GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Honestly, if you’re buying new, there’s really no point in settling for anything less than a 6670 DDR5 setup. If you try to hunt down used parts just to save a few bucks, you’re going to end up with something significantly weaker—and then you have to wonder if it could even handle running AC/DC properly.

I would probably start by dropping in an Intel Core 2 Duo, maybe an E6600 or E8400, and then look for a GPU. But when I really think about it, is that even worth it? $100 The processor and the graphics card will cost just as much as everything else combined. Then you still end up with an old machine.

I'll have to see.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/intel-processor-listing

Those Wolfdale core 775 CPUs won't fit on your motherboard...

I guess it might be smarter to just grab an Intel Celeron($100-which honestly eats those 775 dual-cores for breakfast) + a decent 1155 socket board($100) + 4GB of RAM + some used GPU (like an HD 5770/6770) while you still have the cash. You could probably pull all that off for about $400.

Bought a graphics card (HD7950) and it hasn't worked right from day one. After about 20 minutes of gaming, the drivers crash or the whole PC restarts. I tested this on two different systems. I sent it back to the retailer (Silicon Valley) for service, and they sent it back after 10 days claiming it was perfectly fine and "cleaned of dust." I put it back in my rig and the driver crashes kept happening. Now I'm dealing with a second claim.
I sent them an email—no response. Sent a second, third, sixth, even threatened them with a consumer protection inspection. They just brushed me off, saying they could have told me the legal limit is 45 business days and I can't call the inspectors until then. Fine. Well, the 45 days are up next week, so I went to Silicon Valley to ask where my card is. They just told me to call back Monday and said they'd find someone who actually knows what's going on because the sales staff clearly doesn't. FUCK 🤷 it. I checked their website since they list service receipts in my account login. It shows the first claim clearly: when they received it, sent it to service, returned it to the store, and gave it to me. But this second claim? It only shows they took the card from me, but nothing about sending it to service. 😕What am I supposed to do here? Is this some kind of scam?
Does anyone know what my rights are? I read on a forum that these guys are absolute nightmares with returns and that complaining is just a waste of time. $833Yeah right...
not happening.

It looks like just one more entry in a long line of "stellar" experiences with them. Honestly, I don't know—maybe give them another shot. But if things start getting messy, just call the Better Business Bureau; they’ll put some pressure on them. For instance, they helped my parents out with their TV at a different big-box retailer. The set was dead, and the warranty paperwork was a total scam—just pure nonsense from those guys. Once my mom called the BBB and they started leaning on the store, the shop suddenly changed its tune and told her to bring in whatever model she wanted up to that value (or just pay the difference for a pricier one).

The bottom line is that if you’re seeing the same issues on a second PC, it’s almost certainly the card itself. Unless, of course, your power supply isn't cutting it and causing the shut-offs?

Timothy Kim60 said:It feels like just one more entry in a long line of "stellar" experiences with them. I don't know, maybe give them another shot—but if things get messy, call a consumer protection agency and let them squeeze the life out of them. For instance, they actually sorted out a mess my parents had with a TV at a different shop. The set was dead, and the warranty paperwork was total garbage—just some shady nonsense—so my mom called the consumer group. Once those guys put the pressure on, the store called us back and told us to bring in whatever model we wanted up to that value (or just pay the difference if we wanted something pricier).

The big thing is that you're seeing these issues on a second PC too—then it’s almost certainly the card itself... (unless your power supply is just barely cutting it and causing shutdowns?)

Actually, I was going to ask about the power supply. Which one are you running, and if you happen to know, what kind was your friend using when you tested it there? I remember reading on another forum about a guy who dropped the exact same card into some junk "500W" unit and his PC kept crashing constantly, too...

I picked up two cards, an HD6770 and an HD5450, on Craigslist and they both work fine. As for the power supply, I'm running an EVGA SuperNOVA 700W. It passes the OCCT stress test with everything pinned at 99% load for an hour, but when I run the Heaven 4.0 benchmark, the card crashes every single time on the final polygon. It’s always the exact same spot, and sometimes it even happens earlier on that windmill. Games are crashing too, though not all of them. I don't get how it passes a stress test but fails during actual gaming.

Regarding the other build, the PSU is the same, but I upgraded the motherboard, CPU, and RAM. I swapped out the Intel Core 2 Quad for an AMD FX-Series.

