GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

My Gigabyte Radeon 6850 is basically on its deathbed.
I need an upgrade—specifically looking for something I can probably pick up at Best Buy (or maybe some other shop in Indianapolis) for around $167.
Every now and then I’ll hop on an older FPS or play a bit of Diablo 3 on low settings, but that’s about the extent of it.
Current setup is an i3 paired with an Asrock P55 Extreme4 and 4GB of RAM.
From what I can tell, my options are pretty much limited to something like an R7 240 OC or a GeForce GT 730.

silverridge3 said:My Gigabyte Radeon 6850 is pretty much on its last legs.
I need a replacement, maybe something I can pick up at Best Buy (or some other shop in Indianapolis) for around $167.
Every now and then I'll jump into an older FPS or play some Diablo 3 on low settings, and that’s about it.
My setup is an i3 paired with an Asrock P55 Extreme4 and 4GB of RAM.
From what I can tell, my options are basically just some R7 240 OC or a GeForce GT 730??

Honestly, just save your cash... integrating R7 graphics onto that i3 is probably going to give you roughly the same performance as any cheap discrete card you could find for that kind of money... or maybe look into grabbing something used that still comes with a warranty... because if you want something brand new, there's nothing worth buying under $233...

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some solid advice on a GPU upgrade. My budget is around $167, and I really need at least 1 GB of VRAM—ideally hitting that 2 GB mark if possible. It’s gotta support DirectX 10.1 or 11 and play nice with my current setup: an ASRock P55 Pro motherboard, an Intel i7 860 (LGA 1156, 2.8 GHz), 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 600W power supply.
My current ATI Radeon 4650 with just 512 MB is absolutely killing me... it's way too weak and honestly feels ancient at this point.
Thanks in advance for the help.

driftingsurfer81 said:Looking for a GPU recommendation under $167. Needs at least 1 GB VRAM (ideally 2 GB), supports DirectX 10.1 or 11, and works with my ASRock P55 Pro motherboard. Specs: Intel i7 860, 1156 LGA, 2.8 GHz, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, and a 600W PSU.
My current ATI Radeon 4650 512 MB is just too weak and outdated.
Thanks in advance.

Honestly, you won't find anything worth buying brand new for that amount, especially if you actually want to play games. What specific power supply are you running? Knowing the exact model would help. You could probably score something much better on the used market.

If you're willing to go $33 higher—which I think is definitely worth it—then THIS is your best bet. If not, check out THIS or THIS

silverridge3 said:My Gigabyte Radeon 6850 is pretty much on its last legs.
I need a replacement—ideally something I can pick up at Best Buy (or maybe a local shop in Indianapolis) for around $167.
Every now and then I play an older FPS or just some Diablo 3 on low settings, and that's about it.
The setup is an i3 + Asrock P55 Extreme4 + 4GB of RAM.
From what I can see, my options are basically an R7 240 OC or a GeForce GT 730??

Go used... honestly, buying new for $167 isn't really worth it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

driftingsurfer81 said:Looking for a GPU recommendation under $167, with at least 1 GB VRAM (2 GB would be ideal). It needs to support DirectX 10.1 or 11 and work with an ASRock P55 Pro motherboard, PCI-Express, an Intel i7 860 processor (1156 LGA, 2.8 GHz), 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 600W power supply.
My current ATI Radeon 4650 with 512 MB is just too weak and outdated.
Thanks in advance.

For $167, you won't find anything new that’s significantly faster than what you have. So, you could either look for something used locally (if you aren't comfortable with shipping 😬), depending on where you are... or grab an R7 250 DDR3 for $225 if you want something new.

electricharbor30 said:Just save your cash... honestly, whatever you get by trying to integrati R7 on an i3 setup is basically going to perform about the same as a dedicated card you could grab for that same price range anyway... or just look for a used one with some kind of warranty... I mean, you aren't gonna find anything decent brand new for less than a couple hundred bucks...$233...

My i3 doesn't even have integrated graphics😢
So what should I pick up for $233??

You've got integrated graphics there, which is just the first generation of the i3 5 x0 on the 1156 socket. Every i3 came with a built-in GPU back then... but those early ones were pretty pathetic, honestly. They were basically just good enough to put an image on the screen.😛

That looks like a solid deal, so you should probably grab it.

