GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Yeah ☕

But if you ask me, this one actually makes more sense for your money:

Thanks so much for the recommendation. I'll start scouring the online classifieds and just grab the first decent deal I can find. 👍

Try to scrape together enough cash for that 4890; the price is a steal, and that card will absolutely crush anything you throw at it at this resolution. 🙂

Hey, so I'm looking for the cheapest possible GPU to lock my Call of Duty 2 at either fps 125 or 250—if anyone could give me both options, that'd be great.

So, I'm running an Intel Celeron 2.6 GHz—and yeah, I've only got about 768 MB of RAM or something like that. 🙂

The processor is pretty weak and there's just too little RAM to actually make use of any decent GPU... I guess what would you recommend?

A few more things probably need to change here...

So, roughly how much would I need to drop in to hit a 125 lock? 🙂 I mean, if I just crank everything down to low settings.

Oh, and if you happen to know, what kind of fps 125 could I actually expect out of this laptop?
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Hard Drive: 319 GB
Video Card: Mobile Intel ( R ) 4 Series express chipset Family

Mark Thomas36 said:So, roughly how much would I need to spend to hit a 125 fps lock? 🙂 I mean, if everything is set to low settings.

Oh, and maybe you could guess what kind of fps I might get on this laptop?
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8400 @ 2.26GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.3GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Hard Drive: 319 GB
Video Card: Mobile Intel ( R ) 4 Series express chipset Family

Everything looks fine with the laptop except for the most important part for gaming—the GPU.😬

On low settings, he might just be able to hit fps 125, I guess. What kind of GPU, motherboard, and power supply are you running now?

Here is an example of a basically brand-new build, excluding the case and the HDD:

1 x Asrock M3A UCC - AMD 480 x CrossFire, AMD SB600, ATX, FSB 1000
1 x AMD Athlon ii X2 255, socket AM3, BOX , 2MB cache, 65W
1 x DDR3 2048MB ( 2GB ) Kingmax, 1333MHz, CL9, FLFE85F-B8EE9
1 x Sapphire HD 5670, 512MB GDDR5 128bit, DL-DVI-I+HDMI+DP,PCIX 16x
1 x Chicony HPD4802RWR2, ATX 2.2, 12cm fan, 430W

$522

crimsonstag84 said:Everything about this laptop is fine—except for the one part that actually matters for gaming: the GPU. 😬

Maybe you could hit 125 fps on low settings—but what kind of GPU, motherboard, and PSU are we actually talking about here?

This build is basically entirely new—except for the case and the HDD.

Asrock M3A UCC — features AMD 480 x CrossFire, an AMD SB600 chipset, standard ATX form factor, and a 1000 FSB.
Just one AMD Athlon ii X2 255—AM3 socket, boxed, 2MB cache, 65W. That's it.
1 x DDR3 2GB Kingmax stick, 1333MHz, CL9, FLFE85F-B8EE9
1 x Sapphire HD 5670, 512MB GDDR5 128bit, DL-DVI-I+HDMI+DP, PCIX 16x
One Chicony HPD4802RWR2 power supply—ATX 2.2, 12cm fan, 430W.

$522

Thanks. 🙂

Look, I know the graphics are pretty rough—but hey, might as well ask. 🙂

I was getting fps 125, but now I'm stuck at 20.

Oh, I almost forgot to ask—with these specs, am I looking at 125 fps?

Mark Thomas36 said:Thanks 🙂

I know my graphics card is pretty weak, but I figured it was worth asking 🙂

I used to get fps 125, but now it's dropped down to 20.

Oh, I forgot to ask—can I actually hit 125 fps with these specs?

Yeah, it should work without any issues 😉

The store is Lockheed Martin in New York...

So, I am currently running an Intel Core 2 Extreme E6750 that I have actually managed to overclock to 3.00 GHz, paired with 4 GB of DDR2 RAM and an AMD Radeon HD 3850... I am looking to step up my hardware a bit by upgrading the graphics card, with a budget of roughly $75... My dilemma is whether it would be more prudent to pick up another card, perhaps a 4850, and attempt to run them in CrossFire, or if I should simply focus my resources on purchasing a single, more capable unit... I would truly appreciate any suggestions or guidance you might be able to offer me...

Look, you can't just mash together different series of cards like that—it's a bad idea. You're better off grabbing something like this instead:

So, I was wondering how you can actually tell which Radeon 6950 cards are capable of being flashed over to a 6970... I've been doing some digging online, but I'm still a bit unsure. Is it true that the newer versions that won't let you flash them are the ones lacking a dual BIOS switch?

Benjamin King2 said:Mixing different card series isn't really a good idea. I guess it'd be better to just grab something like this instead:

It probably isn't worth the money for him; it doesn't seem much stronger than an AMD Radeon HD 3850 anyway. 🤷

If you push the clock speeds a little, you're looking at at least a 30% bump over the AMD Radeon HD 3850—not that there's much of an alternative anyway for $167. 🤷

http://www.techspot.com/review/240-a...670/page8.html

So, I was wondering—can an Nvidia GTX 460 actually handle everything currently out there at 1920x1080 on high settings?

ne

James Fisher11 said:no

And who told you that?

Don't count on Metro

I was actually referring to Metro and Crysis 2 😛

Obviously, there are two or three titles out there—either because they're poorly optimized or just massive resource hogs—that he wouldn't be able to run on high settings. But just giving him a blunt no is pointless... if nobody follows up with an explanation, he'll wonder why we suggested the Nvidia GTX 460 in the first place, only to have you call it a bad choice without providing any actual reasoning.

Metro is a different story, and as for Crysis 2—if you're actually talking about Far Cry 2, then I don't see why that wouldn't hit max settings.

Terry Reyes91, once again, that Nvidia GTX 460 priced at $350 with a 3-year warranty is unbeatable in the gaming world at this price point given its performance. The HD 6850 is slightly more powerful, but it costs about $33 more, and I'm not even sure if you can find an MSI model that offers that same 3-year warranty.

He asked if it could run everything on high settings. I told him the truth: it can't. When I said cry2, I meant Crysis 2, and now that I think about it, GTA IV too. 😛
I never said the graphics were bad, nor did I mention anything about the warranty. MSI is an excellent company, and I absolutely love their warranty service, though I don't need to use it. I have a 560 Ti TF2 myself. 😍
But look, he should just take that card and accept the reality: there are three games he won't be able to play on high details! He'll be stuck on low to medium. 🙂