GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Jeffrey Allen92 said:you can grab an RX 460 for like eighty bucks already

Man, I just took a quick little sneak peek at Call of Duty: Black Ops II and honestly? It runs just as smooth as when I was grinding through the old Call of Duty: Modern Warfare back in the day, like 7 or 8 years ago!

It looks like you might have been taken for a ride by some overpriced local Store. There’s a link in the SB, plus an RX 460 for $333, and even an R7 360 for around 800 bucks.

By the way, regardless of how weak the CPU is, there is absolutely no logic in opting for something even worse for the same amount of money.

Timothy Kim60 said:Honestly, it feels like you’re getting taken for a ride by some overpriced local Store. There’s a link over in the SB thread, plus you can grab an RX 460 for $333, or even an R7 360 for around 800 bucks.

BTW, regardless of how weak the CPU might be, there’s absolutely zero logic in paying the same amount of cash just to end up with something even weaker.

I'll go for the better CPU instead; I am definitely not picking anything weaker than this🙄

Look, you could have easily grabbed an RX 460 for a bargain price instead, you know?
And honestly, if you weren't planning on swapping out the CPU, you really should have prioritized getting the best GPU possible within your $333 budget. There’s just no logic in settling for a weaker card when you're spending the exact same amount of cash.

Timothy Kim60 said:I mean, you could've just grabbed the 460 for basically nothing, you know?
And honestly, if you aren't swapping out the CPU, you really should have gone all-in on the best GPU possible within your $333 budget—it makes zero sense to settle for something weaker when you're spending the same amount of cash!

But hey, I’m gonna take things one step at a time. If I find myself running low on power, I’ll definitely pick up a new processor ($150 and so on) along with an SSD, of course!

Alright, I'm heading out to go battle it out!🎉

Steven Stewart3 said:Look, I'll take it slow. If things start lagging, I'll just grab a new CPU ($150 and so on) and an SSD, obviously.

What kind of new CPU actually works with this motherboard?

mellowtiger83 said:There’s zero logic in spending $2,400--$833 on an Athlon ii x4 845 and an RX 460, regardless of which Walmart you're hitting up. You're off by at least $400--$167. Unless you're planning on using the cheapest junk power supply and case imaginable, plus a tiny 500GB drive and 4GB of RAM... even then, you wouldn't pull it off. By the way, just the GPU you mentioned costs at least $317. If you want 8GB of RAM and a decent PSU and case, you're looking at $3,000+. Everything else remains the same.

Anyway, I'm the only one who can build you a new rig with those specs—maybe slightly better for $2,700--$933 as you'll see soon enough at the local hardware store 🙂. And that's rare. Plus, it comes with full US warranties and bundles.

First off, I said $2,500-$2,600. I didn't overshoot by much.
Here, look at this $2,724 configuration. It's a space shuttle compared to what that guy got for $2,400. 😵😵😵
We could have gone with a Haswell Pentium, which would've left a great upgrade path later.

Obviously, it includes 4GB of RAM (can add more once there's cash), because you can still play stuff reasonably fine on 4GB. Then there's the 500GB HDD (the 1TB is pricier, but 500GB is plenty for most things.

Bottom line: now that guy's rig with that R7 360 ended up costing more than my build—which other guys could probably put together even better on a budget—and his is still miles worse.



P.S.

Let me know when you finally build that "special" rig that only you can manage. 😉

wiredotter14 said:what new CPU can I put on this motherboard?

First off, I estimated $2500-$2600, and honestly, I wasn't far off.
Look, this $2724 configuration is basically a space shuttle compared to what that guy actually got for $2400. 😵😵😵
You could have even gone with a Haswell Pentium, which would leave them a great upgrade path later on.

Obviously, 4GB of RAM works—you can always add more once you save up some cash—and playing on 4GB is perfectly fine. The 500GB HDD is also fine; a 1TB drive costs a bit more, but 500GB is plenty for most things.

In any case, that computer with the R7 360 ended up being more expensive than my build, even though other guys might be able to put something together better within this budget—and mine is still miles ahead in performance.



P.S.

Let me know when you finally finish that custom rig of yours that only you could pull off. 😉

It’s an excellent build 👍. I doubt anyone else here could do better. You saved a little on the memory and the case, but for that price, you won't find anything better. Just spend two or three hours browsing the hardware market and you'll see. 😁

wiredotter14 said:Hey there! So, you're looking to level up that rig, huh? I love that energy! Quick question though—what kind of beast are we working with here? To give you a solid recommendation on which new CPU will actually fit that motherboard without causing a total meltdown, I’ll need to know exactly which model you've got under the hood. Drop the specs or the specific model name of the board, and I'll dig through my notes to see what the best upgrade path is for you. Can't wait to help you get that thing running faster!

