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GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Started by Sarah Turner98 · · 👁 53 views · 1K replies

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Participants Sarah Turner98Sandra Garcia5Jacob Wilson76James Castillo8Drew Mendoza3crimsonstag84neonmoose15Roger Phillips82Alexander Moore67Casey Long2Paul Wright7James Fisher11Henry Wood92boldcanyon14Patrick Garcia4stormywolf39Sean Rivera4dustyskipper77Amy Vaughn12Frank Adams26Kevin Kim6northerncyclist32Roger Booth86Sam Hayes14 …
Alexander Moore67 Alexander Moore67 Active Member
137 messages
joined Jun 2013
#761 ·
Jamie Brown said:So, anyone else picking up something new?
Jamie Brown Jamie Brown Newcomer
7 messages
joined Oct 2011
#762 ·
darkowl72 said:You can occasionally find an HD 5770 that’s only a few months old with a full 2-year warranty at local marketplaces for around that price point. If you prefer buying directly from a retail store, you might have to settle for something a bit less powerful, like an HD 5670. Generally speaking, when you're checking price lists, aim for 512MB to 1GB of memory—nothing more—and make sure it uses GDDR5 memory.

Regarding the PCI-E Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6570, 1GB DDR3, DVI, HDMI, D-SUB for the configuration mentioned above: would that be a better choice than this 512MB HD 5670 with DDR5?
darkowl72 darkowl72 Regular
311 messages
joined Oct 2015
#763 ·
Heh... just because you see a higher number or a newer series doesn't mean it's actually faster. It might just be built to be more "eco-friendly": http://www.hwcompare.com/10435/radeo...-6570-oem-1gb/
Jamie Brown Jamie Brown Newcomer
7 messages
joined Oct 2011
#764 ·
darkowl72 said:Heh... just because you have a higher number or a newer series doesn't necessarily mean it's faster. Sometimes they're just designed to be more "eco-friendly": http://www.hwcompare.com/10435/radeo...-6570-oem-1gb/

So we'll likely see an HD 5670 512MB DDR5 eventually. I was mainly wondering if this specific one would be faster based on the memory specs:
stormytiger57 stormytiger57 Newcomer
3 messages
joined Feb 2010
#765 ·
Jamie Brown said:Then there will be an HD 5670 512MB DDR5 version coming out; I was just wondering if this one would be faster because of the memory:

People on the forums suggested I pick up this specific card, so I went with the Sapphire 5670 512MB DDR5 version, and honestly, I can tell you it’s a solid little thing—it feels like a massive step up from that ATI 4200 integrated graphics I was stuck with on my old motherboard. One thing I really appreciate is how quiet it stays while it's running; you can barely hear it at all, which is nice. As far as gaming goes, I've only had a chance to test out Grand Theft Auto IV with patch 1.0.4.0 installed, running most settings on medium and a few on high, and I'm getting about 40 fps, which isn't bad. It probably would run even smoother if I could upgrade to 4 gigs of RAM, but even with just two gigs, it performs surprisingly well.
For the price you're paying, this card is more than good enough..😉
William Moore65 William Moore65 Member
11 messages
joined Jul 2011
#766 ·
Quick question—would I be able to pop an AGP 8x card into a slot that only supports up to 4x?
By the way, I'm looking at picking up an ATI Radeon HD3450 512MB AGP8x
My current setup is
Intel Celeron 2.66GHz
1024MB RAM
An MSI 400W power supply
And right now I'm running a Radeon 9600 128MB (though it's acting a bit wonky lately)
Thanks! 🙂
James Fisher11 James Fisher11 Newcomer
9 messages
joined Apr 2011
#767 ·
Sure, you can do that, but don't expect to tap into the card's full potential. It’ll definitely be more powerful than your old one, though.
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#768 ·
You can, though it might run a bit slower because of the limited bandwidth 🙂

But I’m not sure if it’s actually worth dropping $133 on that card when the whole setup isn't worth much to begin with 😁 I'd probably just grab something used off eBay for $33 instead 😉

@James Fisher11/">@@James Fisher11 😂

I guess we basically said the exact same thing at the same time 😵
James Fisher11 James Fisher11 Newcomer
9 messages
joined Apr 2011
#769 ·
What’s funny about it?
William Moore65 William Moore65 Member
11 messages
joined Jul 2011
#770 ·
So I was scrolling through Reddit and stumbled upon this chart for $33 xD honestly, I don't even care if it runs a bit slower—as long as it’s more accurate than this current mess 😁
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#771 ·
William Moore65 said:Honestly, I just scoured Newegg and found a card for $33 lol. I don't care if it runs a little slower, as long as it's better than what I have and actually works properly. 😁

