GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Thanks, I'm going with the GTX 950. Appreciate the quick replies!!

So, I was just browsing around online yesterday and stumbled upon this blog post where some guy was breaking down what he thinks are the best GPUs to grab in 2016... I won't bore you by copying the whole thing since I actually lost the link, but basically, he’s saying if you're looking to spend under $70, the best bet is the GT 730 with 64-bit GDDR5... He mentions that the DDR3 versions or the 128-bit ones are way slower, so while this specific one is okay, it's really like the absolute bare minimum of the bare minimum... You might get medium settings at 720p, maybe. For comparison, he recommends the GTX 750 Ti if you can swing about $110-$120... The cheapest GT 730 I could find is around $160 over at Best Buy via Micro Center
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Edit: turns out that wasn't the exact link I meant, but this one here is actually pretty well organized too:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

electricharbor30 said:edit: wrong link, but this one's actually pretty well organized:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

Fair point. For that kind of money (maybe $20 or so), you're looking at nothing but a GT 730 or maybe a Radeon 240

At $207 (Best Buy), you can grab an R7 250 which is significantly better, and once you climb above that price point, you actually start seeing cards worth buying.

Long Story Short, don't bother buying anything below $200 if you plan on gaming at all. If it's just for HD movies or whatever, a GT 730 is plenty (honestly, even an old integrated chip would do fine enough).

I’m currently running an MSI Radeon HD 5550 with 1GB DDR2 and a 128-bit bus on a 17" CRT monitor at 1280x768.
I managed to play Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed III, and Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition, all on medium settings. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was a struggle even on low settings at this resolution, and Grand Theft Auto IV was basically unplayable. If I tried any of these on a 22" screen, nothing would run smoothly.

Like someone else mentioned, an R7 250 x is pretty much the bare minimum if you want to actually play anything. I decided to just grab a GTX 950 so I can have some peace of mind for a while.

Let's be honest: cards like the R7 360, 260X, or a 750Ti are basically the floor now if you want to hit 1080p at 30fps+. Even then, many of these GPUs still fall short of what developers claim are the "minimum requirements"—though those specs are usually just a total joke lately, written poorly just to pad out the box art.

haha, so I actually stumbled upon a GT 720 with DDR5 memory sitting there at Micro Center... looks like it might be the last one they have left... honestly, if you're trying to build a fanless PC, this could be a pretty solid pick...$160....it’s got half the CUDA cores compared to a GT 730, but I guess it doesn't really matter that much when you're just gaming....I mean, most people buying cards with a massive amount of CUDA cores are probably just Bitcoin miners anyway, not actual gamers...

Timothy Kim60 said:Honestly, cards like the R7 360, 260X, or 750Ti are basically the floor now if you want 1080p at 30fps. Even then, they fall short of the official system requirements for half these games—not that those specs aren't just made up by devs to cover their tracks anyway.

Who's deciding that?😳
I've been running everything on high since I got my 750Ti.😳

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Who's actually saying that? 😳
I've been playing everything on High settings since I got my hands on this 750 Ti. 😳

Sure, but how are you supposed to run something like Assassin's Creed Syndicate on a GPU like a 250X? You'd be forced to drop the resolution from 1080p or just settle for a choppy 25-30 FPS.

Maybe 900p on Low settings.

Benchmark results

System Requirements

According to the official system requirements for most modern titles, cards like the GTX 660 or an HD7870 (R9 270) are becoming the baseline. Though, in my experience, those specs are often a bit optimistic—you can usually squeeze by with something even weaker.

Timothy Kim60 said:Yeah, good luck trying to run something like Assassin's Creed Syndicate on a 250X. You’d either have to tank the resolution from 1080p or just settle for a slideshow under 25 or 30 FPS.

900p, low settings.

Benchmark.

Demands.

Most games list the GTX 660 or an HD7870 as the baseline requirements now. Honestly, that’s a stretch. You can usually squeeze through with even weaker hardware if you have to.

I'm fine with it even if it only hits 720p. 😬

http://store.steampowered.com/stats

So I was just looking over those Steam stats...

Robert Rodriguez2 said:in that GTX 950 range... what kind of power supply are you running?

