Look, if you aren't really feeling up to selling off your current GPU just to get by, then you might as well grab a GTX 770 or an r9 280 x. It’ll definitely buy you some peace of mind for a while longer.
rapidpuma59 said:The motherboard is an ASUS H87-HD3. We picked up that one along with an i5-4570 earlier this year, so we just need to sort out the GPU and the power supply. That said, there’s no real rush on my end; I can easily wait a month or two until there's more hands-on experience available with these newer cards.
Actually, I was thinking you might grab something like an NVIDIA GTX 760 now, and if things start to stutter down the road, you could just pick up a second one for SLI. But keep in mind that this specific board uses x16/x4 PCI-e slots, which can actually result in a performance hit—sometimes up to 20% lower FPS compared to a setup where both slots run at full x16.
rowdyhawk212 said:I could pick up a used ATI RADEON 6850 1GB DDR5 256bit for $183.
Personally, I’d rather hold out for something significantly more powerful and modern—maybe an HD7870, an R9 270, or even an R7260x. You can find them on eBay for somewhere around 750-$300
rapidpuma59 said:In that case, the smartest move might be to wait a bit. You can keep an eye on how prices and performance settle before making a final decision. You might even find a way to squeeze a better deal out of the seller later on. My budget limit is $1000, though you also have to factor in the power supply. Thanks, everyone.
What kind of motherboard are we talking about?
It’s really a matter of whether it makes more sense to grab something like a GTX 760 right now. You can always hunt down a used GTX 760 down the road, but you'll have to run those numbers yourself. It all comes down to your price-per-FPS calculation, especially since there's no telling what kind of games will hit the market in a few years. If you consider yourself a gamer, my one piece of advice is to always prioritize a solid power supply!
Personally, I’d probably look at a used instead. Honestly, it’ll still be worth $167 in about a year. You might as well take the extra cash you’d spend right now on a new GTX 770 or an R9 280X and just put it straight into a piggy bank. An R9 270 is more than enough for 1080p resolution anyway.
Roger Mitchell4 said:WE’LL SEE IN TWO MONTHS HAHAHAH 🙂
Don't go getting ahead of yourself over those two months.... Do some actual research, build up your knowledge base, keep an eye on market prices... stay in the loop.
James Fisher11 said:I’m not looking to swap parts just yet; I think I'd rather focus on something more aesthetic for now.
And this is exactly why we wonder why women are always swapping out their clothes... Just strip the whole rig down to the last screw, give everything a deep clean, and put it all back together. Then, just do it all over again whenever you get that sudden itch to upgrade.
Patrick Cooper86 said:I’d love to get some thoughts on these two wildcards: EVGA Nvidia GeForce gtx 770 4 GB Gddr5 vs. a PCI-E Gigabyte AMD Radeon R9 280X OC 3GB DDR3. Thanks.
The EVGA card apparently comes with a 5-year warranty, while the Gigabyte only has 3... though I wouldn't bet the house on my memory there.
Timothy Kim60 said:He seems puzzled about why he isn't seeing the same frame rates others report with the GTX 7770 in this specific game. Honestly, it's just his CPU—running only two cores in a title like this is a massive bottleneck. That said, for 99% of other games, that setup is perfectly fine.
Looking at those TechSpot pages you linked, the GTX 7770 averages about 28 fps on Medium settings at 1080p, dropping to 23 on High. He mentioned he's getting between 20 and 30 fps on Medium, which is actually quite impressive when you consider he's running a G860, whereas the TechSpot benchmark used an i7-3960X—a much more expensive chip that costs easily six or seven times as much...
Timothy Kim60 said:Crysis 3 is a true multicore title; it’s incredibly CPU-hungry even in single-player mode. It feels more like a tech demo at times... In this case, a quad-core FM2 Athlon actually gets "outperformed" by an i3 (which is generally better for gaming anyway) click (though a Phenom II at 3.7 GHz still holds its own enough)
Speaking of which, check out the gameplay video at the end here 😬 click
Just look at this guy and how surprised he is 😬
Games like this are still the exception. Most titles follow a standard pattern—think Thief, Splinter Cell, or similar games—where an i3 won't break a sweat. You aren't seeing much of a difference compared to running an i5 or i7 paired with a high-end GPU.
I don't really see why this person with an HD 7770 and a Pentium is so baffled. That card alone is far too weak for Crysis 3... On the other hand, a Phenom 965, or perhaps a slightly stronger or weaker variant, is actually a fantastic used buy if you can find one for $100. Or even an Intel Core i7 920 (I see them listed online for about $50, and that CPU still handles modern series quite well... it's honestly excellent). But then again, it raises the question: if you aren't playing these specific types of games, do you actually need a powerhouse? Since Crysis 3 launched over two and a half years ago, we haven't seen many games that demand that level of heavy investment, aside from certain multiplayer titles that are almost all CPU-intensive.
Crysis 3 suffers from some pretty massive FPS fluctuations. I’m definitely not the only one who noticed this during the "Welcome to the Jungle" mission, where performance basically drops by half if you're working with a weaker CPU.
If I’m trying to push a GTX 660 with a Q6600, that fan is going to be working much harder than just "decent." Honestly, looking at the options from Kimberly Gomez34 or Alexander Moore67, their setup actually seems like the smarter move here.
I recall seeing that CPU on sale downtown, and I’ve actually had my eye on that RX1—it looks like a solid new release. Since there's a Micro Center nearby, I can just head over and check out the components in person if I need to.
Larry Ortiz5 said:Look, this isn't actually about you—it's about everyone else involved. So, I'm signing off. And just as a side note, please don't suggest I can't read; I've been around longer than you have, so maybe show a little respect for your elders?
Consider this my respectful bow.🤣
Given how budget-conscious and tight everything is right now, just pick up any GPU that meets your basic needs, regardless of what CPU you're running...
You’re going to run into stutters in Battlefield 4, Crysis 2, and even Crysis 3—it happens everywhere, though sometimes it's just more subtle. In other games, you'll notice it as an occasional hiccup. You can squeeze out a few extra FPS by turning down certain settings, but even a brand-new i5 will struggle with those kinds of spikes. If you can live with the occasional frame drops, then honestly, any of these options will work for you.