Timothy Kim60 said:Give some other drivers a shot, but honestly? There’s a 99% chance it’s already dead.
Maybe you can save her. That's how it goes.
Honestly, there isn't much to lose here anyway. You've got nothing to gain, but you certainly have nothing to lose.
That's all there is to it.👍 I can't speak for ATI's performance back then, but I do know that NVIDIA's 8-series cards from that era used to run incredibly hot.
Timothy Kim60 said:If you have a contact for it, go ahead and leave it. Even if it isn't some groundbreaking upgrade, it’s still better than the stock version—plus, most people end up doing some overclocking anyway, even on stock settings.
I'll have to see. I’m really only going to pull the trigger if I stumble upon an absolute steal. My current setup is actually serving me quite well, and honestly, my schedule is looking pretty packed through the spring. By the time winter rolls around, things might feel a bit more urgent, so for now, I’m only interested if the price is too good to pass up. It's certainly not a necessity right now.
So, if I were to leverage my current contact16 (given that it’s winter right now) and pick up something like g3258 ASRock H81M-DGS plus KINGSTON 8 GB DDR3 1600MHz, the whole package would run me about $440. That feels significantly more budget-friendly than hunting down a used i5-2500K paired with a motherboard and RAM, which usually sits closer to $500. That said, I can't help but wonder if 🤔 might actually be the smarter long-term play.
I’ve been browsing through some benchmarks lately. I'm trying to figure out which budget motherboard would be sufficient to get everything running smoothly, paired with 8GB of RAM and a decent cooler... is there any realistic chance I can keep the total cost under $500?
Everything is finally starting to make sense. It seems like people here don't really give much credit to the likes of Adm, Futura, or Centro on this forum. They really should consider working on a more polished, high-end image. For instance, Futura looks great these days—a massive improvement from two years ago—whereas Adm used to be a total disaster; you could never actually guess what kind of menus he was going to serve.
I honestly don't get what it is about that whole Instagram scene that keeps everyone glued to their screens. Maybe it’s just the branding, but even when I started digging through different offers myself, I found myself getting pulled in by
Steven White96 said:Is that AMD Radeon significantly better than what I have right now?
Will it handle all the latest titles? I could offload my current card for $267, but this one would set me back 450, so I'm looking at a 350 difference... is that actually worth the investment?
It definitely is better, and it’s much more power-efficient too (I'm fairly certain yours doesn't even support DX11). Honestly, your current card is on its last legs—if I were you, I'd sell it while there's still a market for it.
The gtx 960 will likely hit the market a little later than the GTX 970 or 980—probably by about a month, for sure. As for performance, I expect it to land somewhere near the GTX770, which, let's be honest, is still trailing behind the R9 280 x
It’s just a classic marketing ploy. Using a 9 makes it sound significantly more powerful than an 8, which is exactly why they ended up selling the same card twice under two different names.
Once they’ve completely cleared the shelves, that’s the perfect window to wait for a gtx 780 or even a 780Ti to finally give up the ghost right at the end of its warranty period. At that point, swapping it out for a gtx 970 or a 980 if you're running a Ti becomes a pretty reliable move.
If you're running short on RAM, the game is going to stutter regardless of whether you're playing on low or medium settings. It doesn't really matter how powerful your graphics card is at that point...
True, they're solid and efficient enough, though the real question remains: how much are they going to set us back? Until we have a clear answer on pricing, I suppose he can just list his current setup on eBay...
They make a fair point; I wouldn't dream of investing in it either. I have something similar myself, though I mostly just use it at the gym to track my muscle groups, log my progress, and keep tabs on how many sets I've crushed. And every single damn time I close out Windows Media Player, it freezes up on me—every single time. It feels like a relic from the past; the connection is so spotty it honestly reminds me of the old 56k modem days. Man, what a stone age era that was.
rapidpuma59 said:To be honest, I’m not much of an expert when it comes to buying used gear, so I’m always a little worried about getting stuck with a lemon. When you mentioned that a GTX 650 could handle it, were you specifically thinking of Watch Dogs, or just talking generally? My main goal is to pick up a card that can actually run this game. If I can manage to play on medium settings, then maybe my current setup will hold out for a little while longer.
If there's a warranty involved, you really shouldn't have anything to worry about. Even if you're buying locally, you should be able to test it out first—run a quick OCCT stress test or something similar. If it passes those checks and performs reasonably well, you're likely in the clear.
Also, once you actually get the game installed and start playing, you might find that the visual quality doesn't matter as much as you'd think. Once you're fully immersed in the gameplay, even a GTX 650 can do the trick. Just look at the people playing on a PS3 or running everything at 720p with most of the effects stripped away; they still find plenty to enjoy.
Honestly, you can still get through most things on medium-high settings even with a GTX 650... Maybe try listing yours online first to see what kind of interest you actually pull; people usually look for something in the $167 range. You could aim for somewhere between 350 and $150, then just see what happens... If I were in your shoes and had the option, I’d probably lean toward buying used. For instance, you can find a GTX 660 for about $333, but if you push it to $100, you can grab a GTX 760. It performs better than the 660, though it does cost more—plus, there's a good chance it might still have some warranty left over. At the end of the day, graphics cards tend to cycle out every two or three years if you're trying to stay current, whereas a decent CPU can easily carry you for over five years.
That really depends on whether you need it immediately or if you're holding out for some kind of sale. Personally, I find myself checking prices every couple of days just to stay in the loop. Honestly, over a two-month window, there might not even be a dip; sometimes prices actually tick upward before they settle back down. Most of the time, though, they tend to trend downward. If you're willing to wait, you might manage to shave about $10 off the price...