GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

crimsonstag84, I suppose I can afford to wait; time isn't exactly my enemy right now, though I do have this nagging suspicion that these upcoming graphics cards are going to carry an even more exorbitant price tag than they already do.
David Sanders4, to be perfectly honest, I am somewhat out of my depth when it comes to GPUs, which makes the idea of scavenging through Craigslist feel a bit too much like a gamble for my liking. I think I’ve dabbled in that sort of thing before, but usually only with items I actually understand, and frankly, I’m not exactly the resident gamer in my household. My plan was really to look ahead toward those higher-end models instead.
If you wouldn't mind, could you also shed some light on that question regarding memory capacity—specifically why some cards are sitting at 2 GB, others at 3 GB, and I've even spotted some with 4 GB?

Well, if that link from Craigslist is actually the real deal, then it’s definitely 👍 though I have my doubts—I mean, 900 views and nobody has snatched it up yet? Either that, or someone already bought it and just forgot to take the listing down...

rapidpuma59 Having that much GB of memory means you can handle higher resolutions... Or maybe even run a triple-monitor setup if you want to go all out 🙂

Thanks, Larry Ortiz5.
I'm currently sitting in front of an AOC 23" IPS monitor—1080p resolution, nothing fancy—which I picked up just this past summer, and frankly, I don't see much point in getting bogged down in the technical weeds here, but if I’ve managed to parse your point correctly, you're essentially saying that a card with 2 GB of VRAM is still perfectly adequate for a decent gaming experience.

Well, you could say that... but sometimes things work differently. Take Watch Dogs, for example—if you actually wanted to run it on MAX settings back in the day, you were looking at needing at least 3GB of VRAM. That was right when the game first launched; I'm not entirely sure if they've pushed out an update since then to smooth out the optimization... but regardless, these days, 2GB feels like that sweet spot for most people.

The only snag I've run into is that I haven't seen a single GTX 770 with 3GB of VRAM anywhere on the market.
One of the games sitting on my wishlist right now is Watch Dogs, and frankly, I'm trying to plan ahead. If you're telling me that game is going to demand more memory than what I have, would it be a wise move to just pivot toward ATI and pick up something in the ballpark of an R9 280 x? I realize people love to get all worked up about the whole ATI versus Nvidia rivalry—it’s basically the same old Intel versus AMD drama we've been dealing with for years—but honestly, I couldn't care less about the brand loyalty nonsense as long as the hardware actually delivers decent quality.

rapidpuma59 said:I get that the whole ATI vs. Nvidia thing is basically like Intel vs. AMD, but honestly, I don't really care which one I pick as long as the quality is decent.

There isn't really a "better" or "higher quality" brand here; that's just nonsense. 😉

If you're buying right now, assuming you can grab an R9 280 x. GTX 960, it definitely won't be more expensive than a current GTX 770. A GTX 970 should probably be around the same ballpark $1000.

You'll just have to make up your own mind...

In my humble estimation, the most prudent course of action would be to exercise a bit of patience; one ought to observe how the market settles regarding both pricing and actual performance metrics before finally committing to a purchase and perhaps squeezing a bit more value out of the retailers later on. While the budget ceiling sits at $1000, we simply cannot overlook the necessity of a reliable power supply unit.
My sincere thanks to everyone for the input.

Personally, I’d probably hold off for a bit too... crimsonstag84 mentioned that the 9xx series from Nvidia is on the way, and I'm betting they'll be much more efficient than what we're seeing now—which means you won't necessarily need to drop a ton of cash on a high-end power supply just to keep things running smoothly.

Hey there!
I'm looking to breathe some life into this old rig of mine. I want it to last at least another year or two and actually be able to handle some newer titles. My main goal is just hitting 1080p resolution with at least medium settings.

