GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Nope.

crimsonstag84 said:Nah, I wouldn't.

Alright then, I think I'll just go with the Radeon HD 7770

Thanks a million!

copperotter20 said:I was actually planning on picking up that Radeon HD 7770 myself. Should I consider throwing in an extra 2 GB of RAM? Would that make any real 😁
difference?

No,

The only thing you should really look at adding is another 8GB if you're serious about photo or video editing.

Quick question for you guys...

Do you think an i5 3350P can actually handle running two Radeon HD 7870s in CF?
And maybe—just maybe—could it even hold its own with a card that's even beefier than those?

I think it’ll hold up just fine, though you won't be hitting maximum potential if you ask me. It would honestly be better to unlock everything and really push that CPU to its limits.
If you want to be strictly technical about its ceiling, we're looking at the GTX 760 or the Radeon HD 7950—though many people argue that even with the latter, you might run into some bottlenecks in certain scenarios.

Timothy Kim60 said:I mean, I think it'll hold up just fine, but you probably won't be hitting max performance if that's what you're asking. It’d definitely be better to have an unlocked CPU and maybe even overclock it a bit a little
If we're being super strict about it, the ceiling would be a GTX 760 or an HD 7950—though some folks say even with that last one, you might see a tiny bit of a bottleneck in certain spots.

What I'm really wondering is, would they actually be used to their full potential? And honestly, if you're thinking about a future upgrade using CF, it doesn't seem like a super smart move if you're looking at high-end cards later on.

I'm guessing even an FX x8 8320 wouldn't quite be able to fully push two 7870s...🤷

I can't say for certain about your specific situation, but you could definitely pack a more powerful GPU in there. Since it's overclockable, it's going to be much more future-proof than your standard i5.

EDIT

If you're planning on buying something soon, I’d honestly suggest waiting a bit. We should see some new ATI cards hitting the market around October or November, which will give you a better idea of where prices land. You'll likely see the 7 series drop in price, and everything tends to get noticeably cheaper leading up to Christmas.

There are even some new retailers popping up; check this out:

7870 ghz

Timothy Kim60 said:I'm not totally sure about this specific setup, but—honestly—you could definitely pack a much beefier GPU in there. Since it's overclockable, I think it’ll be way more future-proof than just grabbing a standard i5.

EDIT

If you're planning on buying something soon, maybe just hang tight for a bit? We should see some new AMD cards hitting the market around October or November, so that'll give you a better idea of where prices are at. Especially since the 7 series will probably drop in price, and everything usually gets noticeably cheaper leading up to Christmas.

There are even some new shops popping up, check this out

7870 ghz

I'm definitely waiting until Christmas. My plan is basically either going for a budget build (maybe $750 with a 7850 or a 650ti boost) or stepping things up significantly (like an i5/FX 8320 paired with a 7870).

I was kind of banking on the CPU being able to handle adding another 7870 in Crossfire a couple of years down the road. But if you're saying a basic i5 wouldn't cut it, then I guess I really have to consider overclocking the FX.

But yeah, like you said... we really ought to wait and see what AMD brings to the table, and if NVIDIA decides to drop some mid-range 7xx series cards anytime soon.

Honestly, my advice is not to stress yourself out over CrossFire this early in the game. You’ll be able to cruise through most titles with just a single card for quite a while. When you eventually feel the itch for more power, you can simply sell that one card and pick up something beefier. For instance, you could aim for something on par with today's HD7970 or GTX770 levels—something an overclocked fx 8320 can handle effortlessly (and by then, cards with that kind of performance will be significantly cheaper). Plus, you won't need to go out and buy a massive high-end power supply if you aren't running CF/SLI, nor will you have to deal with the headache of whether specific games even support CrossFire.

It's likely that some mid-range options from NVIDIA will hit the market soon, though I'm not sure if they'll arrive before the end of the year. But look, if you are absolutely dead-set on CrossFire, you could always opt for an asymmetrical setup if money gets tight—pair a solid mid-range platform with a decent mid-range GPU. That way, you can catch up on all the big hits you've missed, and later down the road, you can just add a second matching card. Or, of course, you could just swap the whole thing out for a single, more powerful unit.

Timothy Kim60 said:Honestly, I wouldn't sweat CrossFire too much right now—it’s probably not worth the headache early on. You’ll be able to cruise through games just fine with a single card, and whenever you feel like you need more juice—you know, once things get intense—you can just sell that one and grab something beefier. Like, maybe something hitting the levels of today's HD7970 or GTX770, which an overclocked fx 8320 can handle without breaking a sweat (and by then, those cards will be way cheaper, I bet). Plus, you won't even need a massive power supply if you aren't doing CF/SLI, and you won't have to deal with all that annoying troubleshooting when certain games don't play nice with multi-GPU setups.

Yeah, some mid-range Nvidia stuff should be dropping soon—though who knows if it'll happen before the end of the year? But hey, if you're dead set on CF, you could always go for an asymmetrical setup if money gets tight—like pairing a solid platform with a mid-range card. That way, you can catch up on all the big titles you missed, and later on, you can just pop in another one like it. Or, you know, just swap it out for something better altogether.

There's definitely some logic there. Personally, I'm leaning towards a symmetrical setup, but man, these cards are getting pricey! The 7870 is sitting at a decent price point, maybe around $140-$$167, but the 760 is already pushing $200, and those others you mentioned? They're closer to or even over $300. That's just way too much cash for me, I guess.

