GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

http://www.alternate.us/html/product...5-OC/1038193/?

http://www.alternate.at/html/product...l_Fan/973462/? - this price is in USD 🤷

If you’re willing to stretch the budget a little, you might find better cooling solutions from other brands. But honestly, at this price point, having dual fans is the main thing that matters. I can't say for certain which brand offers superior cooling—maybe Club3D or PowerColor—so you should definitely check out some reviews first.

To be blunt, I’m not sure if you actually need a card this powerful. It seems overkill, and frankly, I have no idea if your current PC build can even handle it properly.

Timothy Kim60 said:http://www.alternate.at/html/product...l_Fan/973462/? - this one is listed in dollars 🤷

If you were looking to stretch your budget just a little bit further, you might find some even better cooling solutions from other brands. But honestly, at this price point, the most important thing is just making sure it has those dual fans. To be fair, I'm not entirely sure which specific brands would offer superior cooling—maybe Club3D or PowerColor?—so your best bet would be to dig through some reviews.

That being said, I really can't tell if you actually need a card that powerful. It feels like it might be overkill for what you're doing, and I'm also not quite certain if your current setup can even fully take advantage of it.

Hmm, do I really need it? Well, I live for gaming 😁. Right now, I'm running a Radeon HD 5850, and while I thought it was plenty, I've realized it just can't handle Call of Duty: Black Ops II on max settings. Plus, with Tomb Raider coming out in just ten days, I was thinking about picking up something beefier so I don't have to worry about upgrades for at least the next couple of years. Of course, if there's a great deal out there for less money, I'm all for it! Hardware isn't exactly my specialty, so my initial instinct was "go big or go home," but I'm definitely open to smarter options. Here is what I'm working with:
Intel Core i5-750, EKL Alpenföhn Brocken
Asus P7P55D, 8GB RAM
Cooler Master Silent Pro m 700
I'm totally open to any suggestions 😁

For instance, check this one out: http://www.alternate.at/html/product...0_OC/1025924/? It's priced at $355 at another shop over in Vienna (and I wouldn't have to pay for shipping!), and it even comes with a Gamma Coupon for Crysis 3 & BioShock Infinite

If you're an Nvidia fan
http://www.alternate.at/html/product...5-OC/1015106/?

That processor can handle just about any GPU you throw at it, so you really don't have anything to worry about.

Alexander Moore67 said:if you're more of an Nvidia fan
http://www.alternate.at/html/product...5-OC/1015106/?

$395.00

So, looking at these two, which one do you think actually comes out on top—yours or mine? 🙂

http://www.alternate.at/html/product...0_OC/1025924/?
$385.00

If I were in your shoes, I’d really weigh whether you actually care about PhysX—you know, things like shattered glass effects or those little fog clouds in certain games—and how much raw speed matters to you. If you're a fan of ATI, go ahead and grab the 7970, but personally, I'd lean toward Nvidia. Honestly, both are solid choices.

Jack Alvarez: According to the latest reports, the Brico_GO new Tomb Raider is actually very light by today's standards—your Radeon HD 5850 should handle it without breaking a sweat.

As for picking out a new GPU, I honestly can't say for sure. You should probably hunt down some benchmarks or just wait for more people to weigh in... though, at the end of the day, they're basically the same beast.
Honestly, whatever you grab in that price range is going to absolutely crush everything you throw at it.

Check out these comments: 7970 OC vs gtx 670 PE OC (there are more threads listed under related topics below)

EDIT: Those posts are a little dated. I think it really just comes down to getting the latest drivers and which specific game you're playing (ATI has actually stepped up their game quite a bit with driver support lately).

Well, the die is cast! I finally pulled the trigger and ordered the new card, so now we just wait and see how it all plays out!!
http://www.alternate.at/html/product...0_OC/1025924/?

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, you don't need an original license if you're just a home user. It’s a different ballgame when you're dealing with a corporation. You just need to create a valid serial and get it entered.

Look, honestly? It doesn't matter that much—just move it to another partition and let it burn. If you end up grabbing a new GPU anyway, just make sure someone films a quick setup of Windows 7 64-bit for you. You can load up a crack, run the updates, and it'll look like the real deal.

Thanks everyone for all the replies!
I've finally made up my mind—it’s going to be either a GT 650 or a GT 650 Ti, whichever one I can actually get my hands on!
Pirates? No thanks. I’m sticking with the original. I’ve got Windows installed on my C drive, and everything else is spread out across my D, J, and K partitions.
But the new Windows version? Yeah, that’s gonna have to wait a bit.
Just downloaded that free trial for Windows 7!
He could probably run it on my rig, but man, the printers totally failed the test.
It says they aren't supported on Windows 7.
One's about five years old, and the other's around ten.
My dad uses those laser printers for his bookkeeping.
Both HP printers are decent—one's a color model and the other is just a basic black and white laser.
It belongs in a museum!😂
Both of them are showing that "not supported" error on Windows 7.

