GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Regarding CPU overclocking:

http://www.amazon.com/s?k=MSI+r9+380

Without overclocking:

http://www.accenture.com/catalog/computer-parts-r9-270a-cdfc/

I guess that processor won't be able to fully utilize a stronger card. Maybe put the leftover budget toward a better cooler if they don't have one, or an SSD instead. What kind of power supply and motherboard are we looking at?

That CPU is going to bottleneck any GPU better than a GTX 950—so, if you ask me, I’d suggest doing it this way:

Gigabyte GTX950 WF2 Overclocked, 2GB GDDR5

Patriot SSD Blast R560/W530, 240GB, 7mm, 2.5"

Total: $700

They’ve got a 600W power supply, which seems decent enough, though I can't quite recall the specific brand right now 😁 ...they're going to get back to me with the motherboard specs, but for now, they're running an HD 6880, so they're really curious about just how massive the performance jump will be. Honestly, my brain is a bit fried; I used to be able to identify every single graphics card on sight just by its name, but nowadays, looking at all these different models just leaves me feeling a little lost.

EDIT: They are using an SSD, and the motherboard is some mid-range model—they aren't entirely sure of the specifics either. Their plan was to build the system piece by piece, starting with a new GPU, then moving on to a fresh motherboard, and eventually upgrading the processor.

I’m voting for MSI gaming gear—it’s definitely way cooler. 🙂

A little update 🙏

A buddy of mine mentioned he's looking at a motherboard up to $333 and a processor around the $500 mark... naturally, that would be a step up from my current setup. Now the real debate begins: should he go with AMD or Intel? I have a feeling AMD might offer a bit more bang for your buck at that price point.

And once that's sorted, he’ll probably pair it with a new GPU... assuming his girlfriend doesn't give him too much trouble about the budget first. 🎉

1 x Asrock B85 ANNIVERSARY - Supports 4th Gen & 5th
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W) Box

$703 AMD

Any GPU should work fine with this setup 😛

I guess I don't quite get why they went with the 860K—which probably only lasted less than a year with that old HD 6870—instead of just jumping straight to an i5? 😬

Chris Robinson25 said:I’m voting for MSI gaming—definitely a much better cooler. 🙂

That MSI model is pricey👎 but it’s an awesome cooler, just like you said. Honestly, the pricing here in the US is such that you can grab a beefier model for just a few bucks more. For example, with the price of an MSI R7 370 gaming, you can find a GTX 950 from a different brand in the US. Or, for the price of an MSI GTX950, you could easily pick up an R9 380.
Man, my heart aches whenever I see how much GPUs cost on Amazon😁

Personally, I tend to trust MSI a bit more than Gigabyte or Asus when it comes to brands offering that 3-year warranty.

Honestly, all you really need to do is grab gpu-z, fire it up, and just click that little icon in the top right corner. It’ll automatically snap a screenshot and upload it for you, then just drop the
Links here.
I find this super handy because it shows the pixel fillrate, which I guess is basically a direct way to see how much "muscle" a card actually has...

I'm especially curious to see a screenshot of that A8 7600 AMD processor everyone keeps raving about. I want to see if it actually hits 5.8 gp/s or whatever it's supposed to be. So, if anyone out there has one, please just post it—it'll take you like two minutes tops...

I'm looking for the best graphics card under $267.
Right now I've got a Radeon HD 6450, which is basically a potato, and only 4 GB of RAM.
How much RAM would be enough to run newer games like Fallout 4 or GTA 5?

electricharbor30 said:All you really need to do is download gpu-z, fire it up, and hit that icon in the top right corner. It’ll automatically grab a screenshot and upload it, then just give you the
Links
I find this pretty handy because it shows the pixel fillrate, which I guess is a direct indicator of how much "muscle" a GPU actually has...
I’m especially curious to see a screenshot of that AMD A8 7600 processor everyone keeps raving about. I want to see if it really hits 5.8 gp/s or whatever it is. If anyone has one handy, please post it—should only take two minutes...

It isn't really a direct indicator, more of a rough estimate, and honestly, it can be pretty inaccurate, which we've probably mentioned a hundred times in other threads.

