GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Lawrence Wright3 said:Can anyone help me out??
I'm thinking about picking up this GPU, but I'm not sure if my current
power supply can actually handle the
setup
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM: 3GB
Old card: some old GeForce 6 series
PSU: a generic 460W unit
Thinking about buying this one

Oh, and here's the motherboard http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.as...ivedual-esata2

It should work fine since that card isn't exactly a power hog.

And one more thing, does this card need its own power connector? If it does, is it actually mandatory to plug it in...

Looks like it does based on the photo, so if it's there, you probably should plug it in

Do you think the GTX 550 will work here?
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo
PSU: Linkworld 460W

It's my only option from what's available... there's nothing better than an HD 6850 or an HD 6450 left...

I mean, it'd probably run... but the question is how long 🙂
Honestly, I'd just swap out that power supply so you don't have to worry about it.

Hey smarty, I was browsing some graphics cards on Craigslist and these three caught my eye. Maybe you could tell me if they're decent enough? I really want to run CoD4 at full HD. Thanks.

🙂

Forget about the 6450 or the GT240; those are bottom-of-the-barrel cards. A 9600 GSO is decent enough (I actually run one myself), but I'd probably aim for something a bit more powerful if I were you.

fadedorca66 said:Forget about the 6450 or the GT 240; those are bottom-tier cards. A 9600 GSO is decent enough—I actually own one myself—but I’d probably aim for something more powerful.

Thanks for the reply, fadedorca66. I took a closer look at some graphics benchmarks. What do you think about this Palit Sonic Premium? Tom's Hardware I honestly think it looks great compared to my old ATI Radeon HD 4350 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/graph...350/benchmarks

Anyway, here are my full system specs for context:

-Intel Pentium E6500 2.93GHz
-Motherboard: Gigabyte G31M-ES2L, PCI Express x16
-4GB DDR2 RAM
-ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB DDR2 1198MHz
-ATX Power Supply: 350W

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🤷

Look, that card is an absolute beast, but man, it’s pricey. 😁

Before you even think about swapping out your GPU, I'd definitely suggest upgrading your power supply first.

fadedorca66 said:Look, that card is a beast, but man, it isn't cheap.😁

Before you even think about upgrading that GPU, I'd suggest swapping out your power supply first.

I figured I’d need a new PSU since my current one is absolute garbage. It's not like I'm broke right now, but what wattage should I actually be looking at? I have a 450W unit currently; I guess that might be enough, maybe? 😁

Also, how much can I probably get for my old ATI card?🙂

What brand is the PSU?

I mean, even 400W would probably cut it for your build, assuming it isn't total junk.

You could probably snag some $33 for your own setup.

fadedorca66 said:What brand is the power supply?

I guess a 400W power supply might actually be enough for your setup, provided it’s high quality. Maybe.

I guess you might be able to get some sort of profit from it. Maybe. $33.

Thanks for the help, man.🙂

I have the power supply. 😁

I ordered the GPU. I'll let you know how it performs once I get the results. 😉

I guess I'll just sell this old card for a hundred bucks. Maybe.$50 And happy. 😁

No worries 😉

What brand is that PSU? Just be careful it isn't some cheap junk that might fry all your components when you plug it into a hungry new GPU.

fadedorca66 said:Don't mention it. 😉

What brand is that power supply? I guess you should be careful that it isn't some cheap junk that might fry all your components once you plug it into a hungry new GPU.

I wasn't around to check, but looking at it now, it just says Model: LPK2-30 400W on the label 🙂

Jonathan Sanchez2 said:I wasn't around earlier. I just checked the label and it says Model: LPK2-30 400W. 🙂

I didn't bother searching online before, but I just looked it up. It's a Link World brand. 🤷

Jonathan Sanchez2 said:I didn't even bother to Google it just now, but I took a look and the brand is Link World. 🤷

If I were in your shoes, I’d grab an XFX 450W power supply and then just pick up whichever is cheaper between an Nvidia 560 or an ATI 6870. You can usually find them floating around if you don't specifically need CUDA cores.

I don't think that power supply is even any better or higher quality than yours 😬

So, I’ve got a quick question for you guys—I just pulled the trigger on an Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX 768 mb, and now I'm sitting here wondering if I actually made a smart move or just wasted my cash. How does this thing actually hold up? Specifically, I'm curious if it can actually handle Battlefield 3 ?? without totally choking.

casualfox22 said:I have a quick question. I just ordered an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB, and I was wondering if I made the right call. How does it handle games like Battlefield 3??

It came out back in 2006. That's quite a while ago. Is it still overclockable?