I was thinking about starting a whole new thread for this, but I figured I'd just toss it in here.
I'm really looking for that "sweet spot" balance between the GPU and the CPU—I know they won't match perfectly, but I want to avoid any major bottlenecks.

Here are the combos people usually talk about for gaming builds:

radeon 7850/650 Ti boost - Athlon ii x4 750
radeon 7870/660 - fx 6300
660 ti/760/7970 - i5 or FX 8320

Anything beyond that is kind of overkill for average gaming needs—the performance jump just isn't worth the extra money you'd be throwing away.

Most people looking for advice here (myself included!) are basically just trying to build something that runs everything out right now while still being somewhat future-proof. Most of the time, the goal is to find a balanced configuration, even if things aren't perfectly matched.

@Lawrence Phillips/">@@Lawrence Phillips
Look, you could take an fx 6300 on a high-end motherboard with a decent cooler, overclock it, and pair it with an HD7950

Honestly, people obsess over graphics cards way too much. Take someone who just loves RPGs (or a mix of them):
Skyrim (where you can sink 100-200 hours), Witcher 2, the Mass Effect trilogy, Deus Ex HR, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy, Diablo 3, the Dragon Age series, Path of Exile—not to mention those hardcore players stuck on MMOs like League of Legends, WoW, or Guild Wars 2. You can sink at least two years into those, and a standard HD7770 can max everything out (except maybe Witcher 2 if you're pushing ultra settings).

Once you've had your fill, it's easy enough to upgrade when you actually need to. In two years, the power of a card like a gtx 760 will be available for a fraction of the price. Sure, game requirements creep up because of "next-gen" consoles, but even those have limits; things will plateau and basically stagnate for years once they stabilize. It’ll be just like the stretch from 2007 to 2011/12. There wasn't a massive leap in tech between Crysis 1 and BF3

Now, for heavy hitters like Crysis, sure, you'd want a beefier GPU for those high-end details. But most people just play through a single-player campaign (even if they don't finish it)—take a mediocre title that relies solely on visuals; you can knock that out in 5 or 6 hours. An average gamer finishes that in two sitting sessions, deletes it, forgets it ever happened, and moves on to the next thing. Spending three grand on a GPU just to clear a handful of games like that is overkill. 🤷

My point is, everything is relative. It all depends on what you play, how long you play it, and how demanding (or spoiled) you are, but ultimately, the budget dictates everything.

Grab an fx, pair it with a decent motherboard and a solid cooler—honestly, you’re probably getting pretty close to the price of an i5 3350p setup with a cheaper board anyway.

Man... I think you're totally right when you say people overthink this stuff way too much. 🤷😁
We'll just see how my bank account looks later on, and then I'll probably scrape together whatever I can to make something happen.

Lawrence Phillips said:If you grab an fx paired with a decent motherboard and a reliable cooler, you're basically looking at the same price point as an i5 3350p on a budget board.

That's true, but they both push the same graphics performance.

Hey there,

So, I’ve run into a bit of a situation where my old desktop—the one my younger brother usually uses for his stuff—has decided its ATI radeon hd4650 graphics card has finally given up the ghost.
Now, I’m looking to pick up a replacement, ideally something very budget-friendly, but I’m feeling a little stuck because this motherboard is quite an older model and I have no idea if any of the newer series of cards will actually play nice with it. Just for context, the processor currently sitting in there is an Intel dual Core E7300
(3M Cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
It doesn't need to be some high-end powerhouse or anything crazy, since he isn't exactly running heavy-duty games; it worked perfectly fine for him until now, but the problem is I can't seem to find a direct replacement for that specific card anywhere locally.

Thanks so much in advance for the help!

http://www.newegg.com/p/product/11192-14-20G

Best bang for your buck... should I look for something cheaper?

EDIT:
http://www.newegg.com/p/product/hd6670-1gb-vga

Well, if there happens to be a more clever way to approach this, and assuming you don't mind the extra effort, perhaps you could toss a few different options my way so I can take my pick

Thanks so much in advance

konf:
AMD Apa A4-3400 2.7
RAM: 1x4GB Corsair
Mobo: MSI A75MA-P35

I'm trying to figure out which GPU makes more sense here: an Asus EAH4550 or a Radeon HD6450.

Or maybe there's a better way:
If I swap the CPU for an AMD x4 651K 3.0GHz
would I actually need something beefier, like an HD7770?
Just looking to build a decent little gaming rig.

Honestly, the HD6450 and Asus EAH4550 aren't any better than integrated graphics, so I’d probably just forget about them.

The 651K doesn't actually have a built-in GPU... so if you're going to buy anything, maybe just grab an HD7770 and the 651K at the same time.

Yeah... I actually thought about just grabbing everything at once, but what if I tried running a dual graphics setup with an HD6450 instead?

Timothy Kim60 said:... and then I'll pop it in. Intel Core 2 Quad Or you could just hunt around the used market for the same ones as the x6 core versions.
Check your motherboard's CPU support list.

Your motherboard uses standard voltage regulation, so I wouldn't recommend getting too aggressive with overclocking—it’ll just drive the voltage up too high. Honestly, you probably don't even need a massive, high-end cooler for performance reasons. It sounds more like you just want to quiet things down because that thing is loud as hell. Just aim for something that can keep it chill and silent. I don't really know what to make of this one. Throw in another 2GB of RAM and you're basically set for some serious gaming.

Hey there, so I've been hunting for that Intel Core 2 Quad, but it feels like they’ve completely vanished from the market since it's such an old chip. It's getting pretty tough to track down. Any advice? Does anyone have a recommendation for something in that same ballpark in terms of price and performance? Thanks!