GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Look, based on what you just listed, your current setup should be more than enough to handle it. If you really want an upgrade, maybe consider swapping in a stronger graphics card—an RX 570 is pretty new and runs about 1200-$433

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 will handle video games on decent settings without breaking a sweat.

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Timothy Kim60 said:Look, based on what you listed, your current setup should probably cut it. You might want to consider swapping in a beefier graphics card—an RX 570 is about $120-$$433new.

I think you can find an RX 580 8GB on eBay for around $130-$140 new.

darkmaker13 said:I'm looking to upgrade my rig, so I was wondering which parts might be worth salvaging for a new build.

Gigabyte 970 A-DSP3

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750

AMD FX-6300

Corsair VS 450 PSU

1x8GB Kingston DDR3 1600 RAM
1x8GB Hyper DDR3 1866 RAM

WD 1TB 5,400rpm HDD
Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Cooler Master Hyper 412

Basically, I’d sell this whole thing, maybe hang onto the cooler and the drives, and pick up something newer—ideally including a case, since I'm currently running some old Mid Tower. Any advice on what to grab for around $400?$1667 (I'd probably look into financing it). I can put it together myself, though I don't mind paying someone if it doesn't break the bank. Just need it for movies, streaming shows, and the occasional video game without needing maxed-out graphics settings.

Thanks

Keep your power supply, hard drives, and case. Everything else would look like this:

1 * GSkill Aegis 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3000MHz
Part number: F4-3000C16D-16GISB - $233

1 * MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X GDDR5 6GB/192bit
Part number: GTX_1060_GAMING_X_6G - $566

1 * AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6C/12T, 3.9GHz, 19MB, 65W, AM4) box, Wraith Stealth
Part number: YD2600BBAFBOX - $432

1 * GIGABYTE B450 Gaming X Desktop
Part number: B450_GAMING_X - $266

Total: $1.75 with financing options
Free shipping

The shop I was checking out is Future IT.

You can reuse the cooler, but you'll need to grab an AM4 mounting bracket.

The 750 Ti was solid—it really carried me through a lot—but man, it’s officially dead in the water. Tried running Doom Eternal yesterday and couldn't even get it to hit the minimum settings. It's over.

swiftfalcon89 said:Keep the power supply, drives, and case as they are:

1 * GSkill Aegis 16GB (2x8) DDR4 3000MHz
password: F4-3000C16D-16GISB - $233

1 * MSI GeForce GTX 1060 GAMING X GDDR5 6GB/192bit
password: GTX_1060_GAMING_X_6G - $566

1 * AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (6C/12T, 3.9GHz,19MB,65W,AM4) box, Wraith Stealth
password: YD2600BBAFBOX - $432

1 * GIGABYTE gaming desktop motherboard
password: B450_GAMING_X - $266

Total: $1.75 monthly installments
Free shipping

The shop I was checking prices at is an IT services company.

You can reuse your cooler—you'll just need to grab an AM4 bracket.

Looks solid, but can we trim the fat here? Maybe swap out the CPU or the board for something cheaper? It doesn't need to last five years—three is plenty. I’d definitely stick with this 1060 for the GPU just so I can actually sleep at night. As long as this motherboard isn't total junk, maybe I can upgrade later without having to toss the whole thing.

You could grab a Ryzen 1600/1600 x instead and pocket about 300-$117. Just a heads-up though: if you go with the X version, it doesn't come with a cooler, so you'll need to make sure you have the right bracket for your current setup. If you opt for the non-X 1600, it comes with a stock cooler you can use as a stopgap while you hunt down that bracket. I actually heard that even Corsair might send them out for free if you already own one of their older coolers from before the Ryzen launch, though you'd have to wait for the shipping to clear.

Will an RTX 3080 fit on this motherboard? Also, quick question—I’m pretty clueless when it comes to cases, so I'm assuming it's just your standard setup where everything—the board, the GPU, all that—just sits inside? One more thing, where can I grab an AM4 bracket, maybe at an IT services company?

Technically, any GPU should fit any motherboard these days... You have to order and pay for the bracket separately, but looking at the Corsair site, it seems they've discontinued them altogether. Your only options now are eBay, AliExpress, or Amazon... honestly, it might actually be more cost-effective just to swap out the cooler entirely.

What kind of case are you running? It's pretty much impossible to guess what will fit without knowing the dimensions...

Timothy Kim60 said:Pretty much any GPU fits any motherboard these days... You just have to order and pay for the mounting bracket, but looking at the Corsair site—it looks like the bracket is out of stock and they aren't making more... Your best bet is eBay, AliExpress, or Amazon... honestly, it might actually be cheaper to just swap out the whole cooler

What kind of case are you running? It's hard to guess what'll fit without knowing the specs...

