GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

I was actually rocking a GTX 660 TwinFrozr ii OC edition until just the other day. But I ended up switching over to AMD—I've been using their cards for years now, so really, it just comes down to personal preference.
If you're looking for the absolute best bang for your buck under $200, though, the 7870 is definitely the way to go. Or, if you're dead set on staying with NVIDIA, grab the GTX 660. You honestly can't go wrong with either of those two choices.

There’s barely any $133 difference between the 7870 and the 7850. You could argue there’s a performance gap, sure, but I can't help feeling like the 7870 is just marketing overkill. 😁 Honestly, the 7850 seems more than capable enough to handle whatever you throw at it. What do you guys think?

Larry Ortiz5 said:First thing I suspect is dust. If you haven't cleaned your rig in forever, that's definitely your culprit. If you've got an air compressor at home, just blast it out. If not, head straight to a repair shop this Tuesday and let them blow it out. Just toss them $6.75 for a coffee and you're good to go.

Nah, it's not that. I cleaned the whole thing out ages ago. It feels like it's wobbling on its axis or something. I can actually shift it up and down about half a centimeter. Hm...

Overkill? Well, it really just comes down to what kind of games you're into. If you’re looking to dive into something like the new Crysis 3 or the new Tomb Raider—and you're running everything at 1080p with the settings cranked to the max—then I'd definitely suggest going for the 7870. Those titles are absolute resource hogs, aren't they? You're basically going to need a beefy GPU just to keep things running smoothly at those settings.

On the other hand, if you're just playing casually and aren't tackling those super demanding titles—or if you aren't using a Full HD monitor—then honestly, even a 7770 would be a great choice. It's a solid card for lighter use.

At the end of the day, you should pick your graphics card and the rest of your build based on what you actually need. I mean, it would be pretty silly to drop a small fortune on a top-tier GPU and CPU just to spend all your time surfing the web, right? 😬

If the 7870 is already pushing the Athlon ii 750 k too hard, then pairing it with a 3870K is just asking for an even worse bottleneck. It’s better to go with the 7850; it'll be a much more balanced setup. 😉 As for the specs on the 750K and the 7870, I actually heard that from Flatron, so blame him if I've got it wrong. 😬

To be honest, I’m actually a little worried about it—I just finished doing some deeper reading on which CPU we're actually dealing with here. Maybe they should do a quick Google search first to see if it’s going to end up being a bottleneck.

The 3870K is slightly slower than the X4 955 BE, but since it also has an unlocked multiplier... at 3.8 GHz, I guess it could probably handle an HD 7870.

Was this GTS 450 bought separately? Because I don't really see the point of pairing an APU with that Nvidia card😬

I picked up this GPU a long while ago, right after a lightning strike fried my old 9800GT.

So, I just tried firing up Tomb Raider. It’s barely hitting 25 FPS even on the absolute lowest settings. 😁

Look, even if the card was better, I haven't had a single second to actually go out and buy a new monitor, so I'm still stuck staring at this 1280x1024 screen. Honestly, any cheap, low-end card could probably handle it, but the real issue is that I need to upgrade the whole setup, monitor included.

If you're stuck with that resolution and don't plan on upgrading your monitor for another year or two—maybe longer—then honestly, just grab a 7770 and call it a day. Problem solved, right?

darkbison14 said:I've got this fan on my graphics card that’s started getting super quiet—then sometimes it kicks back up and starts making this loud noise again—so what's actually going on here? Can I just rip it off entirely, or is my GPU going to overheat and fry itself or something? Thanks

Don't go ripping it off—it's there for a reason, not just to look pretty. Just clean out the dust and maybe hit it with some lube if it's grinding.

Zachary Gomez3 said:It’s like people around here just don't have a thing for NVIDIA, right?

I don't have a specific budget in mind. I'm just trying to figure out what it'll actually take to land a decent graphics card.

I personally lean toward NVIDIA, but in the price bracket where the 7850 sits, there isn't anything else worth looking at.

Unless we're talking about that new 650TI Boost edition... but that thing hasn't even hit the shelves here in the States yet.

Zachary Gomez3 said:It’s basically a wash between the 7870 and the 7850. $133 There’s a massive gap in performance, honestly. I just can't tell if pushing for the 7870 is total overkill or not. 😁 The 7850 seems like it could handle just about anything. Thoughts?

If you aren't planning on overclocking, that processor is fine. The 7850 is plenty. Getting a 7870 would just bottleneck your GPU—you'd basically be throwing $60 into the trash.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:unless we count that new 650TI Boost Edition... but that hasn't even hit the US market yet.

Then there's the 7790 coming out, which should bridge the gap between the 7770 and the 7850—a spot currently occupied by the gtx 580.

http://www.pcekspert.com/articles/1033.html

Benjamin King2 said:Don't take it off. It’s there for a reason, not just to look pretty. Clean out the junk and grease it if it's acting up.

Turns out that was it. I greased it—well, I tried to, since I didn't have a small screwdriver handy to do it right... thanks.

So, I have been weighing the possibility of picking up a 7770, though I am not entirely certain if my current power supply can handle the load (I’m about 99% sure it can, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to double-check! :P). Furthermore, I am curious as to which manufacturer would be the most reliable choice. I have been presented with several options: XFX, ASUS, Gigabyte, and Sapphire—is there actually a significant performance gap between them?
Additionally, is the jump in performance from the 7750 to the 7770 truly worth an extra $100?$67

Here are my current specs:
AsRock fm2a85x extreme 4
Athlon x4 750 k (stock settings)
Zalman ZM500-GS 500W
4GB DDR3 (2 sticks)

If you're planning on running an HD7770, the price difference is probably worth it, and honestly, any PSU you pick will handle it just fine.

Price isn't really the main issue here... I've got an Intel Core i5 in there, though I can't say for certain which specific model it is at the moment...
4 GB of DDR3 RAM running in dual channel
Windows 7, 64-bit version
A 500GB hard drive
DVD-RW drive

If you don't care about the price tag, then the Titan is the way to go:

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=12801

fadedorca66 said:If you aren't worried about the price tag, then the Titan is your winner:

http://www.newegg.com/p/product_info.php?c...ducts_id=12801

🙏

Here’s something useful for everyone. Some German engineers ran some bottleneck testing.

screenshot of the chart - unfortunately, quite a bit is cut off
here is another one

red means a massive bottleneck
orange means a noticeable bottleneck
yellow means a minor bottleneck
green means the perfect pairing

video teaser for the show

Pay close attention when it mentions a GPU bottleneck relative to the CPU (for example, a 4850 being a bottleneck for an I5 3570K)

EDIT—looking closer, that third row of processors definitely looks suspicious.

So, I'm running an I5 750—which basically means my processor isn't exactly top-tier. *Sigh.* 😢