In that case, just grab 😁
James Fisher11 James Fisher11 Newcomer
9 messages
joined Apr 2011
#772 ·
Aha, I’m just sitting here waiting to see what kind of response you pull. Once you do, I might just have to lose my cool and start cursing you out for laughing at me. 🤣
Emily Walker2 Emily Walker2 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Jan 2015
#773 ·
Hey everyone, I’ve run into a bit of a situation... I’ve had my Dell Inspiron for about two years now, but the catch is that I don't actually have a dedicated graphics card—everything is just running off the motherboard. Lately, I’ve been dying to play some games, and honestly, it’s kind of killing me that I can't play anything unless I crank the settings down to the absolute lowest profile. Since I’m pretty clueless when it comes to all the specific computer components and how they work together, could someone please point me in the right direction? What details should I be giving people to get help, and what exactly should I be looking to buy? Thanks so much! 😉 😛
Henry Morales32 Henry Morales32 Newcomer
5 messages
joined Jul 2014
#774 ·
I guess you'll need a motherboard with integrated graphics that also has a PCI 16
slot for an actual video card.
Then you just disable the onboard stuff in the BIOS and let the external card handle everything.
It really just comes down to how much you want to drop and if you're a gamer looking for max performance at a specific resolution. Basically, you get what you pay for. You can find cards ranging from $30 to $400.
James Fisher11 James Fisher11 Newcomer
9 messages
joined Apr 2011
#775 ·
What kind of motherboard are you running? What’s the CPU? And for heaven's sake, tell me what power supply you've got in there—I need the specific brand and the wattage. You'll have to actually open the case and look, won't you? Also, how much cash are we actually working with here?
Arthur Thomas Arthur Thomas Member
14 messages
joined Nov 2010
#776 ·
I've been browsing Newegg lately, and it looks like the NVIDIA GTX 460 is basically impossible to find right now—or if you do find one, the price tag is just insane compared to everything else.

Does this mean shipments have dried up completely? I'm wondering if I should just hold out for prices on the NVIDIA GTX 560 to drop by the end of the year, or if I'm stuck settling for an NVIDIA GTS 450 or even the NVIDIA GTX 550 (heaven forbid I end up with something from Bill Gates). Does anyone happen to have any actual insight on this?
Benjamin King2 Benjamin King2 Active Member
138 messages
joined Apr 2007
#777 ·
Look, the NVIDIA GTX 550 actually costs more than the 460—which is just ridiculous because it performs worse—so why even bother? And honestly, don't trust those random marketplace listings you find online; 90% of the time, the info on those sites is just straight-up wrong.
Robert Rodriguez2 Robert Rodriguez2 Regular
353 messages
joined Jul 2015
#778 ·
Arthur Thomas said:I'm checking Best Buy and it looks like there's basically a shortage of GTX460 cards (or they're priced insanely high compared to everything else).

Does this mean shipments have dried up? Should I expect prices on the NVIDIA GTX 560 to drop by the end of the year, or am I stuck buying an NVIDIA GTS 450 or a crappy NVIDIA GTX 550 (or heaven forbid, an ATI)? Anyone got the real scoop?

http://www.bestbuy.com/details...-1gb-ddr5.aspx
Seems like a fair price, right? 😛
Arthur Thomas Arthur Thomas Member
14 messages
joined Nov 2010
#779 ·
Benjamin King2 said:The NVIDIA GTX 550 actually costs more than the 460, and honestly, it performs worse. You should probably just check the actual prices on retailer websites; those local classified sites are wrong about ninety percent of the time.

Well, that's exactly why I used the word "unfortunately." But hey, we'll see how things play out in two or three months. If they don't show up, I guess I'll just have to settle for an NVIDIA GTS 450.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:http://www.bestbuy.com/details...-1gb-ddr5.aspx
I think this price is pretty reasonable, right? 😛

I'm going to wait and see if any other shops get a new shipment in over the next $333 weeks or so. Who knows, maybe prices will drop a bit by Božić.
hollowwalker13 hollowwalker13 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Oct 2011
#780 ·
So, I’m looking for some advice. Can anyone recommend a used GPU for under $167 or maybe something new if I can stay under $217? I stumbled upon an HD 4870 for $117 and an XFX 4870 1GB for $150. Personally, that XFX one caught my eye, but I'm still on the fence. If you have any other suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.

My current setup:
CPU: Intel Core 2 duo E6400
Motherboard: Asus P5LD2-SE

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