GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

fadedorca66 said:And you're still stressing over this? 😁

Honestly, if you call listening to the "experts" on this thread and hoping for an actual answer instead of just endless nonsense "stressing out," then sure, go ahead! But using a little bit of common sense and actually looking things up online? That’s definitely not breaking your brain.🙂

I think fadedorca66 was trying to say it’s all pretty much the same thing. You won't really notice a 5% difference since gaming cards are overkill for this, so you might as well just grab something cheaper.

I'm currently helping a buddy build a PC and I've got an AMD Radeon R9 280 X Dual-X from EVGA in there. It's idling at 45°C, but then it jumps up to 80°C... Is that actually normal?

Yeah, totally normal

Swapped out the thermal paste. Max temp during the stress test hit 70% with the fans at 53% speed. If anyone's dealing with similar cards, I’d definitely suggest a repaste...

driftingpilot8 said:800 is twice as big as 1600. I get that.😁

Your card lets you allocate system memory, mine doesn't. Yours has a processor that's nearly twice as fast. Your card supports DirectX 9, while the 4250 handles DX 10. Plus, yours is newer.
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-HD-42...adeon-3000-IGP
What am I even supposed to say? Is it better if I just share my experience instead of looking for advice? Is anyone else going to jump in here claiming they have a card three times better than mine without any issues? Why are you guys picking on me? 😛

Let me give you some perspective... a buddy of mine uses an HD 3000 integrated on his motherboard; he has a digital output and the picture looks perfect in HD on his monitor. He browses the web in HD with zero issues. I've worked quite a bit with N68 motherboards that have NVIDIA 7025 integrated graphics—which are worse than the HD 3000—and everything works fine. The only downside to that board is it lacks DVI and only has D-Sub, but the HD image quality is as good as D-Sub can get... I browse the web in HD, and everything is totally fine...

Bottom line... either your drivers are acting up, your card is overheating because of poor airflow in your case... or maybe your CPU is failing... because this should be working fine.

All this talk about DX9 vs DX11 for web browsing is completely irrelevant.

Bryan Taylor6 said:Let me poke at you just a little bit here... a buddy of mine has an old HD 3000 integrated on his motherboard with a digital output and honestly? The picture is flawless in HD resolution on his monitor. He browses the web all day in high def and everything works perfectly. I’ve spent plenty of time messing around with an older N68 motherboard that has an NVIDIA 7025 integrated chip—which is definitely weaker than the HD 3000—and it's totally fine too! (The only downside to that board is it lacks DVI and only has a D-Sub port... so the HD quality is basically just as good as what that D-Sub can handle). I jump online, watch stuff in HD, and everything is smooth sailing...

Bottom line... either your graphics drivers are acting up, or your card is overheating because your case cooling sucks... or hey, maybe even your CPU is failing? Because everything should be running just fine.

All that talk about DX9 or DX11 doesn't matter one bit when you're just browsing the web.

Well, look at that! You just repeated the exact same scenario I laid out in my last post, which pretty much confirms my theory that this entire American forum is just a breeding ground for accidental trolls.🤣
But hey, it's starting to get kind of fun!😁

So, did you end up grabbing that GPU, and did it actually fix the issue?

driftingpilot8 said:You just repeated the exact scenario I laid out in my last post. It really just confirms what I've been saying about this forum being a magnet for accidental trolls.🤣
But honestly, it's starting to get funny...😁

Since you're clearly such a genius (and the rest of us are just idiots whose real-world experience doesn't count for much), why don't you go toss an $83 at that graphics card you think you need? You don't even need it since your motherboard already has integrated graphics, but hey... just let us know if the picture looks better and if you're feeling happier about your "brilliant" purchase.

hey,

my old GPU finally bit the dust, so I need an upgrade.
was rocking an HD3870 paired with a Core 2 Duo E7200—powering it all with a Fortron 400FPN power supply.
I'm looking to drop about $167 max. Thinking I should grab something brand new—honestly, having a warranty feels worth it since I don't want to be swapping this thing out again anytime soon.

Mainly just playing Minecraft, Left 4 Dead, stuff like that. I know I probably won't have a ton of options at this price point though...

Hopefully someone can help me find something decent.😁

The R7 250 GDDR5 is just under $198 and honestly, I think it’s your best bet here. Everything else is significantly weaker, even if it saves you a few bucks.

crimsonstag84 said:An R7 250 with GDDR5 for just under $198 is pretty much your only real move here; anything else is significantly weaker, even if it costs slightly less.

+1

Try to stretch your budget until you hit that level, or look for something used—maybe an HD5770 or even an HD7750, provided it has DDR5.

crimsonstag84 said:If you want the R7 250 GDDR5, it’s basically under $198—that's pretty much your only real move unless you want to settle for something way weaker just to save a few bucks.

Fine, then what's my best bet if I go with something cheaper? Honestly, I really don't wanna blow this much cash.

There's honestly zero good options here; everything is weaker than your old card, and maybe two or three times slower than the one I suggested.

rustystag46 said:Alright, what would be my best bet if I went with something cheaper? I really don't want to go over this budget.

In that case, there isn't anything particularly smart out there—unless you're looking at used gear—besides just getting the DDR3 version of the same card. It’s a shame, honestly, because the DDR5 model is noticeably faster.

If you're looking for something local in Los Angeles

http://www.craigslist.org/vi/electronics-computer/graphics-cards/11496145

Latest Nvidia intel

All GPUs will feature The second generation of GeForce Maxwell Core Architecture and will be launched in between Q4 2014 and Q1 2015 while The GeForce RTX 4080 will hit shelves during Summer ( Q3 2014

...

Ultimately, this marks the sunset of the GK104 era. It's much like how Intel's Tahiti is going to be replaced by Tonga in August 2014. These chips have anchored the graphics market for over two years now, so let's hope the next generation actually delivers something substantial rather than just being incremental updates to old tech.

Timothy Kim60 said:Latest Nvidia leaks

Did you actually link to this page? 😂 😉

analogtiger19 said:Did you include the link to this specific page? 😂 😉

sorry 🤣

click

There's also a link to some "leaked" PCB photos of the RTX 4080

Once the RTX 8 series officially drops, it’ll probably finally make sense to pick up a used RTX 3080—at that point, prices should drop to practically nothing, maybe even lower.