GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

I’m thinking about picking up a GTX 460 from Best Buy tomorrow, but I noticed it has two 6-pin connectors. My power supply only has a single 6+2 pin, so I guess I might need an extra cable. Does that usually come in the box with the card, or should I plan on buying one separately?😁

You'll most likely get it included with the graphics card. It's a 4-pin Molex to 6-pin adapter.

Hey there, quick question for you guys

I'm rocking an Athlon 3000 with 1.2GB of RAM on an old PCIe motherboard—basically a relic—and it looks like my trusty old X600 card is finally kicking the bucket, so I'm hunting for a replacement...

It's been a minute since I was really deep in the hardware scene, so I’d love some suggestions. I don't need anything crazy fancy—just maybe something a bit more capable or something with DirectX 10 support that won't blow out my 300W power supply...

Thanks a ton! Cheers.

Are you positive it's PCI? Seems a bit odd to have PCIe paired with socket 754

If it actually is PCIe, then a GTX 460 would be a solid pick, or at least a GTX 460

So, what's the deal with PCIe? Would a GTX 460 or maybe a GTX 460 work okay for what I need? My only worry is that I might end up having to shell out for a new power supply to run them...

Then again, who knows, maybe upgrading the PSU is actually a solid move anyway...

I'd probably go with the Radeon HD 5770.
I'm not sure if there’s actually a meaningful difference between the brands here. Is one of these supposed to be better, higher quality, or more reliable than the rest? I could use some advice. There is a slight price gap—maybe around 10%—but honestly, I wouldn't sweat that much.

On paper, they all look identical: 1 GB GDDR5, HDMI, HDMI, and 2 x DVI.

The only thing that caught my eye is the cooler design. Most of them seem to use those closed-off, generic-looking heatsinks, but a couple have a different open-style cooler with a fan.

So, which one of these should I grab?

PowerColor, HIS, Sapphire (I had a 4850 once and it was fine), or MSI?

Honestly, at that particular price point, I really wouldn't suggest going with the Radeon HD 5770... the performance gap just isn't worth it when you consider the marginal differences in cooling solutions and the extra little bells and whistles that come with the other card's build quality.

wiredmarlin5 said:At that price point, I wouldn't suggest getting the Radeon HD 5770. The differences aren't massive—just the usual stuff like cooler design and extra card features.

First, let me correct myself:
I used a generic term when I really meant reference design. That's the right way to say it.
Also, XFX should definitely be on that list of manufacturers.

What's your angle here, wiredmarlin5?
I assume you're suggesting a different model.

The 4850 is already gone (got it by accident at a steal) and the cash is sitting right here ready to go.

Whatever. A tiny speed boost isn't my top priority. If the money is roughly the same, I'd rather grab something with newer tech. By pure coincidence, I tend to swap parts out pretty often (even though I keep telling myself, "Okay, this is the time I finally settle down"). In that case, it'll be easier to flip something that's basically brand new in a year or two.

If anyone has actual suggestions, please lay them on me.

When we start talking about raw performance, the Radeon HD 5770 doesn't really bring much to the table, honestly... it’s a bit slower than the old HD 4870 or even the GTX 260 cards. It might be just a tad sluggish, but once you start cranking up the Anti-Aliasing, Anisotropic Filtering, and HDR settings, that gap actually starts to widen quite a bit...

If you're looking for the absolute best version of the HD 5770, I'd say the Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor-x with that specialized cooler is the way to go, especially since I heard it's being stocked at Best Buy for $397... You can actually find some solid testing on the PC Gamer forums for that exact model, and it looks pretty decent...

Personally, I wouldn't go so far as to call this some revolutionary leap in technology, because if we look at the reality of the situation, the card isn't offering anything truly groundbreaking aside from theoretical DX11 support and moving to a 40nm process...

If it were my money, I’d probably just grab a GTX 260, even though prices have suddenly spiked by about 80-$33 just because the supply is so incredibly low right now... There was an amazing deal on an MSI card that came with a full 3-year warranty, though I'm still a little unsure about what kind of cooling solution they used on it... I suppose I should check with Micro Center to see which specific versions they're bringing into the stores...

wiredmarlin5 said:When you look at the raw performance, the Radeon HD 5770 doesn't really bring much to the table. It’s trailing behind the HD 4870/90 and the GTX 260. Not by a massive margin, sure, but it's there. That gap starts to feel a lot wider once you actually start pushing things like AA, Anisotropic Filtering, and HDR.

