GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

brightviper13 said:The CPU is decent enough, though the motherboard is pretty mediocre, but whatever, it gets the job done. Just tell me what kind of budget you're looking at for a GPU, how much you actually want to shell out, and what specific power supply you're running—I need the exact wattage and the brand name, don't be vague.

Oh, please... stop talking nonsense.

Kenneth Jackson3 said:okay, thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Should I be worried that my Corsair CX500 isn't on this list, even though it says a 500W PSU should be plenty?

http://support.amd.com/us/certified/...s/listing.aspx

Probably shouldn't be a concern at all.

Jeffrey Peterson said:Come on, man, give me a break...

Nice one, telling him those Asus Deluxe boards "aren't all that" 🤣

it’s been a total workhorse for me so far😁

I’m probably leaning toward the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650, though if I end up having a bit of extra cash lying around once I actually sit down to budget this thing out... maybe I'll go bigger
http://www.amazon.com/graphics-card-example

Just a heads-up, this link is pretty overpriced. You could probably save a good 150 bucks $67 if you shop around elsewhere:
http://www.nabava.net/trazilica.php?tp=0&q=hd7770

Jeffrey Peterson said:Give me a break, seriously...

Then explain why my take is wrong. You didn't actually ask for my reasoning; you're just talking just to hear yourself talk. Personally, I'm not a fan of certain specs on this board. But since you seem to have all the answers, why don't you tackle the big question: WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN A MOTHERBOARD? I've seen plenty of vague questions about it, but I haven't seen a single concrete answer yet.

brightviper13 said:Then explain why you think I'm wrong. You didn't actually ask for my reasoning, you just started talking nonsense. Personally, I'm not a fan of some of the specs on this board. But hey, if you're such an expert, why don't you answer the big question: WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN A MOTHERBOARD? I've seen people asking about it everywhere, but nobody ever gives a straight answer.

For example? It came out around 2006 but supports processors from 2012, has great chipset support, an 8-phase voltage regulator, and even throws in Wi-Fi as a little bonus. The only thing I read was that it was super picky with certain RAM sticks—like, my neighbor specifically couldn't get Crucial Ballistix to work. My neighbor actually has one in his rig right now with an Athlon X2 4400 and an 8600GT, basically the way it was originally sold, and he's had it for four solid years without a single issue, including the rest of the build 🤷. Honestly, it surprises me, because there's a cheap generic 400W power supply inside 🙄

brightviper13 said:Then maybe explain why my take is wrong. You didn't actually ask for my reasoning, you're just talking in circles. Personally, I'm not a fan of certain specs on this board, but if you're such an expert, why don't you answer the big question: WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN A MOTHERBOARD? I've seen plenty of people asking about it, but I haven't seen a single straight answer yet.

Which specs specifically are you not liking?

brightviper13 said:Then go ahead and explain why my opinion is wrong. You didn't actually ask me for my reasoning; you’re just talking just to hear yourself speak. Personally, I'm not a fan of certain specs on this board. Since you clearly know so much, why don't you answer the big question: WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERS IN A MOTHERBOARD? I've seen plenty of people asking about it, but I haven't seen a single solid answer yet.

Just trolling at this point.

🙂

Alexander Moore67 said:Just trolling at this point.

🤦 back to this discussion 😬

The motherboard is old, but honestly, it's solid and supports AM3 processors, so that's that.

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to get some input on these 7850 cards:

The Sapphire Radeon HD7850 1GB vs. the MSI Radeon HD7850 OC 1GB

Look, raw core speed isn't really my main concern—I can tweak that in a few clicks if I have to. What I actually care about is the build quality, how quiet the fans are, and what kind of overclocking headroom we're talking about here.

Also, if anyone has hands-on experience, which of these motherboards is the better bet?

The Asus P8B75-M LX or the MSI B75MA-P45

Again, it comes down to quality. I’m not planning on pushing the CPU to the limit, but I noticed MSI offers a 3-year warranty on their stuff—does that actually mean they're built better, or is it just marketing?

Wait, I think I missed something... where did everyone go? Is it just me, or did this whole thread just dry up overnight? I was actually looking forward to seeing what people thought about that build, but I guess I'm just talking to myself now. Maybe I should have checked back sooner, though, who knows. Anyway, if anyone's still lurking around here, hit me up. I've got a few more thoughts on those components, if you're interested. Or maybe not. Whatever. kaže:
Just a heads-up, though—that link looks pretty pricey. You might actually save like, what, $150 or something if you look elsewhere... I guess.$67 If you end up grabbing it somewhere else...
I was just poking around online, trying to track down some parts, specifically looking for an HD7770... I guess I ended up digging through this search results page. It’s kind of a mess, honestly. Just a bunch of listings floating around. Maybe there's something useful in there if you dig deep enough, but man, it's a bit overwhelming when you're just looking for one specific thing. I might spend way too much time clicking through these links, probably. Anyway, just thought I'd share what I found while I was falling down this rabbit hole.

Thanks!

Anyway, I basically handle everything PC-related as a side hustle. Or, well, it’s more like my main thing outside of work... I guess you could say I'm pretty much the go-to guy for all things hardware and builds. Maybe? Just a little bit of everything, really.

Guys, seriously, please... stop fighting over my motherboard. 😍

Jeffrey Richardson4 said:Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some input on these 7850 cards:

AMD Radeon HD7850 1GB vs. MSI Radeon HD7850 OC 1GB

Core speed isn't my main concern—that's an easy fix with a few clicks. I care more about build quality, how quiet the fans are, and the overclocking headroom.

Also, if anyone has experience with these motherboards, which one is better:

Asus P8B75-M LX or MSI B75MA-P45

Build quality matters here too. I'm not planning on heavy overclocking, but I noticed MSI offers a 3-year warranty on their stuff. Does that actually mean they're built better?

Go with the one that has the longer warranty. In this case, that's the MSI with the 3 years.😁

Hey guys, here's what I'm running: AMD Athlon II X4 640, ASRock 870 Extreme 3 R2, an ATI Radeon HD 5770, and 4 GB of RAM... I've got about $400 burning a hole in my pocket, so maybe someone could suggest a decent GPU for gaming?😁 Thanks a ton.

Carol Moore92 said:Hey guys, here's my current setup: Intel Core i3-2100, ASUS Prime B85-E, ATI Radeon HD 5770, 4 GB of RAM... I've got about $40 bucks to spend, so if anyone could recommend a GPU for gaming, that would be awesome.😁 Thanks a ton.

Oh, forgot to mention I'm running on a 500W power supply😁

And what kind of 500w power supply are we talking about? There's a huge difference between a $50 "500w" label and an actual unit that actually puts out 500w.

fadedorca66 said:But what kind of 500w PSU? There’s a huge difference between some cheap $50 "500w" junk and an actual power supply that actually delivers 500w.

Ugh, I don't know, I don't have it right in front of me to check... can you guys just suggest a GPU for under $2500? Thx

a) if your power supply is total junk, there's no way you're running a $833 card with that
b) honestly, no GPU at that price point is worth it because your processor is just going to bottleneck 🙂

I’m definitely jumping on board with this request, specifically looking for suggestions regarding graphics cards up to $833 (though in my case, I really need as much Video RAM as possible to handle all those heavy textures in Autodesk Maya), but I also want to dive into why some of these options are just total garbage, how bit depth actually matters, and the whole Intel vs Nvidia debate...

Thanks