I have a quick question regarding two different graphics cards:

From what I can gather, these look like the exact same card. Does anyone know why there's about a $10 price difference between them?

It’s probably cheaper because they sourced it from a different supplier—so naturally, you go with the better price

Slide them an email just to double-check that the specs aren't mislabeled, like if it's actually DDR3 instead of what they claim (that kind of thing happens)

I'm trying to figure out which of these two graphics cards actually packs more punch... I'm heading out to pick up a new rig next week, so I'd appreciate some insight on which one I should grab

Personally, I’d probably lean toward MSI—mostly because they offer that 3-year warranty.

Here. There was a similar discussion going on before, so maybe this might be helpful to you.

It depends, really. Are you planning on overclocking this thing or just running it at stock settings? Honestly, the TF model is always the safer bet since the cooling is so much better—you won't have to sweat it if you decide to push the clock speeds up later.
Mine’s an EVGA GTX 560, also the TFII version, and I haven't had to spend a single cent on it since I picked it up about a year and a half ago.

I'd definitely go with MSI 🙂 if nothing else, just for the longer warranty alone.

Drew Sanchez82 said:It really depends on whether you plan to overclock the thing or just stick to stock settings... If you're looking to push it, the triple-fan model is always the safer bet since the superior cooling gives you much more breathing room during an overclock...
Mine is an EVGA GTX 560, also the dual-fan OC version, and I haven't had to spend a single cent on extra cooling since I picked it up about a year and a half ago...

I'll worry about overclocking when the time comes... for now, it should handle everything on high settings without needing any extra tweaks...

Hey there,
I’m definitely not an expert on this stuff, so I was hoping you guys could help me pick out a decent graphics card for around $400.
Here’s what I’m running under the hood. My old card finally kicked the bucket—it was a Sapphire Radeon HD 4750 X2.
Power supply is a Corsair 400W, CX Series CMPSU-400CXEU, with a 12cm fan.
Processor is an AMD Athlon II X2 250, socket AM3, BOX, 2MB cache, 65w
Motherboard is an ASUS MA770-UD3, AMD 770, S. AM2+, 6xSATA RAID, DDR2 1066/800
HDD is a Samsung 500GB 7200rpm, 16MB cache, Serial ATA II-300
RAM is 2048MB (2GB) PC8500 Kingmax, 1066MHz, KLEE88F-B8KO6

The motherboard has a PCIe slot for the GPU.

Thanks!

Definitely go with the HD 7850 —for example, this one —with its 3-year warranty, or this model which has a shorter warranty but features superior cooling (honestly, grab that one if you plan on overclocking)
.
-If you were looking at an NVIDIA GTX 650 boost
Those are really the only two options worth considering if you're planning to upgrade to a more powerful processor soon. Using them with that current dual-core setup would be like driving a Ferrari in a school zone; you just wouldn't be utilizing the full potential. In fact, I’d suggest picking up one of those regardless, because you'll eventually need to swap out that CPU anyway once certain games start demanding more juice
.
Otherwise, for that specific CPU, the most logical pairing is the HD 6670 DDR5

Timothy Kim60 said:Go for the HD 7850— like this one—especially if it comes with a 3-year warranty, or this other one with a shorter warranty but better cooling. Honestly, grab the one with the beefier cooler if you're planning on overclocking.

-If you're looking at an NVIDIA GTX 650Ti boost
Those two are really your only logical choices if you plan on upgrading to a beefier processor down the road. With that current dual-core setup, you wouldn't be using the full potential of those cards anyway. That said, I'd still suggest picking one up now, because you'll eventually need to swap out that CPU when certain games start demanding more juice...

Otherwise, for that specific CPU, an HD 6670 DDR5 would be the sweet spot.

And maybe pick up some extra RAM if you aren't planning on switching platforms anytime soon...

If you aren't swapping out the CPU, an HD 7750 might actually cut it, though I guess you should probably bump up the processor a bit... it should definitely hit 3.3GHz without needing to mess with the voltage.

Thanks so much.
I wasn't really planning on swapping out my CPU or motherboard right now, but looking at everything, it seems like I probably should. If I go with a beefier processor, would I also need to upgrade to a more powerful motherboard to better support the HD 7850?