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GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Started by Kimberly Gomez34 · · 👁 146 views · 5.7K replies

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Participants Kimberly Gomez34Michael King7Gerald Campbell65crimsonstag84Robert Rodriguez2Scott Mendoza88Ryan Wilson7Jesse Lopez83David Sanders4Taylor BrownAdam Moore3Benjamin King2Larry Ortiz5Amy Vaughn12Adam Williams2swiftscout21fadedorca66driftingwalker19William Hughes16swiftstag66mistymason18Jonathan Reed50hiddenpilot4Jamie Patel2 …
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 RegularOP
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#981 ·
+1

By the way, I suspect once the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series stock runs out, the newer models will just step in at that same price point—since they’re technically the direct replacements anyway.
Dennis Carter3 Dennis Carter3 Newcomer
8 messages
joined Oct 2014
#982 ·
Personally, I’d steer clear of the Inno3D models—mostly because I've read quite a few reports from folks running into issues with their cooling solutions. Apparently, the heatsinks just don't do the job properly, leading to consistently high temperatures and constant overheating problems.
Charles Kim2 Charles Kim2 Newcomer
4 messages
joined Nov 2014
#983 ·
Hmmmm.. alright then. I'm also starting to think about picking up a beefier power supply—might as well prep for a better GPU while I'm at it...
graniteharbor85 graniteharbor85 Active Member
116 messages
joined Apr 2014
#984 ·
Dennis Carter3

Dracul that is worth GTX 760/770. My current Inno Keplerica GTX 750 ti / GTX 970 cards are totally fine in that regard—plus they're way quieter and run much cooler, mostly just because they don't pull nearly as much power.
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#985 ·
I've got an Inno3D GTX 760, and honestly, the temps aren't anything crazy... maybe 30°C at idle and 79°C under load with the fans spinning at about 36%.
darkbadger12 darkbadger12 Newcomer
5 messages
joined Nov 2015
#986 ·
Hey guys, a close friend of mine is running into some trouble, but I wanted to run this by you all first to see what you think! Here is his current setup:

MSI 790 FX-GD70 (MS-7577) (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x1, 4 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, dual gigabit lan, IEEE-1394)
Intel Core i3 6100 QuadCore, 2800 MHz (14 x 200)
System Memory: 2048 MB (DDR3-1333 DDR3)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700 series sapphire vapor x 3gb ddr5
320gb hdd

So, here’s the issue—it seems to be centered around the graphics card. He was playing Shadow of Mordor when the whole system just shut itself down. All the indicator lights on the motherboard stayed lit up, making it look like it was still powered, but the fans on the power supply, the GPU, and the CPU had completely stopped spinning. My gut feeling is that it probably overheated, but I’d love to hear your thoughts before I commit to that. To give you a bit more context, when he first got this GPU, he was running it on some old 400W power supply. He recently upgraded to a decent 550W unit, so my first instinct was to blame the PSU, but it doesn't seem to be the culprit. During a stress test, the temperatures were hitting GPU Vram1 94 C, while the GPU itself sat at 85C and Vram2 was at 78C—all while the fan was spinning at about 60%. However, when he's just doing basic stuff—browsing the web, listening to music, watching movies—everything is perfectly fine, with temps hovering around a very comfortable 35C. Personally, I think those idle temps are great! So, the big question is: what am I missing here? I already tried updating the drivers for him, but the crashing persists. Looking forward to hearing your theories!
swiftfalcon89 swiftfalcon89 Active Member
85 messages
joined Aug 2013
#987 ·
What would be the best bang-for-your-buck used GPU up to $333 for this build:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
CPU: Intel Core i7 6300
RAM: Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
PSU: Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+
Robert Rodriguez2 Robert Rodriguez2 Regular
353 messages
joined Jul 2015
#988 ·
swiftfalcon89 said:What's the best used GPU I can grab for $333 given this setup:

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+
CPU: Intel Core i7 RAM
RAM: Crucial 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
PSU: Fortron Hyper 500W, 80+

Why waste money on used gear for a few bucks? For $33, you can get an R7 265 that handles 1080p just fine. It's brand new and actually comes with a warranty.
Betty Taylor26 Betty Taylor26 Newcomer
8 messages
joined Mar 2009
#989 ·
Question:

How much of a noticeable difference is there in image quality when comparing 1080p vs. 1440p vs. 4K?
Dennis Carter3 Dennis Carter3 Newcomer
8 messages
joined Oct 2014
#990 ·
Paul Miller64 said:question:

how much of a difference does image quality actually make when comparing 1080p vs. 1440p vs. 4K?

