see if I can even move my current card first; I listed it for $467. It's the full bundle, and of course, it still has the warranty—I haven't had anyone reach out yet.

EDIT: I’m talking about the standard GTX 660, not the Ti version—since from what I can tell, the extra performance it adds $750 just isn't worth the cash I'd have to shell out. I'm wondering if the base model is actually an upgrade over what I've got right now?

dustyskipper77 said:It’s a top-tier card, but honestly, the lack of a warranty is a real bummer. You really have to wonder how much the previous owner put it through—like, did they push it way too hard with high voltage? It’s definitely a gamble...
For that kind of money, you might be better off grabbing a brand new MSI GTX 660 TF with a three-year warranty just so you can sleep at night.

I mean, do I really want that peace of mind? Or if I pick this up and it dies, am I just out of luck? And more importantly—how much of an actual jump is this from what I'm running right now? Based on these specs, they look pretty similar, right? I know the GTX 660 is newer, which means better tech and less power draw... but I'm still wondering, is there actually going to be a noticeable difference if I upgrade to it?http://www.hwcompare.com/13185/gefor...n-hd-6950-2gb/

Alexander Moore67 said:It really just depends on how much extra wattage you need to add. If you're looking at adding more than $167 and you're still rocking a monitor smaller than 1440p, then this upgrade might be overkill for you.

I'm honestly not sure how much extra I'll need to shell out—I'm still waiting to hear back from the guy. My current setup is running on a 1680x1050 monitor, and while Far Cry 3 hits about 30-40 fps, things get pretty rough when I turn on 8x AAA—it drops down to a miserable 18-19 fps. When I think about all the big titles coming out in 2013, I'm starting to worry I won't even be able to run them on standard settings...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example I mean, my current power supply probably wouldn't even handle this, right?

Alexander Moore67 said:If you aren't overclocking, the power supply should be fine—I'm just wondering what your plans are for that 6950.

Do you mean overclocking the CPU? Or am I looking for an overkill PSU? I’d probably sell this one and put some extra cash toward a better unit, but nothing is set in stone yet. Honestly, I'm mostly just wondering if I can even fit everything in first—since, like I mentioned before, my budget for a new power supply is pretty much non-existent right now...

Man, prices are just plummeting everywhere lately—it's wild. Check this out, though: someone I know found an MSI GTX 580 just sitting there without any warranty, $633. What do you guys think? Is it actually worth the gamble, or should I just run the other way since there's no coverage?

Benjamin King2 said:A GTX 570? Seriously? For $600 you could grab a brand new GTX 660 that'll blow it out of the water—not to mention how much less power it pulls from the wall.

Do you have a link?