To be honest, I'm not even sure which one I've got—it's pretty old... and I have no clue how to check properly, is it by dimensions or something? From what I can tell, it’s just some standard mid-tower or whatever.

Since you're working with an ATX motherboard, you've got plenty of room to play with. Do you have any fans installed, or even space for them at the front and back? If so, what's their diameter? It might also help if you could snap a quick photo of the case

Timothy Kim60 said:It's an ATX board, so you've got plenty of room—that part's fine. But do you actually have fans, or even space for them in the front and back? And what size are we talking about? Honestly, just snap a photo of the case

So, I tried running three separate fans—120mm ones in the front, one on the side, and one in the back to exhaust the heat—but honestly, I wasn't feeling it. It felt like a mess. Once I swapped in a decent CPU cooler, everything smoothed out—no more random reboots or overheating issues. In the end, all those extra fans were just sucking in more dust than they were helping with temps. Might be better to just grab a solid cooler and call it a day.

Do you happen to have $60 lc-cc-120
?

swiftfalcon89 said:you've got the $60 lc-cc-120

I decided I'm just gonna grab everything you suggested—plus this cooler.

Timothy Kim60 said:Almost any GPU will fit into any motherboard these days... You have to order and pay for the bracket separately, but looking at the Corsair site, it seems they aren't carrying it anymore. Your best bet is probably eBay, AliExpress, or Amazon... honestly, it might actually be cheaper just to swap out the whole cooler.

What kind of case are you running? It's pretty hard to guess what will fit without knowing that...

Well, I just barely managed to cram my ASUS ROG Strix x RX580 into my motherboard two days ago. 🙄The manufacturers installed the power connector right on the side—not on top—and it's ridiculously tall. They put it perfectly level with the PCIe slot, so the card was sitting right against it. I was genuinely worried I was going to rip the whole thing off the board.🙂

wanderingbison9 said:@darkmaker13/">@@darkmaker13: grab a ruler and measure the distance from those rear slots to the first "obstruction"—then just check that against the card's official specs 🤷

It's looking like roughly 300mm, while the card itself is only 277mm

darkmaker13 said:There’s about 300mm of space available, but the card itself is 277mm.

In that case, it should fit just fine, right? I don't think you'll run into any issues with the length, assuming your case isn't incredibly cramped to begin with. You might just want to double-check if there are any motherboard headers or connectors sitting right next to the PCIe slot that this card might block up. Also, keep in mind that a 1080 usually takes up at least two slots in height...

wanderingbison9 said:Then it should be fine—I doubt width is gonna be an issue, assuming the case isn't super cramped... just double-check if there are any motherboard headers right next to the PCIe slot that the card might block. Also, keep in mind that a 1080 takes up at least two slots in height...

Got it all built, everything's solid. The case fits perfectly. Only real headache was that extra 8-pin power cable for the GPU—it’s such a tight squeeze that the side panel barely closes.

darkmaker13 said:I finished the build, and everything seems fine overall. The case is a decent size, too. My only real headache is that extra 8-pin power cable for the graphics card; it’s pressing right against the side panel, making it a really tight squeeze to close it up properly.

It sounds like you ended up with a pretty cramped case then, doesn't it? I actually thought I was the only one running into this issue, so I never thought to mention it... when I installed my side-mounted fan, that specific cable was leaning right against it, so I had to wrap the wire in some electrical tape just to make sure the fan blades wouldn't accidentally slice through the insulation over time.

I finally picked up an ASUS ROG Strix x RX580 (it fit perfectly into my relatively small case), and I actually went out of my way to get a 6-to-8 pin PCI adapter since my PSU only has a 6-pin connector. But then, wouldn't you know it, I discovered the card actually runs just fine directly from the 6-pin? I realize those two extra pins are grounded to prevent a weak PSU from being used—mine is a Corsair 500W, which puts about 360W on the 12V rail—but if the card is functioning without demanding that 8-pin connection, is it actually okay to leave it like this? Should I put the adapter back on, or am I missing something obvious (other than the fact that I definitely shouldn't try overclocking it)? Under my typical workload, my total system draw from the wall hits about 350W according to my power meter; GPU-Z shows the GPU itself pulling around 160-170W under load, so when I'm running something like Unigine Heaven, the whole rig pulls just over 300W...

Then again, is it possible the card detects the 6-pin setup and automatically applies a power limit? I did have to nudge the power limit up slightly once just to maintain a steady 1380 MHz...