Here’s what I’m running right now:
Motherboard - ASUS M3A78-EM
CPU - AMD Phenom x4 9550 2,2
RAM - 2x2GB Kingmax DDR2 800
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 DDR5
PSU - Gigabyte GE-R460-V1

I actually found a couple more sticks of the same RAM on eBay, so I'm waiting for those to arrive. Once they're in, I'll be sitting at 8GB total.
I was thinking about overclocking the processor, but honestly, I don't want to swap the CPU out just yet—I'd rather put that money toward a better graphics card.
I spotted a used ATI RADEON 6850 1GB DDR5 256bit for $183 online.
Is that actually a smart move for this build, or should I be hunting for something beefier? Any recommendations for something under $267?
Regarding the power supply, I'm thinking I can skip an upgrade if I go with the 6850 since the power draw isn't significantly higher than my current 4850, even though I did read somewhere that you really need a 500W unit for a 6850.
My current PSU is rated for a 460W peak load, and apparently, I shouldn't push it past 400W for constant use. Look, I know it's not exactly top-tier gear, but it hasn't let me down yet, so I really don't want to swap it unless it's absolutely necessary. And yeah, keep in mind I've only got one HDD, one case fan, and zero extra expansion cards drawing power.

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks!

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!

rowdyhawk212 said:Hey there!
I'm looking to upgrade my old rig so it lasts a few more years and can actually handle some newer titles. I'm aiming for 1080p resolution with at least medium settings.

Current setup:
motherboard - ASUS M3A78-EM
CPU - AMD Phenom x4 9550 2,2
RAM - 2x2GB Kingmax DDR2 800
GPU - ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 DDR5
PSU - Gigabyte GE-R460-V1

The HD 6850 pulls slightly less power than the HD 4850.
This one draws even less, though I suspect your CPU will end up being a bottleneck, even if you try to overclock it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing

Upgrading to 8GB of RAM probably won't make much of a difference since you're likely not even maxing out your current 4GB. Plus, that processor doesn't seem to have much headroom for OCati, and honestly, I wouldn't recommend trying it with a power supply like that.

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

crimsonstag84 said:The HD 6850 actually pulls a bit less power than the HD 4850.
This one draws even less, but honestly, that CPU is going to be a massive bottleneck even if you try to overclock it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

And look, having 8GB of RAM isn't going to save you here since you're probably barely scratching the surface of even your current 4GB. Plus, that processor isn't exactly known for being easy to OCati, and I definitely wouldn't risk pushing it given that cheap power supply you've got.

So what, you're telling me I need to overhaul the CPU, the PSU, AND the GPU just to get this thing running right?

True... but your options are pretty much limited to the Phenom ii x4 945/955/965, and even then, you'd have to deal with a BIOS update. Plus, by 2016, it probably won't feel all that satisfying anymore.

rowdyhawk212 said:So, you're saying I should probably upgrade my CPU, power supply, and graphics card too?

I honestly hadn't even realized your CPU was such an underdog...

AMD Phenom ii 955 Black edition

David Sanders4 said:What motherboard are you running?

I mean, if you're looking at picking up an NVIDIA GTX 760 right now, you really have to run the numbers yourself regarding how much longevity you're actually buying. It’s all about that dollar-to-FPS ratio, isn't it? You can always find a used NVIDIA GTX 760 floating around on eBay or Craigslist, but you've got to weigh that against the unknown—heaven knows what kind of resource-heavy titles will be hitting the market in a year or two. If you consider yourself a serious gamer, my advice is simple: just make sure you invest in a high-quality power supply; that's where you shouldn't cut corners.

The motherboard is an ASUS H87-HD3. We actually picked one up earlier this year along with an Intel Core i5-4570, which left us with just the GPU and the power supply still on the shopping list. But honestly, there's no massive rush here; I can easily wait a month or two until we see how these newer cards perform in the wild.

crimsonstag84 said:Well, yeah... but your options are basically limited to the Intel Core i5-2500K, and you'd even need to flash the BIOS for that. And by sometime in 2016, it probably won't be cutting it anymore.

I could just drop in the beastly Intel Core i7-2600K if it actually works http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M3A78-EM.html

What does "won't be satisfying in 2016" even mean? Is my computer just going to spontaneously combust because there aren't any more updates? Is it just dead meat?

Is this whole rig even worth throwing money at, or should I just scrap the whole thing and start from scratch?

rowdyhawk212 said:I could just drop in the best Intel Core i7-2600K if it actually fits http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M3A78-EM.html

What's that supposed to mean, that 2016 won't be "satisfactory"? Like, updates stop and my PC just dies?

Is this rig even worth pumping money into, or should I just scrap it and start over?

It'll work, you just won't be cranking modern games on high settings anymore.😳

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.

In your estimation, what would constitute the most ideal resolution to this entire mess?