GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

http://www.amazon.com/product...&code=62747ADM

Look, this one is really just enough to get an image on your screen—it uses a passive heatsink, so there isn't a fan, which means the card is completely silent. Plus, it's actually more powerful than your old card 😁

If you're looking at this for gaming purposes,

Depending on where you're located (for instance, if you're in the NYC area), testing the card in person or getting it shipped should be easy enough:

Let us consider a hypothetical situation where my current aging hardware managed to run just about everything I threw at it reasonably well; however, I am now in desperate need of an immediate replacement. My question concerns the reliability of those "guaranteed 100% functional" listings one finds on sites like Craigslist—how much confidence can one truly place in such claims? Furthermore, there is this particular option available through a standard retail outlet that seems like a sensible substitute, though I suspect it might lack the raw performance of the used units being peddled online.

It’s even weaker than your ex. You can’t just go out and grab something for $100 and expect it to match the performance of your old card
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As for checking it out on Craigslist, man, you really have to see it in person (they're offering testing and local meetups, which is a solid sign they aren't running a scam)

Yeah, the one I linked is definitely a bit weaker, but at least it's brand new. Those ones you're seeing on eBay are used—but honestly, just because they've been run doesn't mean you can't pop the card open, blow out the dust, and swap the thermal paste? If you take care of it, it could easily run for another five years. It's all a bit of a gamble, isn't it?

just one more thing, my power supply is sitting at 460W, so I'm wondering if there will be any significant issues if I decide to pick up one of these from Craigslist?

Does the exact wattage of that 460W unit really matter? A Radeon 6850 pulls a bit more than what you have, the 6870 draws even more, and that GTX 560 is going to be even hungrier...
By the way, I noticed one of those items from the links you posted has already sold.

http://prntscr.com/driez2

I trust that everything is sufficiently legible for your perusal.

It's a solid power supply, should run just fine

Yeah, I was actually hoping that would be the case—it's not every day you run into a 460W unit.

I finally went ahead and picked up an Nvidia GTX 560, got everything plugged in, installed the drivers, and so far, so good—everything seems to be running smoothly. I really appreciate the assistance provided here.

Hey everyone—does anyone have a link or, even better, some actual hands-on experience with EVGA graphics cards? I've spotted a GTX 1070 listed for $1200... whereas the other brands, like Asus—which is definitely my go-to—are sitting closer to the 4000-$1400 range.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Anyone got a link or some actual experience with EVGA graphics cards? I spotted a GTX 1070 for $1200.. while the big names like ASUS—which is my go-to—are asking anywhere from 4000-$1400..

I used an EVGA GTS 450 once.
Solid card. It even handled a decent overclock without sounding like a jet engine.

Thanks, 😁

GPU prices just aren't budging:
https://pcpartpicker.com/trends/price/video-card/

It really depends on how you look at it. For instance, when the GTX 1080 first hit the shelves, you were looking at a minimum of $630-$$2167, but nowadays you can pick one up for just a few hundred bucks over $1667... I remember the RX 470 Strix used to go for over $140, though it usually sat around the $190-$$667 mark. Even the RX 460 2GB launched at over $120, yet today you can occasionally snag one for under $300 and stuff like that.

I posted a few comments recently venting about Nvidia and their drivers, specifically regarding all the crashing and freezing I was hitting in games—Fallout 4 was a particular nightmare.

I finally sorted it out, and I figured I’d drop a note here in case anyone else runs into something similar.

You can call me a noob if you want, but here’s the deal.

The issue turned out to be my RAM. I'm running four 4GB sticks of Kingston DDR3 HyperX Fury at 1866MHz.

When testing them, I tried them one by one. To make a long story short, two sticks work perfectly fine on their own.

But having all four sticks running at that speed with my Core i7 just wasn't working on this motherboard. Whether it's the board or the CPU, I'm not sure.

I fixed it by going into the BIOS and dropping the memory speed down to 1600 MHz. Now the PC is rock solid, and the GPU and games are running flawlessly.

Basically, I spent all that time thinking it was a driver issue since the problems only popped up while gaming.

Luckily, once I dialed the RAM back to 1600 MHz in the BIOS, everything vanished. No need to buy new memory. 😁

Turns out it wasn't the card or the drivers after all. Everything runs great now, including Fallout 4. All the issues are gone.

Question:

Is there anything better in this price range, say up to $317?

How’s the XFX model hold up?

Got a dilemma here; is it actually worth dropping $33 more just to get 4GB of VRAM?
Normally I wouldn't overthink it, but I'm stuck on a few things:
1) That would bump the card price to $333, which is only $100 less than a 1050Ti
2) I'm looking at a card without a power connector. Since the RX 460 is already power-throttled anyway, those extra 2GB of memory are definitely going to pull more juice—especially if I manage to unlock the card to full P11.
3) Is it even realistic to expect an RX 460 to run games that demand significantly more than 2GB? I know you can technically launch some titles with a card this weak even if 2GB is nowhere near enough, but can it actually push modern games at medium settings at 50-60FPS?

One last thing—anyone have experience undervolting Polaris? Results online are all over the place. Some people say 1v works fine, others say no. I'm wondering if an unlocked RX 460 would still run okay without a power connector if I undervolt it.

Anyway, if anyone has a moment to weigh in, let me know. ☕🙂🙂

P.S.

Targeting 1050p, maybe 1080p long-term, nothing higher.

I'd definitely grab an extra 2GB of RAM for $33. Modern games are absolute memory hogs, and I guess you might regret not picking up a 4GB card in just a few months.

+1 for having 4GB of VRAM—honestly, 2GB just doesn't cut it anymore, especially if you're running a Full HD monitor and trying to play anything remotely demanding...