It’s honestly not worth upgrading the entire rig just for an AMD Radeon R7 265; his current AMD Phenom can still handle the heavy lifting if he needs to.
So, we're looking at an AMD Radeon R7 265 / R9 270, maybe a new power supply if the current one is struggling, a CPU cooler if he doesn't have one, and perhaps adding another 4GB of RAM.
Why the GTX 650? I mean, it's fine if you just need a card for specific software, but for actual gaming, you can find much better value elsewhere—even from AMD. For instance, over at $33 you can even grab an
I'm looking for a dedicated graphics card since I'm currently stuck using just the integrated graphics on my CPU: CPU: AMD A8-3850 2.9 Motherboard: Asrock A75M-HVS PSU: Xilence 450w
I'll buy from any online retailer based here in the US. My budget is up to $167 max!
Thanks in advance
If you insist on buying something brand new and $167 that's your absolute limit—don't bother. You're better off saving up...
swiftscout21 said:Basically, I want the best performance possible without having to mess around with overclocking. If anyone has other suggestions, let me know. My main priority is DX11 support.
Realistically, your performance is going to fluctuate wildly depending on the specific game, whether it’s single-player or multiplayer, your monitor's resolution, and the graphical settings you choose... Something like a slightly weaker 260X or a GTX 750 (around $75) would work fine for you.
Nathan Brooks4 said:I'm currently running an Intel Core i5 on an ASRock 970 Extreme3 motherboard, paired with a Radeon R7750 graphics card. I haven't really dove into any super demanding titles lately—so I can't say for sure—but I have been thinking about giving Battlefield 4 a shot. Since we're already on the subject... do you think it would actually run smoothly for me? I don't need to be cranking everything up to max settings or anything.
Are you looking for a GPU recommendation or something else? My advice remains the same as what I gave regarding the AMD Radeon R7 265 for anything over $333
You’d have to pay online if you want to do installments.
Just expect standard Best Buy prices plus maybe an extra 10% if you're financing—you'll end up at roughly the same total. That’s unless there’s already a special promotion running.
fadedorca66 said:If only it were just about putting in the work. You lose at least two hours, maybe even more sometimes.
A buddy of mine handles this perfectly—just wipes the C: drive and runs the installer without any drivers or anything. All you end up with is a recycle bin on the desktop. 🤣
That’s exactly how this one works, too. I can tell by looking at it: it's just Windows. No graphics drivers, no updates, nothing at all.
The Radeon R9 285 is expected to land in the $300 range. This pricing strategy implies that older Tahiti-based models will see significant price drops to clear out inventory for the incoming lineup. It makes sense—if Tahiti XT and Tonga AT The same price will mean poor sales for The inferior product of The Two, AMD needs to adjust the scales to stay competitive.
Ryan Hayes82 said:Intel Core i5 3350 processor, LGA 1155, 3.10GHz, 7MB cache, Quad-Core 1TB Western Digital Blue Hard Drive XFX AMD Radeon HD 7850 Graphics Card, 2GB DDR5 ECS H77H2-M3 Motherboard PC-14900 RAM, 8 GB, G.SKILL Ares 1866MHz, 2x4GB kit Aerocool GT White Edition Case 460W Power Supply, LC POWER Silent Giant GREEN POWER LC6460GP3 V2.3 LG GH24NSB0 DVD±RW
$1633
That’s pretty much everything. By the way, >, that graphics card is on sale today and tomorrow at Links.
Roger Gray8 said:Honestly, it just feels like throwing money down the drain... I mean, if the guy has cash to burn just because he wants to play the latest releases, then whatever, that's his business, but to me? It seems totally pointless. If he actually can't run his games at all—or if they're barely crawling along—then yeah, sure, he should upgrade. But he *can* play them. What's the big deal with just turning the settings down to medium? At the end of the day, if a game is actually good, who cares if the graphics aren't cutting-edge?
I don't get why everyone jumped on this guy. He's just trying to swap out an sub-par GPU by today's standards for a decent mainstream card like an 🤷 AMD Radeon R7 265. That’s a perfectly logical upgrade while the rest of his rig still holds up.
Man, it's like he's trying to trade an 🤷 AMD Radeon HD 7970 for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 and suddenly everyone is lecturing him about wasting money and poor value. $0.00 Meanwhile, you people posting $10,000 or $14,000 gaming rigs here on the forum think that's fine—that's not "wasting money," but this is?
That motherboard only supports 95W CPUs, so there's no way that Intel Core i5 would be a Black Edition—meaning it shouldn't have an unlocked multiplier. 🤷
Jacob Cooper5 said:I still assume most folks stick to the official authorized service centers "just in case," though. As for everything else? It’s a total crapshoot. A friend of mine told me she hired some "technician" through a random Craigslist ad and paid him about $133 just to swap out a power supply—only to find out the guy had ripped her off by installing some cheap, used piece of junk.
It just occurred to me that a friend of a friend who ran a small business—handling things like cash registers and tax compliance—actually filmed a Windows demo— $100 if I recall correctly .
Try hitting them up via email, though I doubt they’ll respond. Amazon might be your best bet, provided you don't mind paying upfront since they don't offer cash on delivery. experiences — if you want, I can put together something similar for you right there.
Jacob Cooper5 said:Man, if I had someone constantly itching to hand me cash just to handle a Windows installation... 😍
Just kidding. Sort of.
But seriously—if you're heading into Chicago in a couple of days, I can get that sorted for you for the price of a decent rotisserie chicken. 😁
People definitely pay for that. If I recall correctly, Larry Ortiz5 mentioned they handle those billing details perfectly. 😬
Just have whoever built your PC handle the driver installation—it’s a breeze if you actually know your way around an installer. You just run the setup from the motherboard disc, toss in the GPU drivers, and you're good to go. Sure, you get a disc with the graphics drivers included, but honestly, it's much better to grab the latest versions online, especially if you're running something more powerful than this (just fill out the fields and download it). Plus, there's an auto-detect and install tool available that works perfectly fine . By the way, I linked your components above
