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GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Started by Olivia Gonzalez3 · · 👁 45 views · 1.7K replies

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Participants Olivia Gonzalez3James Morris4nimbletrucker10Kyle Sanchez4Zachary Wilson30wiredmarlin5quietcyclist89Thomas Martin4coppercanyon6rustyangler7swiftfalcon14shadowjackal6Christian Mendoza60Roger Chavez91Karen Garcia5John James3Edward Morris40Eric Patel31urbandriver452Rachel Fox4swiftridge40Samuel Mitchell3Gerald Young8Sandra Garcia5 …
Sarah Turner98 Sarah Turner98 Member
15 messages
joined Jul 2010
#1401 ·
crimsonstag84 said:It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Everything's gonna blow up the second you try to run anything demanding. An Intel Core i7 870 and a GTX 460? They're way too slow to even realize they're failing. ☕

😂

it'll become a national security threat🤣
Michael Richardson69 Michael Richardson69 Member
15 messages
joined Jan 2011
#1402 ·
How on earth do you think a Core i7 and a GTX 460 wouldn't work together?
James Castillo8 James Castillo8 Member
12 messages
joined Dec 2013
#1403 ·
A 5770 would run a GT4, sure—but not at full settings. Generally speaking, more VRAM means more detail, but even then, it’s not going to be buttery smooth...
For instance, if you set your resolution to something like 1280x1024 and crank textures to high, once the game eats up 550MB of that card, you've pretty much hit the wall. You won't have any wiggle room left...
Michael Richardson69 Michael Richardson69 Member
15 messages
joined Jan 2011
#1404 ·
Honestly, I wouldn't push her to max settings... I don't even play games on High myself—I usually stick to Medium just to catch some details without cranking the resolution too high. If you kept everything on Medium, say, it would have run perfectly fine without any stuttering... plus, even with a GTX 460 if it's got 1GB of VRAM, it should still hold its own.
James Castillo8 James Castillo8 Member
12 messages
joined Dec 2013
#1405 ·
Michael Richardson69 said:I wouldn't push her to the limit... I don't even run games on high settings—maybe some medium details if needed—but I wouldn't crank the resolution that high either... basically, if you stick to medium instead of high, it'd run fine without any stuttering... and having that GTX 460 with 1GB of VRAM would still get the job done

If I'm not running on high, I'm getting maybe 25-30fps on medium at 1280x1024... though that GTX 460 is easily three times better than my old HD 3870.
Michael Richardson69 Michael Richardson69 Member
15 messages
joined Jan 2011
#1406 ·
So, I could probably run things on a GTX 460 at medium settings without any major stuttering—smooth sailing, basically. But how can I be sure the HD 6870 actually blows all those others out of the water? I've got another offer on the table too...
fadedcrane36 fadedcrane36 Member
17 messages
joined May 2011
#1407 ·
AMD Athlon 64x2 dual core processor 5000+ 2.6 GHz

RAM: 2GB
Current GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 1GB

I’m looking for some upgrade recommendations. Honestly, don't worry about the price tag right now—just throw out what you think would work and we'll go from there. Thanks.😁
stormywolf39 stormywolf39 Member
17 messages
joined Dec 2008
#1408 ·
gts 450
Alexander Moore67 Alexander Moore67 Active Member
137 messages
joined Jun 2013
#1409 ·
fadedcrane36 said:AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.6 GHz

RAM: 2GB
Current Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 1GB

I'm looking for some recommendations—don't worry about the price tag, just give me your best suggestions so I can decide. Thanks.😁

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing
crimsonstag84 crimsonstag84 Regular
518 messages
joined Jun 2010
#1410 ·
Alexander Moore67 said:http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing

I don't know, this doesn't seem like much of a deal. Even if the price looks decent, buying a three-generation-old GPU just seems kind of pointless...

http://www.amazon.com/s?k=GTS+450
Alexander Moore67 Alexander Moore67 Active Member
137 messages
joined Jun 2013
#1411 ·
crimsonstag84 said:It’s not really worth it. Even if the price looks decent, buying a new card just to pair it with an old 3rd gen setup doesn't make any sense...