In my experience, the jump in clarity is quite noticeable—though, naturally, the most dramatic shift occurs when you step up from 1080p directly to 4K. That said, if you're under the impression that 4K is the go-to for gaming right now, you might want to rethink that; frankly, current hardware just isn't quite there yet, and building a rig capable of handling it would cost you a small fortune. Personally, I think 1440p is the sweet spot for gaming, but even then, those monitors are currently priced a bit too high—one probably needs to wait a year or two for prices to settle down before making the leap.
Larry Ortiz5 Larry Ortiz5 Regular
710 messages
joined May 2020
#991 ·
Paul Miller64 said:question:

how much of a difference does image quality actually make when jumping from 1080p to 1440p or 4K?

4K is definitely the goal 😁 But honestly, unless you're running something beefy like three GTX 970/980 cards or an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 in SLI—paired with a powerhouse processor like an Intel Core i7 5820k or an i7-5930k just to keep things from bottlenecking—you might want to hold off. If you really want to dive into 4K to play the latest titles, just keep in mind you probably won't be cranking everything to Ultra settings. It all really comes down to which specific games you're looking to play, right?
swiftfalcon89 swiftfalcon89 Active Member
85 messages
joined Aug 2013
#992 ·
Robert Rodriguez2 said:Why on earth would you buy used gear for that kind of money? For $33 you can grab an R7 265 that'll handle 1080p gaming just fine. Plus, it’s brand new and comes with a full warranty.

That’s exactly why I’m asking questions here. 😁 I had no idea that card was actually any good. I haven't really kept up with the latest generation of AMD cards, so I'm a bit lost on which one replaced which. And when I said "used," I meant picking something up from a reputable shop with some sort of coverage.
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 RegularOP
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#993 ·
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti actually succeeds the HD7850, and it’s even a bit more powerful—clocking in at about an 8% lead on average
R9 270 is essentially the same as the HD7870
Dennis Carter3 Dennis Carter3 Newcomer
8 messages
joined Oct 2014
#994 ·
swiftfalcon89 said:That’s exactly why I’m asking—😁 I honestly had no idea that card was such a sleeper hit. I haven't really kept up with the latest Intel releases, so I'm a bit lost on which model succeeds which. Also, when I mentioned buying used, I was thinking more along the lines of finding something with a solid warranty from a local retailer.

If you want to crank everything up to ultra settings, you should definitely look at the used market; otherwise, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti is perfectly fine for running things on medium.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-13409073

http://www.craigslist.org/listing/graphics-card-listing-13412758
Kevin Hayes83 Kevin Hayes83 Member
30 messages
joined May 2015
#995 ·
Looking for some advice on a used GPU... maybe around $600$233 max? I just want to be able to run Shadow of Mordor and the new Wolfenstein without everything lagging out. Any ideas?
swiftfalcon89 swiftfalcon89 Active Member
85 messages
joined Aug 2013
#996 ·
Kevin Hayes83 said:I'm looking for some advice on picking up a used graphics card. My budget is sitting right around $600. Any suggestions on what I should be hunting for?$233 Anyone got any recommendations for Shadow of Mordor or that new Wolfenstein? Looking for some input.

What kind of overclocking headroom are we looking at here? What's the CPU and motherboard combo? How much RAM are you running, and what's the PSU?
Look, assuming you aren't running on some junk power supply that’s about to blow, and if you actually managed to pick up a decent processor, you're looking at one of these options:

I remember my old GTX 560. It was a workhorse back in its day, though looking back, it feels like an absolute relic now. Still, there was something reliable about those older cards before everything became so bloated and overpriced.

I’ve been seeing this listing floating around on some local marketplace sites lately. It’s an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti up for grabs. Honestly, looking at the price and the specs, it feels like a bit of a relic from a different era of gaming. It’s one of those cards that used to be the reliable workhorse for budget builds, but these days? You're mostly looking at it if you just want to get through a workday or play something very light. I remember back in the day when grabbing a card like this felt like a massive upgrade, but now, even basic integrated graphics can sometimes give it a run for its money. If you're hunting for something to breathe life into an old office PC sitting in your garage, maybe it makes sense. But if you're actually trying to play anything modern, you might find yourself staring at a slideshow instead of a game. Just my two cents.

I’ve been seeing a few posts popping up lately about people looking for budget graphics cards, and I figured I’d share this one I came across on a local marketplace. It’s an ad for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti. If you're just trying to get a basic gaming rig together or need something to handle some light eSports titles without breaking the bank, these old workhorses are still surprisingly decent. They don't pull much power, which is great if you're running an older office PC that isn't exactly a powerhouse. I remember back when I first started building rigs, I used to spend hours scouring sites like Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for deals just like this. There's a certain satisfaction in finding a piece of hardware that’s cheap enough to be a "no-brainer" purchase. Just make sure you check the condition before handing over the cash—it's easy to get caught up in a good price and forget to ask if the fans actually spin or if it's been sitting in a dusty basement for five years. Anyway, just thought I'd throw it out there for anyone currently hunting for a bargain. If you're looking for something entry-level, this is right in the ballpark.