First off, I told you guys I was looking at around $2,500 to $2,600, and honestly, I wasn't even that far off!
So, I was just looking at this build for $2,724, and honestly? It’s an absolute beast—like, we're talking straight-up NASA space shuttle levels of power compared to that other setup someone picked up for $2,400. Talk about getting your money's worth! 😵😵😵
Honestly, they really missed a massive opportunity by not including the Haswell Pentium! If they had gone that route, it would have opened up such an awesome upgrade path for people looking to level up their rigs later on. It's one of those things that would've made the whole setup way more versatile!

Oh, for sure, you can definitely roll with 4GB of RAM for now—and honestly, once you've saved up a little extra cash, just toss in another stick to bump it up! You can actually get through quite a bit of gaming on 4GB without much trouble at all. As for the storage, that 500GB hard drive is totally fine. Sure, stepping up to a 1TB drive costs a bit more, but let's be real: 500GB gives you plenty of breathing room for a solid library!

Honestly, at this point, that rig with the R7 360 ended up costing more than my entire current setup—and let’s be real, most of you guys could probably put together a much better build on a tight budget than that guy did. Even with the extra cash spent, it’s still miles behind what I've got running!



P.S.

Man, you gotta let me know the second you finally get that custom rig of yours up and running! You’re the only one with the vision to pull off a build like that—it's gonna be legendary. 😉

Look, I totally hear what you guys are saying, I really do! But honestly? This thing is performing absolutely phenomenally! It’s running like an absolute dream!😁 So, what kind of GPU are we talking about? I was chatting with this guy about my CPU, and he mentioned that an upgrade is actually on the table. Honestly, I took a bit of a hit financially on this one—definitely didn't go quite as smoothly as I hoped! But man, let me tell you, after spending all day yesterday grinding through Boredlands and Moh: MW1, seeing this new setup is like stepping out of a dark room into pure sunlight. It’s a total eye-opener!

Some shady hustler 😁

If he’d at least swindled you out of a Celeron or a G1820 for less than $100, you'd be winning. Compared to that AMD, which—as far as I can tell—is a total dead end with zero upgrade potential.

NaviaTec ATX Tower PC Case, No PSU, NVT-939B
Processor: AMD Athlon ii x4 845 Corsair 4 GB DDR3L 1600 Value S
Memory: Corsair 4GB DDR3L 1600 Value S, COR-CMV4GX3M1C160C11
Motherboard: MSI A68HM-E33_V2 (SFM2+,DDR3,SATA III,RAID,USB3.0/USB2.0,GLAN,VGA,HDMI)
Power Supply: Thermaltake TR2 S 350W
Storage: Toshiba P300 1TB 3.5"
Graphics Card: MSI RX 460 4G OC, 4GB GDDR5, DX12

$931 Downtown

I’ve been scrolling through this thread for a bit...
quick question...

Do you think an RX 460 or 470 could actually handle running Battlefield 1 or BF4? I'm looking at pairing one of those with 8GB of RAM and an i5, something like this http://www.bestbuy.com/site/graphics-cards/

So, did you manage to find a price click

By the way, yesterday there was an ASUS 470 listed for $490 in that link, but they sold out fast. Now you can grab one for $527 over at Best Buy
.
I’d suggest watching Battlefield 1 benchmarks on YouTube. Bottom line: it'll run, though obviously, the 470 will perform noticeably better

Just dropping the link here... thanks.

driftingdrifter88 said:scrolled through the thread...
question ...

will an rx 460 / 470 run bf 1 or bf4? (paired with 8gb RAM and an i5) for example http://www.bestbuy.com/site/graphics-card/

http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-benc...k-dx11-vs-dx12 according to this, you can hit ultra settings at 1080p even with an rx460 (43fps) 😬

Finally finished my build at Best Buy for $333 plus an RX 460 for just a bit more

So, I’ve got my PC hooked up to this Full HD TV, and honestly, looking at the specs, I feel like an RX 460 is complete overkill for what I'm doing here...

Asking for a buddy of mine here...

Does anyone know if this thing is still floating around anywhere? All we can find is the Founders Edition everywhere we look.

My Radeon HD 4850 finally kicked the bucket. It served me well for maybe ten years, and honestly, I couldn't have been happier with it.
I've been scouring eBay, but I'm stuck on what to pick within a $300 budget, $117. My current setup is running some DDR2 RAM, a dual-core Intel processor, and a 450W power supply.
When I set the price filter on eBay between $200 and $133, there are plenty of options, but I'm just not sure if they'll actually play nice with my hardware. One non-negotiable is that I need a card with two outputs. What would you guys suggest as a decent stopgap until I can save up for a whole new rig?
Thanks.