GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

I wouldn't dream of pairing that card with such a junk power supply. Besides, that processor isn't going to be able to keep up with that GPU anyway. 😉

They should at least grab a Chicony Hipro 400 W.

I was actually aiming for your suggestion and the one from Fosna, but then Jesse Lopez83's comment just sort of jumped right into the mix...

I’ve got an AMD Radeon HD 3800 Series graphics card that I'm looking to offload. I'm not entirely sure what the market value is right now—if anyone could give me a ballpark figure, I'd appreciate it. My plan is to take whatever I get from this sale and put it toward a new card capable of handling $333 modern titles. Even if I have to stick to low settings, it would be a massive upgrade; currently, I can't even run Crysis 2, even though Battlefield 3 manages to run on high without much trouble.
It's becoming a bit of a bottleneck, especially since I picked up quite a few games through Humble Bundle that I just can't enjoy right now. Everyone seems to agree the culprit is my GPU, given my current setup:

64-bit system

Intel Pentium G2010 Motherboard-ASRock B7M5-DGS Memory-4GB

Motherboard-ASRock B7M5-DGS

Memory-4GB DDR3

Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB

Graphics Card-AMD Radeon HD 3800 Series

Power Supply-400W MSI KY-400 ATX P4

So, if you could let me know what my card might fetch, or suggest a decent, budget-friendly replacement that won't break the bank while letting me actually play games, that would be great.

Here is the listing for the card:

AMD Radeon HD 3800 Series

It's in excellent condition and would be a solid entry-level option for a beginner. If anyone is interested, please reach out in the comments.

I’d say go ahead and grab the AMD Radeon HD 7770 since it isn't exactly breaking the bank, though I suppose your CPU might end up being a bit of a bottleneck. If you're looking at other budget options, maybe consider an R7 250 with GDDR5 or an HD 7750 with GDDR5. Also, that power supply doesn't look particularly high-quality, so if there's any way you can swap it out for something better—ideally something with an 80+ certification—that would probably be a smart move.

Ryan Hayes82 said:grab an AMD Radeon HD 7770—it isn't breaking the bank, though you might run into a bit of a bottleneck with your CPU. If you're looking at even cheaper options, maybe consider an R7 250 GDDR5 or an HD 7750 GDDR5. Also, your current power supply isn't exactly top-tier; if you can swing it, I'd swap it out for something more reliable with an 80+ certification.

So, if I pick up that card, I should be able to handle newer titles or maybe even Crysis 2. Does anyone have any idea what this old HD 3800 is actually worth these days?
Any suggestions for a solid power supply that won't drain my wallet?

Jesse Lopez83

Jesse Lopez83 said:I could definitely run these newer titles or even jump back into Crysis if I picked up that graphics card. Does anyone have an idea what this HD3800 is actually worth on the market right now?
Can you recommend a solid power supply that won't break the bank?

LP-Karlo

Chicony 400 is a solid choice if you're looking for reliability. It’s much like choosing a reliable Ford over some flashy, unproven startup—it just works when you need it to. Budget-friendly, yet surprisingly high quality.
If we were to take that approach instead... cx430

Look, you should be able to run just about anything. This isn't some budget laptop meant for checking emails; it’s a real machine. Just keep your expectations realistic for something like Crysis 3—which is basically the gold standard for hardware stress tests. You won't be bragging about cranking every single setting to Ultra while maintaining triple-digit frame rates, but you'll absolutely be able to play with solid graphics and a smooth experience.

A graphics card can be rated at 3850 or 3870; you really need to consult something more precise, like Everest Ultimate, to get the actual data. speccy Even software like HWMonitor will give you an accurate reading on this. But honestly? It’s just a band-aid for a much deeper issue. $67

So, here's the deal. My old Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics card—the 512MB DDR5 one with DVI and HDTV support—just kicked the bucket. Now I'm stuck wondering what my next move should be. I was checking out Linksys and saw the exact same model listed $667, but back when I first bought this PC about five years ago, it was around $1,500. I guess I'm wondering if it's even worth buying that again? Or maybe there’s some other card out there that’s actually worth getting for less money? Any advice on what I should do 🤷? Just for context, it was plugged into an ASRock P45XE-R motherboard, if that helps at all 🤷>

I honestly have no clue where you found a link claiming there are 4870 points $667? Am I just going blind here? 😁 Anyway, that graphics card is ancient—we're talking years old. If you check out Best Buy, they’ve got an $400 HD 7850 1GB that would absolutely smoke your old card while pulling way less power. But what about the rest of your build?

http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=12031

A here it is, I just didn't realize it was dated July 5, 2008 😬

Here are the specs

Power supply is a 650w Silver Power SP-SS650W with a 12 cm fan

Case is a Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP

HDD is a 500 GB Western Digital

Motherboard is an ASRock

CPU is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Box, 3 GHz

RAM is PC-8500 4 GB DDR2

I guess I don't really need a super powerful graphics card or anything, since I'm not playing heavy games all day long or anything too intense. It’s mostly just for basic stuff, you know, work, school, browsing the web... I'm just curious what I could throw into this build to make it decent without breaking the bank too much 😉