I’ve got an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti up for grabs if anyone's looking to pick up a budget card. It’s been a reliable little workhorse for me, but I finally decided it was time to move on to something more modern. It’s in great shape—clean, well-maintained, and honestly, it still handles basic tasks and older titles without breaking a sweat. If you just need something to get a decent display output or want to play some classic games without spending a fortune, this is a solid choice. Price is negotiable, but I’m looking for something fair. Shoot me a message if you're interested or have any questions about how it performs. Local pickup preferred so we can make sure everything works exactly as expected.

I remember my old HD6870. It was a workhorse for its time, but man, those days feel like a lifetime ago. Looking back, it’s wild how much hardware has shifted.

I’ve been seeing a few posts floating around about this specific listing for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti. It looks like someone is trying to offload one of these cards on a local marketplace. Honestly, if you're looking at this, you probably already know the deal. These cards were the workhorses of their era, but let's be real—we aren't exactly playing the latest AAA titles on max settings with this setup anymore. It’s a classic "it gets the job done" kind of component for basic builds or maybe a dedicated media PC sitting under a desk in a home office. I remember back when I was first putting together my budget rig in Chicago, I spent way too much time obsessing over whether to grab a mid-range card or save every penny. In the end, I went the practical route, much like what this seller is suggesting. It’s not flashy, and it won't win you any esports tournaments, but it’s reliable. Just a heads-up for anyone interested: always check the physical condition before handing over the cash. You don't want to get stuck with a card that’s been running hot in a dusty case for five years straight. If you're browsing through these kinds of used listings, treat it like buying a used car—check the mileage (or in this case, the usage), ask how long it’s been running, and don't be afraid to walk away if the deal feels off.

I’ve been seeing some folks asking about old hardware lately, so I figured I’d drop this here. I'm looking to offload an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti. It’s been a reliable little workhorse for me over the years, but my setup is moving in a different direction now. It’s a solid card if you just need something to get a basic gaming rig running or if you're building a budget PC for a kid. It isn't going to run the latest AAA titles on ultra settings, obviously, but for older classics or lighter esports stuff, it still holds its own. Honestly, I remember when these were the gold standard for entry-level builds. Condition is great. I’ve taken good care of it—never pushed it too hard, kept the dust out, the whole nine yards. If you're looking for a cheap way to breathe some life into an old desktop sitting in your garage, this is a no-brainer. Shoot me a message if you're interested. I'm local to the area, so we can probably work something out easily. No lowballers, please; I know what I have, and it's a clean piece of tech.

Maybe this is something you could pick up at Best Buy. $133 Honestly, it’s a really solid card.

I’m looking at this listing for an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti. It's being offered up on a local marketplace, and I wanted to get some thoughts from the group on whether this is actually a decent deal or just more e-waste masquerading as a bargain. It’s a pretty standard card, but you know how these things go—it looks fine in the photos, but you never really know if the previous owner was running it in a dust-filled basement or treating it like a prized possession. I remember back in my college days, I picked up a similar setup from someone who basically used their PC as a space heater, and I spent half my semester praying the GPU wouldn't die mid-final. What do you guys think? Is anyone currently running one of these, or should I just save my cash and look for something with a bit more life left in it? Any specific red flags I should watch out for when meeting a stranger from a site like Craigslist to pick this up?
Adam Moore3 Adam Moore3 Regular
322 messages
joined Jun 2014
#997 ·
swiftfalcon89 said:What’s the rest of the build look like? CPU? Motherboard? How much RAM? What kind of power supply?
As long as you aren't using some cheap junk power supply and you have a decent enough processor, you could grab one of these:

GTX560

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13354231

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13540824

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13514019

HD6870

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13495869

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13476593

And this might be your best bet, $133 it's actually a really solid card.

http://www.craigslist.com/video-cards-listings-13543489

All of that for $600$233 is way too much—way too much. You can get a Radeon R7 260 that performs right in that same range, and it'll be BRAND NEW for the same money.
Kimberly Gomez34 Kimberly Gomez34 RegularOP
686 messages
joined Jul 2009
#998 ·
true that - ever since MSI started offering those 3-year warranties
Austin Rodriguez5 Austin Rodriguez5 Member
25 messages
joined Feb 2017
#999 ·
Gigabyte offers a 3-year warranty as well.🙂
Kevin Hayes83 Kevin Hayes83 Member
30 messages
joined May 2015
#1000 ·
I think I’ve got some kind of 600W power supply, 4GB of DDR2, a Core 2 Duo Q8200—if I’m remembering right—some 2TB drives, and currently running a 9800GTX+ inside?

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