GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

0 points, that card is dying...
What else is in your rig and what kind of PSU are you running?

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Zero points for that GPU—it's definitely dying...
what else is in your build, and what kind of power supply are you running?

It's a Core 2 Duo at 3.33 GHz, 4GB of DDR3, and an AsRock LGA 1156 motherboard (the old board actually kicked the bucket at the exact same time as the card, so I just swapped this one in yesterday—only then did we realize the GPU was shot too). I totally forgot to check the power supply. Let me look... okay, I checked the case, and it says it's "split" into three sections (not really sure what that means, honestly), but the total comes out to 520W.

I live in an area where Best Buy is pretty much my only option, so forget about shipping—it's gotta be from there. It's just how it is, I don't have much of a choice.

Since I have some downtime, I can—and really should—do some actual digging. So, let's get down to business:

- Gainward's GT 430, 520, 610, or 620, all with 1 GB GDDR3

Can any of those actually hold their own, or are they weaker than an XFX GTS 250 with 1 GB GDDR3? Anything more expensive than $150... there's just no way, I won't buy it, so please don't bother suggesting anything pricier.

I don't know much about GPU performance, so if there's an expert here who could (maybe?) weigh in...

The GT 640 is actually going to be pretty close to what you're running—honestly, most of the stuff you listed are just pathetic compared to it. You’d be better off hunting for something used, because for $150 there's no way you're picking up anything remotely decent if you insist on buying new.

graniteharbor85 said:In terms of raw power, sure, but I wouldn't recommend them. I put them together in a few builds recently and they all ended up being sent back for warranty repairs. Plus, I've noticed a lot of VTX-ica cards getting returned lately because they act pretty weird, so I'd personally steer clear.

If it weren't for those warranty issues, they'd be great.

I've built a few systems with them myself and haven't had any complaints yet.

Benjamin King2 said:The GT 640 is actually pretty close to what you're looking for—honestly, most of those other options you listed are just pathetic by comparison. You might want to hunt around for something used, because for $150, you aren't going to find anything remotely decent if you're buying brand new.

Yeah, I actually went and looked up the processing power in GFLOPS, and man, you weren't kidding—the 640 really does blow that 250 out of the water. The others I mentioned are basically useless... honestly, I'm kind of broke right now, so I'll probably just have to take the path of least resistance and grab whatever cheapest, weakest little thing I can find for $67. Once I actually have some cash on hand, though, I'll head straight to a place like Micro Center and pick up something absolutely beastly...

I mean, I'll still look into the used market, but it's a bit of a long shot since my technician is coming over in maybe 7 or 8 days to get everything installed and tested—so I really need to have everything bought & ready to go by then.

Also, I don't quite get the logic behind why it's getting harder and harder to find a GPU that doesn't just overheat instantly. It feels like there's zero point in having a closed case anymore, unless you're obsessed with keeping the warranty valid. On this museum piece of a computer I'm typing on, I opened up the case about 9 years ago and it still cools down just fine (even though almost all the fans died except for the CPU one)—I can clean it out and it's totally chill.

Look, I think I found you a solid deal:

Thanks for all the suggestions—I'll see what I can track down. This might be a bit of a headache, honestly. I’ve been messing around with computers since the early 90s, but hey, I guess that's what happens when you don't actually study hardware professionally. A GeForce X50 or maybe an X60 would probably be just fine (heh, look at me learning something new... turns out that middle digit is clearly the one that matters, not the first one!), and if it hits around 700 GFLOPS, I think I'll be all set.

William Parker6 said:Thanks for the suggestions. I'll see what I can dig up, though this is going to be a bit of a headache. I've been messing around with PCs since the early 90s, but hey, that's what happens when you don't actually study hardware. A GeForce X50 or X60 would be totally fine (heh, look at me learning something new... obviously the median value matters more than just the first one), as long as it hits around 700 GFLOPS, we're good.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to look for something with similar specs... I think you could snag a 4850 for about $30, which puts it right in the same range as what you had before.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=4850

Try looking for the ones with DDR5.

Quote : The New Guy said:Is it normal to always get warning logs after installing drivers (even the latest ones)? Like, it says "installed successfully," but there were warnings during the process. I checked the Catalyst logs and the AMD display driver logs—everything shows as successful. So where's the catch?

Maybe it’s an issue with those certified drivers... are you running Windows 7 or Vista?

Andrew Fox74 said:It wouldn't be a bad move to look for something with similar specs... I think you could probably snag a 4850 for around $30 or so, which would be right in line with what you had before.

http://www.craigslist.com/search/image?query=4850

Maybe try looking for the ones with DDR5.

Man, thanks so much for the recommendation, but honestly—if I have to say it—so many people have warned me against picking up ATI (now AMD) and told me to stick with NVIDIA instead. Some people even gave me the advice right when I was buying my whole rig! Nuff said. I don't really know my way around Radeon cards, so maybe I'll just grab a temporary fix for now... probably a 630, I guess? As soon as I have a bit more cash, I'll put this one up on Craigslist under "lightly used, professionally serviced and warrantied" (which will definitely be the case; I'll clean it out, apply fresh thermal paste, and everything), and then swap it out for something that costs at least $150...