Power Supply: CORSAIR 550W, VX Series, 12cm fan, ATX

The GPU is a Radeon HD 5770 1024MB (just found out).
Processor: i5 CPU 750 2.66 GHz 4-core
Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD3, LGA 1156, Intel P55, 4x DDR3 2200/1333/1066

So, looking at all that... a GTX 950 should work, right? Or maybe even a GTX 960 if I decide to spend a little extra cash...

And will it actually fit on the motherboard properly (how can I even check that)?

wiredotter14 said:you probably have 4 slots on the board, so you could grab another 2+2, making it 2GB x 4

yeah, I have 4 slots.

Please tell me... if I go with 4+4 GB, does that 2+2 GB I already have cancel out or do they just add up with the new ones? Or... is there really any point in having more than 8GB and I should just save money by grabbing 2+2GB (considering everything else I've got listed here)?

That power supply isn't just sufficient—it's overkill. You can drop just about any graphics card in there since the PCIe slot is a universal standard; whether it's 2.0 or 3.0, they all play nice together.
As for the memory, they aggregate, meaning you'd be looking at 12GB of RAM. That said, there is a slim chance—though highly unlikely—that certain modules might be temperamental and refuse to work in tandem. Honestly, though, you won't need more than 8GB of RAM for gaming.

@Jesse Hughes

You've got a great motherboard there too... really solid VRM, and it was actually one of the early ones to feature SATA3 and USB3. I guess if you aren't using anything much better than the stock cooler, you could probably try some overclocking. It might hit 3.5GHz+ pretty easily, which would help eliminate any potential bottlenecks for that new graphics card.

http://www.newegg.com/Gigabyte-GTX-960-2GB-GDDR5-HDMI-DVI/p/N82E16814126157

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-Evolution/dp/B000V2Y29W

crimsonstag84 said:@Jesse Hughes

You’ve actually got a solid board there... really decent VRM, one of those early ones to come with SATA3 and USB3.0. If you aren't using something way better than the stock cooler, you could probably try some overclocking... it should hit 3.5GHz+ pretty easily, which would help clear up any bottlenecking when you pair it with a new GPU.

This case: CoolerMaster Elite 334, black, (W)187 x (H)421 x (L)485 mm, 6kg

Is that enough?

http://www.game-debate.com/hardware/...-750%202.66GHz

Not sure how much I can trust this site, but does it mean I'll be able to run those red ones on the right if I overclock...

Timothy Kim60 said:The power supply is more than enough... you could pretty much throw any GPU in there since the PCI-E slot is just a standard, whether it's 2.0 or 3.0, they all fit together...
The RAM adds up... you'd be looking at 12GB total, though there's a slim chance—really tiny, honestly—that certain modules might not "get along"... basically they might not want to play nice together. But really, you don't need more than 8GB of RAM for gaming anyway...

Just one more thing:

I'm looking at graphics cards on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gtx+950

Does it actually matter which one I pick, like, can I just grab the cheapest one since they're all the same card... or should I stick to those big-name retailers?

Jesse Hughes said:One more thing:

I'm browsing some GPUs on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gtx+950

Is there really any difference, or should I just grab the cheapest one since they're all technically the same card? Or is it better to stick with the big-name retailers?

Go with a reliable retailer. If you run into hardware issues, dealing with those random overseas webshops can be a total nightmare when you're trying to handle a warranty claim.

Jesse Hughes said:So, how much can I actually trust this site? Like, if I overclock, am I definitely going to be able to run those red ones on the right?

Not really. They just compare raw numbers, and half the time the system requirements are totally fake and don't make any sense.

Jesse Hughes said:This case: CoolerMaster Elite 334, black, (W)187 x (H)421 x (L)485 mm, 6kg

That's a chassis, not a CPU cooler 😬

I grabbed it from Best Buy since they have stores all over the country, just in case you wanted to pick it up locally... depends on where you're located.

crimsonstag84 said:It’s just the case, not the CPU cooler... 😬

I picked it up from Best Buy because they have stores practically everywhere, so maybe you can swing by and grab one too... depends on where you're located.

And that 6kg weight still seems weird to me. 😁 I don't see it listed anywhere, man. 😉 Thanks

Is it actually worth dropping an extra $250-$100 just to snag an additional year of warranty on a GPU?