Adam Moore3 said:Honestly, for that kind of cash, buying something new isn't exactly a genius move, especially if you actually plan on gaming on it. What kind of power supply are you running exactly, like the specific model? You could probably snag something way beefier on the used market...

If you're willing to push $33 a bit higher—and honestly, I think it’s worth the extra stretch—then OVO is definitely the way to go. If not, then maybe OVO or OVO

I'm not looking to do heavy gaming or anything, I just have NBA 2 and I need to be able to fire it up every once in a while, plus I really need to get it running since my current card just can't handle it...

silverridge3 said:My i3 doesn't have integrated graphics😢
What should I grab for $233??

this one....i actually have it and it works great

anyway, smartik is actually right, you definitely have integrated graphics...every single i3 comes with them...i mean, i played Dragon Age 2 on mine, though i guess i was running everything on the lowest settings possible...

Personally, up to $467 I wouldn't even bother looking at them, let alone dropping cash on a new GPU from a retail store. I guess once you hit the GTX 950, maybe it starts making sense to consider buying new—mostly because used GTX 760 cards are hovering around $400 with a warranty, while the GTX 950 is barely any stronger and costs an extra hundred bucks at the shop for a 3-year warranty, lower power draw, and less heat.

crimsonstag84 said:You've got integrated graphics, which means you're looking at a first-gen i3 5th Gen on the 1156 socket. Every i3 back then came with some kind of onboard graphics... though those early versions were pretty pathetic, so they're really just there to get an image on the screen.😛

It just occurred to me... P55 and P67 motherboards didn't actually support integrated graphics. You needed the H55, H57, H67, or Z68 chipsets to make any of those 1156 processors or Sandy Bridge chips work with onboard video. So, while the graphics are technically on the processor, you won't be able to actually use them.😬

crimsonstag84 said:It just hit me... those P55 and P67 boards didn't actually support integrated graphics. It was only the H55, H57, H67, and Z68 chipsets that handled the onboard video for all the s.1156 chips and Sandy Bridge stuff. So yeah, technically the CPU has graphics built-in, but you can't actually use them 😬

Exactly. I know my motherboard doesn't even have a video output, which is why I said I wasn't interested.
Anyway, I just need some kind of GPU. Doesn't have to be new—I'm looking to spend maybe $90 max...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example

I think we’ve already shared this link 🙂

crimsonstag84 said:http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-12345
We already posted the link 🙂

Sold. 😵
Maybe 7790??

Sure, as long as you don't mind a bit of noise 😬 That particular model tends to be pretty loud.

Matthew Alvarez said:Personally, I wouldn't even look at anything lower than a $467 if I were buying a new card from a retail store. For me, the GTX 950 is really where it starts making sense to buy new. You can grab a used GTX 760 for around $400 with a warranty, and since the GTX 950 is barely weaker, paying an extra hundred bucks for a brand-new card with a 3-year warranty, lower power draw, and less heat just feels like the smarter move.

I'm leaning toward a new GTX 950 too. My first thought was grabbing an R7 370, but the GTX 950 isn't much more expensive $67. Honestly, when I think about it, the price gap isn't even that big considering how much I've blown on useless junk lately
(like going to AMC and stuff 😁)

I mean, I've probably dropped over 200 bucks on this 🥳

crimsonstag84 said:Sure, if you don't mind the noise. 😬 That specific model is pretty loud.

Ugh, no thanks. I'm looking for peace and quiet here. 🙂
I stumbled upon this 7850. It doesn't come with a warranty, but the guy selling it said I could swing by and check it out in person to see how it actually runs. What’s the move? 🤷

silverridge3 said:Man, I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole, I just want some peace and quiet 🙂
I stumbled upon this 7850, totally no warranty on it, though the guy claims you can swing by and check if it actually works or whatever. What should I do? 🤷

In my humble opinion, don't even bother... it might just die on you in a month and then you've basically thrown your cash down the drain... better to look for something that actually comes with a warranty...

A guy from the PCexp forums is selling this, so I guess everything should be pretty much in order. 😉