If you’re looking for the best Radeon HD 5770 out there, you can't beat the Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor-x. Word on the street is that the cooling on that thing is actually decent. $397 Check out Gor Inf. You can find the test results for that exact card over on the PCE portal—it’s actually pretty decent.

I wouldn't go so far as to call this "new technology." If you look at the facts, there isn't anything truly groundbreaking here—it’s basically just the same old thing wrapped up in some imaginary DX11 support and a 40nm process.

If I had to pick, I'd go with the GTX 260, even though prices have jumped by about $80 lately.$33 Supply is pretty thin right now. That MSI card was a solid deal since it came with a three-year warranty, but I'm still in the dark about which cooler they actually pack in with it. Might be worth checking with Best Buy to see exactly which versions they’re bringing in.

I did a bit more digging around—checked out PCE again and even took a serious look at Nvidia, which wasn't even on my radar before. After weighing everything up, the decision is pretty much made.
I'm starting from an old HD 4850 and a Dell 1920 x1200 monitor. My target was originally supposed to be a Radeon HD 5770.

The scaling on these HD 5xxx cards actually caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting results this solid, to be honest. That’s a massive win in my book.
The HD 4870—and especially the 4890—are definitely faster, but you’re paying a hefty premium for that extra speed.
It’s similar to the GTX 260, but honestly, I think it's overpriced for what you actually get. Even Tom's Hardware didn't bother putting it on their "best value" lists. Plus, it's hitting EOL pretty soon, which is a dealbreaker for me.

The Radeon HD 5770 is faster, pulls less power, runs cooler, and stays quieter than my old 4850. In every single category, I'm seeing about a 20-25% jump. It also brings along some new features that'll probably sit idle most of the time, but hey, you never know.

The HD 5850 or the GTX 275 would be massive upgrades, sure. But both are way out of my price range, and frankly, that's a category I have zero interest in touching. Besides, I don't actually need them.

So, the Sapphire HD 5770 Vapor-x would be my final pick.

Thanks for always keeping me in the loop with the useful info.
Look, I’m no expert, and I’m certainly not some clueless amateur. That’s exactly why I know just how much grit, time, and genuine effort goes into every single sentence written here. 👍

At the end of the day, the most important thing is just making sure you're happy with what you've got... 🙂

My apologies to the moderator, I completely missed this, sorry. 🙂

Alright, my current setup includes an Nvidia 7600 with 256MB of VRAM on an MSI K9N Ultra motherboard.

The CPU is a Ryzen 5 3600, 3 gigs. Just so you have a rough idea of the hardware I'm working with.

Kyle Sanchez4 pointed me toward this http://www.nabava.net/trazilica.php?q=hd+4670&x=0&y=0

Switching from Nvidia over to ATI? I suppose there won't be any major compatibility issues between the specific components, right?

Just wipe the old drivers and install the new ones.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

That shouldn't be an issue; I'll just perform a fresh install of Windows 7 to wipe everything clean... 😉

Regarding those graphics cards, I notice there are several different models available, mostly in the 10-20-$10 range. Does it really matter which one I pick? Looking at Protsis, the closest options seem to be
.

edit: actually, Discount is closer to me
.
http://www.diskont24.com/product.php...0&cat=0&page=1

Is this the one 🙂?

Alright, here's the issue. It looks like Best Buy requires you to place an order online first. I guess there might be one location where I could just walk in and grab a 🙂 directly?

That’s the thing... you have to order from the discount store a day in advance because I think they ship everything directly from the importer

Yes, I saw it. It doesn't sit right with me, I suppose.

They’re offering a download, but I doubt it’s actually the same card; in fact, I'm fairly certain it isn't.😁 😕

The aesthetics aren't quite the same... but Sapphire is still a solid choice. Honestly, any brand will do fine as long as it's an HD4670.

What is the specific difference here, and which one is actually better 😁? I suppose I'll have to deal with it eventually; I've already accepted that I'll need to order online through Discount first, so hopefully everything works out as planned.

http://www.analogbit.com/index.php/Pc...ypage.tpl.html

I see there's an extra GB available here; the price difference seems negligible, so I suppose it's probably the better choice since it belongs to the same 😕 🙂
series.
I'm hoping for an answer by tomorrow morning, so perhaps I can just give them a call and get everything sorted out 🙂