http://www.google.com/search?q=GTS+450

A GTS 450 paired with an Ironman is actually a perfect match.🤣
brisksailor3 brisksailor3 Member
32 messages
joined Jun 2006
#1412 ·
I'm looking for some advice here. My aunt's kids are using a PC with this motherboard: http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=G31M-GS

Does anyone have a recommendation for a decent graphics card that costs around $333?
Casey Long2 Casey Long2 Member
14 messages
joined Feb 2010
#1413 ·
The motherboard features a standard PCI-E slot, which means any modern graphics card should physically fit without an issue. However—before we start throwing specific recommendations your way—we really need a clearer picture of what else is going on inside the case. What kind of processor are you running? How much RAM is installed? And most importantly, what’s the power supply situation? Please make sure to mention the actual manufacturer and model rather than just the wattage; knowing if it's an EVGA or a Corsair unit makes a massive difference when we're calculating overhead.
brisksailor3 brisksailor3 Member
32 messages
joined Jun 2006
#1414 ·
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I was actually planning on surprising them with a new graphics card soon, so I figured just giving them the motherboard model would be enough to narrow down my options. I guess I'll need to do a bit more digging first.
It doesn't have to be some absolute top-of-the-line powerhouse; I'm just looking for a solid recommendation.
Casey Long2 Casey Long2 Member
14 messages
joined Feb 2010
#1415 ·
I get where you're coming from, but it’s a bit tricky to give a definitive recommendation without knowing the full setup. If we're talking about an older dual-core setup—something like an E2**0, E4*00, or maybe even a Core 2 duo e6*00—combined with a budget power supply, then honestly, any extra power from a Radeon 5670 would just be sitting there idle, going to waste. However, if the power supply is solid and the processor is hovering around that 3 GHz mark, then upgrading to a GTS 450 actually starts to make some sense. 🙂
cosmiccrane333 cosmiccrane333 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Jan 2011
#1416 ·
I'm looking for some recommendations for a solid passively cooled graphics card (honestly, I don't even need it for gaming!)
Casey Long2 Casey Long2 Member
14 messages
joined Feb 2010
#1417 ·
cosmiccrane333 said:I'm looking for some recommendations for a solid passively cooled graphics card—and just to be clear, I don't actually need it for gaming or anything intensive...

What exactly are you looking to get out of it? If your main goal is just multimedia—you know, watching movies, browsing the web, maybe some light photo editing—then honestly, you don't need anything more powerful than... I've been spending some time looking back at the Sapphire hd 4550., and honestly, it’s one of those little pieces of hardware that really makes you appreciate how far we've come—though, in its day, it certainly held its own for basic tasks. It isn't exactly a powerhouse by today's standards, obviously, but there was a certain reliability to it that you just don't see as often anymore. It’s a bit like that old reliable sedan sitting in your garage; it might not win any drag races against a modern Tesla, but it gets you from point A to point B without much fuss.I guess I also have... $6.75 There’s a cheaper XFX version out there—but honestly, that one only packs DDR2 memory, which is just criminally slow...
cosmiccrane333 cosmiccrane333 Newcomer
2 messages
joined Jan 2011
#1418 ·
Casey Long2 said:Good for what? If you're just looking at multimedia, you really don't need anything more powerful than a Sapphire hd 4550. There is also an $6.75 even cheaper XFX version available, but honestly, it only uses DDR2 memory, which is criminally slow...

...I need it for multimedia, maybe some light video editing from a DV camera, and I'd like to play a game here and there (I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I don't need the latest AAA titles or maxed-out resolutions.)
Casey Long2 Casey Long2 Member
14 messages
joined Feb 2010
#1419 ·
In that case, this should be plenty for you. It’s a perfectly decent card for lighter titles—nothing too crazy—but honestly, anything more powerful than this probably wouldn't even run passively 😉
fadedcrane36 fadedcrane36 Member
17 messages
joined May 2011
#1420 ·
fadedcrane36 said:AMD Athlon(TM) 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ 2.6 GHz

RAM: 2GB
Current GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8600GT 1GB

I'm looking for some recommendations—don't worry about the price tag, just give me some options so I can make a decision. Thanks.😁

Still waiting on those suggestions. Thanks.

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