It's kind of frustrating, though—why is it so hard to find older generation high-end cards? Like, where on earth am I supposed to find a 260 or something similar these days???

I honestly don't get why you're even asking about ATIs (I've had them in my rigs since 2001, and aside from my very first Radeon 9800—which I tried to overclock and ended up totally bricking myself 🤷), nor does it make sense to suggest pushing one over the other in a link unless they're trying to clear out old stock, which feels pretty pointless... To me, spending about $50 on something used and actually useful is a way better investment than dropping $60 on something brand new that won't do anything for you.

I need a graphics card for a 17-inch CRT monitor, just to play stuff at 1024 x 768 resolution. Budget is around $400, $167 maybe something new from Best Buy... the CPU is some dual-core Athlon running at 2.9GHz and I've got 4GB of RAM... I want to be able to run newer games... (honestly, I'm not even sure if I'll need DX11 support)
The whole setup might run better on Windows XP, though I'm not certain if I actually need Windows 7 for this...

What would be the best move here? Looking for your recommendations

Look, just give me the specifics: what’s the exact motherboard model, how much RAM are we talking about, and which specific dual-core Athlon is actually in there? Also, what kind of power supply is running the system—is it capped at 400$167W? I need to see if you even have enough overhead for modern games.

brightviper13 said:Just list the exact motherboard, how much RAM you're running, which specific Athlon dual-core it is, and what kind of power supply you've got. Also, is that PSU capped at 400$167? We need to see if the rest of your rig can actually handle modern games.

He already covered all the essentials.
Based on the Best Buy link, it's something like this $167 🙂
http://www.bestbuy.com/?id=graphics-card-example

Robert Rodriguez2 said:He covered all the essential points.
From Best Buy, it's something like this: $167 🙂
http://www.bestbuy.com/example-graphics-card

I suppose what he said is fine, and that card is decent enough. However, I wanted to be certain before I installed a card like the one you used. He mentioned a budget of $400 for the $167, but he didn't specify the power supply. The recommendation for that specific card is a 400W unit, and I don't mean just any random power supply. If the PSU is subpar, there could be issues down the line, even if the power draw seems low. I guess I just wouldn't want to deal with 🤷 whatever happens to my PC.

Bryan Taylor6 said:(honestly, I'm not even sure if DX11 is actually necessary)
everything would probably just run fine on Windows XP—not totally certain I even need Windows 7 for this stuff...

Windows XP only supports up to DX9 anyway, so you won't be able to touch any modern games that have dropped support for DX9.

brightviper13 said:Look, what he said is fine, and that card is decent enough. But I wanted to be certain before I slapped a GPU in there like the one you used. He mentioned a budget of 400 for $167, but didn't say anything about the power supply. That card really needs a 400W unit, and I don't mean some cheap junk from a bargain bin. If we use a garbage PSU, we’re asking for trouble later. Even if it looks like it doesn't pull much, I don't want to end up with 🤷 when my PC dies on me.

this card isn't exactly a power hog🙂

Robert Rodriguez2 said:this GPU isn't exactly a power hog🙂

That’s what I thought too. I assumed my components were low-draw enough to be safe, right up until my cheap power supply decided to quit on me.
brightviper13 makes a fair point. I’m running the exact same card, though he’s using Athlon chips—didn't specify which ones—but they pull about the same as my current CPU. I just got lucky that nothing else fried along with it.

I couldn't find a better thread for this, so here goes...
I've been wondering lately—it feels like almost every new Intel processor comes with integrated graphics built right in. I get the logic behind it; I assume it’s a huge plus for laptops that aren't meant for heavy lifting, but it seems like nearly every CPU has it now. My impression is that anyone actually building a rig for anything serious is just going to slap a dedicated graphics card in there anyway. If anyone here actually knows the "why" behind this or has a deeper understanding of the tech, please jump in. How much does having that integrated chip actually affect the price of the CPU? And honestly, how good are these integrated cards? Like, what's the absolute ceiling for performance when you're relying on them? Also, how much of a load does it put on the processor during use? I'm assuming the CPU basically steps in to act as the GPU in these cases, right? One more thing: if I end up buying a processor with integrated graphics but then I also buy a separate, dedicated graphics card and plug them both in, is there a part of the processor just sitting there doing nothing? Is that silicon wasted, or is it still being utilized for other CPU tasks? If any of this sounds like nonsense, feel free to set me straight. I'm planning on putting a build together very soon, and this whole integrated graphics thing is really bugging me. 😁

Benjamin King2 said:Windows XP only supports DX9 anyway, so you won't be able to run any modern games that require newer versions...

Alright, I'm moving to Windows 7