It'll probably hold up for a while; this setup doesn't pull too much power.
But you should definitely swap it out once you've saved enough. Bill Gates isn't exactly known for making high-end gear, and honestly, it's already five years old...
Unfortunately, with the LGA 1150 platform, you're pretty much hitting a dead end for upgrades (you can only jump to an i5, I guess), but honestly, it shouldn't be a huge deal. This processor is solid enough with its 4 cores, and it’ll probably handle whatever GPU you throw at it without breaking a sweat. Once this card feels too slow, you just swap in something beefier, like an RTX 3080, and call it a day.
So basically, grab this, and once you've saved up enough cash, grab a decent PSU (assuming the one you have isn't total junk—what brand/model is it?), maybe toss in another 4GB of RAM, and upgrade the GPU if things start lagging. You probably won't even need a better CPU.
Jose Martin96 said:Hey, I have a question about GPUs. I'm trying to put together an on-the-budget system for gaming, specifically stuff like Madden NFL 12, iRacing, or Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I just need it to run at 1024x768; anything higher would be a nice bonus.
CPU: Intel Pentium Gold .. $100 tentative MB: haven't picked a model yet, LGA 1150 DDR3 at least 1333mhz, no other requirements ..$113 tentative GPU: Radeon R7 250 or GeForce GT 1030, both 128bit with DDR3 memory ...$143 tentative RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333mhz (I know it'll run at 1066 because of the CPU, but the 1333 is cheaper) ...$47 tentative HDD: cheapest 7200rpm available, Western Digital 250GB .. $140 tentative PSU: 480W from an old rig
The question is about the GPU. I know neither of them is anything special, but this is strictly on-the-budget, and I can't go over these prices right now, so which one is better for gaming between the two?
MB: MSI H81M-P33 $114 CPU: AMD A6-Series X4 3670K $211 RAM: Transcend DDR3 1600MHz 4GB, JM1600KLN-4G $45 HDD: HDD SATA III 500 GB Western Digital Caviar Blue, 3.5", 7200 rpm, 16 MB, WD5000AAKX $153
This option here is way better for you and actually cheaper. Why? The processor is stronger and has decent integrated graphics that are much better than the R7 250 or the GT 1030. Try to get faster RAM since those integrated graphics use the system memory as video memory, so faster speeds help. Also, the difference between a 250GB and 500GB drive is $13, so it's probably worth spending the price of two packs of cigarettes for double the storage; you never know when you'll need it.
Just keep in mind that the LGA 1150 socket is coming out soon too, so it might not be bad to wait and see what's offered...
I recently scored some free parts and built a PC that doesn't have a dedicated card (just integrated), so I want to grab something so I can play a few games. RAM 2x1 GB 800 MHz Apacer Motherboard Gigabyte GA M61SME-S2 CPU Intel Pentium Dual-Core 2.1GHz Hard Disk Western Digital 160 GB PSU 400W MS (not great, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth)
What could work if I want to play things like Age of Empires II, Baldur's Gate 3, or older strategy games from 4 or 5 years ago? The problem is my PSU doesn't have an extra 6-pin or 8-pin connector, so I'm limited to cards that don't require them. I have a 12-pin to 2x6-pin adapter I got from a card in another PC, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea, especially since this power supply is junk.🙂 Give me some suggestions for new ones, or especially used models from 2, 3, or 4 years ago for around $133. I looked at the HD 3850 and 3870, but I think they need extra power... Thanks
Just pick up a new R7 250, you can find them for about $133 new.
crimsonstag84 said:This power supply only has two PCI-e connectors for the GPUs, I guess.
Looks like that PSU only has one PCI-E connector. I guess.
Larry Ortiz5 said:I’m a little skeptical too. Could someone just clarify what that 80+ rating on power supplies actually means? I tried Googling it, but there's way too much noise to make sense of it. I know there's stuff like Silver and Gold, so if you don't mind explaining, that would be great.
Power supply efficiency. A PSU doesn't actually convert all the juice it pulls from the wall; some of it just vanishes. It’s kind of like how old light bulbs waste a ton of energy as heat—power supplies do the same thing. An 80 Plus cert just means the power supply is decent at efficiency. You can probably find all the specifics if you check out the wiki.
ruggedraven10 said:I'm not sure I follow what you're getting at here. Are you basically saying that setting up Crossfire isn't even worth the hassle?
Yeah, that power supply is the one from the link above.
Yeah, it’s probably not worth it. I mean, why even bother with Crossfire when that single card is already pretty beefy?
If you absolutely have to, I guess, but don't expect to do much with it. Maybe try saving up at least $33 for a 6770/7750, or just look for something used.
You gave me a bunch of info, but I’m really hoping that processor is actually dual core.
Just off the top of my head, grab an HD 6670 with GDDR5 if you're trying to save some cash; if you don't mind spending a bit more, maybe go for the HD 7750.
I guess we'll see if your power supply can actually handle it, though these things shouldn't pull too much juice.
Just tell me what processor you're running and what kind of power supply you've got, plus what you actually plan on doing with that GPU (I'm guessing gaming?)
For $67, you aren't gonna find anything better. Plus, the motherboard is pretty ancient at this point, so I guess an upgrade isn't really worth the money.
Maybe just start saving up for a new build instead.