GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Heh, well, I dumped my GTX 750 for $100 😁 about three months back—pretty solid deal, really—and then ended up swapping an HD 3870 for a 250GB hard drive. So... maybe just wait a bit longer...

Haha... So, I ended up selling my old 4650 1GB card—which I picked up about eighteen months ago for $500—for $460. Some guy obsessed with MW online saw my listing, where I mentioned the card runs the game like a dream, and he snapped it up. Here’s the situation: I got $400 for it, and with another $300 on hand, I've got $800 total. Is the 5670 actually a good move? It's pretty basic and cheaper, but for my resolution of 1280x1024, 512MB should be plenty. Honestly, it's an upgrade over the 4650, so it can only go up from here. Since I managed to flip the old one so well, I'll be able to grab something twice as powerful with this cash. What do you guys think? Is the 5670 worth it for $150?

I can't exactly wait around since I don't have a single dedicated GPU right now—just this garbage integrated graphics chip... I can't even run Vice City. xD

The 5670 is great for $150, but honestly? Compared to an HD4850 or a 5770, it’s absolute garbage. 🙂

Maybe aim for something like a GTS 250 instead? Pair it with an HD4850 and a decent power supply. 🙂
The 5670 is definitely a step up from the 4650... but hey, if that's enough for you, go for it. 🙂

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=seasonic along with a used HD 4850 for maybe 400 bucks--$167 then I can finally relax...

I was actually pretty happy with my 4650... so moving up to a 5670 would be a massive jump for me. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer—I'm definitely not the type to drop that kind of cash just for the sake of it. I just want something that can handle newer titles smoothly. It doesn't need to run everything at max settings or ultra-high resolution; I just need it to work. I was thinking about picking up that higher-end Panda Dura model. Thanks for taking the time to help me out, I really appreciate it.

👍

If you ask me? Just grab an older model with better specs and call it a day...
Don't waste your cash on something brand new. Why throw money away? 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions, but I think I’m just going to grab this 5670. It gets the job done, right? Plus, it isn't breaking the bank, so I'll still have $133 left over for later... XD

Once I pick up the 5670, I won't even need to worry about a new power supply, which is a relief... From what I can tell, my current setup should be more than enough for it.

You're the only one who really knows what's best for you 🙂

I’m really liking that deal on the power supply and the Radeon HD 4850, or whatever it was... If I manage to pick up another $33 I'll let you know... sound good?

No joke...
I’m telling you, a Fortron Bluestorm paired with an Radeon HD 4850 is $250 pure bliss 🙂

And if you're living in Chicago, it's even better 😁 than I can say

Nah, it's Memphis, not 😁

Aspen... What’s your take on the 5670 versus the Radeon HD 4850?

Roger Phillips82 said:Aspen... What's your take on the 5670 versus the 4850?

Look, the 5670 has SM 5.0 and DirectX 11 support, whereas the 4850 just has DirectX 10—but honestly, for anything running on DirectX 10, that 4850 is more than enough. The 5670 might have the newer tech, but it's actually weaker, and having DirectX 11 doesn't even matter if you can't actually run those games properly... it's just not worth it. Take Dirt 2 on DirectX 10, for example:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/images/video...0/21_colin.png

In this case, the 4850 outperforms two 5670s by maybe 20-30%.

So, you either grab a used 4850 and a decent power supply like we talked about, or you go with a new 5670...🤷 personally, I'd take the 4850 and invest in a better PSU.

The only real perk of a new 5670 would be a two-year warranty, but trust me, even a used 4850 will likely last you just as long... and in a year or two, you could probably flip it for maybe $30-$117 if you pay around $50 for it now.

So, my ATI Radeon X1650 is basically acting up on me. Every time I boot up the PC, I get these weird purple and green vertical stripes instead of an actual picture. It’s super annoying! But then, if I just shut it down and restart it, it works perfectly fine again. Just weird, I guess.
The card is just a standard PCI-E 16.

I'm looking to pick up something new that can handle two monitors at once—you know, dual output capability—and I'm hoping to keep it around $40.
I'm also totally open to advice regarding the ports. Right now, I've got an LG Flatron W2242s, but it uses one of those older connections (not DVI), so I'm using a converter. Should I maybe look for a card that has both analog and DVI outputs?

My motherboard is an MSI P45-C51.

-Steve

briskjackal5 said:My ATI Radeon X1650 is starting to act up. Every time I boot the PC, I get these weird purple and green vertical stripes instead of an actual picture. If I shut it down and restart, it works fine.
The card is a standard PCI-E 16.

I'm looking for something with dual monitor support (meaning I can hook up two screens) for about 40 bucks.
Any advice on connector types? I have an LG Flatron W2242s that uses an old-school input (not DVI), so I'm using a converter. Should I just grab a card that has both analog and DVI outputs?

The motherboard is an MSI P45-C51.

-Steve

What kind of power supply are you running?

The processor, the memory—it’s all thanks to Steve.

Since there's been such a massive influx of posts regarding graphics cards lately, I've created this thread to keep things organized and ensure all useful info stays in one central location.

Please stick to these guidelines:
Are you looking for an AGP or a PCI-E card?
What does your current or upcoming build look like, and what kind of power supply are you running?
What resolution are you gaming at?
What's your budget?
Which retailers are you considering?
If you have any other specific requirements, please list them.

Any separate threads started outside of this one regarding graphics cards will be closed and removed.

Alright, so I'm running a Pentium Dual-Core E6500 at 2.93 GHz. I've got 4 GB of DDR3 RAM in there, too. My power supply is an LC8400 BTX (400W).

Is that all the info I really need to pick out a graphics card?
Back in my day, I guess you pretty much just needed to know what kind of slot was on the motherboard.😁

Also, I was wondering... why does the CPU and the RAM even matter when you're shopping for a GPU?

-Steve