If you're going to obsess over theoretical numbers, you should probably look at:
- T_Rate, then P_Rate and MemBandwidth, since those are more tied to resolution.
- Stream Processors/Cores, TMUs, and ROPs for the same manufacturer and generation.

The integrated R7 inside an A8 7600 is basically comparable to an R7 250 DDR3, though that 64-bit bus kind of holds it back compared to a standalone R7 250 DDR3.

The strongest integrated option is roughly equal to a slightly overclocked HD 7750 DDR3, but again, that 64-bit bus is a bit of a bottleneck.

Zachary Nguyen2 said:I'm wondering what the best GPU would be for $267.
Right now I'm running a Radeon HD 6450, so it's definitely a struggle, and I only have 4GB of RAM.
How much RAM would be enough for newer games like Fallout 4 or GTA 5?

6GB is recommended, but 8GB is more than enough.

What else are you running? CPU, motherboard, power supply...

If you're buying new, an R7 360 might be the best value for $300, but if your CPU can handle it, maybe something a bit stronger—though probably used.

I've got this MSI 260, and man, this card is an absolute beast.

Zachary Nguyen2 said:I was wondering which graphics card would be the best choice for my setup... $267.
So, right now I'm rocking a Radeon HD 6450, which honestly feels like such a joke—it’s basically just a paperweight at this point—and I've only got 4 GB of RAM to work with, too.
I mean, honestly, how much RAM are we even talking about if you want to actually play stuff like Fallout 4 or GTA 5 without your whole system just giving up on life? I guess it really depends on what kind of rig you're running, but if you're looking to keep things smooth, maybe aim for at least 16GB? I don't know, 8GB feels like it's getting pretty thin these days for anything remotely modern, though I suppose you might scrape by if you aren't running too many background apps or whatever. It’s a bit of a toss-up, really.

Zachary Nguyen2, if you’re looking at what’s out there right now, you really need to grab that GT 740, but only if it comes with the DDR5 memory version because honestly, the DDR3 one is just kind of a joke... it's way too weak. If you want something even slightly more decent, I guess the AMD 250 x might be worth considering since it hits exactly 16 GB/s, though it’ll probably run maybe twenty bucks more, I think. $267 I mean, if you're just looking for the absolute cheapest option out there... I guess it depends on what you're actually trying to pull off, but honestly, most of the bottom-of-the-barrel stuff isn't even worth the headache. Maybe it works for some basic tasks, but if you're hoping to actually play anything decent, you might end up regretting it sooner rather than later. It’s kind of a gamble, I suppose.

I mean, I’m honestly thinking about just pulling the trigger and buying this thing right now, but man, looking at this setup... it's kind of a mess. I was browsing through some hardware specs online earlier, and I stumbled upon this listing for a build that honestly looks like a total headache to put together if you aren't careful. It’s one of those setups where you start looking at the components and just feel a bit overwhelmed by how much everything is tied together. I guess it might work for someone on a tight budget, maybe, but I can't help but wonder about the long-term stability of a rig like this. You know how it goes—everything seems fine on paper until you actually try to get it running and realize the parts don't play nice together. It's kind of a mess, really.

I mean, they’ve got the lowest prices around, and honestly, everyone keeps raving about this shop... I guess it’s actually legit.

Anyway, you could probably snag an R7 370 for around that price, which would basically give you double the performance compared to what you're looking at now, especially with that 33 GB/s bandwidth... I guess. $400I mean, it’s basically twice as powerful for... I guess you could say it's double the punch, maybe? $133 Honestly, if I’m looking to crank everything up to max settings and actually enjoy what I'm playing, I'd much rather just go with her, I guess.

So, I was running a Gainward GTX 650 (which is basically just a rebranded 740)... used it for pretty much everything, and man, it stayed ice cold. But then I jumped up to a standard MSI 260, not even the X version. The performance boost was huge. Honestly, the 740 isn't a bad card at all—it's a little beast. 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:It’s more of an approximation than a direct measurement. To be honest, it can be pretty inaccurate, which is something we've already pointed out a hundred times in other threads.