Are you looking for an AGP or a PCI-E card?
PCI-E
What does your current or planned setup look like, and what kind of power supply are you running?
Power supply - processor - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600, memory is 2 x 512 MB DDR2-533 (266 MHz), monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 720n [17" LCD] (H9FLB06871), motherboard is an Asus M2V-MX (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN). As for the case, I suppose it’s somewhat similar to this one: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6625
What resolution are you playing at?
I'm currently stuck using integrated graphics, so I don't actually play anything right now 😉; my old video card gave up the ghost a while back due to power supply issues
. What is your budget for this?
Around $100.
Which stores are you considering?
Future IT - I've heard they are reliable and among the more affordable options
. If you have any other specific requirements, please list them.
I need to know if the graphics card will actually fit in my case, because I really don't intend on changing anything else. Also, will my current power supply be sufficient for the card I choose? I'd rather not swap that out too 🙂. I am planning to pick up another stick of RAM as well. Ideally, I'd like to be able to run Path of Exile on medium-high settings, and perhaps some newer titles if possible. I'm currently torn between these two: 1. http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.41479.0.html , and 2. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.63761.0.html... there are just so many versions of these cards that I've become a bit lost. If anyone knows of a better option out there, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Wait, you fried your GPU because of the power supply and you're actually thinking about plugging a new card into that same unit? Unbelievable...

First off, I'd swap out the PSU. It's clearly dead, so I don't see how much sense it makes to hook up a new graphics card to it.

Also, you're running low on RAM and that processor is pretty weak. Even if you did grab a better GPU, your CPU probably wouldn't be able to keep up anyway.

With that $200, I'd look for a used graphics card and a new power supply, though honestly, just buying everything brand new might save you some headaches in the long run... plus, you can always reuse your old case, hard drive, and optical drive (assuming the HDD and drive use SATA).

Of course, I swapped out the power supply back then... this one is solid. Honestly, I only picked it up because I didn't think I’d be gaming on this rig anymore; I figured it would just serve as my dedicated torrent machine. I am planning to grab some more RAM eventually, mostly just to save myself some headaches later on, but I suppose you want more concrete answers.

urbaneagle4 said:Do you need an AGP or a PCI-E card?
>>19>>PCI-E
What’s your current or planned setup, and what kind of power supply are you running?
Power supply - CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+, memory 2 x 512 MB DDR2-533 (266 MHz), monitor Samsung SyncMaster 720n [17" LCD] (H9FLB06871), motherboard Asus M2V-MX (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN). Case is pretty similar to this one http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6625
What resolution are you gaming at?
I'm currently on integrated graphics, so I don't really game 😉. My old graphics card died a while back because of the power supply.
How much are you looking to spend?
About $100.
Which stores are you considering?
Future IT - I heard they're reliable and among the cheaper options.
If you have any other specific requirements, let us know.
Will the graphics card fit the case? I don't want to change anything else, so I need to know if my power supply can handle the card since I won't be upgrading that either 🙂. I'll grab some extra RAM too. I'd love to be able to play Path of Exile on medium-high settings and maybe some newer games if possible. I'm torn between these two: 1. http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.41479.0.html , or 2. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.63761.0.html... there are so many versions of these cards that I'm getting lost. If anyone knows of something better, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

Regarding those laptop graphics cards you suggested 😉

That’s not going to work out.
If you had a slightly better dual-core processor—maybe a 6670—that would fit well, or even a 4850 (but you'd definitely need a new power supply).

- You're way too low on RAM, and since you only have 2 slots, you'll have to ditch what you have now and install at least 2GB, or ideally 4GB if it's possible.

- You really should upgrade the power supply. It's bottom-of-the-barrel, and if it actually works, you're just asking for something to fry. Unless you want to risk a total meltdown, picking up a decent 350W unit $133 would be a smart move—plus, you could save it for your next build.

- As for a GPU for that CPU: maybe an older ATI card like a 4670 (or a 4750/4770 if you can even find them around here), or a newer ATI Radeon HD 6570 (though that isn't worth the money).

That might get you through Path of Exile, but honestly, it’s nothing special. You might be better off saving up for a more modest budget PC altogether.

Thanks for the info!

urbaneagle4 said:Do you need an AGP or a PCI-E card?
PCI-E
What’s your current or planned setup, and what kind of power supply are you running?
My PSU is CPU is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600, memory is 2 x 512 MB DDR2-533 (266 MHz), monitor is a Samsung SyncMaster 720n [17" LCD] (H9FLB06871), and the motherboard is an Asus M2V-MX (2 PCI, 1 PCI-E x16, 2 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN). The case is pretty similar to this one: http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6625.
What resolution are you playing at?
I'm just using integrated graphics right now, so I don't really play anything 😉. My old video card died a while back because of the power supply.
How much are you looking to spend?
About $90.
Which stores are you considering?
Future IT—I heard they're reliable and have decent prices.
If you have any other specific requirements, let us know.
Will the card fit in my case? I don't want to swap anything else out. Also, will my current power supply handle the card since I won't be upgrading that either? 🙂I'm planning on adding some more RAM, too. I'd like to be able to run Path of Exile on medium-high settings, maybe some newer games if possible. I'm torn between these two: 1. http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.41479.0.html and 2. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.63761.0.html... there are so many versions of these cards that I'm getting lost. If anyone knows of a better option, please let me know. Thanks!

This would be the PSU and the GPU.
The ATI Radeon HD 6570 should handle that game just fine.

It’s kind of a bummer about the VS350 when you can grab a VS450 for basically the same price, if not less.

Thanks!

Right now, I'm running a GeForce GT 240 512MB DDR5. I'm looking to swap it out, but I'm stuck on which way to go. I've been eyeing two options and I'm wondering if it's even worth the upgrade at all. The cards are:--GeForce GTS 450 1GB DDR5
--GT 640 1GB DDR3

P.S: My CPU is an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180 at 2.00GHz and I've got 3GB of RAM. Power supply is a Frontier 500W.

If you really have to choose between those two, I’d personally go with the GeForce GTS 450.