And let’s be real—your processor isn't exactly a powerhouse, so it probably won't even push that HD 7850 to its full potential anyway. Honestly, if you're mostly just doing everyday tasks on your PC, I’d actually suggest looking into a slightly weaker graphics card instead; it'll get the job done perfectly fine for what you need. If dropping $200 feels like too much of a stretch right now, there are plenty of budget-friendly options out there...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/example_link

Honestly, given the processor you're running, stepping up to anything stronger than an HD 7770 is just throwing cash down the drain—purely a waste of money at this point. You might as well just grab a 7750 instead; it’s sitting right there in that middle ground, pretty much like that old card you used to have, something like this:

Benjamin King2 said:Honestly, if you look at the CPU, anything stronger than an HD 7770 is basically just throwing money down the drain. You could always just grab a 7750—it’s pretty much in the same ballpark as that old card you used to have, kind of like this:

I'm really just wondering—aside from the price gap—if there's actually any difference in build quality? Because from what I can see, they look identical, and even the warranty seems to be the same...😛

@swiftscout21/">@@swiftscout21
Are you actually buying something? Because from what I can see, you've been active since early November 😛

I've heard XFX uses a slightly inferior heatsink, and there were some whispers about their capacitors being lower quality than the competition, though I guess it's hard to say how much truth there is to that.

Larry Ortiz5 said:To be honest, I guess you don't really have a powerful enough processor to push an HD 7850 to its full potential. Maybe I'd suggest a slightly weaker card instead? It would probably do a great job since you mentioned you just do basic stuff on the PC. If spending $200 is a bit much, there are definitely cheaper options out there...

http://www.bestbuy.com/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=13729

Benjamin King2 said:Given the CPU, anything stronger than an HD 7770 might just be wasting money. You could maybe go with a 7750; it’s pretty similar to your old card. Something like this: http://www.newegg.com/index.php?page=artikl&id=051806819

So, I was thinking about spending around $100, maybe a little more or less. Now I'm wondering... I was planning on heading to Best Buy because it's just easiest for me, so what do you guys recommend?

Is this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/?naziv=graphics-card-...kl=051.806.822

or

this one http://www.bestbuy.com/?naziv=graphics-card-...kl=051.806.908

And I guess, what's actually the difference between those two and this one http://www.bestbuy.com/?naziv=graphics-card-...kl=051.806.903

I see there's a small price gap, so I was curious 🤷

or maybe something else they have in stock 😕 🤷

What would you all suggest if I've got $100 to work with and I'm looking to pick something up at Best Buy?

If you head over to those links, the vendor will walk you through the best options for your budget. You might even score a free keychain out of the deal if you're lucky.

Adam Williams2 said:So, I was thinking about dropping around $100, maybe a bit more or less. I'm looking at Best Buy since it's easiest for me, so what do you guys suggest...

Is this one

http://www.bestbuy.com/...

or

this one http://www.bestbuy.com/...

And what's the actual difference between those and this http://www.bestbuy.com/...

I see a small price gap, so I'm wondering 🤷

if there's something else in their stock 😕 🤷

What would you recommend if I've got $100 to spend and I'm planning on just grabbing something from Best Buy.

For basically the same money, you can get a card that outperforms both of yours:

http://www.newegg.com/...

If you absolutely have to buy from Best Buy, then maybe go with this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/example-graphics-card-link

Otherwise, I guess the most bang for your buck would be that R7 260X over at Micro Center that @Robert Rodriguez2 mentioned.

crimsonstag84 said:@swiftscout21/">@@swiftscout21
Are you actually looking to buy something? Because from what I can see, you've been browsing since early November 😛

XFX tends to have a slightly weaker heatsink design—there’s also been some chatter about their capacitors being a step behind the competition, though I honestly don't know how much weight to give those rumors.

I ended up grabbing the more expensive model and the power supply, so now I'm hunting for a used processor on eBay—looking for a quad-core rather than a dual-core... 😉this is just one of those hobbies I dive into whenever I have some downtime—just scrolling, asking questions, and learning as I go...

David Sanders4 said:Just hit up the links and let the seller tell you what's actually worth your cash. You might even snag a free keychain if you're lucky.

Yeah, sure, whatever you say.🙄

Looks like my old 6850 finally kicked the bucket—RIP. I'm looking for some upgrade advice... what can I throw into this rig that would at least match what I had, if not give me a bit of a boost?
Corsair RM450 with ASUS ROG motherboard
Asrock 870 EXTREME3 - AMD 870
Intel Core i3-4130 with DDR3 RAM
2xDDR3 2Gb Kingmax 1333MHz CL9
The thing absolutely needs an HDMI output.