If you're going to obsess over all those theoretical numbers, then you might as well look at:
T_Rate, P_Rate, and MemBandwidth—those are the ones that really matter when you're looking at resolution.
The stream Processors, CUDA Cores, TMUs, and ROPs are all from the same manufacturer and belong to the same generation of graphics cards.

The integrated R7 inside an A8 7600 is basically like having an R7 250 DDR3 with a 64-bit bus. That narrow bandwidth really holds it back compared to using a dedicated R7 250 DDR3.

The best integrated graphics you can get is a slightly overclocked HD 7770/250 x, but even then, that 64-bit bus is a major bottleneck.

Go with 6GB if you can. Honestly, 8GB is more than enough.

What else are you running? What's the CPU, motherboard, and power supply?

The best value move right now would be picking up an R7 360. $300If the processor is strong enough, maybe go for something slightly better, but stick to used gear.

ATX 450 w power supply.
It's a dual-core Pentium E5700 processor.
The motherboard is an Asrock G41M-VS3.
I've got two of those basic 300 GB WD hard drives lying around.

electricharbor30 said:Zachary Nguyen2, if you're looking at what's out there now, definitely grab that GT 740 but make sure it has DDR5 memory. The DDR3 version is pretty weak. If you want something slightly better, go with the AMD 250 x. It hits 16 GB/s and it’s only about twenty bucks more. $267 The cheapest option...

I'd buy this right now. I'm picking this up. Check out this build on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00401SDV/

They have the lowest prices around. It's a highly recommended shop.

By the way, you could get an R7 370 instead. It’ll give you exactly double the power with 33 gp/s. $400It's twice as powerful. $133 Honestly, if I want to crank everything up to max settings, I’d much rather go with her.

Will it be worth it with the processor I'm running?

What power supply model are you running? 😁 Or maybe just snap a photo of the spec sticker and post it here.

You should be able to get a light overclock on the CPU (maybe up to 3.5GHz), probably even on the stock cooler. You could pair that with something like an HD 7770/250 x, which I guess is about the limit for that processor.



The GPU in the video is a bit weaker than the one in the link; the processor will feel a tiny bit more capable if you decide to overclock.

Zachary Nguyen2 said:I mean, I guess it really comes down to what you're actually trying to do with your rig, but honestly, looking at the CPU you've got running right now... I'm not totally sure if you'll even notice a difference. It’s kind of a toss-up, maybe? Like, if you're just trying to get through some basic stuff, you might be fine, but if you're thinking about heavy lifting, I'd probably hold off. It's a bit of a gamble, I guess.

Look, you could grab the GT 740 DDR5 with its 15.9 GB/s, or maybe go for the R7 250 x with 16 GB/s, or even the R7 360 if you want that 17.1 GB/s... I guess it really just comes down to how many bucks you're willing to shell out to bridge that gap between them. From what I can tell, none of these cards require an extra power connector, so you shouldn't have to mess around with upgrading your PSU or anything like that. My own 740 handles Fallout 4 perfectly fine without any hiccups. I think I posted the Links earlier for the 2GB version, which honestly is more than enough for pretty much everything if you stick to medium settings, though you can definitely push a ton of stuff to high too. Personally, I wouldn't sweat the CPU too much, and since you've got 4 gigs of RAM, that should be plenty for what you're doing.

The R7 250 x is noticeably faster... please stop obsessing over those GP/s numbers.

R7 250 DDR3 is roughly equal to the GT 740
R7 250 x < GTX 750 < R7 360 < GTX 750 Ti (each jump is about 10%)

crimsonstag84 said:The R7 250X is noticeably faster... seriously, man, just stop talking nonsense about those GP/s numbers.

R7 250 DDR5 is basically on par with the GT 740 DDR5
R7 250X < GTX 750 < R7 360 < GTX 750 Ti (each jump is roughly 10%)

https://www.hardwareheaven.com/2013/...s-card-review/

I mean, you've got the GPU in the screenshot right there... but honestly, you're just guessing and throwing out unverified info, which is pretty much your thing at this point. The 250 is total garbage, whereas the 250x actually holds its own a little bit...

Here’s my current card, it's just an 😁


I used to have this MSI card. I ran Resident Evil 6 and Tomb Raider on it at 1028x768 with medium settings.